Attendant Issues
ATTENDANTS COP AN ATTITUDEMy wife, myself, teenage daughter and two infant children flew from Lima, Peru to Atlanta, Georgia via Ft. Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines.
From the outset the flight attendants were, at best, surly. I was placing my two year old daughter's coat into the overhead compartment prior to takeoff and one attendant asked me what I was putting into the bin. The airline was concerned that people were carrying too much luggage on board and started announcing for people to place everything under the seat. Her attitude was very accusatory as if I were placing a grand piano in the bin, not a small coat.
Upon arrival at 5 in the morning at Ft. Lauderdale, my infant children were asleep, so I carry them just outside the door to place them into the strollers that were checked at the gate. I then attempted to return to the seat to collect a bag since I only had two hands, but was stopped by a shouting attendant saying I could not return due to FAA regulations. As my wife had also exited, we had no way of returning. Finally, one attendant grudgingly retrieved my bag and slung it at my feet saying it wasn't their job to retrieve bags. I understand the regulations, and I understand job descriptions. I do not understand nor appreciate why someone would take a position and then treat their customers with such a degree of condescending rudeness. I told both attendants that the next time I fly - on another airline - I will remember the regulations and the union rules. 12/08
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BECAUSE THEY CAN
It had been ten months since a major auto accident left me unable to walk without the use of crutches. In December '06, my husband and I took a vacation to the northern California coast - a short respite from all the therapy and a much needed change of scenery. The trip was lovely and helped center us again. On our way back to Miami we had a change of planes in Atlanta. We boarded the Delta flight and settled into our seats. Because I was on crutches we were ushered onto the plane before the general boarding call. As it happened, Delta had double booked my seat and the second woman wanted it, as it was closer to the front and had extra leg room. Apologetically I declined to switch seats with her as I explained about my leg and showed her my crutches. It was at that point a flight attendant attempted to convince me to switch seats with her, as her seat was in the back and closer to the bathroom. I respectfully declined. I should mention here that my husband and I were unable to get seats next to each other so he was sitting somewhere mid plane. I should also mention that the flight attendant, Mr. H, and the second woman were of the same race, and I in this particular threesome was the minority.
Three quarters into the flight and as they were picking up the cans and cups from the passengers, I needed to use the loo. The flight attendant with the drink cart was in the back blocking the aisle to the rear bathroom so I headed for the front. Mr H, who hadn't so much as looked at me the entire flight since I wouldn't give up my seat, rose from his own seat and stood between the bathroom and me, arms folded. "You can't use this one, you'll have to use the one in the rear."
I asked him if there was a rule about not using the one in the front and mentioned that I was on crutches and couldn't he just let me pass? When he said no the second time I called him a flaming asshole control freak and turned to ask one of the other flight attendants - when he made the call to have Homeland security waiting for me when we landed in Miami. Apparently, my "Behavior" was "Suspicious and erratic."
I used to love to fly. I remember "back in the day" when the crew of an airline were friendly, helpful, and acted as if they enjoyed what they do.
It was eleven thirty pm and we had been flying all day. As my husband and I were being questioned by the authorities and everyone else had disembarked, the flight crew was bringing up the rear. When Mr. H strolled by, grinning, I asked him why he made such a big deal out of this whole thing and his response was, "Because I can."
And there you have it. Your flight is hell "Because they can." And they wonder why business isn't so good anymore? 10/08
THE GARRULOUS FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Seeing some of these stories on here made me laugh out loud, and reminded me of just about every time I fly!!! My wife and I just got back from a short vacation and the return flight was absolutely crappy. So here we are crammed into the MD 88 and I am excited b/c we finally got the 2 seats and it would be just me and my wife. So we are seated in the second to last row where you can only see the engine cover out the tiny window. No big deal I'm just going to read anyway.
