Picture this: It's about 20 minutes after takeoff, and you hear your captain make an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet," they say. Or, maybe they say 36,000 feet, or 40,000 feet, or 33,000 feet. Cruising altitude isn't actually a fixed number — there are many factors that go into computing this for every flight.

Passengers were stunned when they discovered the real reason planes are nearly always painted white. Holidaymakers have often pondered the question why aircraft are usually all the same colour. And, it's for a good reason, as explained by former pilot Dan Bubb, now a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

When boarding and exiting a plane you can feel excited or exhausted - and perhaps a bit of both.  So maybe it’s little wonder that plane flyers haven’t really considered why they would be getting on or off on the left side of the craft. That is until now…

Boeing is facing high levels of public and government scrutiny amid a rush of allegations accusing it of putting profits above safety when manufacturing airplanes and retaliating against employees who speak up about problems in the process after a pair of Senate hearings where the company’s culture came under fire from whistleblowers and aviation experts.

A flight attendant revealed the real reason why you are always greeted during boarding. Flight attendants do much more than just say “Hello” and offer a warm welcome when passengers board the plane.

If you scan the airfield while waiting for your next flight, you'll probably notice something similar between many of the planes: Most are painted white. Though every airline has a unique livery (that is, the branding on the aircraft's exterior comprising a distinct collection of colors and graphics), most fuselages are painted white, and for good reason.

Flight attendants are doing a lot more than just saying "hello" and offering a warm welcome when passengers board a plane.A message overlaid on a viral post shared by TikTok user Miva (@mrsmiva), who is a flight attendant, according to videos shared on her profile, says: "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?"

Speak to any pilot for long enough, and you’ll eventually hear a variation of the same lament — “There’s a shortage.” That shortage, as it turns out, has stubbornly persisted for more than a decade, though it’s ebbed and flowed in severity. Then, the pandemic happened.