Unpleasant Pax comments!
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Must be rather frustrating, seeing as how you guys are there to save our lives should anything happen
Let's be realistic.
but it is still your duty to "apologise" for the delay
Duty? It's my "duty" as you put it to fly their sorry arses from A to B. It is NOT my "duty" to put up with garbage from the endless numbers of filth we fly around this tragic part of the world. And so I don't!! Perfect!
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I've been called "Stupid trolley dolly" before (which is priceless considering I'm not even an F/A - think it was the pax that was stupid that time, perhaps?! 
)
Also had a really obnoxious pax try the "But I'm a pilot" line on missing his flight, really made a fuss and got abusive. I just said to him "Well sir, if you are a pilot you will understand the procedures and that you can't just turn up at pushback time."
He shut up.
There's too many to list, the things people come out with never ceases to amaze me!!
Yes, we should apologise for the delay, and make them comfortable as we can, as Sinala says, but there is NO reason for people to get ABUSIVE or PERSONAL. I
have had MANY passengers get their dissatisfaction across regarding delays/tech faults quite well without resorting to acting like 5 year olds. A quiet comment about the degree of your annoyance and a request that a complaint be logged will get you much further than screaming like an idiot at someone who can't even control the problem you are having...!
)Also had a really obnoxious pax try the "But I'm a pilot" line on missing his flight, really made a fuss and got abusive. I just said to him "Well sir, if you are a pilot you will understand the procedures and that you can't just turn up at pushback time."
He shut up.
There's too many to list, the things people come out with never ceases to amaze me!!
Yes, we should apologise for the delay, and make them comfortable as we can, as Sinala says, but there is NO reason for people to get ABUSIVE or PERSONAL. I
have had MANY passengers get their dissatisfaction across regarding delays/tech faults quite well without resorting to acting like 5 year olds. A quiet comment about the degree of your annoyance and a request that a complaint be logged will get you much further than screaming like an idiot at someone who can't even control the problem you are having...!
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@ DELTABOY
About two years ago I returned from SYD to VIE with OS. I was sitting in a D-seat (first seat right of the left aisle in the T7 of OS) an on ABC one row behing me was a coulpe (he approx.40+, she roughly 35 years) with a boy which I would put into grmmaer school.
Anyway, approx. 2 hours into the flight, the man starts into business class and grabs a seat there. Politely, the purser informs him that he would either have to pay for this upgrade or have to walk back to economy.
After arguing he walks back and tries something else: The boy is seated in C, the wife is sleeping in the seats A nd B with her legs on her sons ap. Man sleeps on the groun between the rows (nota aisle).
Again the cabin crew is forcd to inform him that this is against the regulations and asks him very friendly to return to his seat.
Another drink (he had some Jack Danils and Bailey's) is refused by the stewardess since he has had his share and since she fears that more alcohol will make him even more aggressive.
After calling here a "bitch" and some other things I rose from my seat, flash my ID (which was star alliance back then) and ask him politely to calm down. Also the 1st officer arrives and we were able to cool the sitaution down and made it to KUL without any more troubles.
In KUL the crew is changed and the new captain did something very wise from my point of view. After consulting with his crew and the old crew, he talks to the man without his wife aside and tells him that he is not interested in anything which has happened before, as long there is no problem between KUL and VIE, he does not care. Athough he mentioned that India has a rather low standard in its jails and landings like this would be paid by the pax... "But I think we all do not want this much paperwork, do we?". Furthermore, he changed the cc and our section was served by a stewart who was slighty over six feet and in perfect shape.
No problems 'til VIE.
Regards, Bernhard
About two years ago I returned from SYD to VIE with OS. I was sitting in a D-seat (first seat right of the left aisle in the T7 of OS) an on ABC one row behing me was a coulpe (he approx.40+, she roughly 35 years) with a boy which I would put into grmmaer school.
Anyway, approx. 2 hours into the flight, the man starts into business class and grabs a seat there. Politely, the purser informs him that he would either have to pay for this upgrade or have to walk back to economy.