Well in the back in an open seat a flight attendant (that term makes me laugh anyway) from another airline is flying standby and gets on. She is young and thinks that her job, by all accounts from her repeated loud conversation with the other flight attendant on my flight, is the most important job in the entire world. Honestly, you would think she would have been describing brain surgery or something. Well then some weather moves in, nothing big but it delays our trip an hour and a half and we are sitting on the taxiway with the engines off (not a good sign).
So here I am, stuck not moving for 1.5 hours for a 50 minute flight. So this extra flight attendant and the FA from my plane talk loudly the whole time about training, not enough pay, their airline sucks, being told to work when they don't want to, and on, and on, and on, and on to the point I wanted to rupture my own eardrums, which incidentally she talked about also happening to her and the whole disgusting story of her infections and how her airline doesn't support her and on, and on, and on, you get the idea. Now I can understand this little blonde FA thinking she has the most important job in the world, and her thinking she isn't treated well enough for what she does. This is b/c she is young, pretty, and ignorant (which I'm trying to be nice and not call her a moron). But shame on my FA on my Delta flight, I mean do your damn job and check on people, and stop bothering people around you, I mean you are at work here so act like it.
Honestly, this girl was the most annoying person I've come across in a long time, and she wasn't pretty enough to overlook it either. I mean just turn your conversation down 30 decibels, oh that's right, you are trying to talk loud so everyone will look and say, "Wow, I hope I'm just like her one day, she is sooooo amazing", get a life, you are not the most important person in the world, nor is your *ahem* job.
Add to all this the 15 year old single mom next to me whose kid screamed nonstop and continued to throw her pacifier at me over 10 times to which the mom would slap her hand and say, "Don't do that again", yeah that will teach them, wow that is scary, no wonder kids today grow up the way they do.
Anyway I just had to share this, b/c years ago I actually worked as a pilot, and the industry has just gone down the crapper. Instead of flying being something respected and elite it is just a "cram your big asses and screaming kids in our seats, deal with all the crap you have to b/c we are giving you decent fares" kinda world and if I didn't have to fly to get places I wouldn't. 8/08
THE OUTCASTI was flying Air India between Mumbai and Delhi back in the late 1980s. The passenger in the seat beside me was a middle aged man who had obviously never been on a plane before. His hand luggage consisted of a 5L plastic container of diesel. I knew it was diesel because it was leaking slightly.
This poor guy was in trouble from the start due to the caste system. All the hostesses were, by the nature of the job, quite high caste .. obviously much higher than the poor farmer sitting next to me. At first he tried to just sit the diesel on his lap till the stewardess YELLED at him to put it on the seat next to him, and of course as "safety" is paramount, she demanded that he secure the container with the seatbelt. It was obvious he had never seen a seatbelt before as he submissively tried to tie the container down. I helped him with both that belt and his own.
From that point on he was ignored, and by that I mean when food was served I was given a tray, all politeness, and head waving and lovely cleavage, whereas he did not exist as far as the Air India staff were concerned. I shared my lunch with him.
I'm not making personal judgments about the staff and God knows I'm not the most empathetic middle aged white conservative male (here in Oz we are known as "Liberals"), but for me that was a flight from hell. 7/08
DESPICABLE SERVICE
I was called to come to San Francisco from Dallas because my mother was dying. I am disabled and must use a wheelchair when I travel as I can't walk very far. I told the airline about this when I made my reservation.
Dallas went off with no problem. When I arrived in San Francisco I had to wait to deplane because there were three other passengers who needed wheelchair assistance. I waited patiently. Finally, after almost thirty minutes had gone by, it was my turn. I got off the plane to a waiting wheelchair and was pushed up the ramp by one male flight attendant accompanied by a female attendant. As they pushed me into the terminal an announcement was made for the next flight. They looked at each other and then stopped the wheelchair and LEFT, leaving me right in the path as people boarded. Dozens of people pushed by me. It was like being in the middle of a stampede. No one looked at me. I sat and sat. I kept looking around for some help. No one came. I began to cry.
