Air Travel Secrets You Didn’t Know
Even if you’re a frequent flyer, we bet you’ve never heard these air travel secrets before. You’ll want to know them before your next flight.
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Airlines Lie About Flight Times
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That’s Not Duct Tape Holding Your Plane Together
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The World’s Shortest Commercial Flight Is a Minute Long
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Airplane Air Is as Dry as a Desert
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Air Traffic Controllers Are Highly Paid
Ever been on a flight that’s listed on your itinerary as two hours long, yet when the pilot is about to take off, they announce that the flight time will be an hour and a half? Padding flight time estimates is an increasingly common tactic that airlines use to improve their on-time arrival statistics—that way, even if they’re late taking off, they may still technically be on time when they land.
The Telegraph and aviation analyst OAG conducted a study which found that, “over the last couple of decades, despite new technology, scheduled flight times—ie. how long an airline estimates it will take to complete a journey—have actually increased by as much as 50 percent”.
It can be alarming to look out your window seat and see what appears to be duct tape on the wing, but don’t worry, that’s not what's holding your plane together. It’s a high-tech adhesive (approved by the FAA) that will stay in place even at speeds of over 500 mph, and is rightfully nicknamed Speed Tape. It’s used as a temporary fix for smaller repairs that need to be completed quickly, so don’t worry, you won’t see a roll of tape securing the engine to your plane.
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Don’t expect drinks service on the jaunt from Westray to Papa Westray (part of the Orkney Islands in Scotland), which is the world’s shortest scheduled passenger flight. The flight, operated by Loganair, takes just about one minute, although it has been flown in as little as 53 seconds.
Ever wonder why you’re so dehydrated when you get off a long flight? The humidity in aircraft cabins is typically around 20 percent, which is lower than the average humidity of the Sahara Desert, which is around 25 percent. This is because the air outside the plane has minimal humidity at 30,000 feet, so it has to be added back in.
The people on the ground responsible for making sure that planes don’t crash into each other are paid accordingly, with a median yearly salary of over $137,380. It makes sense—this job requires intense concentration while working in a semi-dark room (no slacking off on the internet allowed here), as well as weekend, night, and holiday shifts.
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