Clapping on Planes
 

This week in Patrick Smith's "Ask the Pilot" column:

Why don’t people clap on airplanes any more? Plus, the deadly game of wheel-well stowaways, the truth about on-board oxygen, and a look at those “ancient” Russian planes.

<<< … Where and when it does still happen, clapping is strictly an economy class phenomenon. You'll be apt to look for socioeconomic meaning to this, and maybe there is one, but the dynamics of economy class -- more people sitting closer together -- lend itself to the occasion. There's a certain communal spirit, especially after a long-haul flight, when you've spent several hours in a relatively intimate space with hundreds of people. In a way, the applause acts like big collective handshake. … >>>

The full story is here:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot221/

Entry to Salon is free by watching a very brief advertisement.

In Europe some people still clap, even for little short hop flights. However, I have never heard anyone clap on a U.S. flight, except once, when we were sitting on the runway for about 2 hours waiting to takeoff.

I was flying out of HNL once and there were some Pearl Harbor veterans on board, and people were clapping after the FA made the announcement of them.

I was flying out of HNL once and there were some Pearl Harbor veterans on board, and people were clapping after the FA made the announcement of them.

Though I've never been on a flight where anyone clapped because the flight landing. Considering how coach service is on many airlines...

I experienced a lot of clapping in Europe and parts of Asia in the 80's and early 90's but I don't seem to see that very much anymore.

I was on an AA flight into Stapleton (remember that?) where people clapped after the pilot fishtailed the plane out of a windshear.

There was clapping on one flight I was on. It was the pilot's last flight before retirement.

There's still lots of clapping on most european charter flights -- all those people happy to go on vacation somewhere warm:) And their one flight per year!

On EVA Air up until just the last year or so, after every landing of every flight as the pilot made the post landing announcement the cabin crew would take places in the aisles at the front of each section of the cabin and bow when the captain concluded his remarks in Chinese and all the passengers would clap. I'm not totally sure of the basis of this but I assumed it was some kind of Taiwanese thing. It mysteriously stopped a year or so ago when the cabin crew stopped the bowing ritual. I always thought it was kind of a nice little tradition and don't know why they don't do it any more.

There is always clapping on my flights to/from latin america.

I've been on flights where people clap, but it's usually after a particularly rough landing or flight in bad weather. I'm not sure if they're applauding the pilot's skill, or just rejoicing to be alive.

Cromely.

I've seen people clap on Aeroflot and Olympic many a times. Just something that they still do in Eastern Europe (along with smoking in Aeroflot's lavs, even though it's not permitted...:rolleyes: )

We observed clapping at the end of Continental's EWR-MAD flight, and on Transavia's MAD-AMS flight.

Still hear/see clapping on flights from NYC to San Juan.

The whole plane clapped when I landed in Orlando, FL in the early 1990s on Kiwi airlines. It was kind of heartwarming. Lots of kids, and people for whom it seemed it might be their first time on a plane.

At least according to my mom, they used to sing and clap on EL AL sometimes when landing at TLV in the 1970s.

Ditto. I've seen it in earlier days on Garuda, usually after a fairly dodgy landing, or finally finding the correct airport.