I see a lot of the postings here are from passengers and limited flight crew, so I thought I would share some stories as a ramp agent for a major airline in a mid-sized airport.
Our jobs entailed bringing the aircraft in, offloading and loading the bags, and when the aircraft is parked overnight (called RON - Remain Overnight), we are required to clean the entire plane.
During my time with the airline, we found used condoms in the airplane seat backs, toe/finger nail clippings, food, jewelry, money, electronics, cameras, and iPods/iPads.
One night, we are cleaning this Embraer 145, and my friend
I see a lot of the postings here are from passengers and limited flight crew, so I thought I would share some stories as a ramp agent for a major airline in a mid-sized airport.
Our jobs entailed bringing the aircraft in, offloading and loading the bags, and when the aircraft is parked overnight (called RON - Remain Overnight), we are required to clean the entire plane.
During my time with the airline, we found used condoms in the airplane seat backs, toe/finger nail clippings, food, jewelry, money, electronics, cameras, and iPods/iPads.
One night, we are cleaning this Embraer 145, and my friend went to clean the lavatory. As soon as she opens the door, we hear a loud scream. She then runs up the aisle and out of the airplane. Curious, we both walked back to the lavatory and were shocked at what we saw. Someone had taken a baby diaper filled with poop, and smeared it over the lavatory mirror. The diaper was still attached to the mirror…. Who does things like this?!?!
Another story that is pretty funny involved a fellow ramp worker of ours. This guy was a total jerk and no one could stand him. He was someone who always had to be the ‘tough guy’ and always wanted to look so cool. Anyways, our longest flight was about 3 hours, and when this plane arrived, we had to empty the lavatory using the lavatory truck. When doing this job, you connect a big hose from the truck to the underbelly of the plane. Before flipping the switch to empty the lavatory, you do a customary light tugging of the tube once or twice to make sure it’s secure, and then pull the handle.
Well, this guy was too busy flirting with a fellow colleague, connected the tube, and pulled the handle. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t double check the connection. The tube became dislodged, and he received what we like to call a “blue shower”. It was incredible. He was drenched not only in the blue juice from the toilet, but the urine and feces of who knows how many people… lol. We had to rinse him off, and he left to go home. I never saw him again after this day.
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of th
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of the biggest mistakes and easiest ones to fix.
Overpaying on car insurance
You’ve heard it a million times before, but the average American family still overspends by $417/year on car insurance.
If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, chances are you are one of them.
Pull up Coverage.com, a free site that will compare prices for you, answer the questions on the page, and it will show you how much you could be saving.
That’s it. You’ll likely be saving a bunch of money. Here’s a link to give it a try.
Consistently being in debt
If you’ve got $10K+ in debt (credit cards…medical bills…anything really) you could use a debt relief program and potentially reduce by over 20%.
Here’s how to see if you qualify:
Head over to this Debt Relief comparison website here, then simply answer the questions to see if you qualify.
It’s as simple as that. You’ll likely end up paying less than you owed before and you could be debt free in as little as 2 years.
Missing out on free money to invest
It’s no secret that millionaires love investing, but for the rest of us, it can seem out of reach.
Times have changed. There are a number of investing platforms that will give you a bonus to open an account and get started. All you have to do is open the account and invest at least $25, and you could get up to $1000 in bonus.
Pretty sweet deal right? Here is a link to some of the best options.
Having bad credit
A low credit score can come back to bite you in so many ways in the future.
From that next rental application to getting approved for any type of loan or credit card, if you have a bad history with credit, the good news is you can fix it.
Head over to BankRate.com and answer a few questions to see if you qualify. It only takes a few minutes and could save you from a major upset down the line.
How to get started
Hope this helps! Here are the links to get started:
Have a separate savings account
Stop overpaying for car insurance
Finally get out of debt
Start investing with a free bonus
Fix your credit
I was a TWA flight attendant back in the early 70s and I had an experience on a homebound flight to San Francisco that I would love to share. This was back in the day when passengers were given a choice of chicken or steak for their meal, so we had a lot to do.
The flight attendant crew, almost entirely women, were often hit on by male passengers. The men didn’t seem to understand that most of us were serious about our jobs. We had a lot to do in a limited amount of time. Besides, rarely did any of us ever date a passenger.
I spent most of this particular flight fending off a drunken playboy. He
I was a TWA flight attendant back in the early 70s and I had an experience on a homebound flight to San Francisco that I would love to share. This was back in the day when passengers were given a choice of chicken or steak for their meal, so we had a lot to do.
The flight attendant crew, almost entirely women, were often hit on by male passengers. The men didn’t seem to understand that most of us were serious about our jobs. We had a lot to do in a limited amount of time. Besides, rarely did any of us ever date a passenger.
I spent most of this particular flight fending off a drunken playboy. He had become especially fond of patting my rear end as I passed his aisle seat in my section of coach. He had already embarrassed me once by pulling me into his lap to amuse his two seat mates.
That was shady, yes, but here is what took the grand prize for shady —at least on that flight.
Dinner was over and I was busy picking up the used dinner trays. When I retrieved the trays from playboy and his two seat buddies, his tray had a room key to a major San Francisco hotel and a $100 bill was sticking out from under the napkin beside his plate.
(I thought I had seen everything. Obviously, I had not …)
I waited until I was halfway back up the aisle toward the galley. Then I turned around, waved the key and the $100 bill high in the air, and shouted:
“It seems someone has lost their hotel key and money! If they belong to you, you can get them from the Captain at the door, when we’ve landed.”
Note: I’ve often wondered how he already had a room key to a hotel where we were going (San Francisco). The only thing that made any sense —he was a businessman and the hotel was his base. He and his two seat mates fly to meet clients and then fly back. I’m honestly only guessing.
-*-
Note: A reader sent me a private message with a question: “Why didn’t you just keep the $100 and give the room key to some real good-looking guy in the plane? Wouldn’t playboy have been surprised when he answered the knock at the door and instead of you, he found some guy standing there?”
I too am not a flight attendant and only really travel internationally once a year for vacation.
One year our holiday was over and we were queuing to board the plane, I was with my wife and three children and it was hot, everyone was tired and irritable but there was some sort of delay in boarding.
About 7 people in front of me some middle aged guy started moaning loudly about the hold up, to no-one in particular, just to all those around him, then he started to use profanity and expletives which understandably shocked his co-travelers around him, someone asked him to refrain from using such lan
I too am not a flight attendant and only really travel internationally once a year for vacation.
One year our holiday was over and we were queuing to board the plane, I was with my wife and three children and it was hot, everyone was tired and irritable but there was some sort of delay in boarding.
About 7 people in front of me some middle aged guy started moaning loudly about the hold up, to no-one in particular, just to all those around him, then he started to use profanity and expletives which understandably shocked his co-travelers around him, someone asked him to refrain from using such language but this made him worse, he got all chest puffy and replied “make me stop” and continued using bad language, he was a big guy and an obvious bully.
As I was with my children I didn’t wish them to hear this sort of language, so I asked him sternly to stop and that there were young children in the vicinity, again he refused and said “I don’t care, whatcha gonna do about it”. At this point I was certain that things were going to get physical, my wife sensing my building rage gripped my arm tightly and whispered “Please don’t, just leave it”, she was worried there would be fisticuffs and the pair of us would be removed from the flight.
Luckily the holdup was over before a fight could commence but I was still seething, the guy sat up front with his wife but to my delight a couple with a young baby sat near him and he had to endure the cries of a baby for most of the flight, I had to endure it too but I did with a smile on me face.
We landed back in London and as I was leaving the plane I whispered to him, “I’ll see you in arrivals”, he looked nervous and didn’t reply but I noticed how quickly he retrieved his luggage and scurried off to avoid any confrontation.
I doubt I would have done anything either, I was with my wife and kids and we were all tired and just wanted to get back home, however I just wanted to teach this bully a lesson
I can think of several things that would fit the bill.
A couple seated in the bulkhead, across the aisle from a Catholic priest, were all over each other from the moment they sat down. The man was probably mid-forties and his female companion could not have been more than 20. She was very skimpily dressed - bare midriff, skintight, almost see through pants - and the flight was barely off the ground
I can think of several things that would fit the bill.
A couple seated in the bulkhead, across the aisle from a Catholic priest, were all over each other from the moment they sat down. The man was probably mid-forties and his female companion could not have been more than 20. She was very skimpily dressed - bare midriff, skintight, almost see through pants - and the flight was barely off the ground, before the man had his hands down the front of her pants, hers were down his and they were what I can only call grinding against each other. Passengers seated behind and across from them were obviously embarrassed by what they were witnessing, particularly the priest. So I politely asked the couple if they could please “tone down” their demonstrations of affection until they were in a private place. The woman asked how long the flight was. I told her that actual flight time would be about an hour since we expected a strong tail wind. The man then asked where the restroom was. I told him it was at the back but that he had to remain seated until we the captain turned off the “fasten seatbelt” sign. However, they both immediately jumped up out of their seats and headed towards the back of the plane. From my jumpseat, I called out, “one at a time, please.” They both returned to their seats and spent the rest of the flight sulking.
The second inappropriate behavior involved a very selfish, self absorbed middle aged woman, expensively dressed, who barged on to the plane, pushing past other passengers making their way towards the rear of the aircraft. Upon locating her seat she saw that the overhead storage bin was already almost full. Instead of putting her belongings into one of the other bins nearby, she simply reached up, pulled out the bags and a coat and just dumped them - the bags on nearby seats, and the coat on the floor behind her. The man who owned the coat exclaimed “That’s my coat!” to which she just shrugged and said, “It’s in my way.” The owner of one of the bags simply retrieved it and put it elsewhere. During the flight the selfish woman managed to offend almost every other passenger in her vicinity. She ordered the person in front of her to put his seatback all the way up. The tall man behind her whose knees were crushed by her reclining her own seatback politely asked her to raise hers slightly as it was hurting him was told, “Tough. “ A family across from her, traveling with a little baby were rudely told to “silence that damned brat.” Those were just the actions I personally witnessed. As the passengers deplaned, the man whose coat had been thrown to the floor asked the woman: “Were you born a bitch or did you study a long time to become one?” She just looked at him, shrugged and walked away.
The third situation also involved an overly-affectionate couple. The flight was already oversold with several standby passengers hoping to get a seat. Five minutes before scheduled departure time only two empty seats remained, one behind the other. A man arrived and took the forward seat. He was obviously anxious and kept craning his neck to try and see what was happening outside the door. A big smile broke out on his face, accompanied by a sigh of relief, as a young woman boarded, dumped her luggage in the aisle, climbed into the seat behind him, but instead of attempting to stow her bags, she leaned over the back of his seat and started fondling his neck and chest. With barely one minute left before departure I asked her: “Ma’am, please stow your bags and fasten your seatbelt so that we can leave on time.” At the top of her voice she shouted: “You don’t know how f****** long I’ve been waiting to get on this f****** airplane!”
“Well, Ma’am,” I replied, smiling sweetly, “let me assure you that if you use that kind of language to me again, you will be off it much more quickly.” She was literally struck dumb, while several other passengers who had witnessed the conversation almost choked laughing. During the beverage service a passenger complimented me on what she thought was not only my quick response but on my politeness in delivering it.
