Status: 15.01.2024, 10:40 a.m.
By: Carmen Mörwald
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The next time you're on the plane, you should listen carefully to the flight crew talking. A stewardess reveals the secret names.
Munich – When the flight crew gossip, they do it secretly and quietly. In addition, they use special secret codes. After all, not all passengers should be aware of what is being discussed and exchanged with each other. When the term "hot coffee" is mentioned, however, you should prick up your ears, because it is only available for hot passengers.
"Hot coffee" as a compliment: Flight crew reveals secret codes
If the flight crew finds a passenger particularly attractive, they reveal it with the secret code "hot coffee". This is revealed by an anonymous stewardess to the British tabloid The Sun. As an example sentence, she mentions: "I have hot coffee in seat 3B". She continues: "This means that there is an extremely attractive passenger in this seat, which the crew absolutely has to inspect for themselves." So hot coffee here is a euphemism for an equally "hot" person.
Flight attendants at the terminal of an airport (symbolic image). © dpa / Gareth Fuller
According to the stewardess, there is another way to secretly tell the flight crew which passenger they have their eye on. This is called the "Cheerio" method: when passengers leave the plane, they are usually bid farewell one after the other. If, instead of the usual farewell phrases such as "Goodbye", you are told a "Cheerio" instead, then congratulations: The stewardess wants to let you know that she likes you.
Names as secret codes: This is what the flight crew calls the passengers
Another stewardess reports that there is a game called "Find the Bob", in which the person who looks best on the plane is searched. The name "Bob" is an abbreviation for "best on board" German and is generally given to passengers who behave in an exemplary manner, regardless of attractiveness. "If you hear your seat number in the same sentence as the word bob, you've caught someone's eye in a positive way," the stewardess said.
In the same way, names are given to passengers who behave inappropriately or have done something wrong in the eyes of the crew. In this case, the flight crew likes to give the name "Philip", reports the stewardess. Consequently, the offender must expect to be poorly served for the rest of the flight. "This name originally comes from the term PILP – Passenger I'd Like to Punch," she explains. Over time, however, the secret code has been made a little more subtle.
Stewardesses, Stewards and Pilots: The List of Secret Codes
Teleschau has also deciphered some secret codes used by both stewardesses and pilots, including:
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- Crotch watch: Checking passengers
- I might do seven days in Denmark: Interest in individual passengers
- Landing Lips: Stewardesses who touch up their makeup before landing
- Senior Mom: Long-time stewardess
- Slam Clicker: Boring Crew Member
- Baby Jesus: Pampered Child
- Delta Defect: Toilet is defective
- Human Gone (Hugo): Corpse on Board
- Human Remains (HR): Deceased Passenger
Secret codes in case of danger include:
- Cactus: Medical emergencies in passengers
- 7700: Transponder code as an alarm for air traffic controllers
- 7600: Transponder code for radio failures
- 7500: Transponder code for hijacking the aircraft
One pilot tells The Sun that terms like "ground stop" (in German: "ground stop") and "air pocket" (in German: "air hole") are far more common. As the names suggest, the former means that a landing must be carried out, and the latter that turbulence is expected. Passengers usually have nothing to fear in these cases.
As the numerous secret codes and names reveal, professional life on board can be fun. Nevertheless, there are stressful situations from time to time, in which the flight crew in particular must keep a cool head. One example is the horror flight in July 2023: Due to severe turbulence, passengers and crew members were thrown to the ceiling of the aircraft. An ex-stewardess tells us how flights can generally be survived in a relaxed manner. (cln)