Ten things you should not do at airports

by Devesh Agarwal

Some helpful advice from a frequent traveller, which should, hopefully, make your air travel journey more pleasant for the staff, you, and your fellow travellers.

Mumbai CSI airport. Domestic departure terminal 1B. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

1. Be over smart

In the post 9/11, 26/11, 7/7 world, airports and the people working there are paranoid about security. Keep your jokes and smart comments bottled up. When the counter agent asks about your baggage being packed by someone else, just say yes; unless you like having your bag, and you, strip-searched.

2. Try and push your way through

We all like our personal space, and we hate fellow passengers who crowd us or try to jump to the head of the queue. Keep cool, and keep the respect of your fellow travellers. My personal pet peeve are the fellow passengers who keep hitting me with their baggage trolley in their eagerness to move ahead. Keep your patience. You are not going to get to your destination any sooner by shoving around.If anything, you might end up with a tongue lashing.

3. Get drunk

There is a reason why many languages use a synonym of "oil" for alcohol. It greases your tongue and your intelligence. An unclear head and a loose tongue get you blabbing things you shouldn't. You don't want to run afoul of the cabin crew who can de-board you, or worse get you arrested. Also, the air in the aircraft cabin is very dry and only intensifies your dehydration during the flight, and the hang-over once you land.

4. Lose your temper

Air travel today is a frustrating experience, which gives you many opportunities to lose your cool. Whatever the provocation, keep your cool. Giving the check-in agent a hard time because your flight is delayed is definitely not going to help you, but just might land-up hurting you. You want all the allies you can get.

5. Flirt with the counter-staff or cabin crew

Being polite is one thing, being lecherous quite another. Just because the counter-staff or the air-hostesses (as most Indians call them) smile at you, does not give you a green light to drool all over her. Its her duty to smile and be polite, and she wants to get through her shift. Its almost certain she has a family, and if not a husband, a boyfriend.

6. Crowd the boarding gate

"XYZ airline announces the departure of its flight abc to D......" and there is a line a mile long crowding the boarding gate. Forget the fact that the airline would like to board its premium passengers first, or would like for a more orderly boarding, by rows. I just have to be the first on-board and hog that precious overhead bin.

7. Play music or video games loudly on your mobile device

Remember the rule about keep your cool. Don't add to your fellow travellers mental misery by blasting your phone or tablet or your voice. Use headphones while playing music or video games, and for heavens sake, use your indoor voice when talking on your phone.

8. Sleep

This may not apply much at Indian airports, but I have seen enough situations where a passenger thinks, just a quick 40 winks nap, only to wake up and find out they have missed their flight due to over-sleeping.

9. Under-prepare for your flight with your infant

The number one gripe most passengers have are wailing infants and unruly children. Remember to carry enough games, toys, books, puzzles, etc., to keep your children entertained and in control. Carry a change of clothes. Infants do not know how to deal with the changes in air-pressure as the aircraft ascends and descends. They cry when their ears get blocked during the descent of the aircraft. The chewing motion relieves the air pressure, so carry a small piece of candy or "mishri" or a pacifier that will ease the situation for your toddler, your fellow passengers and you.

Image by Siddarth Bhandary. Used with permission.

10. Crowd the baggage claim with your trolley

Leave the trolley behind if possible. With increasing airplane sizes and more passengers on each flight, there is less space for you and your trolley along the baggage belt. Stop jamming your baggage trolley in between everyone waiting for their bags. You end up hurting people and getting dirty looks. One of the nicest things I remember from Terminal 1 at Singapore Changi airport was a yellow line marking a three feet trolley exclusion zone, all around the baggage claim belt. Try to follow this rule and make life comfortable for everyone.

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Guest Post: The top ten business aviation stories of 2011 -

By Benét Wilson

Until October, I was the Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation for Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. As editor, I had a front-row seat to the wild and wonderful world of business aviation in 2011. Below are my picks for the top 10 stories of the year, in no particular order. Enjoy!!

1. The fall – and rise – of the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program. In February, the National Business Aviation Association warned that there might be a challenge to the program, which allowed business aircraft operators with privacy or security concerns for their operations to request that Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) data provided to FAA be blocked from public dissemination. By August, the Department of Transportation had limited participation in BARR to operators with a verifiable security threat. Lawsuits ensued, but the business aviation community was able to get legislation under the multi-agency minibus appropriations bill signed by President Obama in late November that reinstated the program.



Business aviation aircraft on display at EBACE 2010.  Photo by Benét J. Wilson

2. Gulfstream G650 test aircraft crashes; aircraft is certified. A Gulfstream G650 ultra-long-range business jet crashed in April 2 in Roswell, N.M., during flight testing, killing four. The manufacturer temporarily suspended flight testing on the rest of the fleet, but FAA gave the jet provisional type certification in late November. The jet is on schedule to enter service in the second quarter of 2012.
3. Honeywell forecasts modest rise in business jet deliveries in 2012. The good news at Honeywell’s annual business aviation forecast event at October’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention was that business jet deliveries would start to rise in 2012 after going into freefall the past three years. The bad news was that deliveries won’t be at the peak levels achieved in early 2008 until after 2017.
4. Piper Aircraft suspends its Altaire business jet. All during 2011, Piper touted the progress being made on its single-engine jet and continued to hire workers to support the project. But the industry started hearing rumors in early fall that all was not well with the program, and Piper confirmed it on Oct. 24, blaming a slower-than-expected recovery for the light jet segment of business aviation. The company also laid off 200 workers connected to the suspended program.
5. Eclipse Aerospace restarts production. The Albuquerque, N.M.-based manufacturer used this year’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention to announce that it will begin building the EA 550, an improved version of the EA500, starting in 2013. When the manufacture filed for bankruptcy in November 2008, no one had much faith in their effort to stay viable. But the partners of Eclipse bought the company’s remaining assets in August 2009.
6. The Lightsquared GPS battle. On the one side, you have Lightsquared, a company that wants to build a high-speed wireless network made up of thousands of broadband-wireless transmitters that business aviation organizations, among others, say will disrupt GPS satellite signals. Lightsquared disagreed, but an independent test commissioned by the company finds that its transmitters would interfere with most GPS receivers.
7. Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton forced into retirement. The very popular Pelton was forced into retirement in May after he was unable to stem the manufacturer’s financial bleeding, brought on by the global recession and an unrelenting bashing of business jets in the past three years. Press reports also pointed out that it was difficult for Pelton to adjust to Cessna parent Textron CEO Scott Donnelly’s relentless focus on the bottom line.
8. Cirrus Designs sold to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company (CAIGA). The Duluth, Minn.-based manufacturer announced it was being acquired by CAIGA in February. There was some movement to keep the company in American hands, but the sale to CAIGA was finalized in July.
9. Tornadoes at Sun n Fun. It wasn’t so much fun in Lakeland, Fla., on March 31, 2011, when a tornado swept through Lakelinder Regional Airport, causing damage to around 60 aircraft and postponing the show by one day.
10. Experimental Aircraft Association Chairman Tom Poberezny announces his retirement. The big news at July’s EAA AirVenture air show was the retirement of Poberezny at a hastily called press conference. The organization was started by his father in 1958. CEO Rod Hightower took on the chairman title.

Benét Wilson is a freelance aviation journalist and blogger based in Baltimore, Md. She blogs at AviationQueen.com; follow her on Twitter at @AvQueenBenet.

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