On another occasion, again on a full flight, a young couple pre-boarded with a very young infant, probably only a few weeks old. It was the baby’s first flight so I explained to them about the ear pain that can occur due to the pressure changes, especially during take-off but more usually during descent, and how giving the baby something to suck on would usually alleviate the problem. I also pointed out that the restroom behind them had a diaper-changing table that pulled down over the lavatory and that “barf-bags” could also be used as disposal bags for diapers.
During the flight, an incredible stench suddenly permeated the entire cabin. Despite the availability of a changing table, the mother had decided to change the baby’s soiled diaper on the tray table in front of her, telling me that public restrooms were unsanitary and that using it would be a health-hazard to her little one. She then tried to hand me the soiled diaper which I declined to do. I reiterated the information about the barf bag and told her that it could be placed in the waste receptacle in the lavatory. Then, during descent, the baby began to scream, obviously in pain. When I reminded them about giving the baby something to suck on, they informed me that they did not believe in the use of pacifiers and that it was not time for his bottle. The fact that this poor little child was in agony did not seem to register with them.
On every flight it seems there is at least one passenger who manages to bring on an item of luggage (or sometimes other objects) that are too large to be safely stowed in an overhead compartment. With some smaller aircraft this is particularly problematic. Early one morning I worked a flight into JFK from Detroit. All but a handful of passengers were connecting internationally, many of them to distant destinations that are served only two or three times a week. A large man boarded, carrying a hard-sided suitcase w...
I once met a man who drove a modest Toyota Corolla, wore beat-up sneakers, and looked like he’d lived the same way for decades. But what really caught my attention was when he casually mentioned he was retired at 45 with more money than he could ever spend. I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you do it?”
He smiled and said, “The secret to saving money is knowing where to look for the waste—and car insurance is one of the easiest places to start.”
He then walked me through a few strategies that I’d never thought of before. Here’s what I learned:
1. Make insurance companies fight for your business
Mos
I once met a man who drove a modest Toyota Corolla, wore beat-up sneakers, and looked like he’d lived the same way for decades. But what really caught my attention was when he casually mentioned he was retired at 45 with more money than he could ever spend. I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you do it?”
He smiled and said, “The secret to saving money is knowing where to look for the waste—and car insurance is one of the easiest places to start.”
He then walked me through a few strategies that I’d never thought of before. Here’s what I learned:
1. Make insurance companies fight for your business
Most people just stick with the same insurer year after year, but that’s what the companies are counting on. This guy used tools like Coverage.com to compare rates every time his policy came up for renewal. It only took him a few minutes, and he said he’d saved hundreds each year by letting insurers compete for his business.
Click here to try Coverage.com and see how much you could save today.
2. Take advantage of safe driver programs
He mentioned that some companies reward good drivers with significant discounts. By signing up for a program that tracked his driving habits for just a month, he qualified for a lower rate. “It’s like a test where you already know the answers,” he joked.
You can find a list of insurance companies offering safe driver discounts here and start saving on your next policy.
3. Bundle your policies
He bundled his auto insurance with his home insurance and saved big. “Most companies will give you a discount if you combine your policies with them. It’s easy money,” he explained. If you haven’t bundled yet, ask your insurer what discounts they offer—or look for new ones that do.
4. Drop coverage you don’t need
He also emphasized reassessing coverage every year. If your car isn’t worth much anymore, it might be time to drop collision or comprehensive coverage. “You shouldn’t be paying more to insure the car than it’s worth,” he said.
5. Look for hidden fees or overpriced add-ons
One of his final tips was to avoid extras like roadside assistance, which can often be purchased elsewhere for less. “It’s those little fees you don’t think about that add up,” he warned.
The Secret? Stop Overpaying
The real “secret” isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about being proactive. Car insurance companies are counting on you to stay complacent, but with tools like Coverage.com and a little effort, you can make sure you’re only paying for what you need—and saving hundreds in the process.
If you’re ready to start saving, take a moment to:
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- Check if you qualify for safe driver discounts
- Reevaluate your coverage today
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Oh goodness where do I start…
- I think probably the most shady thing a passenger tried to get away with was smoking in the aircraft lavatory. Now most readers will know that smoking in an aircraft in this day and age is very much against the law except in a few very specific parts of the world, but this bloke spent about 20 minutes in the lavatory on the 2 hour flight and the general lack of bumping noises coming from the tight space was awfully suspicious (if you haven’t flown on a plane before, the space in these things is really cramped so for most people to do their business some level of sh
Oh goodness where do I start…
- I think probably the most shady thing a passenger tried to get away with was smoking in the aircraft lavatory. Now most readers will know that smoking in an aircraft in this day and age is very much against the law except in a few very specific parts of the world, but this bloke spent about 20 minutes in the lavatory on the 2 hour flight and the general lack of bumping noises coming from the tight space was awfully suspicious (if you haven’t flown on a plane before, the space in these things is really cramped so for most people to do their business some level of shuffling around or noise is involved). I think he was somewhat proud of himself when he left the lavatory because he hadn’t set off the smoke alarm, he had this big grin of accomplishment on his face when he went back to his seat, what he’d failed to account for, is that cigarette smoke stinks to high heaven and that it lingers… that and he had also left a whole bunch of wet paper towels lined on the smoke detectors themselves so as to block them from being set off which we discovered after opening it up to perform a standard 20 minute inspection, he didn’t even try to hide the evidence. I’m grateful though that he didn’t attempt to flush the cigarette but down the toilet because that would have caused a plethora of follow-up issues. Guy got handed to the feds on the ground along with the photos of what he’d tampered with in the lavatory itself.
- A common occurrence when flying from big international hubs is that people will pay extra for the extra legroom seats (exit rows). In the cabins I work in it’s an all-economy cabin so this is the closest thing we have to a comfy seat. Under normal circumstances this is no problem and being 6ft 2in myself I totally get the want for that bit more space. The problem is, that these seats have special requirements in order to be occupied, in Australia, some of the requirements include that you must be fluent in English, must be over 15 years of age, not require a the use of a mobility assistive device or prosthesis, and sit through a full briefing on how to use the adjacent emergency exits should the need to evacuate arise. That and comprehend all instructions, giving a verbal ‘I understand’ at the end of the briefing (this is actually the law). What people often try to do, is board the aircraft with their families (they’ll be able to speak English but the rest of the family won’t), sit the the briefing as good as gold, and then after takeoff sneakily move their elderly parents or children into these seats who under the law don’t meet the requirements. Considering crew are trained to maintain a significant level of situational awareness at all times, I don’t think they realize they aren’t being that subtle. Cue the difficult discussion with the family in which they’ll often pull the racism card until I show them the book.
This was a small “commercial” plane … to be specific: Ford Tri-motor! (See Image, I am not going to post my personal photos for a reason)
The original “attendant” wasn’t able to make it, so the Pilot contacted his partner, and he said “Oh call Southie (my nickname) up! She’ll stand in. She’s flown these before” ETA: I was almost 13 years old when this call was placed. (SEE *** for story Below)
He phoned my Dad and said “I need to borrow your daughter, can you drop her off at the Clearwater Air Park?”
My Dad was thinking that he needed me to fly the Trainer Plane (US NAVY) which I often did with s
This was a small “commercial” plane … to be specific: Ford Tri-motor! (See Image, I am not going to post my personal photos for a reason)
The original “attendant” wasn’t able to make it, so the Pilot contacted his partner, and he said “Oh call Southie (my nickname) up! She’ll stand in. She’s flown these before” ETA: I was almost 13 years old when this call was placed. (SEE *** for story Below)
He phoned my Dad and said “I need to borrow your daughter, can you drop her off at the Clearwater Air Park?”
My Dad was thinking that he needed me to fly the Trainer Plane (US NAVY) which I often did with special permit. So he brought me over, and then he noticed the Trainer wasn’t there (I knew that, it was up in Georgia, because I ran a 1 hour flight and then they took off with it for the summer for the Air Shows…) and spied the Ford (Tri-Motor) and he saw the guy!
The guy walked up and handed me the Air Stewardess’s uniform! (Hat, Dress, Tie, everything but shoes! (No freaking way am I going to wear a women’s size 9 PUMPS when I am a size 6.25 and stays away from heels) and told my Dad, “Thanks for bringing her, we’re going to fly for a couple of hours. Since the person had already paid (advanced payment required, no refunds) - well they called it off, so there were 2 seats available.
So my dad took the seat, and another young man (mechanic in training) was called over to “experience the past”. He wasn’t too sure (cocky - yes, bi-planes, tri-planes, old planes - NO! He’s scared of them)!
The Pilots were dressed to the T (Uniforms), and I come out, and I am sorry, but the folks are laughing! You see → I am short (was 4′11 at that time), and the stewardess is actually 5′7… so you can picture me:
Dress below my knees and the blouse - I struggled to keep it tucked inside! The Stewardess’s hat fit perfectly, but overall → I LOOKED LIKE A TOTAL CLOWN!
The wives, grabbed their make up, powdered my face to death, put Rosey ruse on my cheeks and the most brilliant and brightest RED LIPSTICK!
Never mind to the fact they TRIED to put Falsies on (Eyelashes) They wound up being stuck to my eyebrows (!!)… and since I had shoulder length hair (NO NO) they miserably failed; trying to put it in a bun! (Can you say “SPROOOOOOOOOOOING?”)
OKAY EVERYONE…. YOU CAN STOP LAUGHING! AND DAD? I know you’re long gone but I can still HEAR YOU CRACKING UP!
Now folks, do you understand why I won’t post the photos even though it is Black and White?
The Entire Event was blast from the past. Yes, I was aware that Stewardesses check everyone, from boarding passes to being buckled up.
They did have a small speaker with a old styled “microphone”. The Pilot introduced himself and introduced the Co-Pilot and then hands me the microphone.
ME: WAIT? WHAT? I am supposed to say something?
PILOT: Yes, you’re the stewardess.
ME: No I am not
People laughing… (It’s full, all 12 people are onboard)
ME: Hi! My name is Southie, Come fly with me (Television Ad)
CO PILOT: (face palms)
PILOT: Ya know Southie? This isn’t United Airlines!
(People are cracking up!)
ME: Sowwie! Passengers, please have available your boarding ticket, (me grabbing hole puncher)
PILOT: We do that before they come inside!
ME: Well, I am the Stewardess!
(People are just belly up in laughter)
ME: Welcome aboard to I am totally clueless Airlines. You will see we have belts to your, never mind, Click it up like you’re in a car!
CO PILOT: (literally lost it! He’s trying to catch his breath!)
ME: Thank you my lovely passengers and not so lovely pilots that’s giving me a hard time! You will now begin to hear the engines rumble. It will vibrate! It will shake! No worries, the plane will not fall apart. It is not unusual to see smoke, do not panic! Old Airplanes do fart!
PILOT: (grabs the microphone) That’s enough! SIT DOWN!
(People are literally in tears from laughing so hard! The Co-Pilot had to step outside to regain his composure! My dad kept saying I wished I had the Video Camera! He was literally in tears and his face beat red from laughing!)