After arguing he walks back and tries something else: The boy is seated in C, the wife is sleeping in the seats A nd B with her legs on her sons ap. Man sleeps on the groun between the rows (nota aisle).
Again the cabin crew is forcd to inform him that this is against the regulations and asks him very friendly to return to his seat.
Another drink (he had some Jack Danils and Bailey's) is refused by the stewardess since he has had his share and since she fears that more alcohol will make him even more aggressive.
After calling here a "bitch" and some other things I rose from my seat, flash my ID (which was star alliance back then) and ask him politely to calm down. Also the 1st officer arrives and we were able to cool the sitaution down and made it to KUL without any more troubles.
In KUL the crew is changed and the new captain did something very wise from my point of view. After consulting with his crew and the old crew, he talks to the man without his wife aside and tells him that he is not interested in anything which has happened before, as long there is no problem between KUL and VIE, he does not care. Athough he mentioned that India has a rather low standard in its jails and landings like this would be paid by the pax... "But I think we all do not want this much paperwork, do we?". Furthermore, he changed the cc and our section was served by a stewart who was slighty over six feet and in perfect shape.
No problems 'til VIE.
Regards, Bernhard
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Quote from Ozcabincrew:
"i'm sure there has been instances, but i find that male F/A's of the gay kind in Australia don't cop really anything from what i've seen unless they're acting overly camp and feminine, which is just asking for trouble, "
ASKING FOR TROUBLE??? so an effeminate gay man should butch it up and pretend to be someone else while at work? it takes all kinds to make the world an interesting place, and if being yourself is asking for trouble you are too narrow minded to be in a customer service job.
And by the way, I am neither gay nor male, but on behalf of my gay friends, I take offence at your comment.
"i'm sure there has been instances, but i find that male F/A's of the gay kind in Australia don't cop really anything from what i've seen unless they're acting overly camp and feminine, which is just asking for trouble, "
ASKING FOR TROUBLE??? so an effeminate gay man should butch it up and pretend to be someone else while at work? it takes all kinds to make the world an interesting place, and if being yourself is asking for trouble you are too narrow minded to be in a customer service job.
And by the way, I am neither gay nor male, but on behalf of my gay friends, I take offence at your comment.
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Speed Freak - perhaps your 60 year old chap could see crew chatting in the galley and was a bit peeved at having to wait - fare paying passenger and all that......ho hum.
De Burc - I think I recognise you from your attitude........first class customer service skills displayed (hint - irony).
In a previous life I worked in customer services - there were those passengers who were unreasonably rude these I ignored; there were those who were reasonably rude these I helped. There were also many members of staff with the interpersonal skills of Herr Flick - a lot of folk end up in customer services who quite simply should not be there.
De Burc - I think I recognise you from your attitude........first class customer service skills displayed (hint - irony).
In a previous life I worked in customer services - there were those passengers who were unreasonably rude these I ignored; there were those who were reasonably rude these I helped. There were also many members of staff with the interpersonal skills of Herr Flick - a lot of folk end up in customer services who quite simply should not be there.
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lfdlfp,
wasn't intending it to be offensive and no, no one should change the way they are simply to satisfy someone elses opinion (and i work with a lot of gay people), but if a male F/A is going to board a flight and walk down the aisle throwing his arms everywhere and calling people darl and honey (inc. men which i have seen), then they should only be fully expecting to be spoken to by a disgruntled passenger. Male F/A's that act in this way, yes should be themselves, but they should also respect the opinions and rights of passengers/other crew who may not feel comfortable with this. I'm sure they wouldn't like it if a passenger referred to them as something they didn't feel comfortable with the whole flight.
All i'm saying is, definately be yourself and don't change for anyone you are who you are just as much as the next person is who they are aswell, however be aware of the position you're putting yourself in and your passengers and how they may not feel comfortable with the environment that is being created around them.
