Have you ever seen someone doing something outlandish on a flight?
If you have, you are far from alone.
But some in-air behaviour is strikingly beyond the pale.
Vancouverite Amélia Octavia Burnwood told Vancouver Is Awesome that she saw a man chow down on a veritable smorgasbord on a flight from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris.
"There was a guy who brought breadsticks and sausage (I have no clue how he did it)," she explained.
"We watched him eating and cursing. The flight attendant told him to stop and he yelled at her 'Are you [going to] kick me out? I need a parachute for it.'
"Best flight ever."
Of course, not all eyebrow-raising air passengers display offensive behaviour. Metro Vancouver author Ann Beaudet told V.I.A. that a lady sitting beside her on a "flight from [Los Angeles International Airport] to Vancouver was dressed up as Santa Claus to greet her grandkids who were picking her up at YVR."
Other locals have shared some awkward moments on flights, too.
In a tweet, a local woman said her heart rate shot up after she declined to switch seats with another passenger. "Said no to swapping seats with someone on this flight and my adrenaline’s been pumping for 10 minutes now," she explained.
Drew Savage found his flight uncomfortable for a reason outside of his control. "People who wear N95 masks pulled down under their chin for an entire flight are an interesting bunch," he commented.
How important is flight etiquette?
A recent survey found that nearly half (47.6 per cent) of Canadian travellers won't recline their own seats and over a quarter of them (27.6%) have a problem with the person in front of them reclining their seat.
Additionally, 7.31 per cent of Canadian travellers would hold off going to the bathroom during the flight. Some air passengers said they would try to avoid asking other people to stand for them, with 28.65 of respondents reporting that they would squeeze past them.
Many Canadians have expressed concerns about their flight status following a surge in airport delays and cancellations around the world. The federal government has implemented several measures to reduce congestion at major airports — including moving its COVID-19 testing program off-site to pharmacies and virtual self-testing appointments — but air passengers continue to face substantial flight delays.
A Canadian air passenger says she received "unacceptable" compensation after a low-cost carrier cancelled her Vancouver flight at the last minute and re-booked her on one scheduled for a week later. Several other people experienced similar issues with the airline.
