how 2 b a good passenger...
 

Like a lot of us here, just staggering towards the end of another British holiday season, smile to automatic, attitude on etc...

During a rare moment of peace and quiet last week (I think we call them night Dalamans...), crew discussed how some passengers behaviour just seems to get worse and worse.

In a blinding moment of rare revelation (it being 3 in the morning), we decided that what the industry needed was a handbook describing what was good form and what might be considered a social faux pas on todays airlines.

So, before we rush into printing millions of 'how to be a good passenger' guide books for the confused... any suggestions as to what we could put in it!?!

No1 for me - 'don't use the table as a nappy changing aid...'

Cheers!

When a crew member says to you "no more to drink, you've had too much"
Thats it! Don't argue, don't try and sweet talk your way out of it. That's the final answer. It's not done to be nasty. It's done for your own safety and well- being! 1 in the air is worth 2 on the ground!
;)
Please remember your manners! People seem to forget them when they step onto an aircraft and find it very difficult to say please and thank you!
If you've had a good flight - tell the crew. It usually makes our day to hear we've made someone elses. :D
If you want a special meal - ORDER IT! Please don't just expect us to have it and then treat us with contempt when we don't have one on board.
Don't go and seat yourself in business/first class when you're actually supposed to be in economy. Other pax have paid for those seats. It's not fair if you take advantage! And it's also very embarrassing for you when you're herded back to the rest of the cattle ; ) (that is a joke guys! Don't go taking offence!)
Hmmm - will I just help you write the book TonyT?! :E

Go with this idea, the book would sell at airport bookstalls... pax would buy out of curiosity.

Me and the missus were talking about this very thing yesterday.

It was in fact in relation to upgrades actually but still on the subject.

Situation:

PAX gets on with family or on own, wants upgrade as sees there are spare seats in club and because are seated apart or not desired seat etc etc etc. No seats left in economy to move them to.

Now... PAX - imeadiately gets the arse and starts shouting / waves exec club card about (no-matter the colour) / DEMANDS I give them what they want.

The chances of that passenger of getting what they want from me now have gone from 50/50 (if the situation is warrants an upgrade I'm happy to do it)......to NIL!!

Getting the arse and shouting at me will not get what you want, in fact it will get you what you deserve and what you paid for - a seat in ECONOMY.

Nice people get upgrades - ****ers don't.

how to be a good passenger?

Easy! Take three valium just after take-off, and sleep your way to your destination - the perfect passenger :D

Funny enough I was going to write a similar book called ' How to be perfect Cabin Crew'
It to would have a suggestion about valium!!

After a 4 sector day Valium for cabin crew should be an SOP

Do not let your kids run up and down the aisle whilst the service is being done.

In fact feed the valium to the kids!!!:E :E :E

What a great idea :ok: First on the list should be words to the effect that if they wish to have the best possible chance of surviving should anything go wrong - however unlikely that may be, then watching the Safety Briefing is ESSENTIAL!
Like others who have posted, I too am amazed at the basic lack of manners "Please" and "Thank you" costs nothing and is far more likely to get you any help you may require. PLEASE put all your rubbish in a bag not strewn all over the floor, and leave it where it can be easily removed when you leave the aircraft. The same applies to your blanket and pillow if on a longhaul flight, leave them - folded if possible, on your seat.

As much as we would like to think we are supreme beings, we do NOT control things such as weather, technical problems etc, so don't moan and groan and tell us how you will miss an important meeting or event, everyone is in the same boat (or should I say plane?:confused: ) and probably is just as inconvenienced.

Talking about how to be the perfect passenger !!! Some of the manners and professional attitude of cabin crew has a lot to be desired. I have been on a few flights over the summer months with a number of airlines. If I spoke to the public in my job like some passengers were spoken to, I would either have been flattened or had a whisper in my shell like from a supervisor.

Do cabin staff feel they can speak to passengers how they wish because for once in this world the judicial system treat people harshly for aviation offences ?

Why do cabin staff think there job is so difficult? I can see that a long haul flight can be hard work being on your feet for eight hours or so, but hey, serving a few teas/coffees/meals can't be so difficult can it, or am I missing something ?

