An airline pilot has warned passengers to avoid using the seat pockets on the back of airplane seats, as this common habit could lead to them losing their personal belongings forever
A pilot has urged passengers not to use the back pockets of plane seats for a simple reason.
In the confines of a budget airline seat, there’s hardly any room going spare. Once you’ve slotted your bag under your seat, placed your book on the fold-down table, and scrunched up a jumper to lean your head against, pretty much every square-inch is accounted for.
Except, of course, for the plane seat pocket.
Steve Schreiber, 63, from New Orleans, has urged passengers not to fall for temptation and use the storage pouch. He is a man with experience of these matters, having spent 26 years piloting planes and 5,680 hours in total flying aircraft.
On his Youtube channel, @captainsteeeve, the aviator shares flying tips. He recently warned against using the “black hole of despair” when flying. According to Steve, the seat pocket is one of the easiest places to lose objects.
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“Stop putting personal items in the seat back pocket in front of you. If you want to lose it and never see it again, put it in that dark hole that is the seat back pocket in front of you,” he said.
The pilot said that many passengers return to his plane having disembarked only to realise they have left items in the pocket. At that point, getting back on can be difficult.
He said: “If the airplane is still at the gate, fingers crossed that somebody who cares can go out there and find the thing that you left in that seat back pocket.”
The pilot suggested that passengers triple-check they have all of their belongings in their possession before disembarking.
There are other reasons why you may want to avoid using the pocket. CiCi in the Sky, a self-proclaimed ‘sky ally’ and ‘travel alchemist’, has more than 300,000 TikTok followers who come to her for words of wisdom about soaring through the skies. Recently the aviation pro shared her five biggest things to avoid.
Cici urged passengers to avoid putting anything in seat pockets due to their unhygienic nature. She said that they are “gross” as people put “all kinds of things in there” The flight attendant then went on to implore her followers not to put their jackets or loose items in the overhead bin, also citing cleanliness as the reason why.
She explained: “I mean I’ve never seen them cleaned and I’ve seen people’s stuff spill out of their bags and get all over people’s jackets, clothes or whatever so just don’t do it.”
Previously a post on the Reddit forum ‘Flight attendants of Reddit, a user named HausofDarling said the seat pocket on a commercial jet was a place best avoided at all costs. They explained: “I always recommend you never, ever, ever, ever use or put anything in the seat pocket. They are cleared of rubbish but are never ‘cleaned’.
“I have pulled out and seen all sorts been pulled out from there. Dirty tissues, sick bags, knickers, socks, gum, half sucked sweets, apple cores, and then next flight you go and put your phone, laptop or iPad in there.”