Not all minor failures are repaired immediately

Now don’t assume someone will allow the plane to take off if it’s unsafe.

The list of things to be checked before the flight is enormous. Still, there are minor failures that don’t affect the safety and can be dealt with later to avoid flight delays.

Here’s the reason why there are hand grips at the door inside the plane

They are meant for flight attendants in the event of panic onboard.

When an attendant prepares the emergency exit, panicking people can accidentally knock them down or even push them from the plane.

The captain and co-pilot are fed differently

If one of them gets poisoned and is unable to pilot the aircraft, he will be substituted by the other one. However, this doesn’t work for all airlines.

Why it’s really forbidden to smoke onboard

It’s a common opinion that smoking prohibition is connected with such obvious reasons as the danger of fire and passive smoking.

Still, the former is a bit doubtful – smoking was allowed before, and there were no fires. The real reason behind the ban is an economic one

Why passengers are asked to turn off cell phones

A phone can hardly cause a critical malfunction of the plane – that’s a myth. But it sure can create static on the radio signal, which may not let the pilots hear important information from the dispatcher.

Airline employees and their closest family have reduced price air tickets

Many airlines provide their employees with very cheap or sometimes even free tickets for themselves, their children, and their spouses.  Generally, when an employee buys a ticket, they only pay for taxes and duties, while the flight itself is free of charge.

The lavatory door can be easily opened from outside

There’s a special switch on the door that’s hidden under the “No smoking” or “Lavatory” sign. This is made, of course, not to infringe on the privacy of passengers but to avoid breaking the door if someone feels sick inside.

When is it best to buy tickets?

It’s believed that the earlier you buy air tickets, the cheaper you get them. That’s not exactly true, though, because cheap tickets are bought first, and that’s all there is to it. However, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays tickets are indeed a little cheaper than usual.

Aisle and window seat armrests can also be raised

Many people get irritated that the aisle and window seat armrests are fixed in place. However, it’s not quite so: to raise them, push the small button hidden near the base of the armrest. Still, be prepared for flight attendants to ask you to return them to their initial position.

These runway numbers are important

Have you ever wondered about the huge numbers on the runways?  Turns out they indicate how many degrees that runway is from magnetic north, rounded to the tens. In this way, the pilots know which grade to take