Whenever I fly com I always make a point of saying "Don't worry about a glass of champers, just bring me the bottle, it will save you a couple of trips"!

I stagger off always with a smile on my dial and a big thank you to the girls and boys who left me alone.

I have never had a rude FA but them perhaps it's the way I treat them!

Lets face it, they are doing their job, be polite and patient and they will treat you the same.

NAP

Why, TurboJ?
 

Why do we think our job is so hard?.....Oh, let's see....Because it is b****y hard! :mad:

I have never seen any of Cabin Crew being rude or nasty to pax ........unless they really deserve it!:*

How about next time you board a plane you give your boarding card without "oh, for God's sake!!!", then smile and be polite and most important - respect us! We are there for Safety of yours and your family (if you've got one) , service goes after that. My ideal pax would understand that.

Oh, and please don't press the call bell asking for drinks just after we've finished a drinks' service?

I better stop now ang go take my Valium.....:sad:

TurboJ,

If ure gonna post a message in this forum, dont ever even consider saying that cabin crew are just there to serve a meal and a few drinks.

If that was just the job, yeah, it would be very easy, ure right. But that is FAR from just what we do. Im going to be a pilot (got a place with CTC) and I started as cabin crew this summer until I go to NZ.

I initially held your same narrow minded, short sighted viewpoint of cabin crew but having done the job, I will NEVER hold the opinion that people like you still have.

Serving tea and coffee is easy, but, as people have said before, it's the pax who are rude, disruptive and who seem to go out of their way to be inconvienient that make the job as hard as it is.

The pax who dont pre order a special meal then kick up a huge fuss when there isnt one there for them on board. The pax who expect you to magic up a blanket when there are none left. Or the pax who dont even have the basic manners to pay attention to the safety briefing. We don't do it for our own entertainment.

Most pax seem to think that because we do this job, we are all thick, school drop outs etc, whereas most of the people I have flown with have degrees and are a damn sight more educated than the pax who are kicking up a fuss over nothing.

So in future when u fly, treat the crew like ud want to be treated. After all, you dont want anything unwelcome in ure food or drink, do u?

Rant over.

oooh errr... seem to have struck a raw nerve here!

keep 'em coming boys n' girls !!

'I have never seen any of Cabin Crew being rude or nasty to pax ........unless they really deserve it! '

I have never seen this, either. Even when they did deserve it!

But I have seen CC being difficult with other CC! Don't know if it was merited or not.

answer=42

Generally, FAs are excellent and put up with more than I would in the same position.

I’ve been flying as SLF for over 40 years on airlines all over the world; and have only once experienced a rude member of the cabin crew (on a very large British airline). I was boarding at Geneva with a smallish rucksack (not my usual type of baggage, but I had just climbed Mont Blanc!). As I moved down the aisle, I accidentally banged the arm of a fellow passenger. I apologized and carried on to my seat. As I passed two female FAs, lounging by the galley, one of them, in a loud voice, said to her companion “Some of these bl**dy passengers should be in the hold with their bl**dy bags”.

What she didn’t know, was that at the time, I was working as a consultant to the Board of her airline. I didn’t report her, but I sometimes wish I had!

Some members on the aircrew of air2000, flight from gatwick to goa (last flight of the season 2003). Crew were great apart from the senior crew member, offhand to polite requests (ie. could they please put the route map on!), part of the main meal was not served and yet was devoured by the crew (behind curtains of course!) and how do I know all this, because on the same flight was my partner, a fellow colleague of said crew having his holiday.

Not all us paying public are so horrid and unpleasesent but sometimes the crew (not all) do make a rod for their own back!!!


But a thankyou to all other staff on that flight and to the many others we have had the pleasure to fly with.

A hard job but a job well done

How to be a good passenger...
 

Sit down, shut up, don`t smell and remember, it's the tea and coffee servers who are going to save your ass in an emergency...


