Do you take off your shoes as soon as you get on the plane? Here's why it could cost you (very) dearly
Taking off their shoes as soon as they are seated in their seats on an airplane is, for some passengers, an irresistible temptation. E [...]
Taking off their shoes as soon as they are seated in their seats on the plane is, for some passengers, an irresistible temptation. And little do they care that people sitting next to them may be bothered by the sight of their exposed extremities, with or even without their stockings.
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The temptation is even stronger for premium class passengers, where vanity kits distributed before takeoff almost always contain a pair of comfortable socks equipped, often, with non-slip grommets. In Business and First Class, at least, the personal space and privacy afforded by today's seats on long-haul flights means that others do not have to endure the sight of others' 'slices', perhaps for hours on end.
Then there are those who without shoes even walk around the plane in them., including toilets, bringing with it industrial quantities of bacteria. But even disregarding the consequences for hygiene and health, there is another, perhaps more important reason why passengers on any flight (short- or long-haul) would do well to keep their shoes on their feet, at least during taxiing, takeoff, climb, descent and landing (i.e., during the so-called 'critical' phases of a flight).
Indeed, their shoes, scattered on the cabin floor between rows of seats, would be an extra obstacle in the event of an emergency evacuation of the aircraft. Not only that: always in case of an emergency evacuation, perhaps in the presence of smoke, flames or debris, shoes are a great help. You try escaping from a cabin on the floor of which there may be shards of glass and other sharp or hot objects. And then to move quickly away from the plane by moving on the runway, which may be cluttered with the same obstacles--better to do it with shoes or without?
Speaking to Britain's Sun, American Airlines stewardess Andrea Fischbach also warns against wearing, on board, high-heeled shoes, sandals and flip-flops. E American journalist Christine Negroni, an aviation safety expert and author of two books on the subject, believes airlines should make it mandatory for passengers to wear shoes during takeoff and landing, as is fastening the seat belt.
On-board behavior and safety regulations are issued in part by national agencies or supranational aviation industry (the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S., Easa in Europe, Enac in Italy, and so on), are partly left to individual airlines: an example of the last case is the use of entertainment system headphones during takeoff and landing, which is allowed by some companies and prohibited by others or, again, From the position of the blackouts at landing or takeoff than in Europe. must be compulsorily raised, whereas in the U.S. the requirement does not exist.
