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If I could have one superhero power it would be the ability to snap my fingers and get to any destination I could dream of. But I'm a mere mortal so I had to become a a wing-wearin', heel-stomping, drink-slinging flight attendant. People like asking the same questions over and over. My worst flight ever? Stuck with a passenger drunk off his socks. Favorite destination? Rome. Ever dated a pilot? Oh my god, NO.
But no one ever stops to ask me the question I'm dying to answer: What can a passenger do to annoy a flight attendant? So now it's my turn. I present the 10 Most Annoying Passenger Habits.
10) Frowning Faces: I like smiles. I especially like them come row 40, so please, throw a smile my way. Sounds easy enough, right?
9) Misuse of Overhead Compartments: If you're one of the first 10 passengers to board, shoving your jacket into the overhead bin is a total a-hole move. It's frustrating to have to check someone's carry-on because your jacket has taken up half the overhead bin when it could easily have gone under the seat in front of you.
8) Creating Obstacles in the Aisle: Legs, feet, shoulders, elbows, knees, heads ... bags, purses, shoes, pillows ... Aisles are small. Galley carts are big. It's hard seeing around a 200-lb. galley cart, so I hit countless body parts daily (and feel terrible doing it). I'm asking -- no, I'm begging -- please keep all of your personal objects, and your person, out of the aisle until I've passed you. Then, feel free to take the aisle back over.
Click here to read the top seven reasons after the jump -- and learn the one trick that will get you in any crew member's good graces.
7) Rolling Your Eyes When I Can't Help You Hoist Your Carry-On Into the Overhead Bin: I understand that you might need a hand getting your luggage into the overhead. I can't risk hurting myself for you or your bag -- I don't want to get an OJI (on the job injury) and be out of work. I'm genuinely sorry I have to say no. I really am ... until you roll your eyes. Then, you've lost all sympathy
6) Not Paying Attention to My Exit-Row Briefing: Your chatting on the phone/talking to the person next to you during my exit-row briefing is not only annoying, but it gives me the right to remove you from that row with extra leg room. I have to know you are willing and able to do what I'm asking. It's simple. Listen for a minute (yes, I know you've "heard this 200 times before, but it's not going to kill you to listen again and then I'll be on my way. That simple.
5) Leaving Your Headphones on While Ordering: "Whaaaaat?" Press pause, take them out for just a tiny moment and tell me what you want. I'll love you for life.
4) Telling Me What My Job Is: I'm paid to handle an emergency situation. My slinging drinks, chat-chatting and
being friendly while bringing you blankets, tissues, cups of water and little peanuts is just an added bonus for you. If you have a heart attack and there's no doctor on the plane, I'm there and can try to keep your heart going. So please, please do not tell me what my job is.3) Complaining About My Limited Food Supply: We know airlines used to serve free, hot meals in main cabin. We also know many airlines have gone bankrupt in the past 10 years. They have had to make cuts -- from no meals to fewer flights to outrageous bag-check fees -- which suck all around. But I have no control over that, so please keep your comments to yourself -- or write a letter.
2) Handing Me Dirty Diapers: Ewww. There is a lavatory on every airplane with a very nice and well-functioning garbage can. Enough said.
1) Poking Me: It's rude to point, so it logically follows that it's super-rude to poke/touch/rub/violate your crew members. Keep fingers and hands to yourself please. I have enough bruises from pointy fingers jabbing into my shoulder and butt to last a lifetime.
Bonus Tip: Bring any kind of candy for a crew member, and you are pretty much getting special treatment from that point on. We always remember those nice folks toward the back who brought us some Hershey's Kisses ...
Read more about Brandi's adventures both in-flight and on the ground at her blog Excess Baggage
More cool stuff...
10 Things Not to Say on a Road Trip10 Things Not to Say to a Guy After Sex,
10 Things Not to Say to a Hairy Guy
10 Most Annoyingly Over-Quoted Movies
...and more "10 Things" lists...
American History as explained by a 7-year-old (College Humor)
7 biggest dick moves in the history of science. Yes, the piss test is on there. (Cracked)
Roman candle to the face, nut-shot fail and 12 other fireworks mishaps w/ video. (Coed Magazine)
21 ways to be a 21st century gentleman (CollegeCandy)
That video where prisoners do the Thriller dance. (Gorillamask)
Comments:
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Tuesday 07 July
By Randy
Your link to the top 7 reasons doesn't work... FIX IT! (eyes rolling)
Reply
Wednesday 08 July
By Spatzi
Um, the top seven are right below the link. It used to be two pages and now it is one article, so if you even bothered to click it, you are an idiot. *rolls eyes back at you*
Sunday 26 July
By yaofans007
uuu
Sunday 26 July
By Rick
Yes it does, they just aren't in the order you'd like
Tuesday 07 July
By Andrew
Oh wow, someone bitching about being in a service industry. It's like a tip bartenders well and asking to speak to a supervisor for a compliment of a call centre employee. The people who don't realise these common courtesys are unlikely to read this article. Be considerate of others and try not to be a dick, such fresh and unique advice for how to get along.