Once the front engine started, the right wing engine started, but the left engine was “whining, and trying to start”… CO-PILOT: Southie? You know what to do, here (handing crowbar).
ME: Opens the side door, adjusting ladder, and I walk up.. Realized there’s a problem and did a “cut throat” and the Pilot shut the engine off… I saw the Bolt coming loose and went back to the tool box and tightened it up and checked all of them. The Pilot also shut off the front and right wing motors and they were all secured. I remained outside and had the Pilot crank up the front motor, then the right wing motor, and the left wing ….
WHINEEEEEEE….. WHINNNEEEEE - and I tossed the crowbar and grabbed the prop and gave it a heave-ho and WHIRRRRRRRRRRR!
Went back inside. (Yes, these planes can fly with just one engine, they can fly with just two, but they will not fly very far with NO ENGINES!)
I then grabbed the microphone “Folks! It’s the engine’s old, but they are fine, now the Captain is going to proceed forward, we will sway to the right, sway to the left, then we all jump up and down and shout shout shout!”
PILOT: Yanks microphone from me again!
People are laughing.
COPILOT: (over the headset and not realizing that the loudspeaker is activated) Southie! That’s the first and last time I’m ever going to call for you to cover for the Stewardess! You’re pathetically terrible!
Several passengers “BOOOOOO’ed him out!”
COPILOT to Captain: Was that live?
PILOT: Yup! They heard you! Loud and Clear!
After flying around, it was time to return back to the air park. I then bopped the Co-Pilot’s arm and winked. Oh he knew what I was going to do, and he told the captain (microphone was off so the passengers cannot hear the conversation).
Just before he banked to the left, I took the microphone and said
FOLKS! It’s time for us to head back but everyone, please look over to your to your right!
People getting up to look over to the right!
CAPTAIN: Please don’t do that, the plane will flip over!
PEOPLE —— rushing to their seats and wide-eyed!
I am sorry, but the Co-Pilot was literally belly up! My dad didn’t fall for it, because he’s the one that told me! *GRINS*
We returned to the Air Park, due to a problem with the left wing engine (it began to misfire the last 20 minutes of return), the remainder folks were post-poned for “tomorrow” (always have a day reserved for stuff like that).
When it was due time to land, I grabbed the microphone and told everyone that we would highly likely experience a “bounce or two” upon landing, and it’s best to breath OUT than to hold your breath!
(You see, the Tri-Motor planes do not use the run way, they use the grassy median - they were not designed for “concrete” run ways → Gravel, Dirt, Grass or Soft Clay. (The impact upon landing can damage the plane. But future modifications allowed most of them to take off and land on pavements. The one we were was “unmodified”, pure original.)
*** STORY BELOW ****
Yes, I co-piloted several, as one was being restored. I believe today there’s only 18 left THAT ARE STILL FLYING. Back then, there were only 21 left (1967–1976). That particular plane flew for the last time from Clearwater Air Park to Dayton and permanently put “out of commission” - it was marked “unsuitable” for flying - due to the chronic oil leakages (even though we had fully replaced all oil lines, connections, etc , it still LEAKED - BADLY!) It wasn’t hard to fly, but it sure was heck taking off and landing because “You can’t see in front of you, hence why one would sway back and forth”… and I am being dead serious that the owner sneezed while landing, and I took over the helm and we almost “NOSE-DIVED” ( Ha! ) Thankfully my quick action prevented prop damages and I intentionally stalled the plane (so it wouldn’t flip over)… There were only 2 passengers, and both were the FAA! I was commended for “Nice save!” (no one was hurt, the only reason why FAA were onboard was to finalize it’s “lifespan” whether it can fly to Dayton (Ohio) from Clearwater (Florida) … In FACT - FAA required that 120 gallons of oil to be carried on (due to loss during flight)… It’s now parked forever in Dayton, Ohio and can be viewed by visitors during the museum hours.
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I am not a flight attendant but I was flying from Michigan to San Diego. I had gotten a seat away from my soon to be ex husband and I had gotten seated next to this old man. This man immediately made me uncomfortable but I noticed he was with another nice looking couple a few seats ahead of us. As soon as we took off the guy told me that he was going to use the restroom. He was probably in his late 60s and had a glass eye and if I remember correctly he had oxygen with him. When I say that I felt uncomfortable right away it wasn’t because of his looks… I just felt odd. One of those feelings you
I am not a flight attendant but I was flying from Michigan to San Diego. I had gotten a seat away from my soon to be ex husband and I had gotten seated next to this old man. This man immediately made me uncomfortable but I noticed he was with another nice looking couple a few seats ahead of us. As soon as we took off the guy told me that he was going to use the restroom. He was probably in his late 60s and had a glass eye and if I remember correctly he had oxygen with him. When I say that I felt uncomfortable right away it wasn’t because of his looks… I just felt odd. One of those feelings you get for no reason in the pit of your stomach. Well he had went to the restroom and had been gone for about 15 minutes. I’m not sure what made me get up and go looking for him but I did. I talked to the flight attendant and told her I had an uneasy feeling and it was going away. Explained that he had been in there for quite awhile and asked if we could check on him. We knocked on the door a couple times but no response. She then opened the door and to our horror he was in the middle of having a heart attack. The flight attendant didn’t handle the situation well at all. She froze completely. I was trained in CRR so I grabbed him off the toilet and laid him down. I began CPR. Then a doctor came running down and we pumped his heart. Unfortunately the man didn’t make it. And I assisted them covering the body. When I went back to my seat all of his things where there. I grabbed his phone and walked over to the old couple that he has boarded with. They had no idea that any of these events had occurred. I explained what had happened and that he did not make it. They both began to cry and said this was there last vacation they were all taking together. It was a sad moment handing over his phone. For the rest of the flight I drank whatever vodka was given to me and looked at the dead body behind me.
I don’t know if they were shady, as much as they were sleazy.
Back in the day, Northeast Airlines used to have synthetic "furry throws" for the passengers' use in flight. There wasn’t one for everyone, but there were quite a few per flight. People loved them …. so much, that we couldn’t keep them. Passengers were stealing them right and left. One day, I saw a lady deplaning with one over her arm, "hidden" beneath her mink wrap. Keeping my eyes peeled for our throws, I stopped her saying, "Oh my! Look at that! Looks like you got one of our furry throws caught beneath your wrap. Here, I’ll just g
I don’t know if they were shady, as much as they were sleazy.
Back in the day, Northeast Airlines used to have synthetic "furry throws" for the passengers' use in flight. There wasn’t one for everyone, but there were quite a few per flight. People loved them …. so much, that we couldn’t keep them. Passengers were stealing them right and left. One day, I saw a lady deplaning with one over her arm, "hidden" beneath her mink wrap. Keeping my eyes peeled for our throws, I stopped her saying, "Oh my! Look at that! Looks like you got one of our furry throws caught beneath your wrap. Here, I’ll just get that for you", said in a syrupy sweet voice, while flashing a huge shit eating grin. I hate thieves.
Back then, cocktails were $1 each. A few times, in an effort to get free drinks, some smart ass would produce a $100 bill, saying that’s all he had. I learned to quickly snatch it up saying, "No problem! I’ll just hold on to it until we’re at the gate where someone will be waiting with your change." <SMILE!> One guy was particularly obnoxious, thinking he was so clever and had outsmarted us. Not only did I pull my usual trick, but when I told the flight crew to call ahead to bring change to the flight, I requested they bring it in coins. The crew was only too happy to comply with my request, and so was the guy on the other end. We’d all seen this many times. The sack of loose change was pretty heavy, and the man denied the Station Manager's offer to count it out.
People are so stupid. They think they’re the only ones who ever tried to scam us. But, we were locked up with a couple hundred people every working day, so there wasn’t much we hadn't seen before.
Looks like most everyone that already answered this is not a flight attendant, but that is understandable in the social media age — who wants to lose their job over some silly Quora post?
I am not a flight attendant either.
But years ago I sat next to one on a Boston-LAX flight. There was an empty seat next to me in first class and when there was no one left on the upgrade list, the airline put one of their own in the seat as she was heading to LA to staff another flight.
She was a veteran flight attendant and super nice. In response to my “what are some of the weirdest things you’ve seen?” quest
Looks like most everyone that already answered this is not a flight attendant, but that is understandable in the social media age — who wants to lose their job over some silly Quora post?
I am not a flight attendant either.
But years ago I sat next to one on a Boston-LAX flight. There was an empty seat next to me in first class and when there was no one left on the upgrade list, the airline put one of their own in the seat as she was heading to LA to staff another flight.
She was a veteran flight attendant and super nice. In response to my “what are some of the weirdest things you’ve seen?” question she proceeded to tell me a series of awesome stories for about two hours…
My favorite?
Back in the halcyon pre-9/11 days, she was a rookie flight attendant on a flight from the US to another country. Boarding the flight were several citizens of said country — clearly a family traveling together — and they were having real trouble putting a rather large duffle bag in the overhead bin. It was just too long and bulky/heavy to fit. They’d hoist it and then it would fall. Or, once hoisted, they couldn’t stuff it in the bin. And, when the flight attendant went to try to help, the family started shouting and waving their hands to move away, don’t touch the bag, etc., etc. The closer she got, the louder they screamed, men and women included.
So, the flight attendant stood watching, knowing at some point the family would have to give up and check the darn mega-duffel. When, all of a sudden, the duffel fell to the aisle (again) but this time a HUMAN ARM popped out of the zipper!
Yep, it was a DEAD BODY.
Made even more obvious when the head and neck popped out onto the lap of an already-seated passenger! Who then proceeded to scream in panic at the top of her lungs.
Pandemonium ensued. Shrieking passengers, wailing and crying family members…in short, total chaos.
Apparently, in the family’s home country it was customary to bury loved ones within 24 hours of death, and they were trying to take grandpa home with them for burial. It was too expensive and time-consuming to ship the body, and hey, they weren’t going to relegate gramps to the cargo hold, so……
And no, the plane never took off. The ensuing brouhaha brought aboard customs officials, medical inspectors, airport police and of course airline staff to handle the (understandably) freaked out passengers.
I then asked the flight attendant how the hell a family of four could lug a super heavy dead-body-duffle-bag past the gate agents??
Her answer: “Back in those days, the gate agents rarely did sh*t. They let the flight attendants on board deal with all the problems. Would never happen in the TSA era we are in now.“
Her second-best story? the venture capitalist traveling with his personal dominatrix. But that one writes itself…..
Plenty of sex goes on. First class suites with closed doors usually require a knock on the door to notify them their ‘banging’ is being disruptive to other passengers.
The worst scenario I ever encountered was when two separate passengers, traveling alone (man and a lady), struck up a conversation in the back row of economy. It was “just to be polite” sounding at first and they both seemed like average passengers, nothing stood out. This was a long overnight flight from DXB-SYD (Dubai to Sydney). Halfway through the night, as I was walking through the dark aisles to visit the economy crew, the
Plenty of sex goes on. First class suites with closed doors usually require a knock on the door to notify them their ‘banging’ is being disruptive to other passengers.
