who are your rudest pax?

[galanjal]

I know you can't tar everyone with the same brush but some pax are more rude than others. I have been flying a while now on diverse routes and to my mind the rudest pax are british business men/women. dismissive, patronising and ignore you when you say 'goodby' when they leave. who are your rudest pax?

[ladyflyby]

People in first class who think you are some kind of maid. They think I am there to be subservient! Businessmen are the worst.

[lexxity]

I agree rich Indian are very rude, but not a patch of some of the Middle Easterns I have had the misfortune of dealing with. Also some of our Israeli (not all) pax are beyond rude. So much so that once I had to get security out because a group of Hassidic Rabis wouldn't answer the security questions because I was a woman. That was a direct quote! I also have to say the business passenger who's company has got him to gold! They are a nightmare!

[mechelec]

Hi, SLF here and just word to say that there are some british business people out there who are gold on company tickets who do say Thank You and do appreciate your hospitality....but I do have to say that BA seems to have deteriorated of late.:}

[Virginia]

The chavs. And hen parties and stag parties.

I actually find the business travellers to be quite pleasant.

[r.s]

Pax who have never flown an airline before where all the booze is free, then proceed to drink the cost of their ticket!

Why just this weekend I was thrown up upon (literally running down my skirt, legs and into my shoes) by a rather jovial member of a stag party returning from LAS.


Where has the glamour gone...

[cabincat]

Definately Indian/Pakistani.
Especially those who hold another Passport!

[JUL13]

difficult one for me to say as i work for a british charter airline...

nowadays people complain and moan about everything. just yesterday on the inbound flight we had run out of ice (despite being tight with it!) and when informing a "lady" she just glared at me like I had shot her mother and proceeded to give me the silent treatment with no eye contact for the rest of the time I was serving her. And she never said thank you. How incredibly rude, I absolutely couldn't believe it, and I actually laughed in amazement. IT'S JUST ICE!!!! It's not the end of the world!!! people are so mardy.

[NSEU]

"People in first class who think you are some kind of maid."

Perhaps the passengers mistook you for a Flight "Attendant"???. Have you looked up the definition of "attendant" recently? :} You can blame sexual equality for the name change from "hostess"... at least that had a nice social connotation rather than a more subservient one.

"Where has the glamour gone... "
Are you old enough to remember when flying was glamourous? Don't expect too much when airlines are advertising $1 airfares in some parts of the world.

This thread seems to invite racist comments... bringing out the worst in everyone (where's a moderator when you need one?). Why don't you accept that people come from different cultures (and behave differently) and you will show how much better you are than the people you "fly to serve"?

What I have learned over the years (of international travel)... We notice people because they are rude, noisy, etc. We don't remember the quiet, well-behaved ones (who may be in the majority).

"The worst for me are the Russians and also the flights with a bunch of guys coming back from offshore."

Step into their shoes for a moment(or two) and you will see why they behave the way they do. Also... people who are on holidays are more likely to let their hair down.. It's why we go on holidays. Even the Japanese do this (and they are famous for their self control/discipline).

Also, just because YOU know your way around an airplane, don't expect your passengers to... If the pax don't say goodbye to you at the front door, perhaps they are too busy trying to concentrate on where they are going (as they step off the airplane)? If they are not listening to your safety demos, perhaps they don't know how dangerous flying really is? (Perhaps if YOU knew how dangerous flying really is, you wouldn't have become a flight attendant... and you wouldn't be still walking around the cabin with the seat belt sign on?)


Oh, well, Per Ardua Ad Astra...

NSEU

[TightSlot]

(where's a moderator when you need one?)

Watching this thread... closely... and quietly...

Nice post NSEU - The voice of experience.

[pax britanica]

Coming from a very very airline centric background and community I have always felt it polite to thank the CC or Flight crew if they stand by the door to wish us on our way.

CC isnt an easy job and I am sure it can become tedious but a good crew makes a good trip-good examlple for me recentlywas a trip to HK in WT+-me paying and it was excellent -we got upgraded on the return but with a very poor crew who behaved like they had arrived on the inbound a/c a much worse trip home

So a good crew deserve a cheerful-'nice trip' or t'hanks' when you get off. Many of my freinds still in the airline biz say first class pax are often ok but business class can be less so . And I must say having been lucky enough to get an inordinate number of upgrades on one particular route I found the F class pax extremely quiet and easy for the crew.

So why not name and shame the bad ones
PB

[EAAFA]

With very few exceptions, I find politicians to be the rudest. They come across as if they think that the rules don't apply to them.

NSEU, I'm glad you spoke up about the racist tone of some of the posts, but then you had to ruin it by making a generalisation about the Japanese. So much for being the voice of reason.

[Virginia]

I find it difficult to embrace the culture of chavs. When they are drunk onboard, loud and swearing and shouting at you for more drinks even though we are about to land.

[emerald_aisle]

For Me, the rudest passengers would be the Stags...Coz they think they can make a lot of noise in the cabin and they think they're in a Pub to disrespect crew and other passengers... and also those people who expects a lot for a penny they pay for their ticket and they keep moaning and complaining...:*

[pinkpyjama]

I suddenly woke up one day and realised that nobody no matter what they had paid for their ticket, has the right to ruin my day and upset me. Most of what is said in the heat of the moment is hot air and they are talking to the uniform; not the individual.
This is a mindset I have adopted for a long time and it helps me. As soon as they get off your jet, when will you see them again?
It's a shame that only a minority get remembered, true there are some difficult precious and downright rude soles out there, but then that's typical of any poor worker who has to deal with her majesty's public.:)
Try to say yes whenever you can to the punter, agree with them to their face then use the galley to let it all hang out, or pehaps your wife or partner is always a good outlet he he!
Just play the game, and pity peoples ignorance.

[hottowel]

I find passengers who have been upgraded to Business can be quite rude and drink the bars dry..... You sometimes feel like saying hangon a minute love.. you aren't really supposed to be here

[CHIVILCOY]

Not surprised to hear that British business passengers with GOLD can be a pain.
Most have never paid for a business class ticket in their lives as they strut about with their gold tags hanging from their briefcase yet they do seem to have this superior than you attitude for some reason expecting special treatment whilst looking down their noses at the poor economy passengers down the back who have paid for their own tickets.
I once saw this buffoon complaining loudly as he was being held up at security because economy passengers were in his way no doubt preventing him from grabbing as much as he could of the free food and booze in the lounge.:ugh:
Why - they even complain if the wrong variety of Champers is dished out....... scandalous I say.:8

[derekl]

Like Pax Britannica, I am but a humble pax, but my regular 'commute' for years has been LHR-SFO on BA and Virgin. Almost invariably the CC are charming and pleasant on these airlines and receive a genuine 'thanks' from me for their attention and hard work as I leave the aircraft.

I've flown all classes with and without Gold/Silver cards and found the attitude of CC to be pretty consistent. They're busier down the back, inevitably, and I try never to use the call bell. And it's more sociable to wander to the galley for that extra drink or whatever.

As for rude behaviour -- just how were these people brought up?

[emboogie]

I just wanted to highlight that i do agree with what you mention NSEU about understanding were people and cultures come from and the reason why they may act the way they do. But saying that if we knew how dangerous flying was would we be doing this job? well dont we learn that going through our six weeks of training??? if you want to look at it that way its more liking to be dangerous on the M25 driving to work than flying everyday? (well due to how driving standards are these dayz but im not going into that, thats a forum in itself)

Quote
"The worst for me are the Russians and also the flights with a bunch of guys coming back from offshore."

( i feel with this comment you just contradicting yourself )????????

emboogie

[NSEU]

"well dont we learn that going through our six weeks of training??? if you want to look at it that way its more liking to be dangerous on the M25 driving to work than flying everyday? (well due to how driving standards are these dayz but im not going into that, thats a forum in itself)"

Seems I've hit a few raw nerves here....

Unfortunately, safety statistics are such a bland interpretation of death and disfigurement.

All I'd really like the flight attendants to do is "lead by example". Of course, I don't want you to panic the passengers, but when the flight crew asks EVERYONE to take their seats for expected turbulence, please don't pretend you are immune to the laws of physics. When you've seen 30 or so people in neckbraces being assisted off airplanes after hitting clear air turbulence... and heard stories of people (during CAT) flying through the air and landing on other passengers (wearing seat belts) and breaking their limbs, I'm sure you'd feel the same way as I do (and the engineers I've spoken to are not particularly impressed that they have had to clean up the hair and blood from broken ceiling panels after pax/crew have put their heads through them).

BTW, 6 weeks does not always prepare you for real life emergencies (even if you had spent all of those 6 weeks studying airline crashes). Flight attendants sometimes react like normal people in crashes... they scream, they freeze, they forget what they are supposed to do....

Cars may have their crumple zones, airbags and sash type seatbelts designed to withstand crashes of 30mph, but airplanes fly at 300mph with no such safety devices. It seems that airplanes rely on avoidance more than crash resistance. But just because aircraft land safely, it doesn't mean you are safe. How many people have broken limbs after slides have failed to deploy properly? I see that some airlines dress their flight attendants in sandals/high-ish heels and calf-length, rather flammable looking tight fitting skirts (how is this supposed to inspire customers to wear sensible clothes for emergency evacuations, ditchings and running through flaming wreckages?)

Yes, perhaps I am a little biased.. Perhaps 30 years in the aviation safety industry HAS coloured my judgement :ouch:

"NSEU, I'm glad you spoke up about the racist tone of some of the posts, but then you had to ruin it by making a generalisation about the Japanese. So much for being the voice of reason."

A generalisation, perhaps... but you'll notice I didn't preface my statement with the word "worst"... BTW, I've spent most of my life studying Japanese culture and was married to a Japanese woman for many years (I've stepped into their shoes in a big way, so perhaps you can forgive me for this?).

"The worst for me are the Russians and also the flights with a bunch of guys coming back from offshore."
( i feel with this comment you just contradicting yourself )????????"

Yes, true... not all guys coming back from offshore want to let their hair down.

Anyway, thanks for your honest opinions ;)
Regards.
NSEU.

[Virginia]

You make some good points NSEU.

I would love to take my seat during turbulance but most of the time the airlines demand we check passengers for seat belt compliance except in severe turbulance.

I've had many many pax ask me why the crew are allowed to be up but they have to be sat down.

[TFlyguy]

Clear Air turbulence - by definition it happens in "clear air" so therefore usually unpredictable. Thats why passengers should always have their seatbelts fastened - but will they? No!

Never understood it - they will have their seatblets on for the entire journey in a car - but on an aircraft .............. apparantly they know better!

Crew uniforms - yes some dont look too good for an evacuation - in a planned emergency I would always advise my female crew to remove stockings/tights.

Worst passengers - those with no manners regardless of race creed nationality or social standing - a "thank you" costs nothing - thought it did when I was young - it cost a smack if I didnt say it! But of course now children can't be disciplined like that

[Pandora's Box]

Worst pax...

Definately stag parties....They treat the aircraft like a pub, shouting for more drinks all the time, even though you remind them that there are 100 other pax on board. They also seem to have farting and swearing competitions, and find it totally acceptable to grab your arse every time you walk past :mad::=

Give me chavs and business pax any day over them!!

