Secret code name flight attendants say to passengers could mean they find you attractive

Not only is your safety on an airplane of great importance to the cabin crew, but so is their lingo.

Whenever airline staff find someone attractive on board, the chances are you would never notice.

And no, it’s got nothing to do with how you are greeted by a very friendly ‘hello’ when you walk onto the aircraft.

It turns out that the cabin crew use a secret code word whenever someone they think is fit embarks onto the plane.

Spoiler alert, ‘peng’, ‘leng’ and ‘dishy’ are not on the list.

If a stewardess has the hots for you, you’ll probably never know. (Getty Stock Image)

Now, if you ever notice some weird words being uttered by staff while checking the overhead lockers are secure, it could mean that they are speaking in code.

The late Qantas steward Owen Beddall has provided some inside knowledge into the largely unknown antics of those who work on planes.

He rose to fame in 2014 after releasing his book Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant, which exposed the secrets of the industry as well as what a host of celebrities got up to onboard.

The Australian author, who passed away in 2016, gave people an insight into what goes on behind-the-scenes during a flight and how the crew communicate that they have the hots for someone.

For example, if you hear the word ‘Bob’ while browsing the booklets to see what you can buy onboard, it could indicate that a flight attendant has taken a liking to you.

According to Beddall, it stands for ‘best on board’ – so stewards and stewardesses use the abbreviation to let their colleagues know that there is an attractive passenger in the midst.

Obviously, this might vary from airline to airline, but it seems that each crew have their own made-up vocabulary to vocalise their attraction for an oblivious traveller.

A flight attendant called LJ previously revealed the typical contents of a ‘Cockpit Convo’ between cabin crew and how they sneakily flag that they fancy someone on the plane.

The code word is apparently pretty popular among airline staff. (Getty Stock Image)

She explained that her co-workers dished the dirt on the most attractive travellers by disguising their conversation with another secret code.

During an episode of the Confessions on the Fly podcast in 2019, LJ said she would ask her fellow flight attendants ‘what they wanted for dinner tonight’.

She explained: “And you would say ‘Italian’ or this or that. But we were really talking about the dudes coming on the aircraft.

“So we would have a code of like, ‘No, I’m not really hungry for that’ or when somebody hot was coming on I’d be like, ‘Oh yeah I’ll definitely go out for that tonight’.

“When somebody came on who was really really cute, I was like, ‘Oh yeah I definitely want whatever it was – Italian – for the night’.”

So if you ever hear a weird discussion about a bloke called Bob or regarding what the crew are going to have for tea that evening, the chances are they might be interested in swapping digits with you.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Travel, Plane Etiquette