Nigeria condemns 'rude' airlines
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Good job Mr Fani!
Well, I have to agree with Mr Fani on this one!
Many of us frequently receive very nice emails from caring Nigerians asking our banking details in return for us large amounts of money and what do we do for them? NOTHING!
We even have the guts to ask them to put on their seatbelts for their own safety!
Such rudeness...!
Many of us frequently receive very nice emails from caring Nigerians asking our banking details in return for us large amounts of money and what do we do for them? NOTHING!
We even have the guts to ask them to put on their seatbelts for their own safety!
Such rudeness...!
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All of this from a Minister in a government which has managed to do nothing about the atrocities being perpetrated on expatriates (and his own people) in Nigeria on an almost daily basis now. I refer to the kidnappings, not only of foreigners, but Nigerians. In 2006 72 foreigners and 53 Nigerians were kidnapped. As of today 4 foreigners kidnapped from the Agip residential camp at Brass are spending their 41st day in captivity. Maybe it's time that all the foreign ambassadors in Nigeria called the government to task for having signally failed to do anything to stem the tide of lawlessness in their country which is leading to most areas of the Niger Delta being not so much different from parts of Somalia and Sudan where warlords rule and the gun and bullet are the only law. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and rapidly detriorating into one of the most lawless and least safe places on the continent despite its huge oil wealth 
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Well, I have to agree with Mr Fani on this one!
Many of us frequently receive very nice emails from caring Nigerians asking our banking details in return for us large amounts of money and what do we do for them? NOTHING!
We even have the guts to ask them to put on their seatbelts for their own safety!
Such rudeness...!
Many of us frequently receive very nice emails from caring Nigerians asking our banking details in return for us large amounts of money and what do we do for them? NOTHING!
We even have the guts to ask them to put on their seatbelts for their own safety!
Such rudeness...!
(psst Bokkenrijder: I have a client looking for a comedy writer, and if you would like the job, my talent agent's fee is only a few thousand quid - payable up front of course - but don't tell anyone or you forfeit my fee...)
Join Date: Aug 2006
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oooohhhhh come on.Isnt this behaviour universal,and yes i must say that you guys are being a little over zealous in the insults.
European,particularly English,German,eastern european travellers can be violent,get drunk easily,abusive,and have no qualms fighting in the streets and maiming perfectly innocent bystanders for wearing the wrong football club jersey.
Be real,and notice the difference,and just this once I will help by educating.
1.If the Nigerian is a labourer in Europe working below minimum wage,and has not travelled back for quite a few years,he/she will not be rude enroute to Africa,but will possibly do the things you have claimed on his/her way back because they suddenly realise they made a mistake spending too long at a dead end job,just to be able to claim to their relatives they live in Europe.
2.Most labourer european/north American Africans resent being spoken down to in a patronising manner,which they deal with on a regular basis in their dead end jobs,so want to lash out on their return journey to Africa or when they have to return Abroad.
3.Quite a few Africans cannot handle effeminate male air stewards/bored stand offish air stewardesses and lash out when spoken to in what they consider a patronising tone.
4.Like their caucasian counterparts,some African travellers are prejudiced and just cannot be nice to people they believe are not as educated or of their social class.
You guys do a real difficult job,but you are appreciated.I hope understanding what lies behind it may help.
European,particularly English,German,eastern european travellers can be violent,get drunk easily,abusive,and have no qualms fighting in the streets and maiming perfectly innocent bystanders for wearing the wrong football club jersey.
Be real,and notice the difference,and just this once I will help by educating.
1.If the Nigerian is a labourer in Europe working below minimum wage,and has not travelled back for quite a few years,he/she will not be rude enroute to Africa,but will possibly do the things you have claimed on his/her way back because they suddenly realise they made a mistake spending too long at a dead end job,just to be able to claim to their relatives they live in Europe.
2.Most labourer european/north American Africans resent being spoken down to in a patronising manner,which they deal with on a regular basis in their dead end jobs,so want to lash out on their return journey to Africa or when they have to return Abroad.
3.Quite a few Africans cannot handle effeminate male air stewards/bored stand offish air stewardesses and lash out when spoken to in what they consider a patronising tone.
4.Like their caucasian counterparts,some African travellers are prejudiced and just cannot be nice to people they believe are not as educated or of their social class.
You guys do a real difficult job,but you are appreciated.I hope understanding what lies behind it may help.
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So - It's not the pax's fault he takes out his frustrations on the CA? They aren't responsible for their own behavior?
And we should therefore hold them to, and tolerate, a lower standard of behavior?
And we should therefore hold them to, and tolerate, a lower standard of behavior?
Last edited by barit1; 11th Jan 2007 at 12:05.
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AVSEC...I dont understand your point.
So are you trying to say that we should let people do all of the above to us just because they have had it tough??? Im sorry but I refuse to agree with that. Im friendly on all my flights always but I wont let someone take their personal frustrations out on me...if they do they get the book thrown at them! They need to take responsibility for their actions.
After all, Im not going to get away with assualting or killing someone just because I feel I have diminished responsibility as a result of the stress caused by my management wanting to cut my pay, destroy my pension, increase my work load and take my off time away from me!!!!
So are you trying to say that we should let people do all of the above to us just because they have had it tough??? Im sorry but I refuse to agree with that. Im friendly on all my flights always but I wont let someone take their personal frustrations out on me...if they do they get the book thrown at them! They need to take responsibility for their actions.
After all, Im not going to get away with assualting or killing someone just because I feel I have diminished responsibility as a result of the stress caused by my management wanting to cut my pay, destroy my pension, increase my work load and take my off time away from me!!!!