[emboogie]

not a nerve just a niggle!

you have loads of points that i totally agree with NSU i did not say flying was not dangerous it is! no question about it but so is everything that we come across in our everyday lives which i was trying to say about m25 thing!, if we would look at life like that personally i would not come out of my cosey bed!!! ( do you still fly knowing what you know then ??)

quote "but airplanes fly at 300mph with no such safety devices. It seems that airplanes rely on avoidance more than crash resistance"
( yes maybe true but the driving standard up in the sky is much better than the M25 which you TRY to avoid but the buggers still get you) " i keep coming back to that i think i might have a grudge against that motorway"!!!!


As for the 6 weeks training no we dont learn every danger and concequence that we may come across or prepare you for it, life experiences does that but i think it gives you a eye opener of the top layer of what we can do or not do which may cancel the chain effect that can cause a major or minor accident which id rather have then nothing at all .To be honest i might be one of those people that freezes or locks and hides in the toliet when something heaven forbid may happen!! i dont know and i hope to never find out but isnt that the occupation hazard which i signed up for with that tight fitting polyester uniform, give me a flame proof worster sauce retardent jump suit any day .

I think pax should have seatbelts on at all times and if i could seat on my jump seat with my seatbelt on all flight i would but i dont think that will get the punters on our airline or keep my job for that matter as the rivals are doing the" you can walk around our cabin !!" which commercial aviation seems to be all about!

The way i see it if your numbers up its up but personally i wont go easily :ouch:

[Dan Air 87]

I work around four hitches a year offshore -mainly in Angola, Nigeria and I agree that some of the biff's on my flights into / out of LAD or LOS /PHC can be a bit difficult.

But, we work long hours in a hot, dirty and dangerous environment where sleep is difficult to get and when you are not on duty, there is sod all to do. We are exposed to all of the storms that God throws at us. We are many hours from home and our families. So, when we come home to start our 15 or 21 days leave, its inevitable that some of the crews will be a bit awkward.

All I ask is that we are given some leeway and not be put in the same grouping as stag parties as obnoxious pax.

[galanjal]

You are so right in what you are saying. One of my routes is Baku so we carry a lot of off shore workers. And I can say that 99.9% of them are great guys who are just having a celebration drink, or whatever kind of drink, and we really enjoy the banter. They mostly have a sense of humour and interact with us lot, the crew. That's what makes my job enjoyable, what my Irish friends call 'the crack'!

[B757-200]

Exactly. Us passengers are paying money to be on a flight that we expect to be nice and quiet. But time and time again we are bombarded by chavs who think it is their own living room. Really annoying.

[Finals19]

As opposed to quoting nationalities, I'll quote destinations instead that I've done where the pax have been pretty appalling in their behaviour!

LOS - Lagos - I know its a cultural thing, but its hard to get used to being hissed at...

TLV - thank the lord its only just under 5 hours from LHR!

DEL/BOM etc

MCO / MIA - Orlando/Miami - just very demanding indeed, expect everything

JFK - a little of all the above destinations mixed into one!

NAS / GCM (Nassau / Grand Cayman - as per MCO/MIA - would be rich cruise shippers who are very demanding at times rude!)

Of course, not all are like this - some great pax on these destinations too!

[Beer_n_Tabs]

Oi, enough of the British business travelers abuse.....thats me, and I am always polite and enjoy a bit of banter with the FA's when time allows.

Now trot off down the back and get me a G&T sweetie.....come on chop chop (slap on the arse) :p

*ducks in readiness for the verbal kicking that may head my way*

[marlowe]

ANY London city pax always the rudest cant even say hello to you when they board the aircraft!

[Dan Air 87]

Can I just ask where are the rudest, most bad mannered security guards? I have one place that reduces grown men to gibbering wrecks with their treatment...forget LOS, JFK, IAD, even LGW..step forward the wonderful security staff at Paris CDG. They make transiting through CDG instantly forgetable and also avoidable!

[trolleydolly737]

For me, the rudest ones and the most demanding ones, have to be parents with babies... the ones that come on as if they've got the baby Jesus Christ himself in their arms and expect you to lift and lay everything to accomodate them!:*

Hold the baby, take this nappy, get that bag... etc... etc...etc!:ugh:

One woman once TOLD me to heat her brats bottle... so I did heat it... I gave it back steaming! Hehe!:) That''ll learn her to ask nicely!

[Re-Heat]

Let me put this is perspective:

Unfortunately with the lower ticket prices charged, and in particular the implementation by some airlines of individual pricing for any additional item (food etc), passengers demand to be treated as consumers, while airlines have been slow to help their customer-facing staff adjust.

The problems that many of you infer are a dislocation between what the cusotmer expects, and the tools the airline provides you with to provide a service.

For example, while it is clearly completely understandable to run out of ice, if the airline has made insufficient preparations to treat the passenger as a bar customer, as well as a transport customer, the customer is understandably going to be upset to be delivered an insufficient product. What would you think if a bar did not give you a drink with ice when requested? (This is not to condone the action of the passenger).

Likewise, paying GBP700 for a Club Europe ticket - regardless of whether the company pays or not - makes it an issue whether the champagne tastes like pi$$ or not.

With knowledge of both sides of this debate, I can assure you that many people who have been in meetings all day rely on the food served in CE to feed them on the way home. Hence understandable annoyance where the airline does not provide service comparable to the ticket price.

Few people choose to travel relentlessly, especially through Heathrow, so their status is not a matter of them gaining freebies, but rather a loyalty reward for having chosen BA, or whichever airline as opposed to the competition.

Impoliteness is unforgiveable from anyone - nevertheless - customers are demanding, and while cabin staff are primarily there for safety, the customer deserves appropriate service.

[Re-Heat]

@trolleydolly737
One woman once TOLD me to heat her brats bottle... so I did heat it... I gave it back steaming! Hehe! That''ll learn her to ask nicely!
You utter, utter fool.

Tactics such as that give your colleagues a bad name.

Clearly your airline failed in their assessment: the role not only needs someone with a brain for safety, but a diplomat who can deliver the customer service standards required.

[chrissw]

(My first post on PPrune!)
I'm only a moderately frequent passenger, usually on business, but I really think there's no excuse for ignoring the basic rules of politeness; am I unusual in that respect? Most of my flights are long haul, and I can't help thinking that if we're going to be together for 9+ hours then it's in everyone's interests to make it as pleasant as possible.

Anyway I've never quite got over the feeling that flying is actually something a little bit special. Those who do it for a living probably don't feel the same way!

[Atishoo]

Avoid the chavs and stag/hen parties and get on a plane somewhere you think they may not go, somewhere a bit more up market, thats my take.

We flew to Crete last year in kids summer hols, never again, full of teenage groups shouting screaming and making a damn nuisance of themselves.

Have flown to Mauritius ahhhhhhhh now that was much better ;)

[Atishoo]

But i AMMM a snob heheheheh :}

[trolleydolly737]

Re-Heat: Utter Fool - No. Extremely :mad: off crew member that is sick to the back teeth of being treated as a personal slave to some of the travelling public that think I am there for their every whim - I am not. I am onboard for the safety of everyone, not just those that think I am on this planet to look afeter them and only them!

My airline did not fail in their assessment at all, I happen to be a very safety consciencious crew member... remember that?... Its the PRIMARY and most IMPORTANT role of my position. Customer service comes further down the list and my customer service skills are great... as long as I am treated with the respect that I am due, the same respect that I treat everyone else with, it costs nothing to me and shouldn't cost anything to the passengers we carry. It works both ways!

[Re-Heat]

It is immature as a representative of the airline.

You can't hide behind safety, when you unsafely risk the infant's health. If you can't see the irony of that position...

[TightSlot]

I think the point being made is that it is difficult to equate your stated position of being safety conscious with your decision to deliberately serve an infant with boiling milk - I'm sure that you didn't mean for it to come across as it has done, but that appears to be your position from what you have written.

[Snoopy]

I happen to be a very safety consciencious crew member... remember that?... Its the PRIMARY and most IMPORTANT role of my position. Customer service comes further down the list and my customer service skills are great... as long as I am treated with the respect that I am due, the same respect that I treat everyone else with, it costs nothing to me and shouldn't cost anything to the passengers we carry. It works both ways!

Well, why choose a handle that would denote exactly the opposite?

Also, I run a customer service business, and I often have customers yelling down the phone at me because they want (need) service immediately. If I started giving all my customers a lesson on respect and manners I would soon go out of business.

I think your airline certainly did fail in its selection process because if you did heat that baby's milk to a hot steam then you endangered that baby's health. And that, just to get at the mother. What kind of a poor excuse for a human being does that?

:rolleyes:

[trolleydolly737]

Probrably the same type of person that hurls abuse at a crew member, threatens, assaults, talks down to and treats as a second class citizen a crew member - what goes around - comes around!

[derekl]

On the steaming milk issue, TightSlot has, as usual, hit the nail on the head.
(Compliment from someone who helps moderate another site ;)

[dera]

I just hope, that I'll never have to travel being served by an sad excuse of a human being that you seem to be.

Come on, just listen to yourself. Did you really think, that serving boiling milk to an infant would be a nice revenge for the maybe-oh-so-rude mother, who, after all, was paying your wage? Did you, for just a glimpse of a second think, that maybe your job was to look after her? And the other pax onboard?

Just a pax myself, but after quite a lot of travelling, I have to say, that _most_ of the cabin attendants are the most polite people I've ever come across. Even though, being a foreigner, my english skills leave a lot to wish for, still I've yet to meet a rude cabin attendant. On my opinion, they all deserve a warm "thank you" from us, exiting the plane.
Unfortunately, reading this thread here, I might just change my mind. What a shame.
Shame on you.

[Snoopy]

what goes around - comes around

:yuk:

Now if that isn't a sign of great maturity I don't know what is. Trolleydolly737, you have a chip on your shoulder the size of a house. I think you need to be recycled or get some retraining or something. You say that you are responsible for my safety, but what happens if I piss you off? Do I go to the back of the line? Your comment about the infant shows that you have no sense of perspective and I would have thought that was a major requirement for your job.

It's a good job that shame isn't fatal, but if I were you, I would quit digging. The hole you are in is big enough.....

[FlyerFoto]

Of course, it isn't just the airline passenger that can behave like this - many years experience in the rail industry had taught me that passengers do two things when boarding:
1/ switch brain off
2/ put mouth into overdrive

sounds familiar?

as for chavs - I had one particularly obnoxious character who insisted on spitting - I took off his baseball cap, wiped off the large globule of phlegm that was runnning down the window with it, gave him his cap back - you should have seen the look on his face!

[Abusing_the_sky]

You are unbelievable. Put it this way, who annoyed you, the mother or the infant? Was it the infant's fault his mum was just another rude pax who think they bloody own the airline therefore they can get away with murder?
If we were to get our own back at every horrible pax we would probably write letters to penpals from Sing Sing... (or some other prison with tight securiry:})
The thing is that this will never change. It comes with the job!!! And as i said before, it can happen anywhere, up in the sky or on the ground.
Please don't do it again. Not only you put in danger an infants health, you showed no charcater and diplomacy. The best way to get your revenge on nasty pax is to be nice to them throughout the entire flight and when they disembark wish them a nice day and thank them. Not only they'll feel like cr@p when realising they made a fool of themselfs in front of 200 people or so, the rest of the pax will applaude you for being the bigger and the better person. That's what I did just yesterday when a horrible man told me he will report me to customer service because i told him that unfortunately we don't have Tabasco sauce in our bars!!!!!!

