10 Surprising Facts You Didn’t Know About Flying

SundanceVacations.com reports that approximately 56 pieces of luggage are lost during travel every 60 seconds. Kind of makes you re-think the concept of carry-on, doesn’t it?

At any time in the United States, 61,000 people are in the air, 1stContact.com shares. It’s a bird, it’s a plane… yup, it’s most likely a plane!

If a short flight is what you’re after, the shortest flight in the world would be the one from the Scottish Isle of Westray to Papa Westray, which lasts only two minutes, SureTravel.co reveals.

In 2015, The Air Transport Action Group reports that almost 3.6 billion people travelled via the world’s airlines!

Airplane pilots who will be flying the same plane each eat a different meal before a flight, according to DailyTenMinutes.com, just in case any one of them should get sick due to their ingested food.

Food tastes different while up in the air? This is due to the dry atmosphere within the plane, starting during takeoff and worsening as the plane continues to climb in altitude. Consequently, this dries out our noses and in effect, dulls our taste buds (one third of them, approximately). Huffington Post explains to combat this, heavy amounts of salt and spices are added to airline meals – one more reason to fill up ahead of time at your gate.

In New York’s JFK airport, you can find a coat check option in terminal 5 for travellers going someplace tropical who may want to leave their bulky layers on home turf until their return. As added peace of mind for this feature, the person who takes your coat will also snap a photo of you with the coat for their records, according to MentalFloss.com.

By 2018, Reuters reports that 80 per cent of air-bound travellers will be forgoing the kiosk and checking-in via their mobile instead.

It’s not just you. Flights HAVE become rockier in recent years. Turbulence is partly caused by the carbon dioxide in the air, and given the evidence of atmospheric carbon dioxide on the rise; it’s only expected to get worse. 10 per cent to 40 per cent worse by the year 2050, to be a little more specific, via CBS New York Online.

That tiny little hole in your airplane window isn’t your eyes deceiving you, and it isn’t the aftermath of some wayward pebble mid-flight. The small hole you see is there to help regulate the air pressure within the cabin. Three acrylic panes make up the window, with the exterior-most panel functioning as a barrier to the outside and with the purpose of keeping the cabin air pressure in check. The second panel is the backup and the inner-most panel with the tiny hole is there to ensure regulated air pressure for that back-up panel – keeping it in top shape in case of emergency, according to Travel and Leisure.