To Clap Or Not To Clap

Fox News has asked the question of whether passengers should applaud when an airliner touches down without answering it. In a travel feature last week, the network asked ethicists, "travel experts" and a few pilots whether the claps are appreciated. Other than the fact that they probably don't hear them through the noise and activity of landing, the story reached no conclusion.

"If you have had a particularly rocky flight and difficult landing, maybe a slight clap or thanks to the pilot as you leave, but no regular flight … should result in clapping. Let’s leave that in the past," Rosie Paynter, who runs a travel Web site told the network. But an unidentified pilot said the applause is a "secret little guilty pleasure" that pilots enjoy. The only consensus appears to be that all pilots like a little eye contact and a few kind words when they stand in the flight deck doorway to bid passengers adieu.