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At the risk of taking words out of AVSEC's mouth I think he is trying to give you background information on WHY people might act in those ways, not excuse them. After all it is easier to deal with people if you have some insight into the triggers for particular behaviour.
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I understand now.....But, still doesnt make the situation any simpliar to resolve...at least not when it appears as if its an entire aircraft full of mentally imblanced passengers!!! 
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I can see good points on both sides. Understanding what is considered "normal" in a culture different that our own certainly helps accepting some kinds of behaviour that we would consider less acceptable in ours. I believe all airlines (some already do) should form CC (and pilots) on interculturalism, and brief them in particular about the cultures covered by the network of the company. That surely would help the business (happier pax) and the personnell to be less frustrated about their rosters.
However, I can also see the point of finding it hard to deal with objectively "difficult" behaviour of pax of certain nationalities (especially when not trained to it by the company! Don't forget we use the tools we are given for the job). Even CC made aware of the problem and used to dealing with some "difficult" nationalities' pax can have an incident sometimes. I personally witnessed a few crew-pax exchanges that still have me scratching my head wondering what could have been done differently by the crew:
-A CC asking a pax the choice between two menus, to which the pax replied by grabbing the CC by the shirt, shake him and yell "just gimme food!"
-A CC asking a pax who was standing during taxi to please remain seated, to which he replied he would surely not comply with an order given by a female. Only when a fellow pax intervened telling him to "stop being an a***e and sit the f**** down" (sic) would he comply, adding: "only because he's asking me, not her". (That one had the crew in stitches, to be honest
)
-A pax threatening a CC with a broken glass bottle when he was politely asked to please switch his mobile off for landing.
Add to this the fact that crews have to be escorted to the hotel (which you cannot leave during layover for fear of kidnapping or worse) by 2 minivans of armed escort, and it is easy not to be that enthousiastic about the place
Oh, well, it's a short layover anyway
However, I can also see the point of finding it hard to deal with objectively "difficult" behaviour of pax of certain nationalities (especially when not trained to it by the company! Don't forget we use the tools we are given for the job). Even CC made aware of the problem and used to dealing with some "difficult" nationalities' pax can have an incident sometimes. I personally witnessed a few crew-pax exchanges that still have me scratching my head wondering what could have been done differently by the crew:
-A CC asking a pax the choice between two menus, to which the pax replied by grabbing the CC by the shirt, shake him and yell "just gimme food!"
-A CC asking a pax who was standing during taxi to please remain seated, to which he replied he would surely not comply with an order given by a female. Only when a fellow pax intervened telling him to "stop being an a***e and sit the f**** down" (sic) would he comply, adding: "only because he's asking me, not her". (That one had the crew in stitches, to be honest
)-A pax threatening a CC with a broken glass bottle when he was politely asked to please switch his mobile off for landing.
Add to this the fact that crews have to be escorted to the hotel (which you cannot leave during layover for fear of kidnapping or worse) by 2 minivans of armed escort, and it is easy not to be that enthousiastic about the place
Oh, well, it's a short layover anyway
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As pax a TG flight from BKK to BLR recently (in C-class), I was seated beside a man dressed in a suit who obviously hailed from South Asia. During the flight, he was conversing with an acquaintance seated across the aisle in Tamil. However, every communication with the very polite and anxious-to-please FA was monosyllabic and delivered as a command (as in "Water!", "this!", "Tea"!) or a grunt. I came to the conclusion that his English and his upbringing were both extremely limited.
To my surprise, he tried to strike up a conversation in rather fluent English with me during final approach, inquiring as to where I was going, etc.
I explained to him in two or three words that with Mrs. Al Fakhem being Thai and given the obvious disdain he had for Thai women there was no scope for any communication between us.
To my surprise, he tried to strike up a conversation in rather fluent English with me during final approach, inquiring as to where I was going, etc.
I explained to him in two or three words that with Mrs. Al Fakhem being Thai and given the obvious disdain he had for Thai women there was no scope for any communication between us.
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I guess we need to understand that being different is not necessarily bad. I have seen some HSBC adverts and i think the airlines should take a que from them by understanding the local culture. Fastrack to this is to employ locals and train them to the standards of the airline.
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I believe that religion may make some pax more hostile.A member of the crew if female cannot shake a devout sharia practising Muslims hand,and by his cultural standard he is not being rude.
In some cultures,they are irritated by camp behaviour,and it is not a homophobic action but within their cultures Males are seen in one dimensional stereotypical view point.
Some crew members are unapproachable,and I work within the industry.Pax are refused bottled water and are offered tap water.I am not making this up.
many are great,but you must understand that many pax have a nightmare of a flight which is only helped by buying bottled drinks so you are not totally dependant on the service within the aircraft.
Whether you believe it or not,Nigeria is one of the best routes,and unlike Europe,paxs in economy are paying over $500 for a ticket.
The customer is always right.
In some cultures,they are irritated by camp behaviour,and it is not a homophobic action but within their cultures Males are seen in one dimensional stereotypical view point.
Some crew members are unapproachable,and I work within the industry.Pax are refused bottled water and are offered tap water.I am not making this up.
many are great,but you must understand that many pax have a nightmare of a flight which is only helped by buying bottled drinks so you are not totally dependant on the service within the aircraft.
Whether you believe it or not,Nigeria is one of the best routes,and unlike Europe,paxs in economy are paying over $500 for a ticket.
The customer is always right.
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Clearly, the answer to the good minister's problems is to have a functioning, safe and reliable flag carrier, then all his compatriots will be able to deal only with their own kin when travelling. 
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