Maybe working with and for people is not your thing. We're all different. Maybe in a call centre you'll feel better because you don't have face-to-face contact with the customer and most important, you can take whatever out on them without putting their health or safety in danger.Just a thought...

By all means i didn't mean to offend you. But what you did is just out of this world...

Take care.

[TFAME]

Hi ,

Can I just say that as a frequent flier , I am continually amazed at what airline crews have to put up with. Some passengers would treat their animals better !!

On behalf of the majority of passengers , I would like to thank you all for your continual and probably sometimes frustrating work. :D
I really wouldnt like to be in your job as there wouldnt be many people left to serve !!:ugh:

Thank you again and keep up the great work.

best wishes

TFAME

[Parapunter]

Another pax here. I fly only infrequently, and then usually charter. I simply find that if I'm polite & respectful to people, I tend to get it back. In the old days, I once asked very nicely for a wx report at destination since I was en route to a gliding trip & I guess because I was polite, I got invited to the jump seat for landing - manners are free & open doors - literally!

Simple really. That said, I have had some incredibly rude & short tempered stews in the past. But hey, everyone has a bad day at the office from time to time & I once went out with a BA hostie who would tell me the most toe curling stories about iggerant passengers so much so, that it made me all the more conscious to be pleasant to crew.

[rallymania]

thanks for that brush taring job, mate!

i PAX to city at least once a month from EDI
always say hello, good bye and thanks to CC
listen to the briefing (even though i "think" i know the RJ-100 dance backwards... repetiton is how you learn stuff)
keep my seatbelt on unless i'm using the boys room.

nice to know i'm appreciated though eh?

[Rwy in Sight]

Given that I like to see things in a bit unorthodoxal way and in conjuction with the threads on jet blast about yob culture and responsibilites, I like to defend trollydolly737. What she did was not the nicest way of behavior but every now and then some people just snap and loose it.

I am sure trollydolly737 did not overheat the milk after a simple to demand to heat the bottle but rather after a long series of abuse and annoying requests.



Taking cover now...


Rwy in Sight

[r.s]

I like to think Trolleydolley737 didn't over heat the milk to harm the baby, but it was probably intended to annoy the mother so she would have to wait for the milk to cool before giving it to her child.

Childish revenge maybe, but who can say they've never done or said something when pushed they havn't thought through properly.

Happy flying

[whatzmyname]

Rudest pax has to be the "I have a British Passport" brigade. They were all born in some Asian country,immigrated and became arrogant snobs. They are even rude and nasty to their own people. Shame on them....

[iain8867]

I find this quite an interesting thread. I have had my fair share of rude, obnoxious and threatening passengers, but I can't say one type is worse than another.

I would probably say that my worse flights for this have been to MBJ, YYZ and POP but on the other hand one of my best flights have also been to these destinations.

I really think that if you go into work thinking that xxx type of pax is on board flight xxx to xxx then you are going to have the attitude to make it such a flight. If you go in with I am going to xxx and it is going to be a good flight then at least you are in the right frame of mind.

Also there was a comment further back saying that they still see flying as something special! I still do and I hope that I am able throughmy actions to make it special for the pax too!

May seem a bit simple but I enjoy my work and like people to get off my flights having enjoyed it too. :)

[marlowe]

Rallymania good for you we get a hello at least once a month then!!!!! but try standing at the door on a 4 sector day and have pax just try and ignore you as they board for the majority of that time. Is it so hard to say good morning/afternoon/evening as you board? I dont want to swap life stories or have you as my best friend i just need to check your boarding card! after all i guess you dont want to be ignored when i am doing the drink service! lol!!!!

[Rwy in Sight]

A small suggestion to all crew that complained about rude slf: Try have a look if the ground crew kept pax informed honestly about the delay. A colleague of yours told me once (I know not a great sample) that ground crew preferes to pass angy and frustrated pax to cabin crew.

What to yoy believe? And I don't try to start a war between ground crew and flight crew. I have friends and now some very respectable people that work on both roles..

Rwy in Sight

[marlowe]

Of course they try and pass pax onto the cabin crew they can go and have a cup of tea then job done!!! Also it rounds up the pax and contains them in one place no sneaking of to duty free and causing further delay.also if the pax is on the aircraft they percieve that they are going soon so they tend not to have a go at the cabin crew quite as hard as they would groundstaff well until Captain announces a slot delay of a couple of hours then it kicks off!!! Then we as cabin crew are usually suggesting to the Captain that the pax would be more comfortable back in the lounge and when he concurs we get a cup of tea!! just a game we all play in the everyday fun that is aviation!!!!!!!

[devon_guy]

I do hate the way CC seem to tar all passengers with the same brush. There are rude and ignorant people in all walks of life in all different jobs and its true you don't remember the nice ones particularly but please remember we aren't all the same. I always board with a cheery hello, ask if its the CC's last flight, if they are off tomorrow etc and thank them and wish them a nice day off when I disembark.

Just remember if it wasnt for passengers good or bad, you guys wouldn't be in the job, if you don't like it, find another job.

[Virginia]

Whilst not all pax are rude, an awful lot of them are. :rolleyes: When you have people ignore you, swear at you and shout at you it can be hard to keep smiling.

I'm not saying all cabin crew are pefect, of course you get rude and unpleasant crew too.

Working with the public you are always open to abuse. There has also been a huge increase in abuse from customers in all customer facing jobs. :=

[AirSurfer]

i find large parties of women the worst, infact i have just come back from a IBZ flight (say no more) when i asked a group of young women to calm it down a bit i got a face full of breast thrust at me, the bra was dirty and manky just like the pax themselves lol

[UP and Down Operator]

Marlowe: Then we as cabin crew are usually suggesting to the Captain that the pax would be more comfortable back in the lounge and when he concurs we get a cup of tea!! just a game we all play in the everyday fun that is aviation!!!!!!!

Hmm, do you fly the plane for him as well??

[Juud]

Specially for you, Up and Down Operator, to assuage your insecurities and enlarge your vocabulary:

Concur
Pronunciation: kEn kuhr
Inflected Forms:concurred, concurring, concurs
Definition: to share the same opinion; agree.

;)

[galanjal]

I would enjoy you as a pax anyday! but my point is not so much about pax that don't banter with us but those who totally ignore and belittle us. I have been flying 14 years now and have seen a real decline in manners and courtesy in that time ( and yes, with crew too!) I actually still love my job and get true enjoyment from providing the great service that I hope I do. I still go out of my way to help people whenever I can regardless of their response, I'm not looking for a standing ovation. but it does get a bit wearing sometimes when all of my best efforts are met with a wave of a hand and the turn of the head! and I know my pax pay my wages, we are all keenly aware of that. but as with all jobs, some employers are more pleasant than others!

[UP and Down Operator]

Concur
Pronunciation: kEn kuhr
Inflected Forms:concurred, concurring, concurs
Definition: to share the same opinion; agree.


1. It was a direct paste and copy so shoot the guy who made the initial post if you can't handle small errors.

2. You must be british since you are so unforgiving with his spelling. Marlowe might, as myself, be from out of country and therefore not perfect in the spelling. But I guess you can spell perfect on every other language in the world ;)

[dahlia]

Indiansssssssssss!!

they are the worst, especially those who have a poor background and don't know how to put on a seatbelt or how to use a modern toilet as well as how to treat people :ugh: no manners, very demanding and super rude! Its ok if you don't know how to put on a seatbelt, thats why we're there for, but these kind of people are every flight attendants nightmare!

[Juud]

Up & Down, my post has nothing to with spelling or grammar, and I´m not British.
My English spelling is iffy at best, as is my grammar, so I wouldnt presume to correct yours.

clue: the relevance of your comment about flying the plane.



Btw, Plane:
Pronunciation: plen
Definition: any of various carpentry tools with an adjustable blade, used to make surfaces of wood smooth, true, grooved, or the like.

;)

[BigT2207]

I am a Pax here and all I can say is thank you to all the Cabin Crews I have flown with esp Jet2. I also work in Transport (Trains) in the UK asn I know what it is like to deal with the public. I have been assulted by the public at least 5 times in the last year.BigT

[pepito.perez]

happy at last

I'm sorry, but I thought this thread was about who are cc's rudest slf. Pls, correct me if otherwise.
I don't understand why every time cc say what they think (using a thread that is intended for that) and you don't like it they have to apologize. And please, don't remind me that we are the reason why they get paid, we are not discussing that here.

Please, feel free to go to a slf forum and start a new thread that suits you.

Cheers!

[waves-dubai]

I strong believe Cabin Crew wherever you work ought to be professionals. Flexibility is the key, you will have good days and bad days. I understand your frustration in dealing with difficult pax, but many of you have taken this forum a bit above the edge. I personally view some responses as blatant racism.

In reality pax needs cabin crew, cabin crew need pax. What if you were to complain to your superiors about dealing with certain nationalities?. What responses will you receive. Be more mature in assisting these pax no matter how difficult they are. Compose yourself and be a good representative for your company.

[Abusing_the_sky]

I look at this thread more as a thread where we can share inflight stories rather than saying who's the rudest pax... A pax CAN be rude regardless if they are white, asian, black, you name it.... nationality doesn't really matter, let's not start discriminating.
Anyway, have a good one for you. Flight to somewhere in France, boarded and last to board was a young family of 3. Because it's a free sitting airline (and it was a rather full flight) there were no 3seats together. So like i always do to try and sit them together, i ask other pax if they are willing to move so the family can sit together. Saw a gentleman sitting alone in a row and i asked him if he would be so kind and take another seat (i even pointed we have a seat at the overwings rows with more legroom!).The family was just behind me,waiting.
The man (with his nose still in his newspaper): "They can sit here, the child can sit in their lap"
Me: "i'm affraid the child is just over 2 years old and by our regulations,he needs his own seat"
His response (very angry tone in his voice by the way):"I travelled with children before and no one helped me to find sits together".
Me: :confused::confused::confused:
In the end i had a very nice family of 3, the child just 14 or 15 swaping seats, spreading around the cabin so my young family can sit together.

In the same flight, when securing the cabin, asked the smartly dressed gentleman in emergency exit row if i can have his bag in the overhead locker for take off and once again for landing. The man refused and said he's ok with it under the seat. Me: "These are emergency exit rows Sir and they have to be clear for take off and landing. Once airborne and seatbelt sign off,you can take your bag back."
The man: "I travel all the time but i never had any problems leaving my bag on the floor".
Me: "Probably you weren't sitting in an emergency exit row Sir?"
The man rising his voice now: "You don't know where i was sitting!" And he got up and changed seats!!!
Everything i've written on this page happened in roughly 5minutes.... :ugh:

Take care. X

[TightSlot]

A pax CAN be rude regardless if they are white, asian, black, you name it.... nationality doesn't really matter, let's not start discriminating.

Quite so - the problem with this thread is that invites us to group people we find rude by nationality, race, religion or even the purpose of the trip. In doing so, we appear both absurd and bigoted.

