Why are passengers so rude to flight attendants?

[LOT747-400]

Perhaps some F/A's just have short tempers, dealing with passengers over the few years?

But speaking of rude F/A's....us Canadians have our AC F/A's standing in the "rude" catergory, eh. My source? Testimonals from various passengers who've flown domestic and long haul flights.

[DeltaCabinCrew]

you should feel like you're bothering us if you ask for a drink. we're not waiters, we are flight attendants. Flight attendants are safety professionals, our job is to save your fat ass, not serve it!

I will get the plane ready for boarding, do the safety demo, do a cabin check, take off, then unless there is a emergency LEAVE ME ALONE UNTIL LANDING! Gosh. What is so hard about that?

[Fear_of_Flying]

Isn't Lufthansa's slogan: "You never get the feeling that we absolutely hate you for bothering us"?

LOL - or "Lufthansa, where we bite our lip for you."

Actually, checking the various review sites, I notice that the Asian and Pacific airlines tend to come out on top for customer service, with many American airlines in the middle or bottom third.

A couple of U.S. airlines often make it onto the Most Hated Companies in America lists that I have seen, as well, although for my money, every bank, insurance company, and mortgage company should come out ahead of any airline.

Air France seems to do better than many European airlines - I guess as long as your flight lands, you do ok with them, or at least you go down in comfort. Air France slogans? "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," "We always hurt the ones we love" or "Not au revoir, just good-bye"?

[Fear_of_Flying]

you should feel like you're bothering us if you ask for a drink. we're not waiters, we are flight attendants. Flight attendants are safety professionals, our job is to save your fat ass, not serve it!

I will get the plane ready for boarding, do the safety demo, do a cabin check, take off, then unless there is a emergency LEAVE ME ALONE UNTIL LANDING! Gosh. What is so hard about that?

I guess we should thank you for starting this entertaining, albeit completely misplaced thread. You're really more of a garden gnome than a troll. I get the feeling this isn't your first time on JP.net. As to your point (joke) regarding your role of flight attendant as safety professional, that is true. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor:

Although the primary job of the flight attendants is to ensure that security and safety regulations are followed, attendants also try to make flights comfortable and enjoyable for passengers.

This is akin to a waiter or waitress at a restaurant claiming that his or her job is to take orders, explain the menu, and serve food, not be gracious or hospitable to the customer.

[seahawk]

Not exactly a resounding endorsement for service.

Well, I would say it fits a German airline. (Nothing worse than Germans trying to be customer friendly in an Asian airline way) On the other hand my experience with LH (when it comes to lost baggage or missed flights, is very good. They might not be smiling, but the work they did was always very good)

[Fear_of_Flying]

Well, I would say it fits a German airline. (Nothing worse than Germans trying to be customer friendly in an Asian airline way) On the other hand my experience with LH (when it comes to lost baggage or missed flights, is very good. They might not be smiling, but the work they did was always very good)

I don't know. I've met a lot of friendly German people over the years... usually somewhere near a keg of beer and a polka band, but still. At least it's not the plastic friendliness you get elsewhere; it's from the gut.

[Evan]

I don't know. I've met a lot of friendly German people over the years... usually somewhere near a keg of beer and a polka band, but still. At least it's not the plastic friendliness you get elsewhere; it's from the gut.

When it comes to flight attendants, I'll take plastic friendliness over genuine from the gut aggression. My most bizarre confrontation with a FA was on Lufthansa, when he repeatedly came to my seat telling me that I couldn't possibly have a reserved seat assignment in my booking class, despite my showing him my itinerary twice. When he approached me the third time over the issue (waking me up for the third time), he was obviously deeply disturbed and obsessed with this inconsequential detail in that inimitably German way, and I'd pretty much had it with him. I told him that I had booked my flight through United, and they had given me a seat assignment as per the arrangement of their precious Star Alliance, the one that they promote to death but don't seem to be aware of (more or less in those words). That placated him, but he never thought to apologize.

That said, I believe LH flight crews and technik are first rate

[brianw999]

Tell you what...Let's compare a flight attendants job to mine as a paramedic. Essentially we are both primarilary safety inclined.

1. How about I approach a patient with "You're having a heart attack and it will probably kill you. Sit in this chair, we're going to the ambulance where I'm going to stick needles in you which will hurt. I'm going to stick wires to your chest and attach them to a machine that makes alarming beeps, so much so that you will shit yourself with worry and probably have your heart attack and die sooner."

Alternatively....

2. "Hello, my name's Brian, what can I call you ? From what you say it sounds like you're having a bit of a problem with your heart which means that we'll have to get you seen in hospital for some further tests. I'm going to make you comfortable in this chair and we'll carry you to the ambulance. Once there we'll spend a few minutes setting up a heart monitor. That means that we'll have to connect some cables to your chest but don't worry, they don't send an electric shock, they actually read your electricity in the heart and tell us how we can better treat you. I'll also have to put a little needle in your arm and leave a soft plastic tube in place so that we can give some medicine to make your pain better. Are there any questions you would like to ask me ?"

Now, you dear reader are the customer with the heart attack. Which approach would you expect and prefer to get ?

OK, it's true that with some of my patients, version 1 is the one that I feel like giving them for they way that they treat me....but version 2 is still the one they get.

Airlines and their employees are in a transport service industry and I'm in a health care servoce industry...emphasis on the word SERVICE !