Reply
Tuesday 07 July
By Tlo
wow the flight attendents of the airlines put up with alot. from dirty diapers to poking at them like they are some kind of exibit. lol
i remember from now on to bring a Hershey's Kisses the next time i fly. ;)
Reply
Friday 10 July
By nav
Yes, hershey kisses are nice...good answer!
Monday 27 July
By Linda
I'M FLYING OUT WEDNESDAY WITH KISSES IN HAND! I SUPPOSE THAT INCLUDES THE PILOTS! I DON'T POKE OR ROLL MY EYES, I MAY WIPE MY EYES BECAUSE I'M CRYING DUE TO THE FACT IM SCARED TO DEATH OF FLYING! LOL
Saturday 06 February
By Brandi
Tony, you've flown four times since then ... have you remembered the kisses? AND NO FLIRTING with the Flight Attendants. : p
Tuesday 07 July
By Rob
While I agree with some of your list, I really wish the airline industry would see things from the customer's perspective. While I don't blame the flight attendants, they are working for an industry whose customer service has going down the toilet.
Non-refundable tickets. Exorbitant prices. Rude personnel all up and down the spectrum. Cramped, tiny seats that get smaller and smaller with each passing year. Poor timeliness. Non-existent meals/amenities (I understand budget cuts, but your industry doesn't understand the value of my dollar).
Here's an example for you...United Airlines. I flew from Honolulu to Midland, TX for a job interview (in a town about 90 miles from Midland, but it was the closest airport). Due to delays, we missed our connection from Dallas to Midland, and were told there was nothing available until the next day (*after* my interview), so we had to drive (no refund, and a lukewarm apology at best). But hey, I wanted the job and I'm a big boy, I figured I could handle it, and it didn't cost me any more (the company interviewing me picked up the tab).
I took the job...and two months later I'm making the same trip on the same airline, this time to move there. Military booked it, as I was retiring from the Navy and it was my move-home trip. This time, due to our pets having to go on a different airline (United doesn't have climate-controlled cargo, and it was July), we *wanted* to cut our flight short in Dallas, pick up our pets and my car (which was shipped there by the Navy) and drive to our new home. As we had a layover/plane change in Dallas, all we needed was for the airline to simply mark our luggage to get off in Dallas...they could keep/resell the Dallas-Midland leg, I didn't want to use it, but the Navy had already bought it.
I asked the person at check-in to mark my luggage to get off in Dallas, and when asked why explained my situation and that I was not going to use the second leg of the ticket. This turned into a major issue, as we were told we'd have to repurchase the entire trip (at significantly higher prices, and out of pocket), that we simply couldn't get off the plane and not use that second leg, it was just not allowed. Funny, when it was the airline's screwup, they didn't care one bit that we did the *exact same thing*, but now it was a major hassle.
So...I ended up just keeping the tickets, and when we got to Dallas we left, got our pets/car, and drove to our destination...swinging by the Midland airport to pick up the luggage that, of course, flew on without us.
We later get contacted, as they are very upset that we didn't use the remainder of our flight, and even chastised me by saying that if we'd have let them know, they could have sold the seats. I was really angry at this, as *I did let them know* and they wouldn't work with me. What I wanted to do did not cost them any more money, in fact they could have pocketed the money and sold the seats again (I didn't care). An now they are annoyed at me?!?
This is just one example of many that I and my family personally have of poor/rude service from an airline. So while I see your points, I have a really hard time mustering up a huge amount of sympathy, considering you work for an industry that tops the list in poor value, poor service, poor quality, and a demonstrated lack of concern for doing it's job adequately. I'm not looking for first-class treatment in coach...I'd settle for third-class treatment. What your industry provides is barely civil and barely competent. Which is why I don't mind driving unless it's overseas
Reply
Tuesday 07 July
By Glenn
While I see and understand your frustration I don't agree on a lot of your points. Before the airlines were deregulated prices were much higher than they are now. Sure you got a choice of meals and seats were larger and movies were free but there was noway one could plan a coast to coast flight and pay $400 or less round trip. No matter how long you planned ahead it was costing you thousands per person. Now we have competition and I fly six to ten times a year for pleasure because of that, sure I've had some bad service from airlines before but never from the flight attendants just from unsympathetic counter personnel. I do hope the "passengers bill of rights" helps because there have been a few times when the policies in place did cause everyone on a flight to have damages that were never compensated. One time I was flying from Atlanta to Chicago then on to Phoenix in April. There was a freak snow storm and the airlines and airport had no deicing equipment ready, well we were stuck taxiing for almost seven hours waiting to get deiced, no food, no drinks, nothing. When we finally took off they did have sandwiches for sale but just as they get to me they ran out. I had not eaten since I had an hour plus layover in Chicago and was going to get food there. Of course I missed that flight and got into Phoenix close to eight hours late, never got anything from the airlines. But I'll tell you this no one on the flight ever once complained to the flight crew, and I was told this by an attendant when I got off in Chicago. She was so amazed that no one went ballistic. So place the blame where it really lies is my point Rob!
