I have a few stories myself and do believe the quote in the excerpt of the story.  What sort of passenger misconduct have you witnessed while flying?

“The FAA numbers don’t reflect all the cases of inappropriate behavior, said Les Dorr, a spokesman for the agency. Crew members are used to experiencing the wrath of passengers who are frustrated by delays and missing baggage. Sometimes, these incidents aren’t severe enough to be reported to government officials.”

This is a heart-warming reminder that flight attendants played a crucial role on September 11th, 2001 and that they are now the front-line of keeping you safe on board.

Unaccompanied Minor. This is a big word for “children traveling alone.”  I wish that more parents realized what a big job it is to prepare your child to travel alone, and how alone they will feel if you don’t prepare properly.

Nothing breaks my heart more than to see the hundreds of children we transport during school holidays who have to travel alone.  Prepare a child to travel alone and they won’t feel alone.  Don’t prepare that child and he or she will most definitely feel alone, and most likely afraid.

Can you imagine sending your child on a 12-hour journey with no food, no money for food, no sweater or coat to keep them warm (it may be spring or summer but it is always cold at 35,000 feet), no way to contact you or whoever is picking them up on the other end, and nothing to keep them entertained?  Of course not, you are a good parent.

But I see this happen all the time.

Parents…you can’t check your responsibility to be a good parent like you do with luggage.  Your child is traveling alone, sometimes for a full day,  on planes that no longer offer food (or charge for food), get delayed due to weather and get cold at altitude with no blankets to offer.  They charge for nearly every form of on-board entertainment and have just one flight attendant for every 50 passengers (so hence, they cannot be your child’s personal child-sitter).

Please prepare your children well to travel.  We love having them on board and want to have their experience be a happy and exciting one, not one that is frought with worry, fear and concern.  Keep them warm, fed, entertained and with a way to contact you or someone on the other end.

For more information on unaccompanied minors, see http://airtravel.about.com/od/childrenandairtravel/tp/UnaccompaniedMinors.htm

Believe it or not, I was deathly afraid of flying before I became a flight attendant.

No, I was not a glutton for punishment. I just had a desire to see the world that was so strong, that I told myself I was going to have to get over it (or waste countless days I could spend sightseeing crossing oceans on ships or continents by train).

I know that every time there is a major incident or accident involving an airplane, it stirs up a lot of people’s worst fear: fear of flying.

Thankfully (I won’t say “fortunately” and explain why in a minute), due to Capt. Sully Sullenberger and his crew’s competence, the recent successful ditching of a US Air flight in the Hudson River, helps us all feel a little better knowing there are exceptionally competent, courageous and skilled pilots steering our nation’s aircraft.

This was no act of fortune, it is in all parts due to the crew’s skill, thankfully.

The training I received as a flight attendant not only taught me exactly what to do in a ditching, but cured me of any fear. I would like to share some of what I learned with you…but first, I would like to know what scares you, the reader, most about flying.

Please take the time to complete the following quick poll. Thank you!

You can hear the conversation between US Air (“Cactus”) flight 1549 here (the recording has some silent spots):
\"We\'re gonna be in the Hudson\"

I received this from a friend whose son works for UPS. It’s pretty funny, but let me caution you that it isn’t true that mechanics only have to have a high school degree…they have very advanced, specialized technical training which takes years to accomplish.

Here you go…have a good laugh!

Remember, it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one (a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs).

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a ‘gripe sheet,’ which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P ) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S ) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And, as always, saved the best for last…

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Recently, while getting ready to dig into a tasty fish taco at “Tin Lizzy’s” in Atlanta, I received a frantic text message from my brother Ari (http://www.aridenison.com) saying that his wallet had been stolen in Phoenix, AZ while on his way to Austin, TX.

My first question of course was, “Why were you flying through Phoenix? My airline doesn’t have a hub there…?” but after I got over the shock that my brother was flying on the competition, I was able to help!

Ari was on his way to shoot an old friend’s wedding. At some point while traversing the Phoenix airport to get to his next gate, his wallet went “missing”.

He mentioned something about using it at Taco Bell and I laughed that we were both eating tacos at the same time, although mine were undoubtedly more gourmet (and more expensive!)

This is not the first time this has happened to my brother while traveling…the last time, his wallet was stolen by a kindly, 78 year-old woman sitting next to him. She wasn’t hard to chase down in the airport, as she was rather slow.

He has never trusted little old ladies since…

Thankfully, in this situation, he was already inside security and had his boarding pass in hand, so there was no fear that he would not get on his flight to Austin.

But how on earth was he going to get home without an ID, no cash, debit or credit cards? Worse yet, how was he going to get a hold of his friend, whose local contact info was on a scrap of paper tucked in his wallet?