The worst scenario I ever encountered was when two separate passengers, traveling alone (man and a lady), struck up a conversation in the back row of economy. It was “just to be polite” sounding at first and they both seemed like average passengers, nothing stood out. This was a long overnight flight from DXB-SYD (Dubai to Sydney). Halfway through the night, as I was walking through the dark aisles to visit the economy crew, the cabin was dead quiet with most people sleeping. Except that, as I approached the back of the cabin, I heard moaning. I initially thought someone sounded unwell so I scanned the cabin. Well, that was when I saw a lady sitting on a man’s lap, both facing forward in the same direction. She was using the seat in front of her to slowly thrust up and down on this guy. They were annihilated drunk and clearly just thought everyone else was asleep so “fuck it”. They were so into it as I passed through that they really didn’t notice me until I cleared my throat and asked them to stop.
It gets worse……
At the end of the flight, prior to getting off, the crew is required to pick up the blankets and bag them for the cleaners. Low and behold, one of the economy crew members finds a bloody USED TAMPON beneath the seat, in a cup. Not only does this lady have sex with a random in the cabin for all to see… she does it while she has her monthly.
Beyond disgusting.
Q: As a flight attendant, what's the best thing you've seen another passenger do for another passenger or for you?
A: I'm not a flight attendant but was asked to answer the question.
I was on a flight from Utah to San Jose which was about 2 hours. There was a woman that was obviously a nervous new mom, her baby was less than 3 months old and she could not get him to settle down. The baby was crying and screaming disrupting everybody's travel.
I was traveling alone, but I was 3rd of 8 children and I was changing diapers by the time I was five. After the seatbelt light went off I went and talked wi
Q: As a flight attendant, what's the best thing you've seen another passenger do for another passenger or for you?
A: I'm not a flight attendant but was asked to answer the question.
I was on a flight from Utah to San Jose which was about 2 hours. There was a woman that was obviously a nervous new mom, her baby was less than 3 months old and she could not get him to settle down. The baby was crying and screaming disrupting everybody's travel.
I was traveling alone, but I was 3rd of 8 children and I was changing diapers by the time I was five. After the seatbelt light went off I went and talked with her.
I discovered the baby was cold and gassy. She was exhausted hadn’t slept well. I asked her if she minded if I hold her baby for a while. I was doing the bounce step down the aisle not very far and burped her baby. After about 10 minutes I went to return the baby to the tired mom to find she was asleep.
I didn't mind I enjoyed playing with babies I left her a note with my name and seat number. I entertained the baby the rest of the trip. it's not like I can go anywhere mid flight on an airplane.
I half expected the mom-to-be furious that I wasn't right there when she woke up. Instead she was really gracious and appreciated the nap and a break from being Mom 24/7.
I was playing peek-a-boo with him when I felt someone watching me. The baby was giggling, I turned over my shoulder to see Mom smiling and she thanked me profusely.
I actually appreciated the distraction.
We talked a bit heading to baggage and I gave her her more tips. We never saw each other again, but I like to think her trip went better and had an easier time managing a new baby after the experience.
Thanks for all the great messages and over 9,000 views and over 430 upvotes WOW fantastic response.
Wow shocking response over 2.1k upvotes 21k views.
I'm honored over 4,000 upvotes amazing response.
As a flight attendant I saw a lot of shady stuff… but nothing extreme though. Just people lying about ordering special meals, or complaining they weren't served to have an extra sandwich, booking one seat in business class but travelling with a wife or child in economy then asking to bring their economy class co traveller to be next to them in business class and ordering food for them, excuses and lies to try to get upgrades or extra leg room seats… which is funny because crew doesn't normally upgrade. I've seen a man entering a bathroom prior to landing in Bangkok and exiting wearing make up,
As a flight attendant I saw a lot of shady stuff… but nothing extreme though. Just people lying about ordering special meals, or complaining they weren't served to have an extra sandwich, booking one seat in business class but travelling with a wife or child in economy then asking to bring their economy class co traveller to be next to them in business class and ordering food for them, excuses and lies to try to get upgrades or extra leg room seats… which is funny because crew doesn't normally upgrade. I've seen a man entering a bathroom prior to landing in Bangkok and exiting wearing make up, high heels and a dress. I've seen total strangers swapping seats and getting too personal on flights. I've seen mothers leaving their infants on aircraft floors repeatedly after being warned it's dangerous and extremely unhygienic…. Ok that wasnt as shady but sad and horrible. Oh and let's not forget passengers who asked in which hotel the crew is staying, and you decline to answer but then someone must have told them and later they show up in the lobby saying oh what a coincidence you were my crew do you want to have a drink…
As a ground handler I saw a lot of shady stuff as well… a lot of stories the gate staff had to endure from people wanting an upgrade, people lying about their health not to be offloaded, lying about needing a wheelchair so they can use it as an airport taxi service, etc etc etc but the worst case I ever saw was a passenger exiting a bus on a remote stand, during boarding, and taking out a cigarette and a lighter and wanting to smoke in front of the aircraft... Luckily I was just at the left hand side of the aircraft at that moment so I stopped him immediately, usually my work in the ramp was mostly on the right hand side where the loading is ongoing, and at that time the fuelling was in progress and it could have been a disaster. Basically, 400 people were in danger because of this little guy who wanted a quick smoke. This happened more than once actually. Sometimes I used to think to myself it seems as if people check in their brains in their bags when they reach the airport, and pick it up (hopefully) on the baggage belt on their destination.
I am not a flight attendant, but I did witness something extremely stupid and risky.
I was recently on a Pegasus Airlines flight from London to Istanbul. On approach to Istanbul airport, and I mean when the plane was about 30 feet from landing on the runway, a Chinese lady who was sitting at the back suddenly decided to open the overhead luggage bin, grab two heavy bags (one of which was a wheelie), and leg it up the aisle. Since the plane was so close to landing, the flight attendants were already strapped in. All they could do was yell at the woman through the PA system, to sit the hell down.
I am not a flight attendant, but I did witness something extremely stupid and risky.
I was recently on a Pegasus Airlines flight from London to Istanbul. On approach to Istanbul airport, and I mean when the plane was about 30 feet from landing on the runway, a Chinese lady who was sitting at the back suddenly decided to open the overhead luggage bin, grab two heavy bags (one of which was a wheelie), and leg it up the aisle. Since the plane was so close to landing, the flight attendants were already strapped in. All they could do was yell at the woman through the PA system, to sit the hell down. So she sat down in the seat in front of me on row 4, leaving the big wheelie bag in the aisle! A few of us had to stick our legs out onto the aisle to stop that bag from flying and hitting a child who was seated nearby. As if that wasn’t bad enough, as soon as the plane touched down and was still at highspeed on the runway, a Chinese man also ran up the aisle with his bags. Before we knew it, half the passengers were stood up, opening the baggage bins and trying to claw their bags out! The flight attendants again yelled for them to at least wait until the plane came to a halt.
Anyway, the universe gave the chinese couple their just desserts. The couple managed to get off the plane first, and run super-fast to the terminal building, so they could be first in line for border control. Anyway, the idiots forgot to apply for the e-visa online, and were subsequently sent to a long queue for a manual visa.
Served them right. Idiots.
Flying from Rome to Melbourne there was a family across the isle in Business class with 3 children, the parents promptly fell asleep and left the children to run wild. Later as I was served my meal the smallest child appeared at the side of my seat and it became obvious his nappy was overflowing and stunk to high heaven! I asked the cabin crew to do something about it and was told sorry, there is not much we can do.
So I told the child that through the curtain they were giving away free chocolate (pointing towards 1st class) and he took the bait, moments later the smelly child appeared with a 1
Flying from Rome to Melbourne there was a family across the isle in Business class with 3 children, the parents promptly fell asleep and left the children to run wild. Later as I was served my meal the smallest child appeared at the side of my seat and it became obvious his nappy was overflowing and stunk to high heaven! I asked the cabin crew to do something about it and was told sorry, there is not much we can do.
So I told the child that through the curtain they were giving away free chocolate (pointing towards 1st class) and he took the bait, moments later the smelly child appeared with a 1st Class member of the crew and was deposited at the parents feet who were told to fix the nappy and control the child or be moved to the back of the plain, Problem solved!
Not a flight attendant but I was flying from Texas to Sri Lanka. On the first leg, which was about 14 hours, I was happy to be in a seat near the exit door because there were no seats in front of me. Beyond the void space was the lavatory and a corridor to the other section of the plane.
About an hour into the flight, an old person carrying an inhaler was walking towards the lavatory from the front section. Instead of going in, he just lay down on the floor in front of us, in the relatively large area next to the emergency exit door. One of the flight attendants saw this and came to tell him th
Not a flight attendant but I was flying from Texas to Sri Lanka. On the first leg, which was about 14 hours, I was happy to be in a seat near the exit door because there were no seats in front of me. Beyond the void space was the lavatory and a corridor to the other section of the plane.
About an hour into the flight, an old person carrying an inhaler was walking towards the lavatory from the front section. Instead of going in, he just lay down on the floor in front of us, in the relatively large area next to the emergency exit door. One of the flight attendants saw this and came to tell him that he can’t stay there and that he has to go back to his seat. However, to make things worse, he couldn’t speak any English and no one could understand what he spoke.
From what I could observe, he didn’t like being cramped in his seat and probably felt a bit claustrophobic, so he came here to breathe a little easy. The seat next to me was empty, so I told the flight attendant it’s OK with me to have him sit next to me if he wants, which she managed to convey to him, finally.
So for the remainder of the journey, he just sat there and asked for my help for things like making tea to serving his meal. I tried my best to help but wondered whoever thought it would be a good idea to send someone like him alone in such a long flight.
Then once we landed and were getting ready to deboard, I asked the flight attendant how he would manage himself from this point onward. She said, his wife is on the flight too. I was astonished. She was there all this time and never bothered to even check where her husband was. I hope they flew safely!
Not a flight attendant but flying back from Korea to the USA. (I’m in the Army) I’m flying Korean Air on leave. The guy in front of me is one of those natural body odor kind of people and he has his vent on.. it’s blowing his funk all over me. Seriously, getting sick and turning a bit green. The flight attendant sees me and ask if I am all right and if I needed an Air sickness bag. I said I need some fresh air. The fasten seat belts light is still on. Anyway, trying to be respectful she steps back and I get up. I motion to move to the middle of the plane for fresh air, directly in her path. Sh
Not a flight attendant but flying back from Korea to the USA. (I’m in the Army) I’m flying Korean Air on leave. The guy in front of me is one of those natural body odor kind of people and he has his vent on.. it’s blowing his funk all over me. Seriously, getting sick and turning a bit green. The flight attendant sees me and ask if I am all right and if I needed an Air sickness bag. I said I need some fresh air. The fasten seat belts light is still on. Anyway, trying to be respectful she steps back and I get up. I motion to move to the middle of the plane for fresh air, directly in her path. She steps into my seat and catches a full frontal assault of his odor. (what I wanted in the first place) she immediately starts looking around like something bit her in the ass.
then she starts sniffing the air and leans down and smells the guy in front of her…She very professionally covers her mouth and follows me to the middle of the plane. I’m laughing inside but relieved because I know she knows what’s really up. She puts her hand on her chest and lets out a deep sigh of relief. Then she bows slightly to me and says wait here. She found me a new seat in first class. … it is a 15 hour flight by the way.