:D

I really don't see why cabin crew should put up with any **** from obnoxious pissed up SLF, conversely, you are relatively well paid for a glamour job with a great deal of cudos.
You are trained to deal with difficult passengers, try putting that to good effect and you'd suprised how well it works in the vast majority of cases.
It is hard work, but you knew that when you joined, and there is absolutely no excuse for the toffee nosed attitudes which prevail in some airlines, if you don't like it, F:mad: k off and work at Sainsburys, or would it be Waitrose?:rolleyes:

The fact is that a small proportion of cabin crew are simply too lazy to do their jobs to to the best of their ability, and it's they who give the majority of you a bad name.

NICKNAT...I presume you are SLF, otherwise you would never make those comments! It is a very hard job, that involves dealing with people from all walks of life, and dealing with situations that would never involve working in your local supermarket..to give you an example of our CVs..
acto/actress arbitrator, baby sitter, busyboy, coctail waiter/ess, conversationalist/counselor. dietitian, fire fighter, gourmet cook, hostes, instructor, juggler, lifeguard, mind reader, model, nurse, paper boy, plumber, police officer, psychiastrist, receptionist, safety inspector, sales person, sanitory engineer, sky cop, security guard, travel agent, usher, valet, weatherpeson, etc etc....tescos..here I come..............

NikNak....
Just like to clarify one point.......IT IS NOT A GLAMOUR JOB!!!!
It's a great job, but it's far from glamourous.

Whilst I sympathise with (some of) the gripes of FAs on this thread, you surely didn't expect that it was all going to be booze, sun, snazzy hotels and s*x when you signed on. Even the dimmest recruit knows that serving the SLF, with all of its idiosyncracies, rudeness and demands, is your prime reason for doing your job. OK, I know that passenger safety is paramount, but get realistic. We all have some aspects of our job which are tedious, but we don't moan about it all the time.

Ducks to avoid flying trays!

With you there Luke! :p
and while I am at it, perhaps BC,CT and CB would like to re read my post and then comment.

take cover! - in coming!!

Glamour job...
 

Didn't realise that getting spat at, water thrown in your face, punched, slapped, kicked and generally abused was glamourous - thank you Niknak for making us realise that we should appreciate our jobs more.

Our working lives will be so much more fulfilled.

:D

good pax
 

What the slf should realise we are there to save your arses not kiss them,for me what makes a good pax is one who pays attention of the safety demo,one who dose not think he/she knows it all by saying i fly all the time so dont need to pay attention,oh hello the amount of times i have heard that one,e.g a few years ago we had to prepare the cabin as we had a problem, anyway this fool had said during the demo i dont need to know etc etc but the same guy was there wetting himself and asked us to clarify again where exits were as he never flown on this a/c b4 so acting like a jack ass wont get you any brownie points , as for good pay well in some airlines that is a joke when some pay cc 8500 per annum so yes some do go to work in supermarkets as they pay more without much of the crap!!!!!!!!!!

A book like this would be a great idea, except for one thing: your worst passengers probably don't read books. The best they probably manage is looking at the pictures in The Sun...

good pax, good F/A's?
 

I'm new to the forum. This is my first post. I'm an F/A from the U.S.


With each posting I read, I can't help but remember the specific flight when I felt the same. Some days I come home thoroughly disgusted with the human race and some days I can't believe I actually get paid to do this.

About being a good pax, people are people and the more diverse as far as character, color, size, shape, mood, etc...the better. But I draw the line when their behavior becomes a safety issue. That's the only thing that frosts my butt... like the binge drinker on valium that insists he has a right to stay in the exit row or the idiot that breaks for the lav as soon as we push back. With pax like these, I say screw screening pax for tweezers, a random scan for brain activity might be more in order.

I appreciate all that the flight crew does, and, as a pax, I try to say thank you as I leave the plane. Still, saying "Thank you" to the fixed smiles hardly seems enough. It is hard to tell that anyone pays any attention...

How to be a good passenger? Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, of course.

Some of the FA attitudes and comments posted here make me wonder why the posters are remaining in the job: If the job is that unpleasant, and the raw material (passengers) are so intolerable, then it's possible that an alternate career path should be considered. I suppose I'll get flamed for the heresy of suggesting that some people are simply not suited to be Cabin Crew, but it's true. Unfortunately, some of them still haven't worked this out, and remain in the job.