The truth is that the "rudest pax" are in fact those individual human beings that are rude, discourteous or insensitive. A pre-conceived idea of what your passengers on any given flight/route will be like simply ensures that those ideas will be re-enforced, one way or another. We all remember the difficult people, and tend to forget the overwhelming majority who are normal, pleasant and friendly human beings.

[Abusing_the_sky]

Just last night coming from DUB i had a lady pax with a toddler and a 5 years old. Flight was full and she was obviously tired and all she wanted was to get back home. She took it all out on me bless her, the toddler wouldn't stop crying, it's too hot it's too cold, why you don't have any Pringles, how come you don't have drinkable water, all i want is a glass of water for my daughter... I was her personal assistant throughout the flight. When disembarking she was last to get out of the a/c and she apologized for her behaviour. And she said she'll write to my company about "the lovely airhostess you don't really see that often now a days". Probably she won't write to my company, she has better things to do. But the verbal appreciation made my day.
Just to show that pax can be nice too. We all have our good and bad days. The secret is not to take the bad ones in:ok:

[pepito.perez]

Totally agree wiz you!!:ok:

Cheers!

[Dolley]

This has developed into quite an interesting threat. I didn't like it to start with as I personally believe all the 'all pax from a certain place/back round' comments are very generalizing, unfair, not well-thought through and invite intolerance and disagreements.

However, now that I read it in total (curiosity getting the better of me as I expected it to be deleted by now) I've found it might be worth to add a comment myself as I've just been discussing exactly the same subject with my partner not that long ago.

I admitted to him that I sometimes feel guilty talking badly about pax who were rude to me although there is hundreds of pax who are perfectly nice and polite. I further mentioned that I wish I wouldn't remember the 'bad' pax who I would easily recognize again whilst the 'good' ones are just one fuzzy, if pleasant, blur, with only a few leaving a lasting impression.

After thinking about it my partner gave me his opinion which gave me something to think about. Here is his opinion:
It is good that it is this way because humans normalize. This is perfectly normal human behaviour and probably the reason why we still exits as a species. So we find it normal that people are nice and friendly and polite which is the reason why we forget about it so easily. Because it's normal. Everything that is not normal eg rudeness (but it could be something good too) sticks out and has therefore a much bigger influence on us. If only the 'good' pax would start sticking out in my memory, this is when I should start worrying!
And if talking bad about them is my way with dealing with the stress they cause me then why not?! It doesn't hurt them nor the nice pax and as long as I still am aware of the fuzzy pleasant blur of nice pax it won't influence my work or my attitude towards people in general.

Unfortunately, I met crew who've gone past this point, are only negative, forget about the 'good' pax entirely and have become bitter and bickering. So once you stop remembering that 'fuzzy and pleasant blur' of nice pax it's time to get another job...preferably without people....cause you get the same everywhere, not just on a plane.

Anyway, I just thought this would fit in here although it's probably a sideline of the original threat.

[redsnail]

I am crew for a private airline and I have to travel in uniform to start a tour.

I was sitting down the back dutifully watching the safety brief as I am supposed to do. Sitting next to me were the rudest pax I have seen in a while. They insisted on talking over the video and gave me a mouthful when I politely asked them to be a bit quieter so as to not disturb any one else from watching and listening to the brief.

I have found it's the ones who travel just often enough to be familiar to be painfully arrogant. I suspect he was putting it on for his female companion.

When I am travelling I behave as one should as I like to be treated nicely when I am work so why not be pleasant in return?

[Self Loading Freight]

From the other point of view... I have nothing but respect for the vast majority of cabin crew (there have been a couple I wouldn't put in charge of a bicycle).

Even if it's been a rubbish trip and I'm worn ragged by time zones, fatigue, hangovers and crass security, I always try and remember that that's daily life for those who pound the aisles. So I do what I'm told, make requests with consideration for the workload everyone's under at the time, am as jovial as appropriate, try to stay out of shot otherwise, and, oh yes, do what I'm told.

Even so, I've found myself being an arse. Too much longhaul can turn people into odd creatures. Sorry about that.

The thing that really makes me want to be a model pax is a bit of banter. I know that the odds are against it, but anything that takes a couple of seconds and says yes, we're both human beings, works wonders for hours afterwards.

R

[MrSoft]

"I have found it's the ones who travel just often enough to be familiar to be painfully arrogant"

So true. Classic example, family from hell today in WTP with BA to Dubai. Parents split up from their three ghastly kids, but declined to swap with me, so I became their childminder on the mid section while Mater dozed in 28A :{. 7 incessant hours of dumb questions and moronic pronouncements, all aimed at long suffering FA on doors 2 (young man, from Bahrain, with endless good humour and patience, well done son).

How curious, that said family broadcast their frequent flyer credentials like a fog horn to the entire cabin yet started panicking and freaking out at "those weird noises" aka flap extension :confused:

Honestly I do know know how you guys keep it together sometimes.

WTP pax seem to imagine they are in First. Requesting all sorts, incl. special one-off meal choices to be conjured on the spot!!

[Glamgirl]

A few thoughts on this topic....

A lot of the posters here complain about pax behaviour, such as drunkenness. Here's something to help you with that one: If they're drunk or intoxicated when boarding, don't let them on board. And whilst in the air, don't serve them enough alcohol so they get drunk. Most people will listen to reasoning, such as "how about you have some coffee/water/juice for now and we'll see in half an hour how you feel"? Or maybe some crew are more worried about their commission, than the drunk behaviour.?

I don't have a particular nationality or sterotype pax as pet hate. I just don't like rude people. I don't accept swearing and if someone is being rude to me I ask them politely to stop. Rude people come from all walks of life.

A good tip is to chat to the dispatcher at a destination about what their culture is like. They will give you an honest answer and it will give you some indication of what to expect.

For the record, I'm not a saint by any means, but I try my best to be nice all the time. I can't bear rude crew either, nor can I stand bad service anywhere, really.

Keep smiling folks and remember: you only have to deal with them for a few hours, whereas they have to be miserable/rude/horrible/uneducated etc for the rest of their lives (wise word a colleague told me many years ago).

Happy flying!

[kate140983]

I don't think anyone is being racist on here at all. It makes me laugh how as soon as you say indian or african or japanese, someone jumps down your throat as being racist. What about the threads that say "BRITISH" I suppose that's not being classed as racist or prejudice is it!! It's just a describing word. I wish people would lay off the whole racist thing it is getting out of hand.

[apaddyinuk]

Well this will now come across as incredibly sexist but has a homo I dont really care!!! LOL!


I think business women are the WORST and RUDEST passengers I have to deal with! Right down to their attitude and tutting over the smallest of things. Having said that, again I am not tarring all business women with the same brush!

[A300Man]

Tut! Tut! Paddy. I am shocked by those comments. LOL.

[Dea Certe]

I usually try to give my pax the benefit of the doubt. We don't know what kind of a day they may have had before crossing our threshold. Not that it excuses out right rude behavior, it does make it a bit easier to tolerate. Killing them with kindness works for me. By this, I don't mean rewarding bad behavior but just not allowing their poor manners affect my good manners!

That said, some folks are just jerks. :{ Just don't let them get you down!

There can be culture differences that come into play as well. I hate it when some goof snaps their fingers to get my attention.

Dea

[TightSlot]

AMS-LHR - How many flights have you done as operating crew where this has happened?

[Dea Certe]

The snapping finger bit I try to disfuse with a bit of humor. "Wow, you've got a nice beat going there! Let me get my tambourine and join in! Or did you require something else?" :E Said with a big smile, of course!

A good sense of humor is necessary for anyone dealing with the public. You can't take bad behavior by pax personally.

Dea

[powdermonkey]

Hey, everyone, I travel by air, I work as ground staff and will soon be a qualified FO and hope to be working this side of Xmas. I have seen ill manered people on the gnd and in the air. I have rarely seen rude CC. The thing is, when I travel ( and maybe this is due to my upbringing) I WAIT to be offered something by the crew, I never use the call button and I sit quietly, look out the window or read my book until the cart arrives at my row. What is it with all these people who simply have never been brought up to have any manners!! I'm not even that old, I'm 38, but I was well brought up and received an education and learned some manners along the way. I work on the ground and I will tolerate pax who are getting stressed and a bit hot under the collar, but as soon as it turns in the slightest way abusive, I end it right there and then. They usually calm down when they see I won't tolerate it, the ones who don't I walk away from. Thing is, CC don't have that luxury, making it much harder for them. I DEPLORE alcohol being served at the airport!!! IT IS INSANE! I know airports need revenue etc etc, but it makes everyones lives sooooooo much more difficult. At least there should be no bars airside. That way drunk pax can be screened at check-in and refused a pass, told to sober up and maybe get the next flight, then once again screened going through security, where there are enough guys and girls on duty to refuse them access airside and deal with the stroppy ones. I have worked boarding gates alone ( work for small regional) and believe me, 3 drunks at the gate is very intimidating, especially as you try and come up with the right words to try and tell them they should not fly and hope you don't get ypur nose broken. BAN THE BOOZE! Or maybe issue vouchers for a limited amount of drinks per pax once airside? Anyway, I'm rambling a bit but I find that alcohol ( see stag and hen parties) is a major cause of rudness and bad behaviour ( obviously) so why not start there!
Anyway, I find that as staff or as a pax, if people are nice to me and if I am nice to staff, so much more is obtained! Unfortunately, some pax seem to think that if you shout loudly enough and are aggressive enough, you'll eventually get what you want by intimidation and by not backing down. NOT TRUE! I once had a bloke who started shouting at me as soon as one of the girls at check-in told him he would have to pay excess luggage. He went straight on the offensive! ...........but he paid in the end!
Rant over, I love flying and I hate obnoxious people who ruin my journey!!!!!!!!!

[javafox]

I had a pax snap his fingers at me on the plane. It was NRT-DTW, but the flight, and about 80% of the pax count, originated in MNL. I found those flights especially difficult, because there were so many cultural differences between crew and pax, and the FA/pax ratio was so low (or high? no, low; what I'm trying to say is that there were not very many FAs for how full the plane was). Plus so many pax has SO MANY carry on bags, most of which I thought should have been checked (they were so big! I never understood how they were allowed on in the first place). Overhead compartments would fill up when only about half the passengers had boarded, and I found it very stressful telling people they had to check their bags, because my Tagalog is nonexistent (our interpreters only spoke Japanese), and sometimes the pax's English was about as good as my Tagalog.

When I was flying I generally tried to avoid going to Florida. I found those flights very stressful, for many of the same reasons above: too many carry on bags and not enough space for them; too few FAs for the quality of service I wanted to provide to a full plane. I also didn't like the layovers - hot and humid are not my thing!

[Virginia]

I once had an angry business man throw his bag at me because it woudn't fit in the overhead.

He was last on the plane, very grumpy and stressed and I was Cabin Crew No 3 standing by the overwing in my boarding position. I smiled at him and said hello and he just glared at me and barked 'where can I sit?' It was a late Friday evening flight to Glasgow, so as you can imagine we were pretty full of tired people in suits wanting to go home. It was the 3rd sector for us. :zzz:

He found a seat and then wouldn't stow his huge case with his laptop in-he wanted it on his lap. I explained nicely that it would have to be stowed for landing and take off. He snapped 'why?' so I explained for safety reasons and he said 'well if we crash we'll die anyway,' or something like that.

