Have you ever sat on a plane and wondering what those hosties and gentlemen stewards are thinking?

Whatever you do, don’t snap your fingers.

“Passengers who click their fingers to get the staff’s attention” is the biggest gripe for a quarter of cabin crew (26 per cent), according to a new survey. The Skyscanner survey of more than 700 international cabin crew members in 85 countries found the second most annoying passenger habit is “the scramble to leave the plane before the seat belt signs are switched off” (13 per cent).

Coming in third are passengers trying “to cram too much hand baggage into the overhead lockers” (11 per cent). Other irritations include “talking through the safety demonstration” (nine per cent); “asking for more blankets and pillows” (eight per cent); and “stuffing rubbish in the seat pocket” (seven per cent).

The results also showed that, according to cabin crew, the perfect passenger is male, travels alone for pleasure rather than business and is aged in his 30s.
Economy passengers are also favoured over those who travel in premium class.

Skyscanner’s Sam Poullain said the results were unexpected.

Contrary to stereotypes, it’s interesting to see that it’s the men who get the vote for the perfect passenger,” he said in a media release, “while cabin crew prefer to work in economy rather than premium class.

Here are flight attendants’ biggest gripes about passengers:
1. Clicking fingers to get your attention 26%
2. Leaving seat at the end before the light goes off 13%
3. Stuffing too many bags into overhead locker 11%
4. Complaining there’s no space for their bag in the locker 10%
5. Talking through the safety demo 9%
6. Asking for more blankets/pillows 8%
7. Stuffing rubbish in the seat pocket 7%
8. Asking for a different meal 6%
9. Ringing the attendant bell to complain about temperature 6%
10. Asking for a specific brand of drink 4%

[Source: The Age and Skyscanner]