Planes - RodneyOlsen.net

Just Give Me Some Space

November 12, 2015

Travel Annoyances

I’ve got to admit that I enjoy flying. It goes beyond just the knowledge that I’m about to travel to some interesting destination. I actually enjoy the process of getting there … most of the time.

There are moments on a plane that don’t thrill me. My main frustration is being seated next to someone with no sense of personal space. Yes, I know that the armrest isn’t very wide, but you still have to share it. And don’t get me started on people who think that the fact they have limited legroom means that their legs should stretch into my small area of the plane.

According to Expedia’s 2015 Airplane Etiquette Study, which was released this week, those participating in the U.S. study find seat kickers to be the worst thing to endure on a flight.

When asked to choose from a list of annoying behaviors, 61 percent of 1,019 study respondents cited butt-kickers as the worst of the worst.

“Inattentive Parents,” parents who exhibit little or no control over their children, ranked a close second with 59 percent; while the “Aromatic Passenger,” that passenger who exhibits poor hygiene or is in some other way giving off a strong scent, was the third least-liked fellow traveler, garnering 50 percent of the vote.

There were plenty of other annoyances mentioned by survey respondents. Here’s the full list according to the study.

1. Rear Seat Kicker (cited by 61% of study respondents)
2. Inattentive Parents (59%)
3. The Aromatic Passenger (50%)
4. The Audio Insensitive (talking or music) (50%)
5. The Boozer (45%)
6. Chatty Cathy (43%)
7. Carry-On Baggage Offenders (38%)
8. The Queue Jumper (rushes to deplane) (35%)
9. Seat-Back Guy (the seat recliner) (32%)
10. Overhead Bin Inconsiderate (32%)
11. Pungent Foodies (30%)
12. Back Seat Grabber (27%)
13. The Amorous (inappropriate affection levels) (26%)
14. Undresser (removes shoes, socks or more) (26%)
15. Mad Bladder (window seat passenger who makes repeat bathroom visits) (24%)
16. The Single and Ready to Mingle (13%)
17. The Seat Switcher (13%)

I don’t find too much to annoy me on a flight, as long as I have my own bit of space and I can drift off into my own world. What do you find annoying when you fly? Do you agree with the list from the survey? Have you found yourself exhibiting any of the behaviour on the list without realising that it could be annoying other passengers?

Here’s an infographic that displays the survey results. Click the image for a closer look.

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An Embarassing Awakening

January 31, 2013

by Rodney Olsen

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sleep

What are you like at sleeping on planes? A lot of the travelling I did on the way to and from Bangladesh and India last month was in the middle of the night, so I kept dozing off and waking up. I couldn’t get any decent sleep but I had a series of naps, only waking up to try to move my aching neck.

Seems the co-pilot on a low cost Dutch airline is better at sleeping on aircraft than I am. He was on a flight to Crete in Greece in September last year when the pilot left the cockpit to go to the toilet.

When the pilot returned he couldn’t get back into the cockpit because the co-pilot had nodded off. I’m not sure that it’d be particularly comforting for passengers to see their pilot locked out of the cockpit. Thankfully he managed to get back in where he found the co-pilot asleep.

Where’s the most embarrassing place you’ve fallen asleep?

I’ve felt pretty sleepy at times but managed to avoid falling asleep at the wrong time. Mind you, that can be a real battle.

Have you fallen asleep on public transport and missed your stop? Have you nodded off at work or in a meeting? Did you manage to hide it or did you get sprung?

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We Apologise for the Delay

February 11, 2012

by Rodney Olsen

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I love flying but I also like being on time. Those two concepts don’t always coexist.

Our family was up bright and early this morning. Well maybe a lot more of the early and a little less of the bright. Today my adventure begins. I’m flying to Melbourne, taking a coach trip to Geelong, then getting ready for another early start tomorrow as I begin the 25000Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge. I’ll be cycling to release children from poverty through Compassion Australia. It’s not too late to support the ride. Just go to my Everyday Hero fundraising page.

We were all out of bed around 3:00 a.m. so that I could be at the airport early enough to check in my ‘oversize baggage’ for the 5:30 a.m. flight. Well, it was meant to be a 5:30 flight. The oversize baggage is my bike, expertly boxed up by the wonderful Phil at Cyclebuzz Canning Vale.

