You might want to think twice before clapping when your plane lands next.
Clapping on airplanes is being decried as ‘cringe’, ‘annoying’ and ‘embarrassing’ across social media.
The gesture once used to be common, but now everyone from pilots to flight attendants to etiquette experts are discouraging it.
A survey from Wizz Air said that Georgia and Bulgaria were the European countries whose passengers clapped the most after landing – at 75 and 70 percent, respectively.
Western European countries are less likely to clap, the survey added, while 18-to-24-year-old passengers were likelier to clap than their 25-to-34-year-old counterparts.
A TikTok blogger with more than 145,000 followers who recently traveled to Mallorca, Spain, recently took to the internet and lashed out.
@the_adam_chef_and_family said: ‘Who claps because the plane lands safely? It’s ridiculous, it’s stupid.
‘We didn’t clap the taxi driver when he brought us to the airport safely and we took our bags off.’
Clapping on airplanes is being called ‘cringe’, ‘annoying’ and ‘embarrassing’ (stock photo)
The gesture used to be common but is now widely discouraged (stock photo)
‘When I do my job, no one ever claps about it.’
A pilot weighed in on the TikTok post, commenting: ‘We find it embarrassing.’
However, pilots usually cannot actually hear the clapping that goes on in the cabins on the plane.
‘We’ve got headsets on, the doors can be thick and there’s a lot of noise up front so we definitely can’t hear clapping,’ a pilot explained on Reddit.
Marcus Kern offered a different perspective on Facebook, adding that he was a pilot with 30 years of experience.
He said: ‘We don’t hear the clapping and we get told about it and appreciate it. I am always surprised how a sign of appreciation and gratitude is discussed on such an aggressive level.
‘It seems people against it don’t get enough gratitude themselves. I am sorry for each and everyone of you.
‘I can only say: you reap what you sow. Be nice to each other. I thank the clappers.’
Pilots usually cannot hear the clapping that happens in the back of the plane
Western European countries are less likely to clap, the survey added
Despite his plea, the feedback about clapping on planes appears to be increasingly negative online.
Commenters were unafraid to mock the so-called ‘clappers’ in a video titled: ‘If you clap when the plane lands, you shouldn’t be allowed on the return flight home.’
Sean Tobin wrote: ‘There’s a special place where they lock up people who clap on planes. Don’t see them clapping when the bus gets to their stop.’
Charlotte Moody added: ‘Makes me cringe, clapping for doing their job correctly.’
One Reddit user took his thoughts one step further and argued that the experience of flying on a plane had deteriorated.
‘Flying used to be a luxury, including dressing up, attractive flight attendants, good meals, and VIP treatment,’ the commenter said. ‘Now it’s more like a school bus in the sky.’
Another Reddit comment joked that it came down to the ever-growing fees for traveling.
‘Most airlines now charge a $25 landing-applause fee,’ they said.
Passengers are now refraining from clapping on planes
Others maintain that clapping on planes is polite and a sign of appreciation.
Angela Barbara Collings said on Facebook that ‘people can be so relieved after a dodgy landing, that they just want to congratulate the pilot’.
Rosie Panter, a travel expert, spoke to the Express and pointed out that plane-clapping exceptions exist.
‘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 to the Med should result in clapping,’ she said.
‘Let’s leave that in the past.’