2nd time, still in the Army. My unit is flying to Germany. The flight attendants thought it would be cool to paint their face Army Green with our camo sticks… LOL. Camo Sticks are the old school method of won’t wash off.. They were so mad. It takes a lot of scrubbing to get that stuff off. made to with stand a lot of sweat.
I have never been a flight attendant but used to travel constantly for work. There were three incidents that required police intervention.
JFK to LHR
This was an overnight flight back in the day when airplanes’ entertainment systems consisted of a single projector. After the dinner service, the crew lowered the cabin lights so we could all get some sleep. I was near the front of coach in the middle section. During the night we suddenly heard a woman shouting, “Get off me! Get off me!” He was imploring, “Stop it or we’ll get in trouble.”
All eyes turned to see a man with his arms around her (like
I have never been a flight attendant but used to travel constantly for work. There were three incidents that required police intervention.
JFK to LHR
This was an overnight flight back in the day when airplanes’ entertainment systems consisted of a single projector. After the dinner service, the crew lowered the cabin lights so we could all get some sleep. I was near the front of coach in the middle section. During the night we suddenly heard a woman shouting, “Get off me! Get off me!” He was imploring, “Stop it or we’ll get in trouble.”
All eyes turned to see a man with his arms around her (like a hug) and her shouting at him. The cabin crew ran over, assumed the man was up to no good, and insisted that he let go over her. What they hadn’t realized is that the woman was maybe having a panic attack. Once he let go over, she got violent. In the course of thrashing around, she cocked her elbow back to him and elbowed a flight attendant in the face.
Now the man’s pleas to “stop it or we’ll get in trouble” made more sense. An official (maybe the co-pilot) came back to alert the passengers that the Captain had been notified and that police would be waiting for them at Heathrow.
LHR to JFK
A daytime flight from London to New York. I was seated in coach. A woman traveling alone with her small son (maybe 3–4 years old) was a few rows behind me. She was wearing a bright orange “leather” jump suit and a Gucci belt.
During the flight the mother let her son roam around pretty freely. There were other kids on the flight and he tried to befriend them. But he wound up hitting them all. The mother paid absolutely no attention.
When the flight crew approached her about the problem she said or did something bad enough that the police took her into custody at Kennedy.
LAX to Vegas
On a 7 AM flight. A group of four women are traveling together on Southwest and had exceeded their carry on limit. They were offering money to other passengers to take their excess bags, which were mostly large shopping bags from fancy shops.
No one accepted their offer.
They were pretty annoying so my co-worker decided to antagonize them. He and the girls exchanged some playground name-calling. When the flight attendant came by to ask about drink orders, we offered to buy those girls a drink. The flight attended looked at them, looked at us, and said with a bit of an exhausted smile, “No way.”
The girls were in front of us on the plane but stopped on the jetway to shout at the attendant. I walked passed, watching them, as I waited for me friend to get off. Looking exhausted — remember, this was her first flight of the day — the flight attendant finally said, “That’s it! I’m getting security.” As she passed by me I asked if everything was ok. She kind of rolled her eyes, smiled, sighed, and said, “Yeah.”
By the time I got to the gate, security was already on its way to get the four women.
Not a flight attendant, but…
A long time ago (pre-911), we were about to board passengers, when the gate agent noticed one was inebriated, he asked me what to do and I told him not to board the gentleman. His wife however was allowed to fly, she was carrying a 6 pack of beer back home. The man was being escorted out of the terminal when he suddenly turned around and ran toward his wife, security rushed after him, but he just wanted the six-pack. He took it, popped open a can and sipped it as he calmly walked out of the gate. I guess he had a party all to himself that night, then he took next da
Not a flight attendant, but…
A long time ago (pre-911), we were about to board passengers, when the gate agent noticed one was inebriated, he asked me what to do and I told him not to board the gentleman. His wife however was allowed to fly, she was carrying a 6 pack of beer back home. The man was being escorted out of the terminal when he suddenly turned around and ran toward his wife, security rushed after him, but he just wanted the six-pack. He took it, popped open a can and sipped it as he calmly walked out of the gate. I guess he had a party all to himself that night, then he took next day's flight back home. 🤷♂️😂🤣
I am not a flight attendant but my sister in law's niece works for KLM. She told us this story herself over dinner from first-hand experience. On a flight from Amsterdam to Singapore, an Indonesian male passenger started masturbating in such obvious fashion that the flight crew had to intervene. Upon arrival, they reported the man to the Singaporean authorities who was then apprehended and escorted into custody. Little did the crew know what Singapore had in store for him. As this was a long haul flight, the crew stayed in Singapore for three days and then flew the same route back. On the retu
I am not a flight attendant but my sister in law's niece works for KLM. She told us this story herself over dinner from first-hand experience. On a flight from Amsterdam to Singapore, an Indonesian male passenger started masturbating in such obvious fashion that the flight crew had to intervene. Upon arrival, they reported the man to the Singaporean authorities who was then apprehended and escorted into custody. Little did the crew know what Singapore had in store for him. As this was a long haul flight, the crew stayed in Singapore for three days and then flew the same route back. On the return flight they encountered the Indonesian passenger again. However, this time he boarded the plane in a wheelchair. His transgression was promptly punished by the authorities with a caning so severe that he could neither sit nor lie on his back. His agony was so pronounced that the crew felt bad about their decision to report the man.
OK this was not so much weird as much as it was absolutely totally freaking awesome! Not something I would have wanted to experience had it not been for the amazing passengers we had on board that day.
On a flight from somewhere in Germany to somewhere in Alaska, we were transporting USAF personnel back home from a long deployment somewhere in the Middle East. The Men and Women of the U.S. Military are the best passengers you could ever have. They almost entirely without exception listen to what you say and also address you as Sir, which is not common at all on your typical commercial service
OK this was not so much weird as much as it was absolutely totally freaking awesome! Not something I would have wanted to experience had it not been for the amazing passengers we had on board that day.
On a flight from somewhere in Germany to somewhere in Alaska, we were transporting USAF personnel back home from a long deployment somewhere in the Middle East. The Men and Women of the U.S. Military are the best passengers you could ever have. They almost entirely without exception listen to what you say and also address you as Sir, which is not common at all on your typical commercial service flights. We feed them, make sure they are comfortable as possible in those tiny seats and generally they spend the majority of the flight sleeping. These were always my favorite flights in my time as a flight attendant. It was a great honor to have had the opportunity to serve (literally) our brave Men and Women and always always always especially on their journeys back home.
Towards the end of our journey on this particular day I was in the galley talking to one of our passengers when we hear a rather large and unusual commotion from the main cabin. I peek out from behind the galley wall to see all the passengers awake and looking out the windows on either side of the aircraft. They are gleaming with joy, shouting and laughing, so I wasn't nervous at all but had to run to the nearest door to see for myself what was going on.
This is what I saw (not the actual picture, I pulled this up from Google):
Apparently shortly after crossing into U.S. airspace a pair of F-16's were on either side of our aircraft escorting us. The reason our passengers were excited was because they recognized the markings of the jets as being from their base. A minute or so later our Captain came over the PA and connected one of the F-16 pilots to our PA system. He spoke briefly and said something to the effect of - Welcome back boys and girls, we missed you so much that we could not wait until you got back to base to see you so we came to meet you as soon as we could. Everyone back at base is waiting for you. Welcome Home and thank you for your service!
Everyone on the airplane cheered and laughed. That was the first time followed by countless times for me to get choked up on one of these flights.
Oh my… I was in my 3rd year of flying for United (my second airline) and I was still a smoker. I had a “sit” at a major airport and their smoking policy had us going out past security and then back in the crew line through security again. I had just completed this nightmare when i saw an incredibly confused older couple. I went to find out if I could help them. They looked at me like they were seeing an angel. They explained their dilemma which had to do with the rented car they reserved. I said “I know exactly where that is…” and I was about to give them directions when I saw the look on thei
Oh my… I was in my 3rd year of flying for United (my second airline) and I was still a smoker. I had a “sit” at a major airport and their smoking policy had us going out past security and then back in the crew line through security again. I had just completed this nightmare when i saw an incredibly confused older couple. I went to find out if I could help them. They looked at me like they were seeing an angel. They explained their dilemma which had to do with the rented car they reserved. I said “I know exactly where that is…” and I was about to give them directions when I saw the look on their faces. I knew I needed to walk them to the Car Rental. I said “Follow me. I’ll take you there”. Of course, it was past security so here I go again. They were gracious and grateful and thanked me profusely.
While walking there, the lady turned to me and said “Can I ask you a question?” I said “Of course”. She said
“Under what circumstances would you NOT wear your wings on your uniform?”
I said “Never! We are proud of our wings, not to mention that it’s part of the mandatory dress code!” She said, sadly, “That’s what we thought. Must’ve been a trophy”. I was like What?? She said “Oh, I’m sorry. Let me explain. You see, around 3 years ago (right after I’d graduated from flight school) our daughter was found floating dead in a river. She was on a layover, and the police said she must’ve gone out for a run. She had semen inside her, which led us to the man who was the last to see her.” Flabbergasted, I sputtered “That was YOUR daughter?? I was so new here, and there was a rash of violent crimes against flight attendants, and your daughter was one of them”. I asked how much time did he get. She said “None. He was acquitted because he said it was consensual sex. You know, flight attendant from out of town, hooking up with a stranger”. She went on…”She had been married for 6 days. There’s no way she would have done this! But the weird thing is, her stuff seemed to be all there except for the wings on her jacket. She loved this job, and we couldn’t imagine her forgetting something as special as her wings. We figured they were a souvenir for her killer.”
My heart broke for these people. I did not know, yet, what it feels like to lose a child. I asked what brings them to town. She said “He’s done it again and again and keeps getting acquitted. We fly to the city where he’s on trial because we know justice will be served, eventually, and we want to be there when it does.” Turns out, they’d be flying around for a couple years just to attend this guy’s trials.
I wanted to hug them, cry with them and fix them, and then I remembered what I could actually offer them. I said “I know these are not your daughter’s, but I’d be honored if you would take these as a substitute.” I unpinned my wings and handed them to her with tears in my eyes. She clasped her hand over her mouth and said, “oh we couldn’t! They belong to you!” but the tears streaming down her face said different. I pressed them in her hand and hugged her. I probably said something like “I hope the bastard hangs!!”
I dropped them at Enterprise and headed back through security, this time knowing that I had helped someone that day. Suddenly, going through security didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Order a bunch of drinks & then when it was time to pay up, they smugly laughed & said they didn’t have the money & dismissed us. They thought they were going to get away it; they didn’t. They were met by the authorities & magically produced a credit card & paid for all of their drinks.
Yes. How? By punching me in the face is how. I felt I was about to lose ALL my cool, and my purser noticed that too. So she came running towards me and pulled me with her into the cockpit. Obviously I wouldn’t have hit this guy back since that would’ve cost me my job, but I would’ve said some nasty things probably that would have gotten me in trouble as well.
