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.

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.

Boeing has had a tumultuous several years after a pair of its signature 737s crashed in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Concerns about the safety of the plans have gotten worse in recent months after a door panel blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Nothing lasts forever, and that's certainly true of airplanes. Most contemporary aircraft have a lifespan of at least 30 years, but when their time is up, where do they go?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why you always exit a plane on the left side? It turns out there is a reason why this is the case - and it’s not just planes who have this procedure.