With the bike checked in we headed to the departure gate for the usual wait. Once the call came over the P.A., one of the only announcements we could actually understand, I said goodbye to Pauline, Emily and James and headed on through. It was all going like clockwork.

I boarded the plane on time with the other passengers and got ready for take off. We taxied out to the runway …. and that’s when it all went pear shaped. A passenger three or four rows behind me had some kind of medical issue. If I heard the banter correctly he may have had a hard night last night but I’m not sure. What I do know is that the flight attendants headed his way with the oxygen bottle and started shifting passengers to other seats.

One of the flight attendants had obviously practiced her “everything’s alright” smile well. She was moving between the passenger and the flight deck a number of times, each time wandering down the aisle with a confident, happy look. She didn’t look this happy before the ‘incident’.

And so we headed back to the gate.

Five or six medicos headed on board and attended the patient … er passenger. After a long while they helped him into a wheelchair and left the aircraft.

Finally, once the paperwork was updated and the ambulance drove away from the plane we pushed out and headed for the runway again. Then, almost an hour late, we took to the skies.

The passengers who were near the incident noticed that the bloke had left a bag with some food in it and a choc milk. Oddly enough no one put their hand up for it so it was binned … and maybe incinerated.

So that’s where things are right now. I’m in the air on Virgin Flight DJ 678, winging my way to Melbourne and my 12:00 p.m. arrival is looking like a 1:00 p.m. arrival. Of course I won’t get to publish this post until we touch down. Until then I’ll keep listening to my iPod and enjoying a rather quiet flight. It’s amazing how dazed most passengers look but I suppose that’s to be expected on a 5:30, make that 6:30 flight.

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Plane Spotting

November 1, 2010

by Rodney Olsen

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Monday’s arrived once again. It comes around far too fast. How was your weekend?

Our weekend was pretty busy as we celebrated having a 12 year old at our place. James had a birthday on Saturday so the whole weekend seemed to be spent partying.

One of the great things we did yesterday was to picnic at Jandakot Airport.

Opened in 1963, Jandakot Airport is the major General Aviation Airport in Western Australia, and is the busiest airfield and largest aviation training base in Australia. Three runways, associated taxiways, tenant leased property and natural bush land constitutes an area of 622 hectares, 18 kilometres south of the city of Perth.

The airport provides access for essential service organisations such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, CALM Forest and Bushfire Patrol and the WA Police Air Support. Jandakot is also an important training base for international airline pilots, with Singapore and China Southern operating flying colleges and student accommodation facilities at the Airport.

There’s a public viewing area with a few benches and shelters. We found a large shaded area under a big tree to throw down the picnic blanket. James and some of his cousins had Star Wars light sabre battles while others of us spent the time plane spotting.

I’m scared of heights but I’ll fly in just about anything. If I had the money I’d look into flying lessons but that’s never likely to happen so it was just wonderful to sit and watch other people taking off and landing. There was quite a range of small to medium sized planes, including a vintage Tiger Moth, using the airport as well as a few helicopters coming and going.

I don’t know how much the kids enjoyed the location but I can’t wait to go back there for another picnic.

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Got the time?

May 1, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

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I see that Perth Airport is going to get a pretty big make over. Eventually the domestic and international airports will be merged so that people won’t have to make a panicked dash from one terminal to the other to make their connecting flight.

It’d be nice if they did something similar in Sydney so that you didn’t have to pay five dollars for a bumpy bus trip from one to the other.

I’ve spent a bit of time in airports recently and I can suggest a couple of things they might want to keep in mind.

The first thing is clocks. I’m amazed at the lack of clocks in most airports. You’re there to catch a flight which leaves at a pre-determined time, yet there are hardly any clocks to tell you if you’re running on time or not.

Even if you’ve got a watch you’re very likely to have just flown in from a different time zone rendering your watch fairly useless. I was impressed at Miami Airport. They gave regular P.A. announcements to remind travellers of the local time. A great idea but a few extra clocks would make things even better.

My watch battery died on the trip from Miami to Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago so it wasn’t a lot of fun trying to work out if I was running early, late, or on time.

I guess one other thing they might like to look at is making the air-conditioning constant throughout the terminal. I’ve been to airports where you can go from stuffy and warm to icy cold within metres.

I’ve got a few other ideas but I’d like to hear your thoughts. What would you suggest to a company about to build a brand new airport? What have you found lacking at airports? What do you like about airports?

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