Wait - is this an American thing now?
I ask as I’m American but have lived overseas for 25+ years. Europeans don’t clap. The two of us travel through different parts of Asia to see friends and family - no clapping on Asian flights either. Just grab your bag and exit asap.
This seems very weird.
Clapping was very common some 30 years ago. As in the whole plane did it at any destinations I went to, and it was weird to hold back. It gradually disappeared and now it’s the other way around. But in the end - who cares either way?
Nah, it’s a “first time flying and there is a bunch of us and we’re so grateful the pilot didn t kill us all” kind of thing.
Was on a flight this summer with some seriously unstable wind that made the landing a bit more impressive than usual and many people clapped. Return landing was smooth as fuck and sure enough, everybody was gangsta, then.It’s more like thanking your waiter at the end of dinner.
I’d love to tip people with claps.
Let’s normalize clap tipping.
You know, I don’t think you got the right comparison (i do thank the cabin crew), but I think I see your point. I guess it could be seen as clapping at the end of a music performance, I suppose. Not everybody can line up to politely thank the conductor, or the artists, or whatever, so a communal gesture has to be enough. Sure why not.
Yeah the two times I was on a plane where people clapped it was because of less than great weather (like the runway being in a quarter inch thick ice sheet) and the other because air traffic control fucked up and told the pilot he was clear to land when a 737 was right below us landing already.
To be honest, both times I think I agree clapping was ok.
If you land in fine weather and no near miss, and still clap? That’s a red flag
Why? What does it indicate about a person that warns you away?
It indicates they’re a psychopath and they will murder me in my sleep
I think it depends entirely on the length of the flight, and whether or not there is any turbulence. You fly to Hawaii, and everyone is happy to be there. You take a commuter hop from BWI to Atlanta, and nobody says a fucking peep. Newark to London, meh. Chicago to Athens, woo hoo.
Am American:
I cheer loudly like my team just won.
Then i go “USA USA USA”, as I excitingly high five everyone around me. Then we pull out our AR-15s, shoot through the roof of the airplane, and thank Jesus that we again beat Science and flew through the heavens the way god intended.
No. It’s a fuckin weirdo thing.
Am European (Spanish) and there definitely are clappers here. Not in every flight, but there are clappers.
No, though there are the movie theater clapping weirdos.
I flew a lot for work. Some airlines, like Southwest, are targeted at vacationers and you’re more likely to get clappers. I flew a lot of United, and the only clapping I heard was when we landed in some real rough weather. I’m convinced with the approach the pilot took that they were a naval aviator before they went commercial.
Europeans don’t clap
Italians do
No I’ve literally never have heard of this
On Asian flights, the sound of clapping is replaced by the sound of the entire plane unbuckling their seatbelts and getting up to jockey for position to exit before the plane even touches down.
I don’t want to be mean if I say “Europeans” are a whole bunch of different nations and cultures. Yeah, some clap.
Those that were later to discover flight. Italians and Portugese
Hm. Never flown to either, but (speaking of Europe only) to Spain, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Poland and the UK (whether they want to be considered Europe or not) I’ve never seen that. Italy comes next year - we’ll brace ourselves for applause.
I clap when the bus driver makes it to my stop
I do thank them when I leave the bus. I guess that’s sorta dumb but at least they’re right there to hear it.
It’s not dumb.
I mean dumb in that it might not be “logical”. It just feels like the nice thing to do, in a way clapping on an airplane doesn’t.
It is the nice thing to do, treating the person like a person. Keep it up. Sure, it’s their job, they’d do it if you weren’t there, but it was helpful to you.
It’s the done thing.
Is this rated worse than getting the Clap from her?
If she is my soulmate that would not happen
Why do people care this much about completely harmless and inconsequential things other people do? I’ve personally never given a shit when someone else claps when a plane lands, same with people clapping in movie theatres. The world is miserable enough, let people enjoy the little things, it’s not like they’re forcing you to clap with them.
What I’ve never understood- it doesn’t bother me but I’ve never understood it- is people who clap after a movie. I don’t mean people at the premiere where the filmmakers and actors are, I mean people in some town in Wisconsin or whatever. It’s weird.