Tuesday 07 July
By Sasha Dawson
#3 and 10 go well in hand - you expect ppl to be happy when they've been gouged huge amounts had to be herded through lines like cattle, violated by the TLA with overwhelming frisks and checks, and then further herded on to a dingy plane that smells like stale vomit and recycled air. Then herded once more to our seats, not before having to endure everything from slow walkers, babies projectile vomitting from their seats (at the front of the plane mind you) and safely make it our seats.
Wherein someone tries to sneak into a seat they're not supposed to be in, the flight gets delayed because some passenger was held up by TLA for being too dark or too suspicious looking. Coupled with the fact that no airline has ever been able to get my meal right (western veg as in I take milk, I take egg, but no meat whatsoever and yes that includes fish - at this point I'm happy with just a a slice of bread and water but usually vegetarian to airline caterers means no milk, no butter, no salt, no cheese and apparently no water (the bottled water served usually has milk in it I'm told - which still doesn't make sense because I already stated I drink milk).
But I'm usually extremely casual on a plane, I don't care about the food so long as the flight isn't abhorrently bad or filled with screaming children. I fly often so I don't believe i do any of those things up there..I can't imagine someone poking or groping at a flight attendant - I've never seen anyone do that, but I can assume it happens with some of the rowdy passengers (alcohol + long trip + skirt-uniformed attendants = combination for workplace sexual harassment).
Limited food supply is one thing, but the company messing up is entirely another. I've become used to it but yet it is annoying for them to always screw up so badly. But still I'm not going to log a complaint because by now I'm used to every airline screwing up my meal - I don't bother complaining there's really nothing that can be done, although it would be nice if Lufthansa, or American Airlines, or Gulf Air or one of the many other airlines i've traveled would offer a lower price on tickets in exchange for opting out of the abomination they call food on a plane.
As for #7 - that's BS - I understand them not helping, but I've very rarely ever seen an occasion where a flight attendant didn't help. I've never seen them not help someone who needed legitimate help putting a suitcase up, so long as it wasn't something insanely heavy. While it's probably not their job, I think this flight attendant might just be a bit uppity.
Tuesday 07 July
By jim vos
The simple truth is a lack of common sense. The current generation is lacking totallly in common sense. I have spoken with a college president about my, our, desperate need for graduates with commom sense. He said to totally agreed with me, but said. "If I do not have teachers with it, how can we expect them to teach it".
Wednesday 08 July
By Tammy
I agree with you
Airline travel is overpriced and rude. If flight attendants are so unhappy they should quit- God knows we don't need any miserable people on our airplane. I was thinking when I saw the title of this article that I would see true "abusive" situations where customers were unruly. It sounds just like a whining session, I mean does she really think she doesn't have to do her job? All the things she mentions are REASONABLE to anyone in customer service- I was in customer service 10 years- and had customers 100 times worst than what she mentions- and I still treated them well and didn't whine about it. I think it's our turn to write the top 10 annoying things about flight attendants!
Wednesday 08 July
By Spatzi
Posting that here is not applicable to the article. That should be written up formally and sent to the PR folks at major airlines. Then your comments and thoughts may make a difference.
Wednesday 08 July
By CX 882
In any industry, any company, there are always good and bad employees. The company, of course, does its best to employ the best workers, the most talented, and the most passionate towards their job. If you took the time to frequent Brandi's blog, I'm sure you'd discover she is one of the flight attendants who truly enjoy her job and try hard to work with customers despite the corporation's decisions. What happens at the gate, the check-in counter, the reservations center, etc. is outside of the flight attendants' control. All the flight attendants can do is make your flight on board as pleasant as possible, given the parameters that are laid out by the airline. If that means nothing more than smiling at you and chatting a little, its not his/her fault, its the airlines' fault. If you hate the airline service so much (which I do agree is shameful here in the U.S. compared to international airlines), consider flying another airline, or choosing another form of transportation. Amtrak takes you all across the country, and even into Canada, as does Grayhound. Since you seem to have such a horrible experience with United, try a different airline. Want punctuality? Fly Southwest. Want in-flight entertainment? Fly jetBlue or Virgin America. Want to fly just about anywhere? Fly Delta/NWA.
