When was the last time you were on a plane? Imagine you’re back on that flight, but now there is a mob of men demanding service or an ungrateful couple. Flight attendants don’t deserve what they are out through. And you would not believe what they get put through. Content edited for clarity.
He Was In Fact, Not A Gentleman
“Years ago, an American gentleman (if he can be called that) boarded the flight in London, bound for the U.S. He was one of the last to board and was already upset because he was so late and the airline wouldn’t delay the flight to accommodate him. He had to rush, and that seemed to have upset him the most.
He tried to insist on bringing all four bags on the plane, was furious that he didn’t get the window seat he wanted (demanding an immediate free upgrade to First Class, which was full), and ranted on about how horribly he had been treated by the airline. Of course, his tardiness and our subsequent refusal to change our flight schedule were entirely the airline’s fault!
I did my best to soothe him, promising him a free cocktail (redundant statement because they were all free anyway!) and assured him that we would take excellent care of him. He groused and complained anyway, refusing to be mollified. I managed to get him to his aisle seat near the rear of the economy cabin and brought him a whisky and soda, which, according to him, was the least I could do. I didn’t even mind the fact that he couldn’t be bothered to say, ‘Thank you.’
Things went fairly smoothly until the meal service. Of the three choices, fish, chicken, or beef (or what we affectionately term ‘fin, feathers, and leather’), we had run out of beef and had only fish and chicken available. Of course, ‘Mr. Problem’ wanted the beef, and absolutely would not accept any other option. No amount of pleading would change his mind, and my alternative options fell on deaf ears. He simply demanded his beef, and although he didn’t become physical, he also insisted that we accommodate him by bringing him a First Class steak before moving to the next passengers. Of course, we couldn’t do that. He was, without a doubt, one of the most demanding and obnoxiously rude people that I’ve ever had to address.
At a loss for how to handle this prick, in desperation, I finally hit upon a scheme. So smiling sweetly, I addressed him very politely:
‘Mr. Problem,’ I said, ‘I understand that our airline has presented you with a very challenging day, and I’d like to make it up to you. As the Head Flight Attendant on this flight, I have some options that may work, and I’m hoping we can come to a compromise that’s agreeable to you. What can I do to make this right?’
He hesitated, and then said, ‘What do you think you can do for me?’
So I replied, ‘Perhaps a free upgrade on a future flight would work. Or would you prefer a free ticket?’
He thought for a moment, and I could see a crafty, sly look come into his eye before he said, ‘Well… two free tickets would be a good start.’ I opened my mouth to speak, and he interjected, ‘in First Class!’ I blinked, a bit surprised, and he continued with, ‘anywhere that your airline flies!’
With that, he sat back triumphantly with a smug smile, as if he had just successfully won a million-dollar bet!
I considered for a moment, then I said, ‘I cannot authorize First Class, nor can I authorize tickets for our entire route network. But what I can do is authorize two free tickets for a return trip anywhere within the continental United States. Will that work?’
He frowned, then said, ‘And that’s the best your airline can offer? That’s pathetic, but if that’s all you’re going to do for me, then I’ll have to accept it!’
So I asked him to wait while I prepared my authorization. Using company letterhead, I took out my ink pen and I wrote:
This is to authorize two free round-trip economy class tickets for travel within the continental United States for Mr. Problem and guest. This authorization is valid for one year from the date shown below and is not transferable. Agent: Use computer code 5L-rrS4d, authorization code JLr
I dated it carefully and scrawled an illegible signature at the bottom. Then, folding up the ‘authorization’ neatly, I slipped it into a company envelope and returned to Mr. Problem.
‘Here’s your authorization, Mr. Problem,’ I said sweetly, ‘please take a minute to look through it and ensure that it’s correct. I’ll return in a few minutes.’
When I returned several minutes later, Mr. Problem said, ‘I guess it will have to do. It isn’t much, but at least it’s a start!’
I couldn’t believe this guy’s arrogance, and then he said, ‘By the way, I don’t see your employee number on here. Shouldn’t there be a way to identify you?’
So I replied, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. My employee number is forty-three.’
Mr. Problem carefully wrote ‘Employee #43’ near my ‘signature,’ slipped the form into the envelope, put that into his pocket, and closed his eyes to sleep. No acknowledgment, no ‘Thank You,’ nothing.
