The Secret Language of Flight Attendants

If you find yourself bored on your next flight, pay attention to what the flight attendants are saying. If you listen closely, you may be able to hear them converse in a secret language. We’ve put together a collection of just some of the terms they might use. These words and phrases come from books written by experienced flight attendants and posted on air travel websites. Why not make a game of it to see how many you overhear?

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Bird

It doesn't take a lot of brain power to figure out the first one. Bird is a very common term for an airplane.

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Flyboy/Flygirl

Some of the terms are a tad sexist — but if you hear a fight attendant refer to a flyboy or flygirl, they're talking about the pilot.

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Ramp Rats

Ramp rats are members of the ground crew.

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Cowboys

A cargo plane operator is a cowboy.

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Pointy End

In flight attendant lingo, first class or business class is referred to the pointy end (of the plane).

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Trolly Dolly

Code for a flight attendant pulling a carry-on bag.

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Bottle-to-throttle

This term refers to the time between a member of the flight crew being allowed to consume alcohol and the start of their shift.

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Slinging Hash

Slinging hash on an airplane is simply meal service, says author Rene Foss.

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Screamer

According to Foss, a screamer is an upset passenger.

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Steerage

Steerage is a historical term for the part of a ship with the cheapest fares. The same word is used by flight attendants (and frequent travellers) to describe the economy class section of an airplane.

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Cockpit Queen

According to Rene Foss, a cockpit queen is a crew member that prefers to hang around the front of the plane.

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Blue Room

Foss writes that the 'blue room' is flight attendant code for the lavatory.

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Crew Juice

What happens to all the leftover booze and mix from your flight? Your cabin crew mixes it all together to create crew juice. According to a discussion on Airliners.net, crew juice is always different and ranges from delicious to disgusting.

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Gate Lice

You'd think we'd have figured out how to board a plane by now. Nope. People will still cluster around the gate trying to get on the plane first. These are what flight attendants refer to as gate lice.

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Coach Roach

A coach roach, flight attendant Sarah Steegar explained to Flyertalk, is a flight attendant who prefers to work in steerage.

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Crotch Watch

That moment when flight attendants walk down the aisle making sure your seatbelt is fastened? That's the crotch watch.

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Crumb Crunchers

Flight attendants refer to children on planes as crumb crunchers.

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Two-for-one Special

A two-for-one special occurs when a plane hits the runway and bounces into the air before coming down again to land. It freaks passengers out, but not the flight crew.

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George

George is the common name for an aircraft's autopilot. It can also be referred to as Otto (from the movie Airplane).

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Slam-clicker

Flight attendant Sarah Steegar has more than 15 years of flying experience. Writing on Flyertalk.com, she explains that a slam-clicker is a member of the flight crew that heads directly to their hotel room and stays there until it's time to leave (slam the door, click the lock).

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Crop Dusting

In her book Around the World in a Bad Mood, Rene Foss explains that 'crop dusting' refers to flight attendants passing gas as they walk down the aisle.