Courtesy costs nothing. Although I ended up doing something quite different, I always thought I would make a good flight attendant. It's because I always felt that whatever job I did - had to be done right.

But, having seen the antics of fellow slf on numerous flights across Europe and the States, I wonder whether I would have had the strength of character usually displayed by the cabin crew.

Frankly, I don't think so. Wishing doesn't make it so.

And as for doing such a vital job and being paid a pittance for doing it, I can only ask why? Are there so many perks that we "the great unwashed" just don't get to hear about that make it worthwhile?

So come on, if you're employed as cabin crew, what makes the job worth doing? Particularly when pressure's being applied - not only by the slf, but the management - forever trying to trim their operating costs - and usually starting by reducing salaries and allowances for you guys (and gals!).

I have just returned from Australia and was thoroughly disgusted by the behaviour of the person sitting next to me on the Perth to Singapore sector. On arrival at Singapore this man simply threw all his rubbish onto the floor and left it there!! :* :mad: It didn't just fall there accidentally, he THREW it there!:mad: :* Personally I would have liked the cleaners to have just left it there as he was travelling on to Frankfurt on the same aircraft. It would have been most apt for him to have to travel in the mess of his own making. It's not as though there weren't any sickbags to put it in - there were plenty. Grrrr some people really make me mad. :mad: :mad: :*

I hope not too many “ordinary” SLF know about Pprune. Because with some of the extreme views expressed in this thread you might find that you have even more problems than you already experience with the disgusting slime, which you are forced to carry. If the average passenger was aware of the contempt which some of you display on this thread, they would not be too well disposed towards you.

As I have mentioned earlier, I have been flying for something like 40 years, both in the air force and as SLF and I have very rarely experienced fellow SLF behaving in the way some of you portray them . OK, some will always get out of hand sometimes, but the general trend on this thread intimates that a large percentage of SLF are obnoxious all the time.

As for being “spat at” as haamdhanimaid mentioned, apart from it being a disgusting habit anywhere, let alone in an aircraft, that kind of behaviour deserves to be reported to captain, or the authorities, on landing. It is totally unacceptable.

As a final resort to having to work with your appalling cargo, as has already been mentioned, do yourself a favour and get a job, which suits your temperament. Because some of you are absolutely ill suited to what is a respected and sought after career. But in truth, I don’t believe that some of the views expressed, are supported by most FAs. Or am I just being naive?

Thomas Cook have actually produced a 10 commandments for pax !!

Press Release from end of August below...

With the peak holiday season in full flow, a top charter airline has issued a Ten Commandments for Passengers. The tongue-in-cheek edict on good travel behaviour from Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) deals with everything from checking-in to conduct on board the aircraft.

And even though the “Commandments” are light-hearted, Thomas Cook stresses there is a serious message behind them.


“The vast majority of our passengers make our job a pleasure,” said Airline Managing Director Glen Chipp. “But a small minority do create difficulties for themselves and sometimes for other passengers.


“The Commandments are just a way of drawing attention to how people can best ensure a smooth journey to and from their holiday destination.”


THE THOMAS COOK AIRLINES’ 10 COMMANDMENTS:


1. Thou shalt give thyself plenty of time to arrive at the airport.

Says Joanna Wild, Head of Service Delivery at Thomas Cook Airlines: “This one is just common sense. But people often misjudge how long it will take them to park, or they do not build in additional time for delays en route to the airport.


“We do try to accommodate people wherever possible and will rush them to the gate if there’s still a chance they can board.”


More…

-2-

2. Thou shalt arrive at the check-in desk with tickets, passports and other paperwork in good order.


“We’ve had a surprising number of incidents recently of passports which have gone through the washing machine and are not completely legible. Another favourite is ladies who spill nail varnish remover on their passport when they are doing their nails as a last job before leaving for the airport.


“We also had a case last week of a brand new passport which had been thoroughly chewed by a family’s pet German Shepherd dog. Then there was the man who brought a passport which expired in 1983 – he didn’t realise passports had to be renewed.


