Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Most people who have flown have witnessed or participated in the touchdown clap.
The plane successfully lands on the runway and travelers quickly bust out the congratulatory applause intended as a “thanks” to the pilot for a job well done in getting passengers safely to their destination.
It’s all well and good, but what if the pilot is seething inside the cockpit as the claps rain down?
Some say the act of clapping could offend or come across as rude to those in charge of piloting the aircraft.
Rosie Panter, a travel expert with travel comparison website Dealchecker, recently commented about the flying ritual in an article.
“A round of applause. Two words. No and no,” Panter told British newspaper the Daily Express, per the New York Post.
“If you have had a particularly rocky flight and difficult landing, maybe a slight clap or thanks to the pilot as you leave, but no regular flight … should result in clapping. Let’s leave that in the past.”
The airplane clap has forever been debated, and not everyone is against it.
“(There are) different reasons that people clap unanimously on the airplane. You know, it could be vacation time,” an unnamed major airline pilot told Fox News Digital, per the Post.
“Or it could be like a super turbulent, windy, you know like everybody holding their breath and landing, and then it lands, and it’s beautiful and everybody claps then, too,” the pilot added.
Recommended video
Worth mentioning is that pilots can’t always hear applause from passengers because of how large a plane is as well as the distance between the cockpit and flight cabin.
“I think it’s closer when you clap for somebody that is performing, just like a courtesy thing,” one pilot said. “They’re doing their job, of course, but people still clap to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing your job well.’”
One etiquette expert told the Daily Express applauding may be seen as disrespectful.
“Applause is not necessary after a landing and is rude to the pilots,” the expert told the outlet. “If the landing is good, clapping suggests surprise at such skill. If the landing is bad, applause would be insultingly sarcastic.”
However, former flight attendant Jacqueline Whitmore, who is now a Florida-based etiquette expert, said this interpretation of the applause is “completely untrue.”
“I do not agree with the experts who say it is rude and disrespectful to clap after a safe landing,” Whitmore told Fox News Digital, per the Post.
“Passengers are simply showing their appreciation for the pilot’s skill in landing the plane safely.”
Regardless of when they land on the debate, it appears pilots do notice what their passengers are saying, and don’t always appreciate it.
“My least favorite thing that I hear from passengers, though, is, ‘Thank you for a safe flight,’ because I think that is such a given. That’s my goal,” one pilot said.
“I want a safe flight, too. I’m on this plane, too. I want to get home to my family just as bad as you.”