I’m a former flight attendant. Here are 9 things I wish passengers would stop doing on airplanes.

Depending on the aircraft layout, economy passengers often walked through business class during boarding. I frequently caught people grabbing business-class pillows, premium headphones, or plush blankets on their way back to their seats.

Others tried to pack away cabin blankets and safety cards and even pull life vests from under their seats as souvenirs. My crew had to count all those items. Missing life vests meant delaying the flight to replace them, and missing blankets created real supply headaches for our colleagues on the next leg.

After the boarding doors closed, I often saw passengers spot an empty business-class seat and try to sneak into it. This almost always happened on long overnight flights when the cabin lights went dim, and people thought we wouldn’t notice.

But as crew, we always knew our cabin layout inside out and exactly how many passengers were booked in business class. Asking someone to pack up their things and move back to economy in front of a quiet cabin was never a fun moment.

I used to see passengers take off their shoes and walk down the aisle in socks — and sometimes barefoot — on almost every single flight.

The cabin floor collects endless dust and dirt tracked in from busy airport terminals. More importantly, I can tell you from experience that the liquid on the lavatory floor is rarely just water.

Leaving a mess in that tiny space or hogging it is also unfair to the passengers waiting in line right behind you. I always kept my own shoes on and constantly advised passengers to wear shoes or at least light slip-ons whenever they left their seats.

Speaking of airplane restrooms, many passengers still think that joining the “mile high club” is a cool story. But from my perspective working in the cabin, it’s just bad flight manners.

Airplane bathrooms are tiny and definitely not soundproof. My team and I always knew the exact second two people walked in together, while everyone waiting in line outside had to stand there awkwardly.

We can also unlock those doors from the outside in an emergency, which turned more than one “romantic” attempt into a very embarrassing conversation.

On long international flights, I saw passengers bring all kinds of home-cooked meals on board. But in a confined cabin, intense food smells can quickly become noticeable to everyone nearby. Once a strong smell spread through the cabin, there wasn’t much the crew could do to fix it.

While I understand preferring your own hot food to the airline’s, I always recommended saving home-cooked meals for the terminal and packing cold, low-odor snacks, like nuts or simple sandwiches, for the flight.

The galley was our only operational workspace on the aircraft. It was where my team prepped meals, ran safety checks, and snatched brief moments to drink water or eat a quick snack. When passengers used our small kitchen to stretch, linger, or drop off sticky garbage, it crowded our only private spot.

At the end of the day, an airplane is just a flying community for a few hours. Bring your headphones, keep your socks on, and show some kindness to your crew and fellow travelers.

Noise pollution was one of the most common issues I had to manage in the aisle. With background engine noise, people often don’t realize how loud their phones are. I completely get it — traveling by plane feels exciting, and it’s totally natural to want to call your friends or family right from your seat to share all the excitement before takeoff.

But doing that on speakerphone, or blasting phone games and video reels, forces your entire row to listen to every single detail. I can’t tell you how many times I had to ask grown adults to switch to headphones.

To me, mothers traveling by themselves with little kids are among most vulnerable passengers on any flight.

Unfortunately, passengers often had zero patience for infants. Babies can experience ear discomfort during pressure changes, particularly during takeoff and landing. The moment a baby began to cry, people immediately asked me to move them away.

As a mother myself, I know the stress on those parents. Whenever a mom or dad needed a quick breath, and I had time between duties, I’d pull kids into the galley for snacks and entertainment.

I know what frequent flyers think: “I’ve seen this video a hundred times, what could be new?” Even with fancy safety videos on seatback screens, I constantly saw passengers scroll through their phones or chat right over the sound.

But here’s what I always wanted to tell them: You might fly often, but you don’t fly on the same aircraft every time. Every plane model is different, and emergency exits aren’t always where you expect them to be.

Taking three short minutes to check where your nearest exit is won’t hurt, and it shows the crew some respect for the safety job we are actually trained to do.