Back to my original train of thought. You'll never find a company that has perfect employees, no matter how well the company trains its employees. Typically, the "rude" employees are those who have had a rough day. Keep in mind that the flight attendants, esp. the veteran flight attendants, have had to deal with numerous wage and benefit concessions after 2003. United, for example, took away pensions without prior notice. It doesn't help that customers are pissed off when they enter the plane because the airline charged them $15 to check in a bag, and the passenger didn't do the research ahead of time to plan for that charge. I'm sure very few passengers are thrilled about the new baggage fees, but you can't blame them on the flight attendants. Write a letter to the CEO if you're so passionate about that. You just have to count on flight attendants like Brandi who are still passionate about what they do, who try their very hardest to satisfy your demands in flight, to make your flight as pleasant as possible.
United Airlines and US Airways have always ranked low in customer service ratings. Delta Airlines is famous for having unhelpful, even rude customer relations personnel. I would cite my sources as well but I am too lazy to dig up my school research paper on United. But this doesn't mean that every employee working for the company is bad. Among the most pleasant domestic flights I've been on were on United and Delta (despite Delta leaving me stranded in Salt Lake City due to a maintenance problem). When Delta left us stranded in SLC, we weren't happy with what they gave us: a breakfast voucher for ONE person in our group of four, a Skyteam amenity kit, a snack box to replace the dinner we would have had in SLC if we had arrived on time instead of being delayed 5 hours, lodging, and a free pair of headphones. But the crew on board did their best to cheer everyone up -- responding promptly to service calls, dealing with the matter professionally, etc. On another Delta flight, the crew pleasantly chatted with us as we queued up for the lavatories. On the other side of the spectrum, Cathay Pacific Airways, which is the airline of the year this year and always ranks high up in customer satisfaction, has its mix of good and bad. On my last CX flight, flight attendants patiently helped fix my AVOD screen five times throughout the flight, responding to the call button within a minute each time on the 747. But on another CX flight, they didn't come by until half an hour later. Every company has a mix of such employees -- ones that simply do their jobs, maybe in a mediocre manner, and others who make your experience shine.
Friday 10 July
By nav
Greyhound or Amtrac available to you??? You'll probably find fault in them, too. Maybe driving yourself places would be best...GOD forbit anything should happen to your car!!!
Saturday 11 July
By Stephanie
To you and all the people that are whining...you are flying. You should be amazed that the human mind came up with something like an airplane and now we can fly in the freaking air. Sure it's cramped sometimes and bad stuff like delays can happen but it sure as heck beats driving for hours on end.
Sunday 26 July
By Kaahu
Excellent commentary and I totally agree. I, too, have difficulty finding sympathy and/or empathy for the airlines. Having recently flown on JetBlue for the first time, I was very impressed with the ground crew. They were helpful, friendly, cheerful and willing to serve seemingly. And then the in-flight crew, well, much to be desired there. The short flight over from SLC to Las Vegas was decent though the flight attendants were unfriendly, but served the peanuts well. And that was it, peanuts. We did have a choice of peanuts, crackers or cookies & one drink and that was it. It was not what we were told when making reservations, supposedly it was as much as you wanted. Not true.
Still, it was a cheap airfare and we appreciated the leg room in their seating on the airbus. Also, because it was a short flight the flight attendants were secondary to the experience and we ascertained not to be sociable as it seemed they sure didn't want to be. They simply did their job, ask for nothing else and we didn't. The flight was smooth and we were happy to arrive safely. Period.
The return flight was something entirely different. The lead flight attendant was abruptly rude towards my daughter as she commanded her to put everything in the overhead before being seated. My sons & I waited while she watched my daughter who lost balance of a few items as they fell to the ground. The lead attendant then began to chastise her by loudly saying, "Oh my gosh, what have you done?" Much to my daughter's embarrassment and apologies, she was a rude witch. In addition, I am handicapped and when she saw I was slightly more than annoyed, she said, "Oh, I was just worried about her (me) waiting." Yeah, right. I chose not to speak to her the entire flight and I was fuming as she then made conversation with a male passenger and telling her life story about living in New Jersey. She ignored oe of my sons who sat across the aisle and didn't know why she was rude to him. As we departed the flight, I looked at the crew, including the captain and said, "She needs to learn some manners!"
Maybe the in-flight crew could take lessons from their ground crew. Oh & I did write that letter and I did also call. I got nothing. No response, just an, "Oh, we'll investigate and thank you for calling." And this is only one example of a miserable flight for which we worked hard to pay for and save up. So, take some oxygen or something, Brandi, and suck it up. You're in the service industry and while you shouldn't have to haul off dirty diapers, you should all learn some courtesy yourselves. And you're lucky to even have a job!!
Sunday 26 July
By Michael
Although I can appreciate all of the things you had to say...I think they might be a slight bit misdirected. As I highly doubt that a flight attendant has any authority to repair any of the issues you brought up...they probably don't care about them either. Perhaps you should do as the article suggests and refer your issue(s) to a higher authority within the company in question.