We were still on the ground. I started yelling at the Captain. I said it was either that %#=@ or me who was getting off this %#=@ plane but that there was going to be no way in hell I was going to fly with that dude on the flight. Captain
Yes. How? By punching me in the face is how. I felt I was about to lose ALL my cool, and my purser noticed that too. So she came running towards me and pulled me with her into the cockpit. Obviously I wouldn’t have hit this guy back since that would’ve cost me my job, but I would’ve said some nasty things probably that would have gotten me in trouble as well.
We were still on the ground. I started yelling at the Captain. I said it was either that %#=@ or me who was getting off this %#=@ plane but that there was going to be no way in hell I was going to fly with that dude on the flight. Captain looked at me, said nothing, turned around, told the air traffic controller they had to get back to the gate and that police intervention was needed. They came on board, and took the guy off. I then appologized to the Captain for yelling at him. He started laughing and he just went like: “Don’t worry about it. Buy us a beer tonight and we’ll be cool”. x)
Eventually turned out to be one of the best flights and overnight stay I ever had while working there.
EDIT: 4.6K upvotes. Didn’t think it would reach / interest so many people. Thanks!!
Well, there were 2 things. It was in business class and the seating was 2/2/2. In the center seats you could see a woman giving her boyfriend a hand job under the blanket. That hand was doing some fast time! I told her to knock it off.
The other thing was a flight attendant was working the business class galley which was in the middle of the plane, towards the front of coach. Next to the galley was a man and woman, who didn’t know each other. Well the galley flight attendant was plying these 2 with liquor. I was the purser on the flight so another flight attendant comes up to me and tells me th
Well, there were 2 things. It was in business class and the seating was 2/2/2. In the center seats you could see a woman giving her boyfriend a hand job under the blanket. That hand was doing some fast time! I told her to knock it off.
The other thing was a flight attendant was working the business class galley which was in the middle of the plane, towards the front of coach. Next to the galley was a man and woman, who didn’t know each other. Well the galley flight attendant was plying these 2 with liquor. I was the purser on the flight so another flight attendant comes up to me and tells me that the galley flight attendant was in her galley with the man and woman all 3 making out together. I didn’t know what to do. A dear friend of mine, who I was working with in first class says I’ll handle this! She goes back snaps the galley curtain back and tells the man and woman to get back to your seats and tells the galley flight attendant to knock it off!
When I was a passenger in some international flights, people crossed from one side of the plane to the other to use the opposite free restroom. However, instead of using the corridor in the back of the plane, they would cross in front of the seats at the front of the economy section. After watching a few people walk and nearly trip on my feet, I eventually raised my leg up high and leaned it on the wall. A few people tried to pass and I gestured: “no way” with my hand, or just ignored them. This is my space.
I thought it was very rude of them to even think they could walk on the tiny space in f
When I was a passenger in some international flights, people crossed from one side of the plane to the other to use the opposite free restroom. However, instead of using the corridor in the back of the plane, they would cross in front of the seats at the front of the economy section. After watching a few people walk and nearly trip on my feet, I eventually raised my leg up high and leaned it on the wall. A few people tried to pass and I gestured: “no way” with my hand, or just ignored them. This is my space.
I thought it was very rude of them to even think they could walk on the tiny space in front of me.
I flew from 66–91 . Back in the 70s… this was a trip from Puerto Rico to New York when passengers carried very large valet bags that on a 1011 could be accommodated in the closet that went into the ceiling of the fusalodge until landing and deplaning. These were generally by design a heavy bag to store. In this case the contents of the bag were not discovered until we lowered the closet upon landing and discovered we had a passenger that was not on the manafest but the tuely disturbing part was that the passenger was not alive. Apparently they wanted to bury granny in New York.
I was working a red-eye (night trip) from San Francisco to Chicago and after a quick snack service in First Class, the passengers were all sound asleep. The other FC attendant and I would check the aisle periodically, in case someone awakened and wanted something - but it was a very quiet flight.
Suddenly the other flight attendant came bolting back into the galley with her eyes wide, and said, “What are we going to do?” I asked “About what?” and she told me the man in the aisle seat on cabin right, in the first row (seat 1c) had stood up and unzipped his pants.
I immediately went into the aisle
I was working a red-eye (night trip) from San Francisco to Chicago and after a quick snack service in First Class, the passengers were all sound asleep. The other FC attendant and I would check the aisle periodically, in case someone awakened and wanted something - but it was a very quiet flight.
Suddenly the other flight attendant came bolting back into the galley with her eyes wide, and said, “What are we going to do?” I asked “About what?” and she told me the man in the aisle seat on cabin right, in the first row (seat 1c) had stood up and unzipped his pants.
I immediately went into the aisle and realized that he was sound asleep, standing facing the seat, was urinating on the seat cushion and then reached out as to “flush” a non-existent handle on the headrest. He then sat down!
Most business people flying night flights, have to go to work when they arrive at their destination, and we didn’t want him to have wet pants to do that. Our solution was to take a blanket from the overhead bin, fold it, and then as I tilted the man forward (I was the stronger of the two of us and he wasn’t a very big man) she slipped the blanket under him. I was so relieved that he didn’t wake up - as if he had, I guess I would have had to explain what happened.
As it was, we had another three hours on the flight, and when he awakened upon descent, he was none the wiser. When he walked off the flight, his pants were a bit wrinkled, but adequately presentable.
Airplanes have an extremely dry atmosphere, and we knew his pants would be dry by landing. I’m so grateful that no other passenger saw what happened, and I am even more grateful this passenger never knew what he did. He was quite innocent, and I think he would have been so embarrassed.
I have had several questions about this and I’m sorry I didn’t add what happened with the seat cushion! We, of course, informed the cockpit and they radioed ahead so Cabin Service would have a new seat cushion available. (The seat cushions are held in place with velcro, and easily replaceable.) I doubt the soiled cushion could be salvaged.
*As an aside: the seat cushion on all airplanes is also your flotation device in a water landing. You just pull it from its place and wrap your arms around it - pressing it to your chest. Scheduled overwater flights also have life vests - but even overland you can possibly land in a large body of water - so remember this seat bottom is always available to you as flotation.
Two passengers ‘doing it’. In the on-board bar, this couple got tipsy and started making out. Hands on each other like no one’s watching. We finished the lunch service and set the mood lighting in the cabin which was very low and calm compared to the usual full bright cabin lights. After doing every sort of PDA which made a lot of us who were in uniform, uncomfortable, they went back to their seats. Business class couple seats are almost like two single bed together with a small armrest popping out in the middle. The cabin was very quiet at this point and most passengers were sleeping. The cou
Two passengers ‘doing it’. In the on-board bar, this couple got tipsy and started making out. Hands on each other like no one’s watching. We finished the lunch service and set the mood lighting in the cabin which was very low and calm compared to the usual full bright cabin lights. After doing every sort of PDA which made a lot of us who were in uniform, uncomfortable, they went back to their seats. Business class couple seats are almost like two single bed together with a small armrest popping out in the middle. The cabin was very quiet at this point and most passengers were sleeping. The couple covered themselves with the blankets and started doing it, like really full on, under the blanket. The crew who witnessed that scene could tell how they were ‘doing it’. The purser of the flight immediately woke the up from their pretend sleep and told them to stop immediately. To which they obliged with a bit of hesitation. Surprisingly they came back with us in the same flight after a 24 hours layover and gosh that was awkward. He even rated the customer service as 1 star out of 5. ;)
Once an elderly man was seated near the emergency door.According to the protocol, passengers are not allowed to keep their stuff under their seat or on their lap (on emergency row) . So during cabin check, the gentleman had a bag on his lap and I requested him to put the bag in the overhead bin . For once he declined but I had to follow my protocol so I had to again request him and thinking that valuables are inside, I gave him assurance that after take off I will come and return the bag to him. He replied in barely audible voice that the bag had his wife’s ashes who recently passed away . The
Once an elderly man was seated near the emergency door.According to the protocol, passengers are not allowed to keep their stuff under their seat or on their lap (on emergency row) . So during cabin check, the gentleman had a bag on his lap and I requested him to put the bag in the overhead bin . For once he declined but I had to follow my protocol so I had to again request him and thinking that valuables are inside, I gave him assurance that after take off I will come and return the bag to him. He replied in barely audible voice that the bag had his wife’s ashes who recently passed away . The gentleman couldn’t hold his emotions and so I sat on my knees and apologised to him for that was the only thing I could do. He kept the bag in the overhead bin compartment and started crying . He was flooded with emotions and I was the one who triggered that . I was saddened throughout the flight until the gentleman came asked me for a hot cup of Indian masala tea .
One passenger used dental floss at his seat. ugh
If I were in a neighboring seat, I sure as hell would have
put an immediate stop to it. None did ! DUH !
Well, I sure put an immediate stop to it but not before
embarrassing him verbally for his unsanitary actions.
During boarding a woman came on with curlers in her hair, no make-up wearing sweats. A real slob. We were flying SFO to LHR. We took off and she fell right asleep taking no food. She drank lots of water. about an hour before landing she locked herself in one of the lavs. She came out as we were getting ready to prep for landing. She was fresh faced, made up. hair perfect, heels & hose, beautiful dress and all. She walked off that aircraft HOT!
She boarded the ugliest, and walked off the prettiest! ha ha ha
In 20 years I saw a lot of scary, funny and disgusting things….but that girl I will never
During boarding a woman came on with curlers in her hair, no make-up wearing sweats. A real slob. We were flying SFO to LHR. We took off and she fell right asleep taking no food. She drank lots of water. about an hour before landing she locked herself in one of the lavs. She came out as we were getting ready to prep for landing. She was fresh faced, made up. hair perfect, heels & hose, beautiful dress and all. She walked off that aircraft HOT!
She boarded the ugliest, and walked off the prettiest! ha ha ha
In 20 years I saw a lot of scary, funny and disgusting things….but that girl I will never forget.
Obligatory not a FA, but ground supervisor. Gramma brought a little girl of about 6–7 to the gate to fly out as an unaccompanied minor (UM). I noticed the UM was teary and very clingy to gramma. When it was time to preboard her I went to walk her down. She started all out sobbing “Please gramma, I’m so scared to fly! Please drive me! Please!” Gramma was in tears too, but kisses her goodbye and off we go down the jetway. I was attempting to calm her down a little and told her flying is very safe and the pilots and FAs would take special care of her and even give her some wings to wear. Then she
Obligatory not a FA, but ground supervisor. Gramma brought a little girl of about 6–7 to the gate to fly out as an unaccompanied minor (UM). I noticed the UM was teary and very clingy to gramma. When it was time to preboard her I went to walk her down. She started all out sobbing “Please gramma, I’m so scared to fly! Please drive me! Please!” Gramma was in tears too, but kisses her goodbye and off we go down the jetway. I was attempting to calm her down a little and told her flying is very safe and the pilots and FAs would take special care of her and even give her some wings to wear. Then she told me, “My daddy died in a plane crash 3 weeks ago.” 👀 I couldn’t believe that anyone would force this little child to fly so soon. Much less, ALL BY HERSELF. Plus—-do you think they might have let the ground crew know so we could prepare the flight crew? As I was about 8 months pregnant at the time I was pretty much a hormonal wreck too. She asked me to sit with her, and I told her I couldn’t go with her but I would stay until it was time to close the airplane door. It was a tough 20 minutes but when I handed her off to the FA she was fairly calm and was coloring a picture. She gave it to me before I left. It’s been more than 25 years and I still have the picture.
