Your plane has just touched down after a particularly turbulent flight.
You’ve spent the last hour gripping your seat white-knuckled and the sense of relief you feel as the plane makes contact with the ground is palpable.
You bring your hands together, ready to clap – but before you do, know this: pilots hate it when you applaud when the plane lands.
In a recent Quora thread, someone asked the question, What do airline pilots think of passengers who applaud after a landing?
Multiple pilots stepped up to answer the question, but the response was unanimous, while you may have the best of intentions – don’t do it.
Scott Kinder, a 737 Captain at a Major U.S. Airline for over 10 years said, “Don’t even think about it.”
Scott Kinder, a 737 Captain at A Major U.S. Airline for over ten years said, “don’t even think about it.”
Get ready for some real talk from Captain Scott Kinder.
“Passengers really have no idea what’s going on up front with the landing, so how do they know what to clap for and what not to clap for?”
“If a pilot floats a landing and lands halfway down the runway, that’s horrible and dangerous. But if it’s smooth, he gets claps from the back?”
“To be a good safe pilot, he’s going to put it down fast and hard, and the pilots will say nice job to each other after that.”
“The point being, we really don’t pay attention to any applause from the back because we grade ourselves based on the situation that day. We’re not really interested in what seat 20B thinks.”
Sorry, Nic. You’ll have to save your clapping for the Oscars.
And if you think Captain Scott is just a bit of a sourpuss, his sentiments are backed by a fellow pilot and engineer, Joseph Guindi, who says you shouldn’t applaud someone for doing their job correctly – with one exception:
“If the flight was particularly perilous, you could consider it. But then again the pilots won’t hear you as they are not only enclosed within the cockpit but are also still busy completing the landing.”
Still, it’s always nice to thank your cabin crew for a job well done on your way out.