“In many of these cases, the person was unable to travel. We do Telex the destination airport to explain the situation and sometimes they will accept a damaged passport depending on the level of legibility. “


3. Thou shalt not make flippant remarks about having a gun or a bomb in thy luggage.

“This is a particularly serious one and surprisingly it’s not that uncommon – we had eight cases in June. What usually happens is that people are over-excited about going on holiday and joke to our check-in staff that they have a gun, a bomb or some other explosive device in their luggage.


“Since September 11, Thomas Cook has had a zero tolerance policy towards such remarks. We will ask people to repeat what they have said and if they do so, their luggage is taken for X-ray and they are not allowed to travel.


“It’s a great pity that what people mean as a joke – albeit a rather ill-conceived one – results in them not being able to travel. But we are not prepared to take any chances.”

More..



-3-

4. Thou shalt tell the check-in staff about anything unusual in thy luggage which may cause concern.


“We’re used to people packing everything bar the kitchen sink, but people should remember that their suitcases will be X-rayed and they should draw our attention to anything which they are unsure about taking.


“For instance a few days ago a lady had packed a large bag of fertiliser to put on the tomatoes at her villa in Portugal. She had the sense to warn us about this. Unfortunately it had to be confiscated as fertiliser can be used in bomb-making.”


5. Thou shalt not carry any sharp implements in hand baggage or in thy pockets.


“The message on this seems to have hit home and we are getting far fewer cases of people having scissors or nail files on them. But those who do need to bear in mind we have no means of enabling them to reclaim confiscated articles.”


6. Thou shalt not steal goods from airport shops.


“This is obviously breaking the law in any case. But people who are tempted should realise that they are very likely to be spotted on CCTV and will be arrested at the gate before they board the flight.


“We have noticed an increase in this type of incident this summer. It’s doubly unpleasant because as well as identifying a thief, we also have to arrange for that person’s baggage to be unloaded from the aircraft. This can cause a delay which affects the rest of the passengers.”




More…


-4-


7. Thou shalt not be late at the departure gate


“This is a common – and often understandable – problem. We generally advise people to get to the gate at around 45 minutes before departure. But they can be late for a whole host of reasons…they may have been drinking or been too involved in shopping. Or they may have got confused or lost in a large and busy airport. Sometimes, particularly in the case of elderly passengers, they may not hear our last call announcements.


“Many people underestimate how long it can take them to walk to the gate. In Manchester and Gatwick we can be talking long distances which can take up to 20 minutes to cover.


“Once it gets to 15 minutes before scheduled departure we start trying to identify a late passenger’s baggage in the hold. We hang on as long as possible – but we won’t miss our take-off slot.”


8. Thou shalt behave in a sensible and sober manner at the gate


“This is when people who have been drinking too much and become noisy or abusive can be excluded from the flight. It’s also an occasion to once again make sure you don’t make any flippant remarks about guns or bombs.


“We had a lady recently who wanted to retrieve a novel from her suitcase which was in the hold so she could read it on the flight. When we explained that we were unable to allow this she told us we better had as there was a bomb in the case. The lady did get her case…she reclaimed it after it was X-rayed - and she was not allowed to travel.”




More…


-5-

9. Thou shalt pre-warn the airline if thou art exceptionally nervous about flying.


“We will bend over backwards to help nervous passengers. If they tell us in advance that they have this problem we are able to help more. We can seat them before or after everybody else and we can make sure the Captain and crew can talk to them to reassure them.


“It’s very sad but sometimes we do have cases where people have saved up all year but at the last minute are unable to board to the aircraft to go and enjoy their holiday.”


10. Once on board the aircraft thou shalt behave with consideration to fellow passengers and crew – and stick to the rules of the airline


“The good news is that air rage is nothing like as common as it was relatively recently. All the publicity seems to have had the desired effect.


“Even so, there are still problems. More serious on-board incidents have to be reported to the CAA and in a 12-month period to March this year, we had 32 cases of passengers who created a significant nuisance. Many of these were people smoking and who refused to put out cigarettes. Others were passengers who became noisy or abusive because of too much alcohol.


“In particularly bad incidents we radio ahead to the destination airport and police will meet the flight – and we may also refuse to carry that passenger on a return flight.”

I have been paxing for some 38 years and have seen little by way of bad behaviour - by either SLF or CC - but this might simply mean that I have not travelled far enough!