The Purser was really nice and saw I was struggling so came over to help me. I went to find space in the overhead locker and the only space was right at the back of the plane. He then THREW his bag at me (clever move seeing it had his laptop in) and told me to stick it up my a**. :E Smooth or what? Lukily being a ballet dancer I'm pretty quick on my feet :O

He got offloaded. The other pax were really nice and shocked by his rudeness.

My point is that passengers like that can be found on any route. Every country has such rude people.

And I was polite to him as you can see, didn't reply in a heated way to his comments as I thought that would inflame the situation. I always think by being polite to the rude person you have the moral high ground. It didn't make that pax any less horrible but at least he didn't get even angrier.

I have also had pax comment on my job eg 'why don't you get a better job love and do something with your life?'
Me: *Big smile* "Oh I have a degree actually. I'm doing this job as it's fun and I get to travel."

These sorts of comments annoy me A LOT, who are you to comment on my profession?

[hermione]

* Bad manners are democratic. You can find rude and fine latin/asian/american/european/african/etc. passengers.

* The cabin crew´s job is a tough one: After a normal flight most passengers will not remember the airline because of the optimal maintenance of the airplane brakes but for the good food, wine and service of the cabin crew.

*My respects to all of you. ;)

[MaskedDispatcher]

At the Gate of a delayed flight: SUMMER:
Charter Pax - 'You dont care about us now you've has us (sic) money'
Dispatcher - 'On the contrary sir, i need all of you'.
Charter Pax - 'Aye, I pay your wages'
Dispatcher - 'That and the fact i need you as ballast to make the plane fly straight . . . .'

Sometimes they are ALL just a number to the man on the end of the Loadsheet. . .well, ALL times really!

TMD:ok:

[galanjal]

crikey AMS, you won't get very far with that attitude!! sometimes the finger clicking is a cultural difference and something you will just need to take in your stride. you really cannot refuse to serve someone just because they attract your attention in a manner not to your liking!!

[Glamgirl]

Here's a simple solution for pax who click their fingers at you:

Say "are you ok?" (or similar), then NICELY explain that clicking their fingers at you is not very nice and to please not do it again.

I've said this a fair few times and usually, the pax in question apologises profusely and explains they didn't realise it was rude in our culture.

The same goes for tugging/poking of body parts/items of crew clothing. I simply say "please don't touch me/poke me/tug at my clothes, as I don't like it". That usually makes them understand that it's not acceptable.

Gg

[Anti-ice]

The worst passengers in my view are those that blatantly and purposefully ignore you :mad: - especially on greeting them onboard or asking them a polite question.
It really used to bug me until i considered that they must be that bloomin miserable in general to behave like that.......

Our Nice (France) passengers usually give us a run for our money and come up with a plethora of excuses for an upgrade :{ ;)

I have to say that the only time in 20 years i have seen a passenger make another one cry was an american couple who gave an elderly gentile british couple hell by shouting "you are ruining our luxury holiday experience by talking ", which they weren't loudly- and they just did this to shut them up.
It was the mostly ghastly display of evil self-importance i have witnessed onboard, and we gave them an absolute and deserved dressing down.

Other than that, it is the ones who selfishly bring on 3 large pieces of handbaggage and get nasty when they can't stow it that must be among the worst :ugh:

[christep]

explain that clicking their fingers at you is not very nice and to please not do it again.

I've said this a fair few times and usually, the pax in question apologises profusely and explains they didn't realise it was rude in our culture.Just out of curiosity, can you explain why your culture should always take precedence over that of the people who pay your salary?

[VS-LHRCSA]

I take your point, Christep. However, just because someone pays my salary doesn't give them the right to knowingly offend me. In the case of snapping fingers, I would politely point out that since they are heading to Britain, their cultural practice will offend people when they get there.

I once had a woman give me the two fingered salute to indicate "two". I laughed and told her what it meant and not to do it to anyone when we landed. She saw the funny side and was my buddy for the rest of the flight.

In some cultures it is considered acceptable to pinch a lady's buttocks if you find her attractive. Try doing that in the UK (or a UK airline for that matter) and see if you keep your face on.

[Abusing_the_sky]

Can we have a rise then please?:}

[r.s]

Christep, I know that if I was doing something that was offensive to another culture I'd rather have it pointed out to me so I didn't go on offending others.

[Virginia]

That's going along the same line as 'Well I pay your salary so I can verbally/physically/sexually assult you.'

Just because someone is paying your salary that doesn't mean they can do what they want to you.

In some cultures they may stone women to death. Well you wouldn't let someone do that on your plane would you?

[TightSlot]

christep is trolling - don't feed him any more please

[UP and Down Operator]

I think there is a lot of very rude pax out there stepping over the line every single day.
However, CC (especially british) must also learn that there is difference in cultures that THEY will have to learn themselves. I find a lot of my own crew complaining when flying to scandinavia and northern Europe because the pax doesn't say "please" all the ******* time.
CREW have to learn that some cultures says things in a different way, and that is not being rude, so when you correct these pax (on the way home to their own countries), then YOU GUYS are the rude and dominant ones for correcting them in their way of asking or saying things. :=

This is one of the reasons in my oppinion that not everybody is cut out to work as cabin crew. It takes a strong personality to be able to accept, and adapt, on a daily basis to other cultures behavior in a personal and proffessional way.

And why should we all adapt to the English behaviour anyway. There are so many more less political correct and relaxed cultures that we could adapt to instead (putting on my bullet proof jacket and digging a hole now) :E

I always back up my crew if there is problems, but some crew needs to open their eyes as well, and I don't mean to look for the stunning pax :}

Ready for incomming!! :E

[keiranlgw]

QUOTE "Just out of curiosity, can you explain why your culture should always take precedence over that of the people who pay your salary?"

At the end of the day it comes down to manners, I don't believe that any culture thinks it is acceptable to put hand up and click fingers to get attention!

If you’re flying on a UK plane then you should adapt to the UK crew. Just like if you’re on an internal flight in Spain on a Spanish airline we should have to respect Spanish culture.

I remember recently when I was working out of MXP doing an internal flight from MXP to PMO, a passenger asked me why I did not speak Italian, and I said that easyJet is an English airline therefore we speak English.

I fly all over Europe and have many different cultured people onboard and yes some of them do not say please or thank you and you get used to that, I don't think I would go as far as having a word with them, but I agree with 'Glamgirl' for speaking to that passenger.

At the end of the day it’s not all to do with culture; you can have someone English having a bad day who may not say please or thank you. There could be many many reasons why people act as they do, what we see and hear of them is the tip or a very large iceberg!

[snapper41]

Perhaps us pax should start a thread about who the rudest flight attendants are??

[Mr_Hippo]

Speaking as a passenger, I remember the old 'vomit comet' flights DHA-LHR with the drunken Scots and drunken Saudis fighting and, on more than one occasion, the captain threatened to divert to off-load the offenders. Still the same, is it?
Young Brits/chavs flying to BKK. They may have remembered their passports but have left their brains and manners at home.
Thai 'high society' types travelling economy but demand first class service.

[kate140983]

I think that you should respect the cultures in the country that you are in. Clearly Britain is not respected anymore but we can only blame the government for letting so many people through our gates and onto our tiny island!! So untill they realise we will have to adapt to everyone elses culture and forget our own because of all the dogooders. Moan over, lets all enjoy our jobs now xx

[Abusing_the_sky]

"Clearly Britain is not respected anymore but we can only blame the government for letting so many people through our gates and onto our tiny island!!"

May i just ask you nicely you don't tar everyone with the same brush... I am half british as far as i'm concered, but i'm still one of those "so many people" who came through this country's gates many years ago. Although i have paid my taxes since Day 1 and worked so hard to get to where i am today, i still shiver when someone like you makes a statement like that.
As for "Britain is not respected anymore", well i would say that is a bit out of line as well... I have so many friends who are british and they are genuine nice people and i care about them a lot, but i absolutely dislike the "british chavs". I work with wonderfull polish people, well educated, but i dislike almost all my flights to Poland just because the majority of pax are rude and ignorant. And then we have some house owners in France who use a low fares cost airline to get there but still have champaigne tastes for beer money... Can you see where i'm going with this...?

I personally feel offended by your comments. And i believe that absolutely EVERYWHERE you will find people who are being slagged off just because they come from a country that has a negative side to it (we don't seem to hear and remember the good things, only the bad ones).

Take care:ok:

[TightSlot]

Heading for JetBlast at this rate

[kate140983]

Hi abusing the sky.

I had no intentions of offending anyone, so apologies if I did. Just merely stating my opinion. I agree that not everyone who comes here is the same but the majority are. If you watch the news most of the murders and crimes in Britian are caused or associated with people who are not british or part british. I am half French (born and raised in England) and most people say they don't like the French but I can understand their points of view. I am young and already I can see that in the future I won't be able to bring my children up in traditional british culture due to the ever increasing multi cultural country this is becoming. I just think Churchill and all the brave people who fought in the world wars to keep us Britian would be turning in their grave! x

[RobertC]

how about let's get back to topic?

[emboogie]

Snapper41 please do!!! but dont critcize crew putting there opinions across on a cabin crew forum :hmm:

[Virginia]

I once had a pax called me a stupid b*tch as we had run out of beer. I asked him how running out out beer made me stupid and he couldn't answer that, obviously the complete lack of any brain cells, most likely killed off by the vast amounts of beer consumed by him.

Yep, he was a nasty common chavvy pax! :yuk:

[DuDe . . . Sweet]

As a pilot & as im stuck up in the flight deck with the captain 99% of the time i can't really comment but normally the flights to & from amsterdam actually anywhere that the stag & hen parties go to can be a nightmare we can hear all the shouting swearing & fighting all in the flightdeck. But also as im a female pilot i always get comments from the drunks at the back of the aircraft which really annoys me as i can do my job just as well than many of the male pilots out there.We also get it in the neck from the cc on the flights from hell as they seem to like to have a good rant to us about the pax who giving them grief- this i find quite funny as this gives me a welcome break from the usual convasation with the captain so thank you to the cc who put up with the crap i could never do your job as well as you all do:D Just thought i'd tell you this as pilots don't give nearly enough credit to you lot as you deserve to i take my hat off to you!! xx:O

[cabingal]

I flew for 3 years + have now hung up my wings + work on check in. In 2 days I was called a troublemaker, scum, a mong, a snotty b!tch + a f$&king retard. All because their hand luggage was too heavy/big to fit in an overhead locker. I have also had sausages thrown at me when the foot + mouth outbreak was on (about 7 years ago when I worked for another handling agent). I know people have bad days + can understand people can get upset at times. I AM a people person + will ALWAYS go out of my way to help anyone but when I get called names I just cut them off. There is NO excuse whatsoever for this behaviour! Then on the other hand, there are some lovely passengers who make it all worthwhile!

[Rush2112]

SLF here. I travel quite a bit around SE Asia, generally with SQ, and I always try and be polite to the CC (I find if you treat people well, they treat you well in return).

