I might occationaly mutter “wha-hey” under my breath, but it’s more of a “thank god I can get off this damn plane and go find a pub now” type thing.
The way some of the school bus drivers used to drive when I was a kid, it wouldn’t seem so daft.
I might clap if the Pilot had thwarted the machinations of the Evil Red Baron during the flight, but other than that, I wouldn’t.
the only time ive ever seen this happen was flying in to jo’burg in really bad weather, the co-pilot was on the pa telling us all about when and how wed be landing when we did actually land, right in the middle of his “and well be touching down in about a minute” speech. all the clapping was more of the sarcastic mocking tone with cat calls than actual positive applause.
I don’t applaud, but I do start breathing again.
None of my flight instructors have ever applauded my landings, even when they can use the plane again.
Seriously, I find the whole practice annoying as well. I think it’s an outgrowth of people’s fears that the plane isn’t meant to actually fly, and will plumment out of the sky at any moment. Never underestimate people’s tendancies to be irrational.
I am an old Disneyland fan, and have three books of E-Tickets to prove it. If the flight is especially exciting, I’ll hand the pilot or co-pilot a ticket on the way out and say “Thanks!” 
Wow, I remember E-tickets when I was a kid. Actually, the last time I remember clapping at the end of a flight was also when I was a kid, when I remember it happening quite often. Now, though, it rarely happens at all (though I haven’t been in any turbulent/nerve-wracking flights in a while either)
>> It’s a European thing, I believe
Your beliefs are all wrong. It is an American thing and generally a bunch of high school kids, yahoos, old folks, children or other undesirables. Polite people do not do it. Intelligent people will not do it. Probably people in First Class do not do it although I can’t say for sure, as my finances have never reached that high.
BTW, it is difficult for me to imagina someone saying “I have never flown” or “I just flew for the first time”. I have been flying many times a year since I was a kid.
You can do it sailor. Just imagine you heard the words instead of reading them.
Certainly you don’t think that just because you’ve been doing something since you were a child, everybody has too.
I’m glad that I’m not an inherently rude person because I did not clap either time. After the second time I began to think that perhaps it really was just me taking our pilot and flight for granted.
I usually cheer loudly. I don’t clap because it’s silenced by my oversized foam “#1 Pilot” hand, not to mention that my pilot fan club t-shirt gets the point across anyway…
I must attract clappers or something, because the rest of the plane always claps when we land. I think it’s to relieve the tension many people feel when flying.
The only time I’ve experienced applause after landing, it was the result of an extremely funny comment by one of the crew:
“Welcome to Boston. Local time is… (blah blah, weather, blah blah)… We certainly hope you enjoyed flying Frontier. If you didn’t, please remember that this was actually a United flight.”
It’s common for people to clap upon landing in Israel. Someone told me this before I ever went there, and both times I have flown there I experience the truth of this statement. Of course, the first time, it was a 21-hour journey from LA. I think we would have applauded landing pretty much anywhere at that point. (But the second time, it was a much shorter flight from Milan, and the applause was no less enthusiastic.)
I don’t recall applause on any other flight, and I have flown hundreds of times.
The only time I’ve applauded wasn’t for a landing: it was for a successful takeoff out of KC. The reason is as follows… A blizzard was bearing down on the area, but they thought everything was under control to safely let a few more planes out… until our plane (one of the first of the morning) made the take off attempt. Once we picked up speed, we started to shimmy all over the place: but at that point, we could not safely stop. (We would have slid half way to Canada!) While we were doing the two-step down the runway, I looked out my window and noticed ice starting to form again on the wings… :eek: !! But, we got up and off the ground safely. Then I, and most of my fellow passengers, clapped. (They did shut down the airport after our takeoff, btw.)
However, I have witnessed other people clapping on landing perhaps a handful of times at most: each time was after a moderately bumpy ride.
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One time, when I was twelve, I was on a flight into DFW, and we got put in a holding pattern. No surprise. But we were routed straight into a storm. Not fun. They served DRINKS just before that, too. Mom didn’t let me get anything, which was good, because we bounced all over the sky.
When we finally got to land, most of the people clapped. That was a SCARY flight, even for people who weren’t usually bothered by turbulence.
I’ve encountered clapping in three circumstances:
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After transatlantic flights US to UK. I think it is mostly Americans excited to be getting their vacation under way.
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After bumpy descents.
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Semi-ironic applause after a long-delayed flight finally arrives.
Personally, I never clap.
Only for the hairy ones. If the folks up front get me in on a run-of-the-mill Houston-Dallas or Houston-Tulsa run, it’s no applause.
But if it gets hairy, we do.
Applauding when the plane lands is a proud (and often mocked) Israeli tradition. Part of it is “Yay! We’re home!” (or “Yay! We’re on vacation!”, as the case may be), but I think it’s mainly because Israelis really, really respect pilots.