13 secrets airline pilots won't tell you, according to Reader's Digest

WARNING: Do not read if flying this week. From flying with less fuel than they should to delaying their departures to eat, pilots reveal all.

Extreme landings at St Maarten Airport. Picture: Alijengi, Flickr

THEY are the secrets pilots don't want passengers to know.

From flying with less fuel than they should to delaying their departure times in order to have a quick meal, pilots have revealed all to Reader's Digest.

The magazine interviewed 17 pilots on topics such as safety, stress, delays and rough landings. Here are some of their best revelations.

Flying on empty

"I'm constantly under pressure to carry less fuel than I'm comfortable with. Airlines are always looking at the bottom line, and you burn fuel carrying fuel. Sometimes if you carry just enough fuel and you hit thunderstorms or delays, then suddenly you're running out of gas and you have to go to an alternate airport." - Captain at a major airline.

The real reason for flight delays

"Sometimes the airline won't give us lunch breaks or even time to eat. We have to delay flights just so we can get food." - First officer on a regional carrier.

Plane tired

"The truth is, we're exhausted. Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break. That's many more hours than a truck driver. And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can't pull over at the next cloud." - Captain at a major airline.

Safety secrets

"You may go to an airline website and buy a ticket, pull up to its desk at the curb, and get onto an aeroplane that has a similar name painted on it, but half the time, you're really on a regional airline. The regionals aren't held to the same safety standards as the majors: Their pilots aren't required to have as much training and experience, and the public doesn't know that." - Captain at a major airline.

Turbulence troubles

"Some FAA (the US safety body) rules don't make sense to us either. Like the fact that when we're at 39,000 feet going 644km/h, in a plane that could hit turbulence at any minute, [flight attendants] can walk around and serve hot coffee and Chateaubriand. But when we're on the ground on a flat piece of asphalt going 8 to 16km/h, they've got to be buckled in like they're at NASCAR." - Jack Stephan, US Airways captain based in Annapolis, Maryland, who has been flying since 1984.

Time warp

"No, it's not your imagination: Airlines really have adjusted their flight arrival times so they can have a better record of on-time arrivals. So they might say a flight takes two hours when it really takes an hour and 45 minutes." - AirTran Airways captain, Atlanta.

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Don't ask me for directions

"I may be in uniform, but that doesn't mean I'm the best person to ask for directions in the airport. We're in so many airports that we usually have no idea." - Pilot for a regional carrier, Charlotte, North Carolina.

All airports aren't equal

"The two worst airports for us: Reagan National in Washington, D.C., and John Wayne in Orange County, California. You're flying by the seat of your pants trying to get in and out of those airports. John Wayne is especially bad because the rich folks who live near the airport don't like jet noise, so they have this noise abatement procedure where you basically have to turn the plane into a ballistic missile as soon as you're airborne." - Pilot, South Carolina.

Extreme landings at St Maarten Airport. Picture: Alijengi, Flickr

Brace for a rough landing

"At some airports with really short runways, you're not going to have a smooth landing no matter how good we are: John Wayne Airport; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Chicago Midway; and Reagan National." -Joe D'Eon, a pilot at a major airline who produces a podcast at flywithjoe.com.

Other revelations include:

• We only tell passengers what they need to know so not to scare them in the event of a worrying situation.

• We have to minimise flight delays due to an empashis on on-time performance so are unable to wait for a group of passengers on a connecting flight that's a little late.

• We like to be praised for a good landing - it's a major indication of a pilot's skill.

• If your flight is delayed due to bad weather, believe the pilots. Don't rely on a friend's word that it's good weather in your destination - there could be a huge thunderstorm on the way over.

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