I was on leave recently and had two flights in Europe on Easyjet (Pisa to Orly, and Orly to Milan) and was amazed at the attitude of the pax. Snapping at the crew, stomping around trying to jam bags in lockers, etc.. Then I realised what the problem may have been - herded like animals in a holding pen, no discernible order then stampede to the aircraft and try and find suitable seats OK if you are a solo passenger but if you are with the mrs it'd be nice to sit with her. This is the wrong thread but surely it would be better for all concerned, SLF and CC, if they allocated seats?!?!? Flying is stressful enough for many people without the added pleasure of boarding an EZ flight.

I would say that the crews on both flights did a pretty good job, clearly they were used to it all(!):ok:

[Solar]

Over the years I have seen many examples of the good and not so good on both side of the fence and still I am sometimes surprised at human nature in others and at my own reactions at times.
A few years ago travelling overnight from the Middle East to Belfast via Heathrow I arrived early in London at the then downstairs departures for my BA flight to Belfast. The kind check in ladies of the other regular carrier spotted me and asked would I like to take their earlier flight as I had the required ticket and no check in bags. I replied in the afirmitive and they called the gate/pilot for confirmation and I was duly given a boarding card. In the company of the youg lady I then hastened to the door for the short walk to the plane.
I can only assume that as it was the middle of winter and I was in shirt sleeves, had an overnight 5 o'clock shadow and it would appear that I had arrived late for the flight the captain drew the entirely wrong conclusion.
When I reached the top of the stairs the stewardess informed me that the captain thought I was too drunk to fly, I do admit I'd had the guts of two pints during my overnight flight which may be a lot in some peoples book but I can just about handle it. The captain & FO were glancing over their shoulders presumably to gauge my reaction. I tried to explain why I was "late" but to no avail. My N I acent may not have helped. I returned to the lounge an unhappy bunny.
Several months later on the same route, same carrier, different crew we were delayed for two hours as the captain had been delayed and they had to locate a another, I spent most of the time in the cockpit with the young FO discussing things aviation.
Depends on which side of the bed or whose bed you get out of I suppose.

[Virginia]

I have come to the conclusion that in many a bad pax's eyes no=rudeness.
EG. 'Can I sit in Club Class?' then being politely told 'no' by a cabin crew member would make said pax say 'the cabin crew were rude to me!'

I have a friend who has a top class degree in Law from one of the UK's top 5 universities. She is applying for graduate jobs and works as a cashier in a Marks and Spencers foodhall. She is a lovely girl, very polite and well spoken and she said the number of customers that downright ignore her and are rude to her is shocking! She is just glad she has a degree and can hopefully get a good job asap.

There does seem to be a tendancy to belittle people who work in customer facing roles such as retail staff and airline/airport staff.

I can only think that people in general are becoming ruder. :sad:

[m500dpp]

I am SLF but with a daughter in her second month of CC with a charter airline.
As passenger, I have always been polite with the CC and assist where possible, such as passing drinks and meals across, helping load overhead lockers, etc, its just common courtesy……….and my experience is that most pax are similarly well behaved, its just the few….
For me there is no excuse whatsoever to be rude to CC or any other staff for that matter, and anyone guilty should have some action taken against them.
My daughter's experience to date has included:

Oil rig workers with free drinks supplied. Yes there are a few "fruity" suggestions, but she enjoys flying with these guys, gives as good as she gets and they all have a bit of fun.
Military. Much as above but without the drinks!
Pax returning from a cruise. The rudest so far, one woman had to be threatened with being offloaded. Why do people who think they have a little bit of money assume its their right to be rude? At the end of the flight the senior called CC to seats for landing "and thank you for your hard work" This lady was heard to say "what hard work?" maybe she ought to try it.
Chav flight to common holiday destination. People drinking their own booze, and generally noisey, coarse and rude.So what can be done?

Rude pax should be warned and blacklisted, so that when they board a plane, senior cabin crew can warn them before the flight that they will not tolerate rudeness, and if need be they could be offloaded before take off!
The senior CC or pilot should announce to the whole plane any pax who is out of order - " Can we remind the lady in 36 D that cabin crew are here for your safety and comfort, not for you to be rude to. If you persist you will be restrained and escorted off the plane on landing. "May be harsh but generally pax are polite, and to highlight the rude ones will soon put a stop to it. Sure the pax highlighted wont like it, but I really think there is no excuse for such behaviour
My daughter is flying to Sierra Leone at the week end - and those pax don’t have a good reputation, we shall see!!!!

[ladyflyby]

Astraeus? Sierra Leone passengers are fine; some of the best in fact!
Unfortunately we have to keep the moral high ground and can't single out a passenger over the PA. Even though sometimes, I wish we could!!!

[VS-LHRCSA]

Yeah, what is it about cruise passengers? Maybe it's because they have just come from the ship where they are pretty much pampered by a generally subserviant and often foreign crew . When they step off the ship, they forget they are back in the "real world".

Unfortunately, these are the ones most likely to complain if you try to put them in their place.

[christep]

Maybe it's because they have just come from the ship where they are pretty much pampered by a generally subserviant and often foreign crew .Perhaps they've just been flying on a decent airline where they still understand the concept of "service" (SQ or CX for example).

[m500dpp]

Perhaps they've just been flying on a decent airline where they still understand the concept of "service" (SQ or CX for example).

I take exception to that.

The airline my daughter flies for have a good reputation for service (within their budget constraints of course) and I know how my daughter deals with people, having gained more excellent service awards than anyone else at her previous role in Marks and Spencer. A number of pax on the cruise flight were rude to all of the cabin crew, totally unecesary - if they want top end service then they must pay top end price, but under no circumstances is it acceptable for pax to be rude just because these pampered morons dont get their own way.

I have yet to fly on any airline that has anything other than very polite CC, and I consider it basic human courtesy to act in the same manner.

[VS-LHRCSA]

Christep, for all you know, I could be talking about SQ and CX. They carry cruise passengers and I have seen they way people (not just cruise passengers) treat their crew.

I've been in the industry for over 20 years and do consistenly deliver excellent customer service to all my passengers. People will be rude no matter what airline you work for. Being able to balance that out by dealing with customers who ARE friendly and good humoured makes it so much easier to deal with people such as yourself.

[Virginia]

I hate to think what christep's idea of good service is....

[snapper41]

I can only think that people in general are becoming ruder. :sad:
You're absolutely right - and 'people in general' includes both pax and cabin staff. As I've observed before, perhaps we pax should start a 'rudest cabin crew' thread - it cuts both ways.

[Virginia]

How many times have you seen a flight attendant swear at and physically assult passengers? I have never witnessed it but have witnessed many occasions of passengers being verbally abusive and physically abusive towards airline staff.

I agree that cabin crew shouldn't be rude but was wondering how you would define rude cabin crew? As I said before, some passengers do tend to think that 'no' to a request=rude. I am not implying you are one of these people and would be interested to hear your stories. And yes, I have witnessed rudeness from cabin crew to pax but far, far more cases of terribly rude pax! Again, I'm not saying you are a bad passenger at all.

On a slightly different note about rudeness, you do hear a lot of people moan about customer service staff. Maybe it's just me but I do find that by being generally pleasant and polite I very rarely get bad service.

If I need to complain I ask to see a manager and politely and calmly tell them what I would like to make a complaint about and usually my problem is resolved. I wish passengers would realise that by shouting and swearing they just make themselves look like idiots. Have never felt the need to do this.

[snapper41]

Virginia;

Swearing at, and physically assaulting anyone, is not 'rude', it's criminal. I'm talking here about the lack of service and attitude that comes with some crew. One example from me, with a North American carrier; when I got aboard and was strapping myself in, the female crew in my section of the aircraft spent the whole boarding time leaning against the cabin bulkhead with her arms folded, giving us pax a look of utter scorn. She was also chewing gum voraciously at the time. later, when serving drinks, she dropped a bottle from the trolley which caused her to exclaim 'Oh Sh*t' in a loud voice.

Doesn't sound much, but I do expect more when I'm a paying guest!

[merlinxx]

Plse direct your complaint at the ground staff for not adequately briefing the Flight/Cabin Crew:ugh: Flt/CC can only make an immediate visual appreciation, it's split second decision on a very tight pre-departure situation. You have a good feel about the company though, good on ya.

[merlinxx]

Guess they apply the "Hyacinth (Bouquet) Bucket syndrome, those that live in "Dun Roamin" in "Acacia Ave" with shifty net curtains!

[christep]

I hate to think what christep's idea of good service is....Try flying SQ or CX in First and you'll find out!

[Solar]

Hope your not suggesting that I look like a drunkard at first glance!!!!! thats a joke by the way although it has been said that I do have a certain rough and ready look at times not helped by overnight flights after a month or two in the non tourist spots of the Middle East.

As somebody else has said good manners appear to be largely absent these days although in thirty years as a pax I would have to say that good incidences far outstrip the bad.
I do believe that the budget airlines have a lot to answer for in relation to the increase in bad behaviour (and no I don't think that flying should only be for the rich) my point is that we used to get excellent though brief service on the short haul and now we have to pay through the nose for a cup of tea while the CC are busy counting money and processing credid cards.
Mind you the increase in bad manners are not confined to airline flights as we are all too aware.
I now work in the Far East and SQ are still in the top five.

[Juud]

m500dpp, great to see the pride in your daughter's achievments shine through. We all secretly want a proud Mum, your daughter obviously has one. :ok:

All of you expending energy on answering christep might not be aware of the following. Over the years, christep had built himself a distinguished :hmm: record on this forum by
Coming onto the forum specifically to slag off western flight attendants
Touting the excellence of Asian flight attendants (as opposed to useless western girls)
Plugging his 2 favourite Asian airlines ad nauseam
Making sure everybody knows he flies first class
Never taking any notice of anybody's arguments but his own.

FWIW

As to rude pax, while their are @ssholes in all walks of life, I encounter most of my really rude pax on the rare days when I start work after a fight with my family, been stuck in traffic on my way to the airport or have otherwise been feeling 'off'.
Funny coincidence that. ;)

[m500dpp]

Thanks Juud, I'm a proud Dad!!!!:)

Samantha texted to say that the sierra leone pax were pretty rude, but added that they were all going to the pub for a drink so I guess they will get over it.!!!!!

It saddens me that people find it necesary to be rude and its not just pax, it applies to shoppers and anyone else who comes into contact with those providing a service. As always its just a few, the vast majority are fine.....

[christep]

[Over the years, christep had built himself a distinguished record on this forum by
Coming onto the forum specifically to slag off western flight attendants
Touting the excellence of Asian flight attendants (as opposed to useless western girls)I have no problem with cabin crew of any race - Cathay has quite a few western cabin crew and they provide the same level of service as those from Asia. It's the culture of the airline and its service that is important, not where the staff were born.

And CX's crews are just as good in J or Y (which I fly more often than F in fact).

