Weird things people do on planes, from toenail clipping to donning pyjamas, and what to do about them
- Some passengers take hitting 30,000 feet as an invitation to make themselves at home, and can get up to all manner of odd activities
- Those who really can’t take what they see can cool off in the galley, ask for a new seat or – if all else fails – shame the offender on Instagram
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen a passenger do on a plane? If you said “change into pyjamas midflight” then maybe you were on my red-eye from Orlando, Florida, to Frankfurt, Germany, during which a passenger disappeared into the toilet and emerged in a nightgown.
It happens more often than you’d think. John Gray, who owns a company that sells gift baskets in London, admits to changing into his pyjamas on long flights.
“I like to wear my Pikachu onesie,” he says. “It’s super comfy and helps me get a good night’s sleep on long-haul flights. I usually get a smile from everybody who sees me and nobody has ever said something weird.”
There is a subset of airline passengers such as Gray who take hitting 30,000 feet as an invitation to make themselves at home.
Lauren Guilfoyle, of Emirates Airline, says the carrier hands out sleepwear with “moisturising” qualities to first-class passengers.