10 strange behaviours you might encounter on an airplane


Have you ever been on an airplane and you had to put up with people that were so rude that you just wish you could kick them out of the plane? Let’s face, it no matter where you are travelling to, you’re cramped in the small compartment like cattle. So unless you are travelling by business class – you’re the cattle class or simply the economy class. And if you happen to be travelling to India from Canada, the USA or Great Britain then you are stuck for at least 10 hours and more and might have to endure strange behaviours of other passengers.

10 rude things you might encounter on an airplane
Me onboard Air India quietly having my dinner trying not to be rude or be annoying to anyone

Here are 10 strange behaviours you might encounter on an airplane

Taking both the arm rests

Many of us would have faced this situation where the passengers on either side have occupied the arm rests and you had to sit with your arms on your lap. Think about it, if there are 3 seats in an aisle, this means there are 4 arm rests – you can do the maths yourself.

Someone getting drunk

Most airlines serve alcohol. The last thing you want is to get drunk or even worse, be sat next to some one who is. Since you’re flying in a pressurised cabin the chances are that one can get high a lot easier than if they were on the ground. When people in airplanes get drunk, they start getting restless in their seats; they’re frequenting the toilets more often while some are even laughing their head off when watching a movie on their screens in front. My husband does this all the time. In fact, he makes me get the drinks and he drinks them all – (and eats my peanuts too) – absolutely annoying.

drunk in airplane
Looks like someone is drinking my whisky and eating my packet of peanuts

Talking on the phone during take-off

It is common knowledge that mobile phones and other electronics are not allowed during take-off and landing. Some pretend to put them away and when the stewards are not looking they would start talking again putting everyone’s lives in risk.

Skipping a bath 

Mind you, this happens all the time. I have sat with people who have smelt so bad that when the passenger was asleep, I asked the air hostess if they could change my seat.

Vomiting on the lap of the passenger next to you

So far this hasn’t happened to me but I do get air-sick. Imagine someone who gets so air-sick that they can’t control themselves and puke on all over the place including on other passengers. This is perhaps one of the worst case scenarios.

Someone farting

Most of us can control this activity but what happens if one can’t; how embarrassing this would be. Now if this were to happen on an airplane, it can ruin the whole dam trip.

Someone asking you to fill their immigration forms

If you’re travelling to India, then you will have to complete a “arrival disembarkation card” to hand to the immigration officer. It takes a few minutes to fill them out. As soon as you’ve done yours, you might find other passengers requesting that you fill theirs too specially if you are travelling from the Middle East (perhaps due to a stopover). This is either because they’re illiterate (mainly Indian labourers working in the Middle East) or can’t read or write English (the elderly). It can be quite annoying if you have to do a few of these.

Others taking your overhead luggage space

Some passengers carry over sized hand luggage’s and completely occupy your space. Many of us Indians love to take lots of luggage around no matter where they’re going even it means going abroad.

Children and parents behaving rudely

Some parents are no unaware that they are inside an aircraft or don’t care about their surroundings. In addition, why do some parents force their children to eat making their children so upset that they start throwing the food around? I have personally seen this and looks so idiotic. This is a case of bad parenting, not planning ahead ending up creating chaos onboard.

Patna to Delhi
While on board to Delhi, I noticed that the man in the circle was so excited that he even stood up to look out of the window during taking off.

People spending hours in the toilets and making a mess

While you’re bursting to go to the loo, some idiot is spending hours doing god knows what in the toilet. Why do people take so long in airplane toilets knowing fully well that there are people waiting outside? The worst thing, after holding on for so long, when you step inside the toilet, you realise that they haven’t flushed the toilet. How rude is that?

What are the other strange and rude behaviours you can think of while on the airplane?

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