[Abusing_the_sky]

Just yeasterday coming from DUB... During the Safety Demo 2 women, in their early 40's i would say (you would think they would pay more attention giving the maturity of their age) wouldn't stop laughing. I stopped the demo once, twice, they still didn't stop. The third time i stopped i went to their seats and asked "Excuse me, can i ask what is it so funny that you won't stop laughing?". One of them said: "You!", to which i replied "I don't see anything funny about me showing you what to do in case of an emergency". She replied "Well i'm not in school anymore so you don't talk like that to me, who do you think you are?. Me: " No we are not in school but for sure you act like we are. And I am your only hope for life in case things go wrong. If i could have your attention for two minutes, myself and the pax around you would very much appreciate it". And she just wouldn't stop laughing and taking the pi$$! So AGAIN i went to her and this time i said " Can you please tell me where your oxigen mask is?" No answer. "Can you tell me how to use it? Can you tell me where your lifejacket is?" The very rude one said trying to be smart "No, it's my first time flying. Why don't you go back and smile to the chaps overthere?"
I thought i would explode, she was SO rude! :ugh::ugh: I finally brought the "big guns" and said "A: Well if it's your first time flying i suggest you pay attention to the safety demo, you are putting in danger not only your life, but the life of the lady sitting at the window and half of the cabin for that matter (she was sitting at the aisle somewhere in the back at the a/c and her friend was sitting in the middle seat). B: I don't smile on command and finally C: I absolutely love my job but every so often people like you make me go the opposite direction. I could stop the a/c right now and off load you, i know you maybe only paid £30 for your ticket but please have a bit of respect, i don't come in your office and start messing around, you don't come in my aircraft and act like you just acted!" She just gave me a "Yeah whatever, pi$$ off!"
I just didn't want to take it any further so i walked away.Finally finished the demo, secured, took off... Whilst i was setting up the trolley a gentleman was coming down the cabin to the rear toilets and said to me " Can i just say i am very sorry you had to deal with that rude woman and i do apologize on behalf of the irish people" I couldn't believe it, all i could say was " I am so sorry you had to witness that, i am as shocked as you are" to which he took my hand and he said "you guys are brilliant, i don't know how you do it"
That just made my day and got my emotions back on track :)
And whilst disembarking, i had so many pax telling me "well done" or "we are really sorry you had to put up with her" or this young man said " i would've kicked her a$$ and then off load her!" Bless him

So lady, if you ever read this, that's if you can read or maybe are sober enough to realise that the computer is not plugged in that's why it doesn't work, next time you won't be so lucky. You'll have the CPT saying on the PA " Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. For the lady sitting in YZseat, stop abusing my crew and cause problems and make other pax feel unconfortable. Or we'll invite the police to have a little chat with you on arrival. Thank you for flying with us and enjoy the rest of your flight"
You make us work under stress we just don't need. You are a shame for your country and the lovely irish people. I sincerely hope someone WILL see that you don't get to put a foot in any onther airplane, EVER! SHAME ON YOU!

Sorry for the moan guys, i just had to get it out of my system.

Safe and happy flying:)
XXX

[VS-LHRCSA]

Yep, AMS, sounds about right. Welcome to flying. After a while you won't even notice the rudeness but you will get to dine out on these experiences for years to come.

My advice, remember everything, learn from them and use these practical experiences for when you go for Purser. I know it's yeeeeeeaaaarrrrrrssssss away but it's all good experience for you.

What always amazes me is crew that deal with rude pax, etc on a flight and then act like complete jerks themselves when they get to the hotel, demanding this and demanding that - but I guess that's another thread.

[christep]

And I am your only hope for life in case things go wrong.It's patently absurd statements like this that don't help. And you complain about the passengers being arrogant?

[Cumulogranite]

Hi All
This will turn into a rant, but not at you guys, oh no, I am more full of admiration than ever after last night!

So it goes like this, we've just been to Mallorca for a couple of days. Monarch down to the Island last Thursday afternoon was splendid as always, even though the flying conditions were apauling, and even though the crew were strapped in and the aircraft was jumping about some idiots (not allowed to use stronger words here but I'm sure you can all think of a few) still thought a trip to inspect the plumbing was a good idea. Pratts!!!!!!!!

This, however, pails into insignificance when compared to the trip home. To get a later flight home we had to buy a spare seat on charter, Thomsonfly as it happens back to Manchester. Again superb service and an excellent flight, thanks and well done guys. I am now going to sound very snobby. I am not, I am just at a loss as to how some people manage to board a plane in the first place. I was surrounded by the bucket and spade brigade, and by God you could tell.

So we'll start with the two little darlings sat across the aisle from me. 2-4-2 config, 2 kids sat in 2 seats behind their parents (I assume they were the parents, not sure really) As kids do they started messing, dancing to the intro music for the safety brief of all things. Dad at this point exercised some parental control by informing them that if they carried on he would " come back there, whack yer one and rip yer effin face off", delightful!

"Dad" was a very smart bloke, resplendant in his black Man Utd shirt with an Argos gold chain hanging over the front of it which was nicely offset by matching shorts and the ensemble was completed with his shiny white trainers!!!!!
He even imparted his geographical knowledge of the UK by telling his kids we were over Old Trafford. (Didn't know it had been uprooted and moved to Cheshire in 3 days!!) After landing, the little girl infront of us was allowed by another caring parent to walk back a few rows to chat to a family friend whilst Mum was texting her mates, this before we even got near the terminal!

I could go on. For a while. A Long while at that. Suffice to say that I am full of admiration for the job you guys do. Someone said to me that some pax check thier brains in with thier bags, I am more inclined to say that they haven't got any to start with. My fellow travelling companions, whilst not all, but a good lot of them, can best be described as monolithic, monosyllabic ameobas whose only redeeming feature is the fact that the carpet doesn't need hoovering after they have been on board, their knuckles clean up as they walk !!!!!!!

So thanks for a great service and please do tell me how you can remain so patient whilst faced with the sort of people that until 15 years ago would still be holidaying in a Blackpool B&B (and God how I wished they still were!)

[javafox]

What always amazes me is crew that deal with rude pax, etc on a flight and then act like complete jerks themselves when they get to the hotel, demanding this and demanding that - but I guess that's another thread.
I completely agree -- there were a few times I was embarrassed to be in the same crew sometimes, with the way certain crew members would act when we got to the hotel, or even if we - God forbid - had to wait an extra few minutes for the hotel van to pick us up from the airport. Humphing and hemming and hawing and spitting nails... As if the van driver has any control over, say, traffic...

[yarnsplicer]

If this is too far off thread, then, dear Moderator, cast this post into the outer darkness. But here is a view from the other side. I am an old f**t, an experienced SLF who started tasting the delights of being a passenger in the early 60’s, on Cambrian DC3s. Cambrian? Please don’t vilify the travelling British business person too much; some of us are old, meek and submissive travellers, too poor to turn left, who cower in cattle class, praying for the upgrade which never comes. I agree completely that pax have become boorish; that children on flights are completely intolerable; that the whole experience is hell on earth for all of us.

From my viewpoint, the welcome from FAs is not what it was in the golden days of Viscounts with big windows and big seat pitches. But FA performance is generally adequate, courteous and reasonably efficient, bearing in mind the appalling working conditions.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a hellish trip: BRS – EWR – GSP – IAH – SMF – LAX – HKG. Then SZX – CKG – SZX. Then HKG-LHR. Eight days of grovelling to potential customers for business.
Every flight but one was full. On every flight but one, the attendants were at the very least efficient and professional. Just one, Expressjet GSP – IAH, was half empty. And just one – the same Expressjet – had a FA with the cold, dead eyes of a great white shark, and the temperament to match. Pity that – puddlejumpers are usually friendly places.

Next time, Mr/Ms Continental/Delta/Cathay/BA, look for the drooling, slack-jawed, confused, sleep-deprived Brit in Row 57. Give him a smile. It could be me.

[Abusing_the_sky]

As Juud and others i believe mentioned before, even one of the moderators if i remember correctly, you seem to think you are better than anyone else and YOU are always right. I refuse to reply to any of your posts. This reply is a one off and it's only to ask you politely to spread your poison somewhere else.

Take care:ok:

[emboogie]

Snapper41 QUOTE /Virginia;

Swearing at, and physically assaulting anyone, is not 'rude', it's criminal. I'm talking here about the lack of service and attitude that comes with some crew. One example from me, with a North American carrier; when I got aboard and was strapping myself in, the female crew in my section of the aircraft spent the whole boarding time leaning against the cabin bulkhead with her arms folded, giving us pax a look of utter scorn. She was also chewing gum voraciously at the time. later, when serving drinks, she dropped a bottle from the trolley which caused her to exclaim 'Oh Sh*t' in a loud voice.

Doesn't sound much, but I do expect more when I'm a paying guest!/QUOTE

:eek:
This flight sounds like you where in a pam ann sketch not on a real carrier i cant believe it?!?

[m500dpp]

Here is an excerpt from an email received from my daughter, describes the flight to Sierra Leone:

"Had a nightmare flight coming out - everyone shouting at me for various different things, and people are being checked in with bags that are too heavy and too big for the overhead lockers, and they won't fit, and all sorts. Nightmare landing as well, 90 seconds till landing and we were still cleaning up someones sick, and other people were stood up trying to go to the loo, passenger at the front was being abusive towards all the crew"

Where's all the glamour gone?

[flyerdesigner]

I work in Corporate aviation, and cannot even put into words the extent to which I love my job. Luckily 99.9% of my clients are wonderful. I do, however, have rude pax, and they tend to be on flights when he a/c is chartered to a third party who has a personal assistant. It is consistantly middle management, in all industries, who tend to be the most officious and overbearing persons, trying o prove themselves to someone along the way. I once nearly had to physically restrain an unruly P/A from grabbing a pilot's arm as he was taxied a GIV - she had waited until I was at the back of the cabin to burst through the galley to try and complain that I had not served breakfast to her boss. I suppose she was tired of being ordered around, and decided that I would be her lackey for the afternoon. When I did attempt to sere breakfast after takeoff, it turned out that the gentleman in question had not actually desired anything to eat. I cannot help but laugh at these people.

[BlueTui]

Hi All
This will turn into a rant, but not at you guys, oh no, I am more full of admiration than ever after last night!

So it goes like this, we've just been to Mallorca for a couple of days. Monarch down to the Island last Thursday afternoon was splendid as always, even though the flying conditions were apauling, and even though the crew were strapped in and the aircraft was jumping about some idiots (not allowed to use stronger words here but I'm sure you can all think of a few) still thought a trip to inspect the plumbing was a good idea. Pratts!!!!!!!!

This, however, pails into insignificance when compared to the trip home. To get a later flight home we had to buy a spare seat on charter, Thomsonfly as it happens back to Manchester. Again superb service and an excellent flight, thanks and well done guys. I am now going to sound very snobby. I am not, I am just at a loss as to how some people manage to board a plane in the first place. I was surrounded by the bucket and spade brigade, and by God you could tell.

So we'll start with the two little darlings sat across the aisle from me. 2-4-2 config, 2 kids sat in 2 seats behind their parents (I assume they were the parents, not sure really) As kids do they started messing, dancing to the intro music for the safety brief of all things. Dad at this point exercised some parental control by informing them that if they carried on he would " come back there, whack yer one and rip yer effin face off", delightful!

"Dad" was a very smart bloke, resplendant in his black Man Utd shirt with an Argos gold chain hanging over the front of it which was nicely offset by matching shorts and the ensemble was completed with his shiny white trainers!!!!!
He even imparted his geographical knowledge of the UK by telling his kids we were over Old Trafford. (Didn't know it had been uprooted and moved to Cheshire in 3 days!!) After landing, the little girl infront of us was allowed by another caring parent to walk back a few rows to chat to a family friend whilst Mum was texting her mates, this before we even got near the terminal!

