Originally Posted by
Planemike
givemewings..... Interesting to hear it from the point of view one who is "at the sharp end" and I don't mean in the cockpit...You seem to come at this from the point of view of a military officer rather than someone who is dealing with passengers who happen to be customers. You see the briefing as "non-optional": to you it is part of your job. You cannot force the pax to participate; they can only be encouraged to participate. As I have said I am just not comfortable with passengers being thrown off a/c when they pose no threat or are not actively hostile. I am even less happy trying to ban them from further flying. The aircraft is operated by an airline to provide a public service for all who can afford to buy a ticket. This is in contrast to a privately owned aircraft where the owner can say who comes on board.
I know you find this uncomfortable, but passengers - whether they have paid for a ticket or not is irrelevant to safety - MUST obey safety instructions on an aircraft. This is the law, it is not optional. Would you argue with or ignore the instructions/orders from a fireman in a department store, telling you to leave the building? Or instructions from a ship’s Captain telling you to don your life jacket and proceed to lifeboat stations?
99.0075% of passengers are quite happy to follow instructions. However if a passenger refuses to then they must be offloaded because they could become a safety risk to themselves, other passengers or the aircraft itself.
I don’t know the full details in the case of this thread - I wasn’t there - but if a passenger in an emergency exit row refuses to listen and agree to follow safety instructions, then they must be moved from that exit row seat. If there were no alternative seats available and no other passenger was prepared to swap with them, then the original uncooperative passenger would have to be offloaded; we cannot have passengers who pose a safety risk. If they refuse to follow safety instructions, will they also smoke in the toilets for example? A discarded lit cigarette in the waste bin can cause a fire, and fire in an airplane is extremely dangerous and serious.
Every other year on average I have to call police to meet the aircraft on landing to deal with an unruly passenger who refused to follow safety instructions or is acting in a dangerous manner. One charming fellow who refused to fit his seatbelt before landing and was abusive to the cabin crew was last seen on the airbridge shouting at the Spanish police to “speak fxxxxxg English” as he was led away.
Just last week while over the Atlantic the toilet smoke warning suddenly went off. I am sure you can appreciate the seriousness of a fire in the cabin at 37,000’ over the ocean, an hour and a half flying time away from any airport. This despite the safety briefing stating that smoking was not allowed.
So unfortunately, passengers do have to be instructed. We cannot rely on them behaving safely voluntarily - most do, but we can not assume it. You find the manner occasionally too bossy, but perhaps your attitude or behaviour is borderline non compliant or difficult? There simply isn’t time to negotiate safety procedures with every passenger. They are simply trying to maximise your safety.
Just relax.