No matter which class you are
flying, there must be at least one annoying inconsiderate flyer. The followings
are some tips that I gather from observing those inconsiderate flyers and Tiger Airways in-flight magazine, so we
won't be one of them ;-).
1. Be on time
No matter check in or boarding,
just be on time. Check in at least 1.5 hours before your designated flight time
for international flights and 1 hour for domestic flight. You need more time
for international flights because you must clear the immigration. Be at the
boarding gate as early as possible, at least at the designated boarding time
which is surely written in your boarding pass. If we are on time, then the
fleet will be on time, too.
2. Observe seat number in the
boarding pass
There's no more annoying than a
flyer who sits in someone else's seat or blocking the aisle because s/he is
confused between number 5 and 15. Some notable scenes from these seat thieves are:
- Sit in someone's else seat and
refuse to move to her/his original seat. Even, s/he creates a scene with the
original seat occupant or even flight attendant.
- Yell at other person because s/he
misreads the seat number in her/his boarding pass. (It happened to me in one of
my flights. A man suddenly yelled at me, "What's your seat number?!! This is
my seat!" I was so startled until I couldn't answer him at the instant.
Before I had a chance to answer, he suddenly said "Oppss, sorry. My
mistake. My seat is in front of you." Doooohhhh!!)
- Block the aisle so a long queue is created, because they are too confused where they must sit. (It happened in
my recent flight. A group of family blocked the aisle because they didn't read
their boarding pass. They even ignored requests from the flight attendants to
clear the aisle. They just kept shouting between them about the seat numbers.)
3. Minimize the use of strong
smelled liquid, spray or lotion
Please bear in your mind that the
aircraft does not have any open ventilation once the doors are closed.
Therefore, please use your perfume, body lotion or various
oils (such as, minyak
angin or minyak telon) before you
board the aircraft. If you must use one of them during the flight, please use it in
the toilet so the smell can be minimized. Remember that the strongest smell is
the initial note.
4. Think about the comfort of the
passenger sitting in front of or behind you
Do not kick the chair in front of
you if there is an occupant in that seat. It is really uncomfortable because it
is really different with the vibrates from a chair massage, dude. Then, carefully
measure before you decline your seat. Try not making the passenger behind you
feels seating in a matchbox. They pay, too so they also
have a right to sit with a reasonable legroom.
5. Do not create much noise
It's an aircraft. It isn't a flying
pub or kindergarten. So, please control your voice when you are talking or
joking with your travel partner(s). For parents, control your children. Do not
allow them to scream or running along the aisle. It's very very annoying.
Crying babies are different, of course. Babies can't speak so they cry and thus
they must be tolerated.
6. Do not bring or eat foods with
pungent smell
Please, please do not bring or eat
any food or beverages containing durian, curry or terasi (fermented shrimp paste). Yuck! Remember, the aircraft
DO NOT have any open ventilation. If you are flying with me, please do not eat
seafood at all :-P
7. Obey all regulations
Why are you so in a hurry until you
feel the need to open the seat belt once the plane lands? Buckle up! You can
present a danger to other passengers if there's an unpredictable incident.
Then, do not ever turn on your cell phone once you are in the aircraft. Your
cell phone signal will disturb the communication between pilots and ATC (air
traffic controller). Bear in your mind that regulations are there for your own
safety.