In the end, though, I had the last laugh. You see, I had absolutely no authorization to give anyone free tickets to anywhere, let alone a free upgrade or anything else for free beyond a free cocktail!
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he showed up at the ticket counter to demand his free tickets! It was uncharacteristically mean of me to do that, but sometimes, people get what they deserve! Given the same situation, I may not resolve it the same way. But then again, if it worked for me once, it would probably work again!”
“It Never Pays To Be A Jerk”
“My favorite incident involved duplicate seat assignments. It was towards the end of the boarding process. I got a call from the flight attendant, telling me that she had a seat dupe. This used to be a somewhat common occurrence 30 years ago. The computer system just wasn’t as reliable as it is now.
I headed down to the plane with the names of the folks who had those seats. Of course, they were the ones standing in the aisle. I let the other couple know that the seats had been assigned twice and that I had another seat assignment for him and his wife. Before I could say anything else the man raised his voice and loudly informed me, and everyone around him, that they had these seats and they weren’t moving. I had no more patience left that day, especially not for this couple. I smiled through my frustration, knowing it would be worth it.
I turned to the other couple and told them that it appeared this gentleman felt very strongly about sitting in those seats, so I would need to move them. I told them I had two seats in first class, so would they gather their things and follow me.
The couple in coach sputtered and tried to say something, but I simply smiled and escorted the other couple to first class, being sure to tell them that drinks were free. They were quite pleased. The other pair? Not so much. It never pays to be a jerk to the gate agent.”
When Passengers Take Over
“A few years back I used to fly for a low-cost airline. As we know low-cost airlines provide services but you can’t compare them to full-service airlines. Low-cost airlines don’t have an entertainment system complimentary food or beverage service, and all you get free is water the rest you need to buy.
The flight was from Kolkata to Delhi, India but due to technical reasons, it got delayed. The flight was on the ground for an hour and it started raining thus more problems arose. As the flight was technically grounded, the staff wanted passengers to deplane because the aircraft couldn’t fly. So, as a crew, we made an announcement that all passengers needed to deplane, there would be a change of aircraft, and they all needed to go back to the terminal.
But there was a group of 100 people traveling together. They wanted us to serve them something inflight as the flight was delayed. We informed them we couldn’t serve them since we didn’t have enough food for all 180 passengers. Not to mention, they were all supposed to be getting off the plane.
To my surprise, one person from the group said he wanted food for only their group of people and as crew, it was our responsibility that we serve all passengers. Of course, we couldn’t serve some and leave the rest. So I repeated the same thing to the passenger but this guy was not taking no for an answer. He demanded nuts to eat and snacks for his group of people.
His people created a ruckus in the aircraft and we told them all refreshments would be given on the ground after deplaning at the airport terminal since they ordered food for all in the terminal. After sorting out that ridiculousness, we managed to deplane the 80 passengers who were not from the problem group. But now those 100 didn’t want to deplane without snacks.
We tried our best to explain, but nothing was getting through to them. They started shouting and the other attendant working with me became intimidated. So we agreed to give them noodles but this one guy just couldn’t wait and tried to open the meal cart.
My female crew mate stopped him saying, ‘Sir, please understand,’ but this guy first pushed her away, broke our serving tray, then opened our meal cart and took the whole drawer. He took nuts, popcorn, nachos, etc. Then laughing his group shouted, ‘Hurry!’
This whole situation scared me and the other flight attendant because they were behaving like animals. We needed to call security because they would not leave. But because there were so many of them and they were acting out, it took another hour to get them off the plane. I was more scared because we were only two girls at the back of the aircraft and our male crew was in front.
I called my supervisor. He pushed everyone to reach us with two security guys. By then the other girl was already crying and I was terrified as all I could see were male passengers standing around us all eating and laughing at us. They had already proven they would do anything they wanted.
After seeing us like this our supervisor told security that he wouldn’t leave us there and he wanted these guys to deplane immediately. Then with help of security, they all deplaned. But what happened that day still bothers me. I can still clearly remember the way they all looked at us and talked to us. It was terrifying. And I remember he said being a cabin crew is a characterless job therefore he was not obliged to listen to us. I was past my breaking point that day.”