'Kind of scary': Common plane habit flight attendants want you to reconsider

For many plane passengers they are the absolute saviour on a long-haul flight - especially when you're stuck sitting next to a chatty seat neighbour, or a crying baby.

But headphones, while incredibly practical and a travel necessity, are also a cause for concern with flight attendants warning there is a right and wrong time to wear them.

Aside from the need to pay attention during the safety briefing, passengers also need to remain aware of their surroundings in case something actually happens that requires their attention.

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Rich Henderson, who's been a flight attendant for 12 years, told CNN Travel he is often worried for what would happen in an emergency.

"We're there primarily for safety reasons as flight attendants and you know we often joke, but it's not really a joke, that if there was an emergency situation, half the people would still be on the plane because they have noise-cancelling headphones on and they're in their phones," Rich said.

"They're not paying attention to what's going on around them. And it's kind of scary to think about."

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Another cabin crew member said passengers wearing headphones also tend to sometimes miss other things like a meal and beverage service.

And then get annoyed about it.

"If you see a cart, a flight attendant approaching your row, take your headphones off," Andrew Henderson, a flight attendant with 22 years of experience, told CNN Travel.

"Look up, acknowledge that they're there so that we don't have to have challenging situations in the future."

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Indeed, after another airline worker recently shared similar advice for passengers when it comes to the meal service on flights.

In a video shared on social media, Yana Biryukova said polite airplane passengers clock when the flight attendants are serving drinks or meals to the people in the row in front of them.

"They take their headphones out, they're not chewing food, and they know their order without making the flight attendant wait," she said.

Yana said it's a mammoth task getting food and drinks to everyone on the plane in a timely manner.

"It takes a while for the flight attendants to feed 100-400 people in 10 minutes," she wrote in the video's caption.

"Being prepared and having your order ready really helps make it a smoother and faster process."

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