I could go on. For a while. A Long while at that. Suffice to say that I am full of admiration for the job you guys do. Someone said to me that some pax check thier brains in with thier bags, I am more inclined to say that they haven't got any to start with. My fellow travelling companions, whilst not all, but a good lot of them, can best be described as monolithic, monosyllabic ameobas whose only redeeming feature is the fact that the carpet doesn't need hoovering after they have been on board, their knuckles clean up as they walk !!!!!!!

So thanks for a great service and please do tell me how you can remain so patient whilst faced with the sort of people that until 15 years ago would still be holidaying in a Blackpool B&B (and God how I wished they still were!)

Can I just point out, Monarch is also a charter airline with no difference in passenger profile than Thomsonfly. Some PMI flights are like you describe- the typical bucket and spade brigade, some are similar to what you describe you outbound flight to be. It varies from day to day.

But these passengers as you say, although they pay my wages, i'd rather work less earn less and not put up with them and let them stay in blackpool, sampling the delights of fish and chips on the seafront...

[snapper41]

:eek:
This flight sounds like you where in a pam ann sketch not on a real carrier i cant believe it?!?

All true, I assure you! It was a national carrier, too!

[Joles]

I posted this on PPune a few years ago- found it again !

A tribute from a grateful SLF

http://www.pprune.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-205558.html

I hope it makes your day gentlepeople !

Cheers
Joles

[Joles]

Actually s/he is right technically ! :hmm:

And lets face it guys SLF, DO have a pretty arrogant attitude most times. Funny how people pay so much to get onto an airline and then be so boorish about it.

Sometimes CC is also pretty much snappish, guess it works both ways, but then....why do pax expect so much from the "attendent/host(ess)" without displaying basic courtesies themselves......

Am sure they'd be politer to strangers they bumped past on the road....

Cheers

[ThePurser]

I recently had the fifth and last leg of a long intra-European day and it was a short hop back to home base. C/CL half-full and Y/CL full. During boarding, a hysterical repetitious "bing-bing-bing!" from Y/CL. I went there and found this charming gentleman on 14B (middle-seat) with a very red face.

"What kind of seat is this??"
"This is 14B, Sir, it´s the seat indicated on your boarding pass."
"Do you know who I am? I never sit on a middle seat. I am a frequent flyer. Give me another seat!"
"I´m sorry Sir, but we are full in Economy tonight and I don´t have any other seat for you."
"That´s rubbish. I demand another seat. I want to speak with somebody responsible!"
"That would be me, Sir, I am the purser on this flight and thus in charge."
"I don´t want to talk to you, I want to talk to somebody RESPONSIBLE! I travel 200 000 miles a year with your airline. I want an upgrade!"
"If you wish to upgrade to Business, we will be happy to do that for you in exchange for some of the miles on your account."
"No! I want another seat. NOW!"
Ok, this is not leading anywhere, I have to do something else...
"Allright, I will see what I can do for you, Sir."

I then went out to the airbridge and called the gate in order to find out who was seated on 14C, the aisle seat next to the friendly red-faced gentleman. Walking back I addressed the lady seated in that seat:

"Excuse me Mam, are you Mrs. XXX?"
"Yes, why?"
"I have another seat for you. 7A. It´s in Business Class!"

Turning to Mr Red Face:

"Sir, I have found another seat for you: 14C. An aisle seat as you can see. And the middle seat will stay free for you comfort."

You should have seen his face- and heard the high-fives when I told the rest of the crew :D

Basically I think you will find rude and horrid people in the most unexpected places and walks of lives. I think the worst passenger I ever encountered was a 70-year-old woman, the looks of the sweetest grandma... but that´s another story. The horrible people can be anywhere, no matter who they are or where they come from!

[Matt101]

Oh dear oh dear.

This was never going to be that nice was it?

Something NSEU (or another acronym I am unsure of) said earlier did grip me a little. Now I agreed with most things but I am afriad that the seatbelt one is rather misguided whether true or not.

Pax are asked to sit fown and strap in during turbulence which a minority invariably don't.

We are asked to discontinue the service of hot drinks - this rather implies that everythign else continues. Indeed we are required to visually check everyone is strapped in before continuing to dish out the chicken and beef.

I do not walk around feeling invinceable. In fact I am the first to sit down if I feel uncomfortable. Outside of service most of us do sit down. (Impossible at the front of an Unbunked 777 though as the crew jumpseats are inuse fot crew rest)

I have never referred to myself as an attendant just as Cabin Crew - A large Atlantic Coast country does occasionally refer to me as such but then they forget to use the letter U in a lot of their words to. Except the poorly spelt "Thru" (sic). I jest but my point is I didn't apply to be an attendant.

I am there primarily for safety reasons and secondarily to provide excellent customer service. Something I strive to do at all times. That is until I meet the rudest passengers of all and they are ......... well they are just rude people.

I try not to confuse demanding with rude. Yes flights to India are quite demanding but invariably I find the passengers quite polite and Jovial. The same can be said for Kingston. Demanding is not rude - it's just work and sometimes work is demanding.

What I cannot abide is rudeness. Discounting cultural diffences ie. the lack of an "excuse me" from a Nigerian passenger (I'm sorry, it's cultural, and despite flying on a British Carrier they are no less Nigerian and so we shouldn't expect them to be.) Or the American tendancy to say "Give me" rather than "please may I have" (again cultural not their fault). Rudeness to me is those people who know better.

Yes I am in a service position but I am not a "piece of excrement" nor am i an "expletive tw*t". Both from drunk passengers who have been denied more alcohol.

That was due to alcohol so to this day I have never felt it as rude as the rudest passenger I have ever had. A Business passenger who I could not serve a Bacon roll because we had run out. (Not his fault it was the airlines). However at my appology he retorted "no your not F*cking sorry you don't give a s*it" Now thankfully his wife reminded him of his manners before I did, but to me, that lack of basic respect for another human is unforgiveable.

The Job I do is not directly proportional to my worth, the same is true for any other person. Those people who treat service industry staff as though they are worth less then themselves are in my opinion archaic and tend to be those poeple who are rude.

[JEM60]

I cannot believe some of the behaviour of men on this thread. If they can be that rude to attractive polite FA's, then think what they must be like at home!!!! In all my travelling, I ALWAYS smile and say Hi when boarding, and smile and thankyou when leaving. A nice smile from the FA sure eases the tensions of the day. Keep smiling, some of us like you, very much.

[Virginia]

"no your not F*cking sorry you don't give a s*it"

My answer is:
"No I'm not sorry love, but I'm paid to act like it."

To be honest, why would I be? Do passenges expect you to be deeply sorry and lay awake at night worrying that some loser didn't get his bacon butty?

I care about the safety of passengers, I try to help them BUT at the end of the day none of us are paid to put up with abuse from scum like that.

[Abusing_the_sky]

Just the other day we ran out of beer after a long day. Bare in mind it was Friday, the day the "wonderful" stag and hen parties decide to go somewhere to drink until they faint or worse. Having made a PA (twice) apologizing we don't have any beer on board, they still didn't get it and kept asking "lager, love". So me (again!) had to say "i'm very sorry but we haven't got any beer on board". The reply "this is f:mad:ing stupid, how can you not have any beer, you're a $hit airline you are. Now fetch me a lager from the front". Me: "I'm very sorry but we don't have ANY beer on board, in the back of the cabin OR front". Smile. Move to the next row when the following phrase hit my ears so hard they nearly bled " You're not f:mad:ing sorry, all of you say the same but you don't give a toss"
Me turning around to the pax: "I advise you to mind your language Sir, there are children around you. And no, i am not sorry for you, but God do I feel sorry for me being verbally abused by you". Smile. Walk away. "Bye bye, thank you" when disembarking.... The usual. End of the day.

[Capot]

I got lost and strayed into this thread......

Fascinating.

Just as a comment; travel companies and other service providers (airports, railway companies, Government Offices etc) who invariably provide rotten service from rude, grossly underpaid and uncaring staff have one thing in common, apart from the appalling way they treat their customers.

They all have to put up notices everywhere saying that they will not tolerate the customers being rude back, or even being reduced to physical assault.

These notices are another way of saying:

"We are about to provide appalling service, delay you, and make you stand in queues for hours on end, just for laughs. If you complain, or even ask what's happening, our staff, who don't give a s**t because we pay them so little, will be rude and uninformative, and have been trained to simply lie to you. As soon as you react in any way other than supine acceptance of what we do to you, we will call the police and give them a grossly exaggerated account of what you did not, in reality, do, and you will be arrested if we get our way. Take it or leave it, it's your choice. Have a nice day."

Now remind me; which airlines find it necessary to put up notices like that?

[Cool Wavy NG738]

A couple of months ago during pushback from an Eastern Mediterranean island, I was told by one of my cabin crew that a woman sat at the overwing exit was refusing to put her hand baggage and other random personal possessions in the overhead locker for take off. I simply went down there and after lowering myself to her eye level I said politely to her "as you are sat by an emergency exit I need you to place your handbag in the overhead locker please madam" At which point a discussion ensued for some minutes where I eventually said to her that if she didn't comply to my request I would have to move her from her exit seat. At one point she got so angry I thought if her head were to spin round and she threw up pea soup we were all in trouble.

After taking her vitriolic volley for about two minutes she rounds it off by saying "each time I fly it becomes more and more a thoroughly more miserable experience". Now on reflection probably not the the best reply, but my reply to her was "yes possibly more miserable on both sides, now is the hand bag going up in the locker or do we need to find you another seat?" Needless to say the hand baggage went up without further question.

Another occassion recently we had ran out of the choice of beef for the last row in business class, I politely explained to the gentlemen that I was sorry that we could not carry a full number of each choice, offered him another choice of beef from the main cabin or my crew meal. His reply "I usually fly BA or Virgin and I always get what I want" Eventually he took my nicely plated crew meal and then forked it around a bit in front of me and my colleague but eventually ate it all leaving the plate spotless however he then proceeded to sulk for the remaining six hours, even though I was as accomodating and as polite as possible.

I always do my very best to provide top notch customer service, like others I always say good manners cost nothing, but however inexpensive good manners are at the moment they are increasingly becoming difficult to find.

[Virginia]

Wow, what a nasty little man that passenger was Cool Wavy. Hope you didn't go hungry on account of him!

And as for pax rudely refusing to stow their baggage at an exit seat I politely tell them than in the unlikely event of an evacuation their items could well impede their escape from the aircraft.

[fendant]

Recently on a German LoCo, i was sitting also in the exit row. Mom arrived like a garbage truck with a huge plastic bag and oversize handbag, stowed both in front of the door. I told her that this was illegal.
CC arrived and told her twice to stow it in the overhead. No reaction, doors closed and CC arrived again:

"Mam, do you know what happens if we offload your bags now? No? You will accompany your bag and pay again for one of the flights tomorrow!"

The bag was stowed immediately! When she started to moan, I told her to shut up. IMHO, it would be good especially on flights to SE Europe, if also the LoCo's would strictly enforce the one piece must fit into this space rule.

Frank

[TightSlot]

You're right Capot - you did get lost.

Jet Blast is out through the door and turn right, then follow your nose

:E