On average, 2.9 million passengers fly every day in and out of U.S. airports. But even though air travel has become so prevalent, it remains much more mysticized than, say, driving a car or riding a train.

I guess going 550 miles per hour (885 km/h) over 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) above ground comes with its fair share of mystery.

To dispel it, Reddit user BluPillow made a post on the platform, asking: “People who work in the airline industry, what are some things you think everyone should know about flying?”

Immediately, pilots, flight attendants, and other professionals started sending in their answers. Here’s what they wrote.

• Read More: People Who Work In The Airline Industry Share 30 Things Everyone Should Know About Flying

#1

Flight attendant here. I think everyone should know or at least keep in mind that airline travel is difficult.

You and your fellow passenger can expect to have: Stress, An altered food schedule, Lack of sleep, Swelling, Dehydration, Discomfort, Confusion trying to figure out new things, Social anxiety, Changing ambient pressure, Loud noises, Nausea, Being hot or cold, Boredom.

Please remember your fellow passengers are traveling for various reasons. Hopefully it’s vacation but very frequently I run into people going to funerals, going to get medical treatments and commuting to work away from their families.

Everyone has a different story and many of us are having a rough day onboard we all have the same goal. Get there quickly and safely. Including the staff. Have patience with each other and us.

Image credits: soggy544

#2

Former pilot here — turbulence will break your nose or your neck before it knocks the plane out of the sky. Buckle up when the light is on and take comfort in the fact that turbulence hasn’t crashed a plane since the 1970s.

Image credits: FeelFreeToIgnoreThis

#3

No one is physically capable of opening the cabin door while in flight because of the aircraft pressurization. So take comfort in knowing that if a crazy person gets up and starts frantically trying to open the door in the middle of a flight, they’re not going to be able to do it at all. You could sit in your seat and watch them work on it for hours and it still won’t happen.

Image credits: EMPulseKC

#4

When a plane is landing at night, they dim the interior lights incase you need to evacuate upon landing… your eyes are already adjusted to the darkness so you’ll be able to see better once outside the plane.

Image credits: bonestamp

#5

Not every landing is going to be smooth. Sometimes we purposefully land a little firmer. Just know that if it was a rough landing, the other pilot is making fun of the one who made the landing.

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#6

The reason you are supposed to open your life vest outside the aircraft in case of an emergency ditching is so that you don’t float upwards while still inside the plane. This will trap you and increase your risk of drowning.

Always open them outside or immediately before you leave the aircraft, should you need to evacuate on water.

Image credits: DerSaftschubser

#7

Both pilots are equally qualified — the captain just has more responsibility and more experience (usually). We trade off who is flying and who is monitoring the radios every other flight (sometimes every two flights).

Image credits: FatalDeathShart

#8

My husband was a plane mechanic for years and he says that flying is hands down safer than driving.

Image credits: vyletteriot

#9

Everything is expensive as hell! If you want your flights to be cheaper, take care of the aircraft while flying. The seat is rented by you, NOT owned! Just a simple tray table fix can cost $1000. The airline industry just passes the cost to the customer. Simple computers can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The FAA sticker of approval can triple, quadruple, or exponentially raise costs of things, hence the $6000 coffee maker.

Image credits: Nutwinder

#10

Not an airline worker, but when I sit down, during the safety lecture, I count the number of rows to an exit. If an evacuation is necessary, it’s a good number to know.

Image credits: PM_ME_YOUR_ATM_PIN

#11

Interfering with the air crew is a felony. If you have grievances you can address them with the airline after you disembark.

Image credits: starfishy

#12

There are no parachutes on commercial flights, so please stop asking. If the plane is going down there is nothing you can do but pray and ask forgiveness for your sins.

Image credits: Estbolbotkzn

#13

As pilots, we are just darn lazy. We focus our attention on finding ways to avoid anything becoming busy, rushed, or any time our capacity might be stretched.

We do everything for a simple life. Sometimes that means using the autopilot as much as we can. Sometimes it means manual flying and looking out the window.

Whilst some of us might secretly relish the opportunity to go off-piste and demonstrate our prowess as great aviators in adverse circumstances, no one wants a sweaty day. The imagery of seasoned sky gods wrestling with the controls are all well and good in the movies, but that’s exactly the sort of stuff we are determined to avoid. In fact, most of us are just plain boring.

Come say hi – either before after. Small kids and big ‘kids’ alike.

Image credits: Cvrk2

#14

Your tastebuds are reduced by 30-60% on flights. So more salt and seasoning are added to the food so it doesn’t seem bland. Might also be the reason so many crave tomato juice or bloody mary mix ONLY on planes.

The air in flight is drier than most of the deserts in the world, this impacts the taste of the food as well as your need to hydrate. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water on the long trans-oceanic or even transcontinental flights.

Flight attendant jumpseats are waaaaaay more uncomfortable than anything you are sitting on and are usually right by a stinky lav. So keep that in mind when you complain to a crew member about your seat. Jumpseats are about as comfy as those old plastic fold-up lawn chairs.

Image credits: Angelsunrise

#15

Almost every commercial flight you ride-on has a dead body on board. Possibly 2 if you’re on a wide-body (large) aircraft.

Image credits: m_cake

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