[TeeVee]

although this thread seems to be nothing more than a joke to begin with, i'll chime in here as a passenger that takes over 100 flights per year.

i would NEVER want the job of an FA. people are a-holes in general and are usually bigger a-holes when they travel. the industry and our governments, not to mention terrorists and would-be terrorists, have made traveling via air an almost unbearable task. so who bears the brunt of pax frustration? yeah, you guessed it. i spend a lot of time talking to FA's and almost all of them are nice. even the ones who initially exhibit bad moods eventually come around and smile. they have stressful jobs, get paid crap, and these days, have no clue if they will be employed for very long.

however, nothing makes me laugh more than the line about FA's being primarily for safety. let's be real! the original FA's were the hottest chics the airlines could find. they were dressed up in sexy outfits and were little more than waitresses. did they know evac procedures? sure. but 99.9% of their job was to make the pax comfortable if not a bit randy. oh, and for a while, i hear they all had to be rn's. not sure what this was about...

today, and although i have several friends who are FA's and i respect them all, little has changed. videos do all of the safety presentations unless the machine is broken or the plane is ancient or small. so really, what is it that they do besides serve drinks?

when i was a paramedic, people often referred to me as an ambulance driver. and while i did drive the ambulance, i was trained for a hell of lot more and actually did a hell of a lot more.

i acknowledge that FA's might be trained to do a lot more than serve drinks. thankfully they don't often have to use that training.

be nice to them, say please and thank you and i'm pretty sure that 8 of 10 times they will be nice back to you.

[DeltaCabinCrew]

although this thread seems to be nothing more than a joke to begin with, i'll chime in here as a passenger that takes over 100 flights per year.

i would NEVER want the job of an FA. people are a-holes in general and are usually bigger a-holes when they travel. the industry and our governments, not to mention terrorists and would-be terrorists, have made traveling via air an almost unbearable task. so who bears the brunt of pax frustration? yeah, you guessed it. i spend a lot of time talking to FA's and almost all of them are nice. even the ones who initially exhibit bad moods eventually come around and smile. they have stressful jobs, get paid crap, and these days, have no clue if they will be employed for very long.

however, nothing makes me laugh more than the line about FA's being primarily for safety. let's be real! the original FA's were the hottest chics the airlines could find. they were dressed up in sexy outfits and were little more than waitresses. did they know evac procedures? sure. but 99.9% of their job was to make the pax comfortable if not a bit randy. oh, and for a while, i hear they all had to be rn's. not sure what this was about...

today, and although i have several friends who are FA's and i respect them all, little has changed. videos do all of the safety presentations unless the machine is broken or the plane is ancient or small. so really, what is it that they do besides serve drinks?

when i was a paramedic, people often referred to me as an ambulance driver. and while i did drive the ambulance, i was trained for a hell of lot more and actually did a hell of a lot more.

i acknowledge that FA's might be trained to do a lot more than serve drinks. thankfully they don't often have to use that training.

be nice to them, say please and thank you and i'm pretty sure that 8 of 10 times they will be nice back to you.

I hope you will be able to open the doors & evacuate 200+ people when the time comes you are involved in an emergency. Too bad you only have a group of waiters & no certified safety professionals around.

[TeeVee]

I hope you will be able to open the doors & evacuate 200+ people when the time comes you are involved in an emergency. Too bad you only have a group of waiters & no certified safety professionals around.

typical response for someone who quite obviously DID NOT read what i wrote. but yes i can open doors and over-wing exits as can most people with an IQ of 75. as for evacuating the people, well, if they can't get out on their own once the doors are open...

but while we're at it, why don't you educate us on all the safety training you have.

[MCM]

I'll agree that some CC take it a bit too far, and forget that their role is a dual one... but by large, most cabin crew in this industry are very good at their jobs, and keep their passengers as happy as they can be.

If a passenger thinks he has had bad service because the cabin crew member insisted that he turn off his iPod (as per the regulations), then so be it. You'd be surprised how many times a passenger is rude because they don't like something that is just part of the flying experience. Most of it is stress related. You turn up to the airport early, you go through the stressful experience of check in, you get abruptly treated at security, you sit around for another few hours, and then you get on the aircraft grumpy and stressed. Add in an inbuilt nervousness about flying (which a LOT of passengers have), and the stress leads to a point where people often get very grumpy.

Some cabin crew don't help the situation though...

[Fear_of_Flying]

I hope you will be able to open the doors & evacuate 200+ people when the time comes you are involved in an emergency. Too bad you only have a group of waiters & no certified safety professionals around.

Wait a minute, you don't sound like you're being funny all of a sudden. Don't tell me it was raining in Hawaii.

[DeltaCabinCrew]

but while we're at it, why don't you educate us on all the safety training you have.

We are called safety professionals for a reason. Not only are we highly trained in aircraft emergency procedures, but we are also doctors, firemen, & policemen.

@Fear_Of_Flying
the weather was fine in Honolulu. In two weeks time I will be returning there for a weeks vacation with the family. Cheap as chips, considering I'm using my travel benefits to get us there. (only reason I became a flight attendant)

[Jingogunner]

Early Childhood Trauma

Well, next time I get a bristly waitress at a restaurant, I'll just have to remember that her mother probably didn't let her play with dolls growing up. Actually, Big Mr. Fear of Flying doesn't impose such a Freudian interpretation on the banal actions of daily life. I'm sure a flight attendant and customer are both capable of overcoming their early childhood trauma and feigning an occasional smile.

I know you didn't mean to sneer Mr Fear of Flying, I have presented you with some disturbing information, I do understand that. But, contrary to what you say, flight attendants and customers are always in trouble, the police are frequently called to many incidents where passengers and staff have become angry and badly behaved. Flight attendants and passengers are very often incapable of 'overcoming their early childhood trauma'. If they have 'overcome' their 'childhood trauma', why would they need to 'feign' a smile please, Mr Fear of Flying?