11 Secrets Airlines Don't Want You to Know

455. That's the average number of flights a person takes in their life. That is literally thousands of hours on board an airplane up in the sky but despite us spending all of this time on aircrafts why do we know so little about them in the secrets only airlines know. Well today's some airline employees have revealed some secrets few passengers know.

Coming up first is the real reason you can't smoke onboard. In the year 2000 that the United States government banned smoking on any domestic and international flights but airlines had already began banning smoking on board since 1988. Usually, companies are opposed to government regulations so why do they do this voluntarily. After all in 1988 when most US airlines banned smoking on board people were not happy. Airline said they did this for health reasons they said that it could cause a danger of a fire on the plane and bring the plane down. Despite the fact that there's no actual records of that happening. They also said that it's a danger to other smokers due to secondhand smoke but let's be real. In the late 80s people didn't really care about secondhand smoke in fact the real reason behind the ban was for cold hard cash. You see the air onboard aircrafts is constantly filtered. All of this air filtration helps to keep the air very fresh and clean. But if there's lots of resins and smoke from cigarettes in the air this means that the equipment has to work even harder. This causes the air filtration systems on board to wear out even quicker and of course that costs the airline a lot more money. They realize that people will still have to fly even if they can't smoke onboard. So, surprise corporations don't care about your health but money instead.

Next up is secret toilet button. Unless you're flying in business class you won't get much privacy on an airplane. That is unless you go into the lavatory on board or so you thought. Most passengers do not know this but the lavatory door can easily be opened from the outside. Even if it's locked. On the door there's a hidden switch. This will likely be underneath him no smoking or lavatory sign. Simply flip up the sign and there's a secret switch to unlock the door. Airline attendants are told to never use this in case someone's actually using the bathroom but if someone's doing something dangerous or something they should not be doing in there then it can be opened by star. Or if someone is sick or falls unconscious inside it can be open. 

Next up is why turn off your cell phone? we're used to hearing before every flight please turn off your cell phone or switch it to airplane mode. In a poll 80% of people said they believe that's because it could cause a critical malfunction on the plane but that's a total myth. The real reason you are asked to turn off your cell phone is because it can create static on the radio signal. This could interfere with the information pilots are trying to hear from the dispatcher in the radio control tower but even aircraft crew admit to ignoring this rule a lot of the time. That's because the technology aircrafts and air control towers have nowadays is way better. Remember they started asking passengers to do this layer planes in the 90s but obviously technology has come a long way and today it won't really interfere with anything if you leave your phone on during takeoff and landing.

Next up we have runway numbers. If you're an observant fly you may have looked out of your window and seen something odd on the runway. That is gigantic numbers painted in white. You may wonder what exactly do these humongous numbers on the runways really mean many thinks it's simply labeling the runway. It's like one two three four but that's not the case. Instead, they indicate how many degrees that the runway is from at the magnetic north. This is rounded up to the tens to make it simpler to write on the ground. Pilots can see which runway they're landing on it from the sky and they know what grade to take inside the plane. So, while these numbers may seem insignificant, they're the reason you hopefully get a smooth landing.

Next up is door handgrips. Have you ever been on a plane and had to sit near the emergency doors? the emergency door looks kind of scary and complicated but air stewardesses will likely tell you how to operate it if you're sitting next to it. But one thing they won't mention is why there's a hand grip on the door inside the plane. Well, the reason for this is in case of a panic on both the aircraft. In the event of an emergency an attendant will open the emergency exit. However, panicked passengers can sometimes accidentally knock them down or even push them out of the aircraft. So, they grab onto these handles so they stay upright and don't fall out of the aircraft or get pushed over by any scared passengers. These doors are often used in the event of an emergency landing either on a road a field or on water.

Next up we have most common reasons luggage is lost. If you've ever had your luggage lost by an airline you'll know it's about one of the most annoying things on planet Earth. It can be very hard to retrieve your luggage especially if you're staying in a foreign country and don't know the area well but what's even more difficult is getting a straight answer as to why it happened from the airline. Most of the time they'll just lie to you and won't tell you the actual reason but airline employees have detailed the most common reasons for luggage being lost. The most common reason is it's being held for additional checks and then was not loaded on time. This can sometimes happen if they think you have something suspicious in your bag. Sometimes a dopey employee can put the luggage on the wrong trolley and it flies to a totally different location. Sometimes an airline check-in the employee can put the wrong sticker on the luggage causing it to be sent elsewhere. Sometimes the suitcase can get stuck on the conveyor belt or go in the wrong direction. This frequently happens on connecting flights. Sometimes ask the trolleys being driven to the plane the suitcase falls off and no one notices. For sometimes the luggage recognition system makes an error and the label gets lost. That's why it's always good practice to put your name and contact info somewhere else on your luggage.

Coming up next is luggage locks. You may be worried about losing your luggage and having someone else open it but the most common reason people put locks on their luggage is to make sure the TSA don't go through it. But what airlines won't tell you is that locks don't protect luggage from being opened. People in the TSA have special lock picks where they can simply pick your lock and open it up and many cheap baggage locks can simply be picked with a pen or pencil anyway. Sometimes this is done to check inside your bag and it can damage the log and zipper in the process. When they're done. They'll simply put your lock back on your luggage and you'll be none the wiser.

Next up we have minor problems aren't fixed. If you're flying in an airplane, you'll want to make sure that everything has been checked very thoroughly and even a minor problem hopefully has been fixed by the time you take off but that's actually not always the case. Many minor failures on airplanes are not prepared immediately. The list of things that have to be checked before a flight takes off is humongous but even if there are some minor failures on this list the plane can still take off. That's because they say it doesn't affect the safety that much and also it can be dealt with later to avoid flights being delayed. Don't worry though every year there's less than 200 plane crashes but that's with over 16 million flights every year.

Next up we have pilot meals. Airline food is not exactly great but the captain and co-pilot still have to eat that being said they don't eat the same food. When the air stewardess has come around with the menus the captain gets to pick his food first. Then the copilot has to have the alternative meal that the captain did not pick. The reason for this is in case the food is poisoned. If the captain and co-pilot both ate poisoned food and couldn't fly the plane then the plane that would go down but if only one of them is poisoned then the other one can take over and safely land the plane. However, this is not the case on all airlines. So, make sure you get an airline does this if you value safety.

Finally, we have employee ticket prices. One major perk about being an airline employee is that you and your family have reduced priced tickets. Many airlines provide their employees with very cheap or sometimes even free tickets for them their kids and their spouse. And this is not limited to just pilots. In fact, all crew on board get this perk and also many people who don't work in the planes for example checking desk workers also get this perk. So if you love to travel and want free airline tickets then become an airline worker.