I was an airline pilot, but I can tell you the weirdest thing any flight attendant flying with me ever saw. It was for the pilots as well.
We were cruising at 37,000 over the eastern seaboard on a flight from PBI to JFK. It was one of the most perfectly clear and calm nights I had ever experienced. It was so still it was surreal, with absolutely no weather and it was at night, so we could see citie
I was an airline pilot, but I can tell you the weirdest thing any flight attendant flying with me ever saw. It was for the pilots as well.
We were cruising at 37,000 over the eastern seaboard on a flight from PBI to JFK. It was one of the most perfectly clear and calm nights I had ever experienced. It was so still it was surreal, with absolutely no weather and it was at night, so we could see cities hundreds of miles away. Sitting there was like sitting in my living room—rock solid with no sense of motion at all.
This was in 1987, and a "dinner" flight (how many of you are old enough to remember those!?), so the F/As were serving dinner. These were full meals. I know, that sounds crazy, but people used to be well-fed on airlines. The trays included a nice three-course meal, REAL metal utensils, and drinks served in glass glasses. All the meals were out and people were eating. The senior F/A was in the forward galley in first class mixing drinks, not out among the seats. The other three were patrolling the aisle in economy, refreshing drinks and serving extra rolls, etc. (It sounds like a fairy tale even to me as I write this, but those were the good old days when flight attendants actually attended during flight. Sigh!)
With no warning whatsoever, we suddenly encountered the worst turbulence any of us had ever experienced, this includes a captain with about 25 years, me with 15, and plenty of years between all the F/As. For 30 seconds we were slammed up and down like a little toy plane. The captain and I were terrified, the plane sounded like it was coming apart---and this was a Boeing 727, not a small plane.
It stopped as suddenly as it started and went right back to rock solid stillness. The captain and I locked eyes and he said I'd better go back and check on everyone.
LIKE A GARBAGE DUMP
I opened the cockpit door to what looked like a garbage dump. Imagine 120 meals and all the place settings, plates, glasses, trays, drinks, and food slamming up to the ceiling then back down to the floor four to five times. Walk down the aisle was like conquering an obstacle course.
The senior flight attendant was on the floor in the first class galley, but she said she was okay and got up on her own. So I went back to economy, where the other three ladies weren't moving. The passengers were horrified, of course. I walked across a carpet of food and bread, soaked with Coke and coffee.
The three economy F/As were hurt when they (and all the food and drinks and carts and trays and glasses and utensils) were splattered against the ceiling then back down, then back to the ceiling, etc, etc. One broke some ribs when she crashed down onto an armrest. Two were on the floor near the aft galley and I moved them because the soda cans were SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODING from being shaken so bad. Imagine shaking a sealed soda can until it explodes! That's how bad it was.
Not a flight attendant but I did witness something like this with not a rude guy, but rather a dumb guy, it was a short flight from Dubai to Muscat and most of the passengers were Asian labour who were going to muscat for a visa change. I had a window seat , the middle seat was empty and in aisle seat was a black guy who was huge and looked like a bouncer. Now a bengladeshi guy was siting in the front row to us, he was continuously on the phone, the flight attendants asked him to switch off the phone for take off, he completely ignored it and continued to talk on the phone, atleast 3 flight at
Not a flight attendant but I did witness something like this with not a rude guy, but rather a dumb guy, it was a short flight from Dubai to Muscat and most of the passengers were Asian labour who were going to muscat for a visa change. I had a window seat , the middle seat was empty and in aisle seat was a black guy who was huge and looked like a bouncer. Now a bengladeshi guy was siting in the front row to us, he was continuously on the phone, the flight attendants asked him to switch off the phone for take off, he completely ignored it and continued to talk on the phone, atleast 3 flight attendants came to him and politely requested him to switch off the phone for takeoff, the plane was taxing now, and he kept on talking, now the black guy snatches the phone from him , opens the phone, pulls out the battery, puts the battery in his pocket and hands the phone to him, the guy turns back shouting “hey” as if to confront the black guy, the black guy gives him a confronting dead stare right into his eyes and he just turns over, I could see the flight attendant smiling from her seat. He gave him the battery back only after debording .
TRUE TRUE TRUE!!!!! A woman rang her call button while we were very busy serving dinner on a full flight….(strike one). Then handed me a used feminine hygiene product….not wrapped, just there in her hand….. that she had removed while sitting in her window seat……. ON A FULL FLIGHT! (strike two). Then when I refused she YELLED at the top of her voice, and called me a “woman hating Sissy” ON A FULL FLIGHT!(strike three). I told her she was assaulting a crew member and she was to sit there quietly or I would have her arrested when we landed. She yelled she was going to write a letter to get me fir
TRUE TRUE TRUE!!!!! A woman rang her call button while we were very busy serving dinner on a full flight….(strike one). Then handed me a used feminine hygiene product….not wrapped, just there in her hand….. that she had removed while sitting in her window seat……. ON A FULL FLIGHT! (strike two). Then when I refused she YELLED at the top of her voice, and called me a “woman hating Sissy” ON A FULL FLIGHT!(strike three). I told her she was assaulting a crew member and she was to sit there quietly or I would have her arrested when we landed. She yelled she was going to write a letter to get me fired, so I brought her a pen and paper. “TRY IT” I said. (Home run for me!) ha ha ha
Honestly, people get on an airplane then they lose their minds!
Kevin
I flew in the "coffee, tea, or me" days from 1965–1972. Eons ago. It was an afternoon flight from BOS to MIA, and only about 1/2 full. Flying wasn’t as popular back then, when the only discount flights were the late night "red eyes". All other tickets were full fare, and it wasn’t until discounts came along that the flights became packed. So, lots of flights carried light loads.
After a hot lunch, an older woman wanted to take a nap, so she asked if there were any unoccupied rows where she could lie down. I took her towards the rear of the cabin where there was an empty row, raised the armrests
I flew in the "coffee, tea, or me" days from 1965–1972. Eons ago. It was an afternoon flight from BOS to MIA, and only about 1/2 full. Flying wasn’t as popular back then, when the only discount flights were the late night "red eyes". All other tickets were full fare, and it wasn’t until discounts came along that the flights became packed. So, lots of flights carried light loads.
After a hot lunch, an older woman wanted to take a nap, so she asked if there were any unoccupied rows where she could lie down. I took her towards the rear of the cabin where there was an empty row, raised the armrests for her, and got her some pillows and a blanket. While standing in the aisle, she proceeded to remove her shoes, unzipped her dress (I still remember that it was navy blue), pulled it over her head and, while in her full slip, folded her dress neatly, and placed it in the overhead rack. Then she laid down, pulled the blanket over her and went to sleep. When the announcement was made that we were beginning our descent, she got up, stood in the aisle, got her dress and put it over her head, zipped it up, put on her shoes, straightened her hair, then returned to her original seat, looking fresh as a daisy. She thanked me for a lovely flight.
Another time, back in 1965, a Panagra flight had come up from the west coast of So. America to Miami. The old CAB rules in those days required the foreign crew to deplane and a US (National Airlines) crew, continued the redesignated flight on the same Panagra plane along with any new passengers going on to JFK. On the return, the National plane would fly from JFK to MIA, where the Panagra crew would replace the National crew and continue down to SA. It was called an interchange flight. We had overhead racks in those days, no bins with doors that closed and locked. Coming up from So. Amer. to MIA, one of the Panagra "stewardesses” (remember the times) was checking the overhead rack for sharp or heavy items before take off, and found a baby. She asked everyone but no one claimed the child. Figuring she'd find the mother after take off, she held the baby until it was safe to get up. Still, no one claimed the child. When they arrived in MIA and our crew boarded, she told us that she had to hold the child for the entire flight from Lima, Bogota, or Barranquilla, wherever the mother had boarded, until the passengers deplaned in MIA. As the stewardess held the baby while saying goodbye to the passengers, a woman came up, took the baby from her arms, thanked her profusely for taking care of her child, and got off the plane. I was relieved to hear she wasn’t continuing on to JFK with us!
I’m not even going to go into the flights out of Philly to MIA on Saturday nights, full of honeymooners anxious to consummate their marriage. It was beyond belief.
I learned a lot about people during those 7 years before air travel was as common as it is now. Mainly, I learned that it definitely takes all kinds!
I try as best as possible to be patient, customer service-oriented, and understanding at work. It takes a lot for me to break at work. Usually, when I deal with difficult passengers I often stand there and take it all. I listen, nod, and try to calm the passenger. I even tell the passenger “I am sorry, yes you are right and how can I help you further’’ etc. Even if it is the fault of the passenger, I pretend it was my fault for not escalating the issue further.
We all handle different situations differently. It is also so difficult when we get upset at work and to be able to express it. With th
I try as best as possible to be patient, customer service-oriented, and understanding at work. It takes a lot for me to break at work. Usually, when I deal with difficult passengers I often stand there and take it all. I listen, nod, and try to calm the passenger. I even tell the passenger “I am sorry, yes you are right and how can I help you further’’ etc. Even if it is the fault of the passenger, I pretend it was my fault for not escalating the issue further.
We all handle different situations differently. It is also so difficult when we get upset at work and to be able to express it. With the airline I work for, if we argue or create any kind of arguments with passengers or upset our passengers then we are in the risk zone of getting fired. We are simply not allowed to argue with passengers. That is why I am not able to show emotions, argue, or get angry at passengers. But I am a human as anyone else and I remember one situation at work where one passenger pressed every single button in me. He really pressed them hard to the point I almost had it.
That day I felt like losing it with this passenger. I felt I had enough that day.
The passenger was seated in the area where I was responsible for. Also, the same area where I was serving meals. He looked to be around 40 - 45 years old and he was travelling alone. This was in economy class. It was a 9-hour flight as well. But damn it felt like we were flying for 15 hours straight.
I served this guy his meal and 10 minutes later he pressed the call bell. He said with an unpleasant tone in his voice “I don’t want this chicken it is too salty - bring me another’’. Just like that he demanded another meal. Luckily the flight wasn’t full so we had some meals left. I brought him another meal with chicken and said “I hope you will enjoy this chicken and hopefully it has less salt in it’’. He then said “You better hope it is’’.
He did not say thank you and had this demeaning tone in his voice.
A while later he pressed the call bell and told me the Coke I had given him was warm and he wanted a new one and this time with ice in it. I brought him a new Coke with ice. Again with no ‘thank you’ and no manners, he took the coke from me. I assumed he was satisfied.
Shortly after that he pressed the call bell again and told me “Why are you so cheap? Give me more ice’’. I had given him plenty of ice. I took his cup and went and put more ice in it. When I came back I said, “Is this enough ice?” He took the cup and mumbled something which I could not hear. I said “Enjoy’’, to which he did not say anything.
Approx 15 minutes later he pressed the call bell again and asked for another coke. He said “Don’t forget to put more ice this time, don’t be cheap like last time’’.
I wanted to throw the cup at his face and tell him to shut up.
I went and came back with another coke with lots of ice in it. I then said “I hope this is better’’.