I advised him to file a police report with the local Phoenix police, which he did. While I figured out a way to try to contact his friend for him, he got busy calling his bank and credit card company.

Fortunately, the summer before, I had insisted he scan in a copy of his passport and send it to me, as I was issuing him international buddy passes.

I keep copies of all my client’s passports for this very reason, and to set up alerts to notify clients when their passports are about to expire.

My best advice to travelers on this matter: if you aren’t working with a competent travel agent who has asked to keep a copy of your ID on file, be sure to leave a copy with a trusted friend or family member.

With a belly full of tacos, I went home to overnight Ari a copy of his ID and an American Express gift card (to get by on until we could sort something out).

Shortly thereafter, the Phoenix police recovered his wallet (from the fifth floor of an airport parking deck), minus his $250 cash, but with all cards and ID intact. And somehow, some way, Ari’s friend found him wandering the Austin airport.

Could it have been the status update I posted declaring Ari’s stranded state on Facebook?

[Author's note: if you would like to leave a copy of your passport number with me securely, you may do so by becoming a free preferred member of my travel site: http://www.dreamtripper.info]

New rules will combat pilot fatigue – USATODAY.com.

As much as  I don’t like government intereference in business, I do believe that regulating and standardizing air crew work rules is in the best interest of the flying public’s safety and confidence.  Please see the above article for the latest news regarding pilot rest requirements.

How to avoid travel insurance ‘gotchas’ – USATODAY.com.

With more and more suppliers of travel predicted to close up shop due to the faltering economy, it’s crucial that travelers protect themselves.

This article highlights some of the common mistakes travlers make when selecting a policy.

The website I use, which is recommended by the author of this article, is http://www.travelinsurancecenter.com/eng/cobrandindex.cfm?affiliate=naomiwatson

It presents an array of policy choices with their prices and clearly outlines the fine print.  Additionally, this is one of the only sites I know of which offers policies to ex-pats living abroad or foreigners traveling to the US.

I personally use this site for my step-mother, who is a Finn living in Sweden, when she travels.

I cannot stress enough the importance of travel insurance.

Recently I had a lovely couple in first class traveling back from Africa.  On their second day on safari, their Jeep was involved in a head on collision.  The other driver, their guide and two other safari-goers were killed and they both received extensive injuries.

After being airlifted to the nearest major hospital (where they stayed for weeks receiving treatment) their bill would have been in excess of $650,000 they told me.

However, their travel agent had insisted on them purchasing travel medical insurance and the cost to them was simply the cost of the policy.

They were overjoyed to be alive and thankful that their entire life savings had not been eaten up and they could continue in their retirement happy, healthy and financially secure.

I have often heard passengers say that they would gladly pay for more legroom, amidst complaints about how we must be making the seats smaller and the legroom less. 

Airlines will sometimes add and additional row of seats to increase revenue, which can reduce the room between the existing rows of seats (and hence, legroom) since the aircraft length doesn’t fluctuate.

Likewise, the width of the cabin body doesn’t change either so the seat sizes don’t fluctuate unless an airline changes the number of seats in a row (for instance, reducing a 3/2 combination to a 2/2 combination) which will allow for larger seats (which is the main configuration difference between coach and first class).

Because the beverage and meal cart sizes are standard, all aisles must be a certain minimum size, so it is very rare for an airline to increase the number of seats per row, as they are already utilizing the maximum number of seats possible.

This, in turn, gives the flight attendants only minimal room to move about (which some of us believe is part of their weight reduction program, since it is now illegal to make flight attendants meet certain weight requirements.)

Without being ugly, I empathize with passengers who complain about no legroom…I am five foot four inches tall and am uncomfortable in most coach class seats, so I can only imagine how someone tall would feel.

We have already determined that seat width is pretty set per aircraft type, so it would seem that the traveling public is getting bigger, rather than the seats getting smaller.

If you have complaints that the seats aren’t wide enough and you are sure it is not you that is expanding (and you haven’t gone from flying a B767 to a regional jet), you are probably sitting next to someone who is (poor you) or you have twisted your body in such a way due to no legroom, that it feels like your hips have no room (poor you again).

It seems airlines are putting whether people will pay for more comfort to the test.  Please see the related USA Today article that was published recently at http://usat.me/?33898600 and feel free to send in your opinion on whether you would be willing to pay extra.

Flight attendants get high praise in Hudson River rescue – USATODAY.com.

Ninety two combined years of experience means that these flight attendants knew, from year after year of safety training, how to successfully get all 150 passengers out of US Airways Flight 1549 safely, after landing in the frigid waters of the Hudson.

Although great praise can be given Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, let’s not forget the rest of the crew!