A nice woman, a fellow traveler, walked up to me and asked if she could help me. By this time I felt absolutely humiliated, helpless and angry. As I explained what had happened she looked shocked. I had been sitting there by this time for over a half an hour. Finally, a porter - not any sort of manager - walked up, apologized, and wheeled me to get my luggage and transport. I was never contacted by anyone, never offered any sort of official apology or any sort of compensation for the completely crappy way I had been treated.
My mother died two days later. I just didn't have it in me to deal with those jerks. I rented a car to drive home. 12/07
THE FLIGHT WARDEN
While flying from Frankfurt to Philadelphia, my family and I encountered a very disgruntled flight attendant. My husband and I, being seasoned travelers in our pre-baby lives, had traveled to Europe to visit family with our son who was just shy of 2. Knowing the headaches of traveling with young children, we had obtained 3 business class seats, although our son qualified for lap-seat.
The beginning of our long leg was fairly uneventful, until our son started to get tired and fussy. Doing everything in our power to keep him calm and quiet (walking, snacking, cuddling, reading, playing), he finally started to fall asleep. Noting that this took no longer than 20 minutes, we felt that we had done our best to keep the peace on the flight. He fell asleep for about 10 minutes when the flight hit turbulence, startling him awake. Again, we did our best to calm him.
Then our flight attendant decided that shushing him in the most obnoxious, in his face, spittle-flying manner was the best way to calm him. Not only did she spit on my husband and child, she scared the crap out of our boy. Then the crying really started. Before this, the whimpering was annoying, now he was screaming. We finally got him down again, asleep for about four and a half hours. Although he was asleep we could hear a child screaming from the back of the plane for most of the flight.
After he awoke, we had set up a play area for him in front of our seats. At that time, a little German boy passed by and noticed the toy area (the same boy who had spent most of the flight screaming in coach), and invited him to play. Finally! The two boys were playing quietly, very content, and his dad went back to his seat.
Then the flight-attendant who loved to scared small children approached us, demanding in a loud voice to tell us who’s child he was. I told her that he was a passenger from the back of the bus, but that the boys were being very good playing in our make shift play area. Her response was that they could not play in this part of the plane, and would have to play together in coach. WHAT?! Where in coach is there room?
So the now scares-children-stuck-up-I-work-in-business-class attendant storms back into coach and fetched the boy's father. Having to separate the boys from their new found buddies ensues in ear splitting screaming from both business and coach classes. As my husband paces the aisle in front of our seats with our son to calm him, he inadvertently steps back on the same attendants foot, resulting in her screaming out OUCH as loud and as obnoxiously as possible. I should mention that my husband is of smaller stature, weighing about 150, and was only in his socks. The attendant was wearing thick leather shoes and was no taller then he is. The rest of our flight results in her glaring at us with every pass, and no doubt spitting in our breakfast. So much for paying the big bucks to fly. 12/07
HELPFUL PASSENGER UPSETS THE QUEEN
I was flying from London to San Francisco on United recently. The British guy next to me was, I'll admit, a little "tipsy." Our flight attendant was a fairly scowly and very grouchy somewhat queeny guy in his late forties. On one of the flight attendant's trips around to offer water, the tipsy British guy knocked a few cups to the ground. Though I obviously had no cause in the incident, I silently helped pick up some of the scattered cups. Rather than a smile and a courteous "thanks" or even a nod, I was scolded.
The flight attendant shouted, as though I was a bad school kid, "Thanks a lot! Now I can't tell which cups are clean and which are dirty!" YIPES.
I said, "Ya know, I had nothing to do with the cups falling. I know you work hard and was just trying to help. Why don't you try to be a little professional?"
He nearly shouted back "I AM professional!"
REALLY?(!)
I got scowls for the rest of the flight, but thankfully no other upsetting treatment. It's just too bad I had to sit next to the lavatory, which had an unberable STENCH. Blegh. United sucks. Even British Airways is better. Note to United flight attendants: If you hate your job, quit. 12/07
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