Engaging in the mile high club might be a well-known cliché, but how frequently do passengers actually attempt it on a flight?
While it may sound enticing, the reality is far from glamorous when you consider the practicalities.
Firstly, there’s nothing particularly appealing about a cramped airplane lavatory that reeks of disinfectant and stale urine, with barely enough space for anything other than some awkward maneuvering.
And that’s not to mention the uncomfortable return to your seat as fellow passengers watch you and your companion exit the restroom together, leaving no room for discretion.
Additionally, the cabin crew are the ones who have experienced it too many times to find it either amusing or exciting anymore.
Recently, a flight attendant shared insights into how frequently people attempt to join the mile high club and what transpires when they get caught.
Mandy Smith, a flight attendant, is the author of Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of a Virgin Air Hostess, in which she discusses various aspects of working on planes, including the frequency of passengers trying to become members of the mile high club.
Despite its prevalence in popular culture, she disclosed that it happens less frequently than expected.
“I would say one in twenty or thirty flights,” she mentioned. “Not really that often.”
As for handling such situations, she explained that it usually involves knocking on the lavatory door and requesting that they stop.
“It’s worse when you’ve got children on board and it’s in the daytime,” she noted.
However, during night flights, she admitted to occasionally being more lenient, stating: “If it’s on a night flight and they’re being discreet, I probably wouldn’t even interrupt them if I’m honest.”
Yet, she shared that a colleague once had an uneasy encounter with a determined passenger.
“One of my friends had a situation where there was a young lady of 18 who was quite determined to join the mile high club, and she just grabbed anyone,” she recalled.
Despite the crew’s intervention and sending her back to her seat, the passenger wasn’t deterred.
“She sat back down in her seat, and then about half an hour later she was back up with another chap trying to join the mile high club again,” Mandy explained.
“My friend said she went to speak to her parents, because she was actually travelling with her mom and dad.
“She was only 18 bless her, she didn’t do it again.”
That must have made for a rather awkward car ride home from the airport…