Why Do Cabin Crew Stand With Their Hands Behind Their Backs?

Whether you are an experienced flyer or just an attentive passenger, you may have noticed that cabin crew always keep their arms folded behind their backs when greeting passengers and when walking through the aircraft cabin.

We all know that cabin crew job comes with a lot of responsibilities – from ensuring that the aircraft is tidy to overall safety of the passengers.

And one of the responsibilities includes them to have their hands behind their back. But why is this? Simply put – it is because they are hiding a special counter.

Cabin crew uses the counters to make sure the number of passengers getting on to the plane corresponds to the number of tickets scanned.

Doing it this way ensures they have an accurate count especially on busy flights.

This is why their hands are hidden, so as not to attract too much attention to the process. Sometimes cabin crew count passengers after they have been seated, and sometimes it’s done twice: during boarding and after seating.

So the next time you see cabin crew walk down the aisle while you are waiting for takeoff, look at their hands – and you might notice the click-click motions.