Approx 30 minutes later he pressed the call bell again and this time he wanted some nuts and another coke. He once again mentioned the damn ice saying “Don’t forget to put extra ice and don’t be cheap like last time’’.
At that point, I was thinking that perhaps this man had some kind of mental issues. There is no way a sane person would mention the same thing over and over again. No way would a sane person behave like that. The way he looked at me and talked was as if I was his butler and he disliked everything I did for him during that flight. No respect, no manners, or no emotion from this guy whatsoever.
I, as always tried to be calm and gave the guy whatever he asked for. Even if he had pressed the call bell 1000 times. Even if his behavior was disrespectful I simply tried to do my job as best as I could.
This was a 9-hour flight but felt like a 15-hour flight. The flight felt extremely long.
He later pressed the call bell again and this time he wanted to complain about my service. He told me that I came across as hostile. He said that this airline is known for being five-star and that I did not give him any kind of five-star service. He said that he wanted to talk to my manager and make a complaint about me. He told me that I did not smile and looked miserable. He said that he had gotten terrible customer service from me.
I thought to myself, this guy has to be joking. My heart dropped and I felt so angry. My heart was racing and my hands were sweating. I started to shake a little bit. I became furious beyond words. I was thinking, how dare this guy say those things when I did everything for him?
Is he blind? Me hostile?
Terrible customer service? What?
Did he not see me running up and down the aisle and trying to accommodate him?
Did I ever say no to this guy? I said yes to all of the things he asked me and with a smile.
I told the idiot that I did exactly what he asked me to do. I served him from start to finish of the flight. Every single call bell he had pressed, I was responding to. I was indeed smiling and had professional manners towards him. I told him that I tried to accommodate his every need and that the complaint he had about me was nonsense. I told him if he wasn’t satisfied with the customer service he was free to make a complaint about me as he wished.
I raised my voice when I told him all that. I made sure the passengers around us would hear me. That they would hear what a ridiculous person he is for complaining about nothing. The passengers around us indeed did watch us and paid attention. I made sure that the folks were watching us and that the guy would feel ashamed of himself. If that was possible at all, for him to have any emotions at all.
When I finished talking he didn’t say anything. I left as soon as possible. I could not stand him at that moment. He did not move. He did not go to our cabin manager to complain about me. I think I managed to put him in place and sort his head out. After our conversation, he did not press the call bell at all. He sat there in his seat almost frozen. Whenever I walked passed him in the aisle I tried to ignore his looks and act as if he did not exist. Thankfully the meal services we had were finished at that point and I didn’t have to serve him anymore. Thankfully I didn't have to go to him anymore.
I was furious at this idiot.
Thankfully the cabin senior and the cabin manager were not around to watch our little argument go down. If they had seen it or heard it I would probably be reported and would get a meeting with my performance manager later on and probably fired. One of my co-workers did see and hear me and later when I saw her she told me that everything I told the guy was awesome. That she would have done the same thing and acted the same way.
Damn, that guy truly made me furious to the point I blew up and jeopardize my job at the same time. I could have gotten fired over this idiot. Usually, I don’t raise my voice like that and I never try to argue with passengers. It is really not worth it. Not worth my time, or energy, or losing my job over it.
But that day I felt I was that guy’s personal butler. He acted as if he was seated in business or first class. Did he forget what section of the plane he was sitting in?
For him to complain about me was just the last straw. To do everything you possibly can for someone then later they come around and say this was shit, that truly makes me angry.
I understand we can’t please and satisfy every single passenger on board. But people don’t have to be rude and disrespectful towards us about silly stuff.
Even writing this and remembering that day makes my blood boil.
Not as a flight attendant, but I was station manager for one of the big 3 carriers at one time. We were a small station with only a couple of flights each day.
The flight was booked full and I had put standby passengers on the plane. The passengers had boarded but we were in a hold due to weather. I got called by my agent to come assist with a problem. She was in tears. At the time I was headed up, I also allowed some of the passengers to deboard briefly while we were holding.
A frequent flyer was demanding to be on the flight. He was ticketed but arrived after the plane’s scheduled departure, w
Not as a flight attendant, but I was station manager for one of the big 3 carriers at one time. We were a small station with only a couple of flights each day.
The flight was booked full and I had put standby passengers on the plane. The passengers had boarded but we were in a hold due to weather. I got called by my agent to come assist with a problem. She was in tears. At the time I was headed up, I also allowed some of the passengers to deboard briefly while we were holding.
A frequent flyer was demanding to be on the flight. He was ticketed but arrived after the plane’s scheduled departure, which is why I had seated the standby passengers. He kept waving his “Gold” card at me and calling me everything he could. I explained to him that he was late and I had closed the flight. He kept on.
I finally challenged him and told him, “Sir, if you think you’re more important than the others, I’ll take you to the plane, give you the mike and let you tell them you’re a VIP and demand that someone give you their seat.”
Well, he just got more irate and said he couldn’t do that. I said then you ain’t gettin on the plane and walked away. As I turned the corner, another of my “Gold Card” regular passengers approached him. I leaned against the wall, around the corner out of sight. My regular, good passenger had deboarded and taken the few minutes to make business calls while we were holding for the rain to clear.
He reamed this man out! He said, “I don’t appreciate the way you treated MY manager. If you fly enough to get that gold card, you know the rules and you know you were wrong! You owe this agent and manager an apology.”
There were words said, some I couldn’t understand from my side of the wall. But, I was so thankful Mr J had backed me up.
I thanked Mr J later and told him I overheard what he said. He flew several times a month into my station and I always made sure he got first class treatment (although our regional jets didn’t have 1st class seats).
After the plane left, I did reticket the other VIP to another airline. I didn’t have to do this, but I really didn’t want to deal with him on our counter. He did have to wait a few hours on the other airline that I sent him to. From what I heard, he gave them problems as well.
A man in the aisle seat on my row of a plane was holding his drink so it extended into the aisle area. When a little girl rushed by she knocked it and it went over his jeans. He shouted and called her a ‘stupid f***ng b***h’. He kept on and on and made a deal of tutting and rubbing his trouser leg with a napkin. It was an accident, pure and simple. If he’d been holding his drink with the space of his seat it wouldn’t have happened.
It wasn’t until we were leaving the plane that I got a chance to talk to the girl and her mum. They needed a friendly person. He was a horrible man. He was getting i
A man in the aisle seat on my row of a plane was holding his drink so it extended into the aisle area. When a little girl rushed by she knocked it and it went over his jeans. He shouted and called her a ‘stupid f***ng b***h’. He kept on and on and made a deal of tutting and rubbing his trouser leg with a napkin. It was an accident, pure and simple. If he’d been holding his drink with the space of his seat it wouldn’t have happened.
It wasn’t until we were leaving the plane that I got a chance to talk to the girl and her mum. They needed a friendly person. He was a horrible man. He was getting irritated about everything.
[[Edit]]
Quite a few people talking about kids running on planes. This little girl ‘rushed’ by like I’d seen adults do. She was around 12 years old and wasn’t running up and own the aisle. The chap sitting in the aisle seat had his drink hand out in the aisle where people were continually walking by. Anyone could have knocked him - but it was a child and he let out a profane rant at her.
Getting anonymous for obvious reason and I can't reveal my identity as well. Hope you'll understand
I was an airline pilot, but I can tell you the weirdest thing any flight attendant flying with me ever saw. Of course it was for the pilots as well.
We were over the eastern seaboard on a flight from PBI to JFK. It was one of the most perfectly clear and calm nights I'd ever experienced. There was no weather, no turbulence, and we could see hundreds of miles. Sitting there was like sitting in my living room---rock solid with no sense of motion at all.
This was in 1987, and a "dinner" flight (how ma
Getting anonymous for obvious reason and I can't reveal my identity as well. Hope you'll understand
I was an airline pilot, but I can tell you the weirdest thing any flight attendant flying with me ever saw. Of course it was for the pilots as well.
We were over the eastern seaboard on a flight from PBI to JFK. It was one of the most perfectly clear and calm nights I'd ever experienced. There was no weather, no turbulence, and we could see hundreds of miles. Sitting there was like sitting in my living room---rock solid with no sense of motion at all.
This was in 1987, and a "dinner" flight (how many of you are old enough to remember those!?), so the F/As were serving dinner. These were full meals. I know, that sounds crazy, but people used to be well fed on airlines. The trays included a nice three-course meal, REAL metal utensils, and drinks served in glass glasses. All the meals were out and people were eating. The senior F/A was in the forward galley in first class mixing drinks, not out among the seats. The other three were patrolling the aisle in economy, refreshing drinks and serving extra rolls, etc. (It sounds like a fairy tale even to me as I write this, but those were the good old days when flight attendants actually attended during flight. Sigh!)
With no warning whatsoever, we suddenly encountered the worst turbulence any of us had ever experienced, this includes a captain with about 25 years, me with 15, and plenty of years between all the F/As. For 30 seconds we were slammed up and down like a little toy plane. The captain and I were terrified, the plane sounded like it was coming apart---and this was a Boeing, not a small plane.
It stopped as suddenly as it started and went right back to rock solid. The captain and I locked eyes and he said I'd better go back and check on everyone.
I opened the cockpit door to what looked like a garbage dump. Imagine 120 meals and all the place settings, drinks and glasses slamming up to the ceiling then back down to the floor over and over. Maybe six or seven times. I could hardly walk down the aisle.
The senior in first class was on the floor, but she said she was okay so I went back to economy, where the other three weren't moving. The passengers were horrified, of course. I walked across a carpet of food and bread, soaked with Coke and coffee.
The three economy F/As were hurt when they (and all the food and drinks and carts and trays and glasses and utensils) were splattered against the ceiling then back down, then back to the ceiling, etc, etc. One broke some ribs. Two were on the floor near the aft galley and I moved them because the soda cans were SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODING from being shaken so bad. Imagine shaking a sealed soda can until it explodes! That's how bad it was. (I brought one home as a reminder of that night---the side is just split open like a firecracker had been inside, except the pop-top is still sealed. I still have it: Eastern 194, 10/17/87. Canada Dry Tonic Water, splattered with Coke stains.)
Amazingly, EVERY passenger was wearing a seat belt so not a single one did the ceiling-floor bouncing routine. Also amazingly, they were all very cool. Not one complaint. Indeed, they helped the F/As, they helped clean up, everyone was awesome. We landed and the passengers all stayed seated while a few helped the three F/As get off first because we had three ambulances waiting.
A broken bone automatically makes an incident an accident, so there was an accident investigation, but no one ever explained anything. No other aircraft experienced so much as a ripple that night. Just us. A total mystery. Also, it was the last time that two of the F/As ever flew professionally---they just couldn't be on a plane without being belted in.
So, ALWAYS keep that belt fastened while you're in your seat. There's no such thing as air that can't produce horrendous turbulence.
:)
I am not a flight attendant but I heard a doozy. I was in a Marshalls store at the dressing rooms waiting and the worker told me her husband was a flight attendant and had just told her that creepiest story. A couple got on the plane with a young baby. A couple hours later he and another flight attendant noticed the baby had never moved or cried. They set it up so law enforcement was there when the plane landed and investigated the couple. Turned out it was a dead baby and they had hollowed out the baby's body and filled it with cocaine