It’s for the projectionist, and it’s probably outdated these days. But until digital film distribution became common it was actually a fairly involved job.
Edit: and if you go back to the silent film era the scores used to be played live. So maybe it’s even a holdover from that.
Interesting theory but if it was clapping for the protectionist then they’d do it at the end of every movie that was well-projected, not just the movies they thought were great.
I feel it’s more a habit carried over from live theater and music performances. They’re happy and just instinctively clap even if it’s pointless as a gesture towards the production. It just an expression of enjoyment they’ve developed sitting in a theater.
Precisely because they are harmless and inconsequential. Complaining about things like this or pineapple on pizza are just meme complaints. Nobody cares that much about it in reality.
No, but they are forcing you to listen to the noise they make.
Making unnecessary noise is inconsiderate to those around you.
And yet when I rip out a real stinker on the plane, everyone hates me.
You only need to clap for the cheaper airline as they do need the encouragement.
Seems fine, just tell her to put her shoes and socks back on and to not forget her book from the seat pocket in front of the person beside her.
Woah, wait, if it’s that or go to America, I’m staying in Bora Bora.
Man, that’s insane. Your soulmate. She claps for 5 seconds after the plane lands and you’re out. Couldn’t tolerate 5 seconds of something that annoys you from your soulmate.
You guys really want to find perfect or nothing.
The world is cruel sometimes, and people don’t think their actions have consequences. A longtime friend of mine lucked into a loving, supportive partner, and out of the blue asked me to take her – even said please like it was some mundane favor. Not sure if she took my advice and left, but hope she’s doing OK.
Sometimes humor isn’t based on reality.
Also sometimes humour is funny, not always, unfortunately ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Puerto Rican here - this is unavoidable when flying to or from the island (although it’s not as loud as it used to be). It’s charming after the 100th time, even.
I once flew to San Juan, and no one clapped. Now I feel like I missed out.
And as you look to her her hands are holding yours. Yet the clapping still continues.
You look around and realize that she’s dummy thick and her cheeks are clapping. All is good.
Take this bullshit back to Reddit!
It used to be standard in Latin America.
I like it, it’s a nice way to relieve the stress of everybody being within a couple of seconds of death if the pilot fucked up.
it’s a nice way to relieve the stress of everybody being within a couple of seconds of death if the pilot fucked up.
You know what else is a nice way to relieve stress? Low noise environments.
Yeah, Japan has ruined me for public transit in the US and elsewhere. Clapping on a plane would just make me annoyed unless the pilot did something phenomenal in a bad situation or the like.
Latin America and “low noise”…
It makes sense in a time without autopilot and the pilots actually had to fly the while time and sometimes really wrestle with the controls. Now it’s all automated so it’s not nearly as impressive.
I’m no expert, but I’m fairly certain takeoff and landing is still fully manual. Autopilot only happens once you hit cruise altitude where the risk of crashing is very very low.
Even if the autopilot didn’t help during landing, which it does, the pilot is still not nearly as tired as if they had to actually fly the whole time.
OK yes, pilots are waay overworked because of the limited number of them. That has nothing to do with actual flying
Edit: From your article - “Concern over pilot fatigue was one of the primary reasons that ALPA was created back in 1931, when operators regularly engaged in ‘pilot pushing,’ forcing pilots to fly long hours to maintain demanding schedules,” said Capt. Brian Noyes (United), chair of ALPA’s Flight Time/Duty Time Committee, which is responsible for educating ALPA pilots about the risks associated with fatigue and the regulations and safety programs currently in place to help mitigate those risks.
After closing three posts in a row where I wanted to call bullshit and insult stupid opinions (which wouldn’t have helped anyway), this one made me laugh. Thank you! I needed something to kick-start a good mood before I start my day.
Also, fuck clappers. Especially at movie theaters. None of the people who worked on the movie can hear you.
Devastating, but it’s the right thing to do
Idk, this clapper discussion seems to me like: Why be nice and say thank you when you can just mind your own business? Going out of your way to be nice does make a difference.
Any pilots or flight crew here want to chime in?
Would a round of applause on landing brighten your day, or be tiresome and embarrassing?
My high-school friend is a pilot. He likes it. That’s just one of them, of course.
