Reason Jet2, Easyjet, Ryanair and Wizz Air flight crews say hello confirmed by staff

It might seem like flight crews are just being polite when they say hello and welcome you onboard.

But there’s actually a very serious reason that flight attendants say hello to every single passenger without fail as they hop on board a plane, according to an air hostess who jumped onto Tiktok to reveal a little known airline secret.

The crew member, Iona Iachim, posted to her social media to reveal the truth behind the greeting on each flight.

Iona, who works for budget airline Wizz Air, said that the reason flight crew greet each boarding passenger is to check if passengers are ‘too drunk or sick’ to fly.

She said: “Did you know that your flight attendant greets you not only out of politeness but also to check whether you are too drunk or sick to fly.”

It’s easy to understand the checks, given that duty free bars are often packed with raucous holidaymakers even at 7am.

This month, Jet2 issued a warning to people drinking heavily in the duty free, telling customers it won’t hesitate to take action against inebriated passengers after a woman was sentenced in court for drunkenly abusing its flight crew members.

It had said: "This summer we will fly millions of hardworking customers and families away to enjoy their well-deserved holidays, but sadly there are a handful of people who behave in a disruptive fashion, often fuelled by alcohol that has been purchased in duty free and is then illicitly consumed onboard. Our message to them is very simple - we take a zero tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour, as do the courts – and by acting irresponsibly you run the risk of a criminal record and even a prison sentence."

Other flight crew staff have also put the ‘greeting’ on flights down to staff assessing who might be best to call on in an emergency situation onboard.