Everyone has the right to feel comfortable within themselves and their environment and everyone should respect this, whether it be gay, straight or the man from the moon!
wasn't intending it to be offensive and no, no one should change the way they are simply to satisfy someone elses opinion (and i work with a lot of gay people), but if a male F/A is going to board a flight and walk down the aisle throwing his arms everywhere and calling people darl and honey (inc. men which i have seen), then they should only be fully expecting to be spoken to by a disgruntled passenger. Male F/A's that act in this way, yes should be themselves, but they should also respect the opinions and rights of passengers/other crew who may not feel comfortable with this. I'm sure they wouldn't like it if a passenger referred to them as something they didn't feel comfortable with the whole flight.
All i'm saying is, definately be yourself and don't change for anyone you are who you are just as much as the next person is who they are aswell, however be aware of the position you're putting yourself in and your passengers and how they may not feel comfortable with the environment that is being created around them.
Everyone has the right to feel comfortable within themselves and their environment and everyone should respect this, whether it be gay, straight or the man from the moon!
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Rude PAX
It is my limited experience of passenger flying, in the last 5 years, that one result of being able to fly across Europe for a few £s is that you are catering for people who are strangers to personal hygiene, good manners and a basic education. They are also well versed in tattoos, strange hair containing assorted repellent life forms and body peircings, many visible and some (luckily) not!
Last edited by A2QFI; 4th Nov 2005 at 15:41.
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hahaha,
well i guess the whole idea was to make flying accesible to everyone, but maybe at check in along with asking the usual questions about lighters, security etc they should ask if they'd showered and used deoderant aswell! that may stop the odd complaint we get every now and then from passengers complaining the person next to them stinks!
It takes all sorts! It's what makes the world go around and keeps it interesting!
Oz
well i guess the whole idea was to make flying accesible to everyone, but maybe at check in along with asking the usual questions about lighters, security etc they should ask if they'd showered and used deoderant aswell! that may stop the odd complaint we get every now and then from passengers complaining the person next to them stinks!
It takes all sorts! It's what makes the world go around and keeps it interesting!
Oz
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de burcs
It is precisely that kind of attitude which I am afraid gives some of your number a bad name. I think you prove my point.
“It’s not MY fault”. Well, no it isn’t, but if an aircraft is late in and you need to leave late it is, not matter how remotely, your company’s “fault”. You represent that company. Take it on the chin.
If I displayed that attitude to my clients I’d be out on my arse in a second. And believe me I regularly get worse abuse than what’s been posted on here and it is never usually through any “fault” of my own.
It is precisely that kind of attitude which I am afraid gives some of your number a bad name. I think you prove my point.
“It’s not MY fault”. Well, no it isn’t, but if an aircraft is late in and you need to leave late it is, not matter how remotely, your company’s “fault”. You represent that company. Take it on the chin.
If I displayed that attitude to my clients I’d be out on my arse in a second. And believe me I regularly get worse abuse than what’s been posted on here and it is never usually through any “fault” of my own.
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Well, no it isn’t, but if an aircraft is late in and you need to leave late it is, not matter how remotely, your company’s “fault”.
Infinite numbers of factors could result in a delay (eg a/c 1 on finals for landing, a/c from opposing airline rejects take off on runway, a/c 1 has to go around and gets stuck in holding queue, lands 1/2 hour late due to go-around and holding queue, a/c 1 then subsequently delayed - in no way at all a/c 1 or a/c 1's company's fault). There is a difference between accepting blame or 'fault', and doing the best you can to deal with the fallout of a situation that is completely out of yours and your company's control.
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Well if it isn't my fault we're late, I certainly don't apologise for the delay.
But if it is possibly something to do with me, eg:
-Spent too long chatting with the off-going lads or
-Nice-looking hosty in front galley who wanted to yack when I should've been paying more attention to the airways clearance or something or
-Was goofing off in the briefing hut for longer than appropriate or
-Could've gone faster in a short-turn-around and ended up being the one we were all waiting for, or
-Whatever....
Well, then, in that case I simply blame the ground staff. When the door is closed and they're standing around the bridge like stale bottles of ****, they have absolutely no idea what we're up to. So why NOT blame them???
It's kind of like that game-show "The Weakest Link". I'm hardly going to pick myself, now am I?????
