Barefoot flying
Aug 2, 2020, 11:39 am
#31
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,246
Perhaps some have seen accidents with their own eyes.
Aug 2, 2020, 11:54 am
#32
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: BA GGL & GfL, AA LTP, Marriott (sigh) Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,233
the older i get the more germ-phobic i become so everything about this annoys me, irrationally so becasue it has no personal impact 
THAT SAID, the most repulsive thing i've seen -- the last instance in T5 was a guy walking barefoot in T5A! middle of winter. it was appalling. but worse yet, he was in front of me on the jetbridge STILL without shoes and was told to put his shoes on when he stepped on the plane....so he threw his flip flops on the ground to beard his seat where he no doubt instantly pushed them under the seat in front of him.
BLEAH, repulsive even thinking of today!
THAT SAID, the most repulsive thing i've seen -- the last instance in T5 was a guy walking barefoot in T5A! middle of winter. it was appalling. but worse yet, he was in front of me on the jetbridge STILL without shoes and was told to put his shoes on when he stepped on the plane....so he threw his flip flops on the ground to beard his seat where he no doubt instantly pushed them under the seat in front of him.
BLEAH, repulsive even thinking of today!
Aug 2, 2020, 12:07 pm
#34
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,060
Compared to high heels, they don't look remotely hazardous. But flip-flop wearers would do well to think twice before slipping on a pair. The NHS spends £40million a year treating injuries caused by wearing the casual footwear.
More than 200,000 people visit their GP or even end up in hospital every year after suffering falls or developing long-term problems.”
Daily Mail 2010
Aug 2, 2020, 12:11 pm
#35
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: London
Programs: BAEC, AA, Emirates, Hilton, Hyatt, Taj Hotels
Posts: 2,345
Not quite, but when I was younger a friend of ours survived the East African Airways VC10 crash as Addis Ababa where the plane went off the end of the runway and broke up. I distinctly recall him saying that there was all sorts of barbed wire, fuel and debris that they has to wade through to get away from the wreck. In a similar vein, the Singapore Airlines incident at Taipei required a lot of walking through glass and metal debris etc in order to get away. Since then I have always kept my footwear (usually deck shoes) firmly on until established in the climb. Personally I think that bare feet is a step too far, but as ever, it's a free world.
Aug 2, 2020, 12:13 pm
#36
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,061
The problem is that people sometimes just don’t think. There have been several occasions where an entire planeload of people has managed to escape a burning aircraft safely, only for some to scorch their feet on the apron while running away from it having either lost or had to remove unsafe footwear. Frankly, anyone who wears stupid footwear during the beginning and end phases of flight deserves anything they get.
I do get uncomfortable on aircraft and do like to remove my shoes during a flight - but only once securely in the cruise phase. And they come back on at TOD. And it’s too cold not to wear socks!
I do get uncomfortable on aircraft and do like to remove my shoes during a flight - but only once securely in the cruise phase. And they come back on at TOD. And it’s too cold not to wear socks!
Aug 2, 2020, 12:22 pm
#37
Fontaine d'honneur du Flyertalk
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Morbihan, France
Programs: Reine des Muccis de Pucci; Foreign Elitist (according to others)
Posts: 19,179
I could not care less what footwear people have as long as their feet are clean. I am disgusted by people putting their feet on the bulkhead - when wearing shoes, sock, tights, or worst barefoot. If anyone dared to put their feet on the seat top or by the window they would be asked to remove them and if that failed I'd waste a G&T complete with ice on their feet. How people can go into the toilet barefoot is beyond me, given how few men actually aim to please. My problem is that in an emergency, they might bang their feet on the way to the emergency exit and impede others.
The photo seems to have been taken on the 12th May 2017 - I could hazard a guess where it was bound (ALC/FAO/AGP/PFO?)
The photo seems to have been taken on the 12th May 2017 - I could hazard a guess where it was bound (ALC/FAO/AGP/PFO?)
Aug 2, 2020, 12:50 pm
#39
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,439
Aug 2, 2020, 12:56 pm
#40
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,252
Couldn't care less especially in those days. A socked foot is not any cleaner than a bare foot, and I find it worse when people put their shoe'ed foot on a chair/wall than a bare or socked one.
Quite frankly, at the moment, what I want to see are mask-wearing faces, keeping social distancing, and putting their hand or better elbow in front of their mouth when they cough if it happens hat a time when their mask is unfortunately down. Ideally, I also want them as far away from me as humanly possible.
Quite frankly, at the moment, what I want to see are mask-wearing faces, keeping social distancing, and putting their hand or better elbow in front of their mouth when they cough if it happens hat a time when their mask is unfortunately down. Ideally, I also want them as far away from me as humanly possible.
Aug 2, 2020, 1:01 pm
#42
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: BA Gold, Avis President
Posts: 438
I don't like to wander around in my socks and especially when using the toilet...as I hate to marinate my feet in other people's urine...
I wear trainers during the climb and descent and shift to Northface slippers for the cruise. Light, compact, padded for warmth and have a sole that is piss resistant...Since I jumped out of a BA 747 in Jo'burg back in 1983 I can assure everyone that the chutes are very abrasive indeed. Friction burns were par for the course...
I wear trainers during the climb and descent and shift to Northface slippers for the cruise. Light, compact, padded for warmth and have a sole that is piss resistant...Since I jumped out of a BA 747 in Jo'burg back in 1983 I can assure everyone that the chutes are very abrasive indeed. Friction burns were par for the course...
Aug 2, 2020, 1:15 pm
#43
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 177
I had a mountain hiking guide in Indonesia scale large rocks and other obstacles with the grace of a mountain goat while wearing flip flops - and was one of the few times I was the slow one. Put the guy in thick soled shoes or hiking boots and he might hurt himself
Injinji compression toe-socks with flip-flops are my goto long haul footwear. Free the toes!
Injinji compression toe-socks with flip-flops are my goto long haul footwear. Free the toes!
Last edited by random.parts; Aug 2, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Aug 2, 2020, 2:10 pm
#45
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London
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Posts: 529
My experience is that flip flop flying is common in Australia - but haven’t seen it with such frequency in Europe as these last few weeks.