The main problem is beyond anyone's control. The reduction in due respect for others and their body and property is widely known in modern society.

When my first flight was due, I was nine years old and my parents told me (and my elder brother and sister) to, "Behave in the aircraft, as if you are sitting in the living room of mummy and daddy's friends." In other words, to be on our very best tip-top behaviour.

How many scarents (spelling is deliberate! :E ) tell their children that now?

I recall a discussion with CC on my way down to Montego Bay some years ago. As the children ran ragged around the aisles with no one to restrain them, she said: "If I tell the parents to stop their children running around, they will just tell me that they hurting no one and not accept my point that they are hurting the other passengers. If I stop the children running around, I would be in danger of getting my ankles kicked."

With regards to mothers with small children she said, "They get on board and say 'Give us a nappy'. As if she has not looked at the map/ticket and realised that she and her baby are going to be in the a/c for seven hours or more."

People who miss these basics are probably beyond knowing how to behave on public transport. That is because they think that the transport is actually private and for their exclusive benefit.

As for The 10 Commandments. If we cannot get folks to study for their school exams OR to know where Montego Bay is and how long it will take to get there ... :ooh:

Really that bad???
 

Some of the posts by cabin crew on this thread would have one believe that conditions are absolutely appalling. I used to be a station manager for a US carrier in Europe. Now I am out of the industry, I fly well over 40 legs per year, mostly medium to long-haul and in C. Sure, over the years I have noticed the odd passenger whose behaviour has been less than perfect, more often than not out of lack of consideration rather than out-and-out rudeness.

But are things really as bad as some of you make it out to be? I know, we all have our off days (and that goes for passengers too). There are those who want to take 5 carry-ons on board and tell you that you are being rude when you say no (been there, seen it done it - in an earlier life). There are smokers who want you to conjure up smoking seats on non-smoking flights. There are journalists (although this could be replaced by politician, doctor, ....) who have the cheapest ticket which they slap on the check-in counter demanding to be seated in C-class because they need to work! But, are passengers like this the rule and not the exception? I can't really imagine it....

Is there a big difference between the passengers on the BA's of this world and the Ryanair's and Easy Jets? Who is worse, the "Bucket & Spade Brigade" or the "Pin Stripes"? Has the advent of the LCC (and the corresponding decline in prices) meant that now any Tom, Dick or Harry can fly? (Tongue firmly planted in cheek...no one to be insulted please) Or have the privileged that have always been able to take two foreign holidays a year, or those with dosh available to buy seats in the premium cabins always been so arrogant that they treat everyone else like skivvies anyway?

Come on....tell us that you actually enjoy flying and that it is not REALLY that bad.

just have a little respect, manners and don't talk down to us like we are all dumbo's. 80% of the pax on my flights are great, but 20% need attitude adjustments. don't make fun of our safety briefs, don't look at us like we are crazy when you are sitting in an emergency exit and you are asked " are you happy to assist with the exit in the event of an emergency". thank you and please, go along way also, even hello and good bye too would be pleasent......

The reason we fly as cabin crew is not so that we can serve tea and coffee - it is so we can travel and see the world with the added bonus of getting paid to do it!

Unfortunately, on being exposed to so many people from all walks of life, cultures and backgrounds, the rose-tinted glasses suddenly fog up and one realises that there is an awful lot of :mad: in the world and sometimes a long, contained metal tube is a very small world.

Something seems to happen to people the minute they get on an aircraft. Where there are extremely nice people to meet and talk to there is just as much an equal amount of twats to deal with.

Forums like this are great - it give us a chance to air our views and grievances with our colleagues and makes us feel that we are not always alone in our own views. And besides, us crew are famous for our bitching and moaning - we do it so well! But hey, we have good reason!;)

Howabout maybe starting a thread to counter this one?....Nice things passengers have done for us?

And by the way, just cos we complain does not mean we are not suited to the job and need to change career. You can fly as many times as you want as a passenger for 40 years or whatever, but until you actually work as a flight attendant you will never know what it is like to be treated badly and still have to smile....

sorry to bore y'all, just a little rant!
:O :O