Another classic is to make a PA blaming the last few late paxes as you see them shuffling down the aerobridge toward the a/c.
But if it is possibly something to do with me, eg:
-Spent too long chatting with the off-going lads or
-Nice-looking hosty in front galley who wanted to yack when I should've been paying more attention to the airways clearance or something or
-Was goofing off in the briefing hut for longer than appropriate or
-Could've gone faster in a short-turn-around and ended up being the one we were all waiting for, or
-Whatever....
Well, then, in that case I simply blame the ground staff. When the door is closed and they're standing around the bridge like stale bottles of ****, they have absolutely no idea what we're up to. So why NOT blame them???
It's kind of like that game-show "The Weakest Link". I'm hardly going to pick myself, now am I?????
Another classic is to make a PA blaming the last few late paxes as you see them shuffling down the aerobridge toward the a/c.
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This doesn't really fall under "unpleasant" pax remarks, but i have to share as it's the best laugh i've had for ages..
the airline i check in for gets a LOT of excess baggage problems, so it's something we're used to dealing with all the time. The staff member next to me was checking in a pax in economy tonight and the pax had 19kg of excess baggage. He was very surprised at this, despite it being pointed out as usual that the baggage limits are clearly printed on the ticket, and the airline allowance is significantly above the standard IATA limit, blah blah etc etc. What made me double over laughing was when he indignantly suggested - in all seriousness i swear - that he therefore ought to be upgraded to business class as he needed to check in more baggage than the other economy pax....
the airline i check in for gets a LOT of excess baggage problems, so it's something we're used to dealing with all the time. The staff member next to me was checking in a pax in economy tonight and the pax had 19kg of excess baggage. He was very surprised at this, despite it being pointed out as usual that the baggage limits are clearly printed on the ticket, and the airline allowance is significantly above the standard IATA limit, blah blah etc etc. What made me double over laughing was when he indignantly suggested - in all seriousness i swear - that he therefore ought to be upgraded to business class as he needed to check in more baggage than the other economy pax....
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To redress the balance
No doubt about it, there are a lot of obnoxious passengers these days ............ but ............. I would suggest that the overwhelming majority are decent and friendly who do not always get the respect they deserve from cabin crew ............. just as the overwhelming majority of efficient, friendly and professional cabin crew are not always recognised as such by the travelling public.
The underlying tone of some of the comments on this thread however, clearly shows that there are cabin crew out there who have a negative attitude to customer service and who are blatently unsuited to the job. Thankfully they are the minority.
The underlying tone of some of the comments on this thread however, clearly shows that there are cabin crew out there who have a negative attitude to customer service and who are blatently unsuited to the job. Thankfully they are the minority.
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First of all I would like to state that I have yet to experience rude cabin crew. I have flown with many different airlines and have always been provided with good, friendly service. One thing which does irritate me are parents who allow their children to continually use the 'call button' (sorry, I don't know its technical term) every few minutes do demand a drink etc.
However, the main point of my post is to add my view on the reason why pax are unpleasant to cabin crew. Do we (and I mean we as a nation) in the UK have a tendency to look upon service providers, whether they be cabin crew, restaurant staff, transport drivers etc as second class citizens? In my experience, other countries such as the USA, Canada and some european countries realize that in a society that encouranges quality of life and the pursuit of leisure time, those who provide the service are entitled to respect. After all without them we could hardly enjoy our leisure time as much.
Next time pax are rude, politely state that the cabin toilets are u/s and invite them to use the outside ones!
However, the main point of my post is to add my view on the reason why pax are unpleasant to cabin crew. Do we (and I mean we as a nation) in the UK have a tendency to look upon service providers, whether they be cabin crew, restaurant staff, transport drivers etc as second class citizens? In my experience, other countries such as the USA, Canada and some european countries realize that in a society that encouranges quality of life and the pursuit of leisure time, those who provide the service are entitled to respect. After all without them we could hardly enjoy our leisure time as much.
Next time pax are rude, politely state that the cabin toilets are u/s and invite them to use the outside ones!