“Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey”: The Art (and Chaos) of Waking Up Passengers Before Landing

You’re 38,000 feet in the air, blissfully asleep in 21A. Suddenly, someone’s whispering “wakey wakey, eggs and bakey” into the PA like a possessed brunch ghost. Welcome to the pre-landing compliance check.

On Reddit, a thread from r/NonRevenueTravelers (cross-posted from r/flightattendants) asked: “Creative ways to wake up pax, go!” And oh, did the comments deliver.

Here are some of our favorite (and honestly kind of genius) responses:

The Tactics That Deserve a Place in the FA Hall of Fame

• Safety card tap-tap: Several FAs confessed to using the nearest pointy object—usually a safety card—to poke window seat sleepers. Low contact, high effectiveness.

• Light it up: One FA flicks on the overhead reading light if a shoulder tap doesn’t work. It's petty in the best way.

• Shade drama: A crew member admitted to opening the passenger’s window shade over their body just to get that compliance check in. Bonus points for apologizing in safety-speak mid-intrusion.

• Headrest shake: Why tap the person when you can jostle the whole seat? Or better—ask the person behind them to do it. Peak delegation.

• The mask slap: One passenger refused to wake up… so an FA let his sleep mask snap back onto his face. Like a cartoon boomerang, but FAA-approved.

• Food bait: Another just says “foooooood” and waits for instinct to kick in. If Pavlov had a boarding group, it’d be this one.

• Mouthing seat commands to the person next to them: Passive-aggressive performance art, truly.

What This Means for Airline Staff (And Passriders Watching From Row 2)

If you've ever deadheaded in uniform, you’ve probably been the seatbelt compliance enforcer—or witnessed a colleague do the ol’ “tap and duck” when a window seat snorer won’t budge. These stories are hilarious, but they also highlight the everyday balancing act of safety, comfort, and diplomacy that FAs pull off daily.

For nonrevs sitting nearby: If your seatmate is passed out during final descent, maybe give them a gentle elbow nudge and save the crew a moral dilemma. You’ll be a hero… or at least avoid getting poked with a laminated evacuation chart.

A Universal Truth at 250 Knots

Whether you’re a widebody warrior on a 15-hour leg or working a 45-minute hop, waking up passengers before landing is a weird, awkward ritual. And sometimes, the only thing standing between FAA compliance and chaos is a safety card… and a sense of humor.

Your turn—what’s the most bizarre or creative wake-up method you’ve seen or used on a flight?