Originally Posted by
givemewings
Yes, you were not there as you correctly state. Therefore its safe to presume that the crew action was proportionate to the pax behaviour. I don't doubt that 'sticking her fingers in her ears' was only the start. Once they start behaving like that, 'diplomacy' rarely works. It becomes a battle of wills and if you lose authority of that cabin then in an emergency you are toast.
You'll find for many airlines, it IS a requirement to pay attention to briefing if seated at the exit.
it's been some time, but I believe the Qantas exit row cards start with the phrase: "It is a requirement that..." Anyone unwilling/unable to comply was to be moved if possible, and if not, offloaded. It's possible there were no empty seats available and/or willing swap-ees to trade places.
Or, she was being such a prat that offload was the sensible choice to prevent further issues or delay down the track.
You seem to start off from the premise, the passenger is in the wrong and has to be dealt with a severe manner. To mind referring to the passenger as "a prat" is indicative of a certain mind set. You seem to feel it is the right of the crew to shout "jump" and the passenger should respond "how high, sir !!". At the end of the day the people you have on board are "customers" i.e. they have paid for a service. Would you accept that sort of treatment if you were in a shop?? No you would not. Why should passengers on an aircraft be treated differently? It is not unknown for those who don a uniform and are given some authority to embark on an ego trip.
""It becomes a battle of wills and if you lose authority of that cabin then in an emergency you are toast."" This again, to my shows a poor attitude towards passengers. You have to have authority over them.....really? These people are handing over their money to fly on your airline. They are not being paid to be there as would be service personnel who obviously can be given orders.
Noxegon.......Agree with much of what you say.. One has the feeling there are some on here who would be very happy for many airline staff to be issued with cattle prods to help manage the SLF. Give them a quick prod if they are not paying close enough attention to the safety briefing or the sales pitch for the duty free..!!