A Paycheck Weekly, Insults Daily

[longing4piedmont]

Longingforpeidmont: The truth is, if that lady does write the Company and complain, regardless of the 5 US's backing the F/A up or saying something nice, we still have to see our supervisors and respond to the incident in writing. Regardless if it happened 3-4-5 months ago on ????flight out of ???city. I keep alot of records of all my trips so I can go back to try and remember what happened, when and where and how. Even my Manifest.

Problem is: She will get rewarded for her BAD BEHAVIOR. The company does it all the time. :down:

This is truly sad, but I’m sure true. The company has no choice but to check into the complaint, as it is the only way to determine its validity. My anger in this case is not directed at US but the US1.

I decided to not to intercede on behalf of the F/A at the time for two reasons. One, he did not want me to say anything as I had volunteered to do so. Two, he was doing everything he could do to calm her down. Any assistance on the part of the other passengers would have escalated the situation. This lady was out of control!

I am open to any advice from any G/A, F/A or T/A who would like to suggest what another US1 can do to help in a situation like this to keep that complaint from ever being filed.

 

[Art at ISP]

I decided to not to intercede on behalf of the F/A at the time for two reasons. One, he did not want me to say anything as I had volunteered to do so. Two, he was doing everything he could do to calm her down. Any assistance on the part of the other passengers would have escalated the situation. This lady was out of control!

I am open to any advice from any G/A, F/A or T/A who would like to suggest what another US1 can do to help in a situation like this to keep that complaint from ever being filed.

What a Great suggestion!

Back in my miss spent youth I was a bouncer in a night/strip club and knowing when to step in could make the difference between a minor verbal exchange and an all out Bar room brawl.

Not trying to compare my sleazy past with being an F/A, but any advice as to how a US1 can help in an akward situation would be very much appreciated. I have kicked myself several times when I felt like I should have responded and didn't. Like the poster says you don't want to make things worse. Help us help you, some of us really do care.

There have been a couple of incidents where I have come close to interceding on behalf of a crew member with an unruly passenger. In one case, in PHL, a lady in row 1 refused to part with her purse (had to go in the overhead for takeoff/landing). She caused a scene, and accused the flight attendant of racism (the customer was oriental and the flight attendant African American!). As it turns out the woman was escorted off the plane by the police. After she left I went to the manager who had come on board and offered him my business card. I told him to feel free to contact me if he needed a witness statement, and reaffirmed the comments of all my fellow passengers in telling him that the flight attendant did absolutely nothing wrong.

I think rude, boorish behavior is completely unacceptable--from anyone. Where have all the manners gone?

Interestingly though we all seem to find rude obnoxious customers entertaining--Airline is a surprise hit on A & E. hmmm.......

My best to you all....

 

[Art at ISP]

Talk about timing--in today's USA Today--check out Ben Mutzbaughs column Today in the Sky--A Formula for Air Rage--right on topic!!!!

Here's a link

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/today/sky.htm

 

[Winglet]

The flying public is getting exactly what they demanded. Cheap fares. With cheap fares you get crowded airplanes, crowded airports, overworked employees, limited destinations, tiny seat pitch, even more trashy foul mouthed people, and some people that would have otherwise taken the bus or driven their pickup truck, , etc.

No sympathy. Congratulations "American Public," you got what you, Mr. Bush, and the politicians want. Next you're going to wake up and wonder where you're job went. Oh! You didn't realize that spending all that money in Walmart was helping ship your job to sweatshops in China or letting in more illegal aliens from Mexico was despressing wages here in the U.S? Oh, well. Tough luck for you. I'm still getting stuff really cheap.

 

[ktflyhome]

It takes alot of tact, diplomacy, patience and a "certain style" to defuse some "customers" (I say this for Piney Bob's sake) Not all F/A's possess these qualities. And I say qualities because in many circumstances, regardless of your training, background, education and upbringing, even F/A's are amiss when it comes to handling an irate customer. I have seen F/A provoke situations and reek havoc on a crew that otherwise could have been avoided had a "mildly authoratarion" touch been added to the formula.

Everyone is carrying around a "little monkey" on their back these days, it all depends on how you treat that monkey.

As far as what First Class Customers can do to help. That is a tough one in my book. Business cards are great....it shows concern and empathy for the situation. Always filling out a Cust. Card in the back of the Attache can help.

A great hand shake and a genuine thank you at end of the flight does wonders for morale.

Also, as a US1,2,3, or 4, the company needs to acknowledge their input, their worthiness and value as a customer and important and viable part of our success.

 

[longing4piedmont]

A great hand shake and a genuine thank you at end of the flight does wonders for morale.

.

I've started doing this on every flight that I'm on now. I started doing after the flight I mentioned above. It is great to see the smile back, and strangely enough I've started noticing the folks right behind me doing the same thing. Wish we would all do it.

 

[orwell]

The police don't witness a lot of crimes, but they charge criminals none the less. I take it there were other witnesses, right? I still don't understand why they didn't charge this guy. Can anyone from law enforcement shed any light on this?

Remember that outrageous case in EWR where some oaf piledrived a CO gate agent to the floor and put him in the hospital? He got out off on a song. The point is, even when they DO bring charges, they are less than you'd get for littering.

 

[youngblood]

Talking about difusing a situation......

Thirty minutes before my vacation was to start I get a call from an irate purchaser. He was ticked off because the woman he spoke to before me disconnected the call. ( You will understand why.) To make a long story short, in the course of five minutes he told me I was an idiot, said he hoped my job was outsourced, and he hated Americans. I kept my cool to that point. The call was going nowhere, I couldn't disconnect, and I had to take control. My reply?

"Throughout the duration of this call you have called me an idiot, wished I was unemployed, and stated you hate Americans. Sir, with all due respect, I have done nothing but try to assist you. Frankly, I don't appreciate the insults and am finding it difficult to service you."

The result? A purchased ticket, a humbled passenger, and my blood pressure dropped to normal thirty seconds later.

 

[Dea Certe]

youngblood,

Well done!

Dea

 

[matika]

Remember that outrageous case in EWR where some oaf piledrived a CO gate agent to the floor and put him in the hospital? He got out off on a song. The point is, even when they DO bring charges, they are less than you'd get for littering.

One article I read regarding this incident contained a quote (well, I'm going to paraphrase because I can't remember exactly) from an official as saying that, while what the passenger had done was out of line, it was somewhat understandable as EWR is a frustrating airport!

!!!

As for inappropriate/ridiculous passenger behavior...

Recently one of my co-workers had to deny boarding to a passenger on an oversold flight. He nearly lunged over the counter at her and called her an anti-Semite, among other things.

!!!

And recently, I had a delayed flight, with maintenance. At one point an angry woman approached me and said, "When is this flight going to leave?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am, it has maintenance on it."

"I didn't pay $700 for a ticket to sit around here! I have kids to get back to! We need to leave! Now when is this plane boarding?"

Well, she demanded to talk to a supervisor, and proceeded to tell her that it was foolishness to have maintenance on an aircraft in the middle of the day! We should schedule maintenance to happen at certain times!

"Ma'am, this was unscheduled maintenance," the sup said. "Haven't you ever had a flat tire or [several other examples here] on your car unexpectedly?"

"NO, because I maintain my car! I've never broken down! I left my kids with practically strangers! I need to get back to them!"

Hello? Is this supposed to elicit sympathy?

She also grabbed at my sup's badge to take her name and report her for...I guess telling the woman what she didn't want to hear.

As it turned out, the woman was traveling on a free ticket and had been in Florida for several days (which we discovered by looking into her record). I guess the kids would be alright for a couple more hours with the "strangers" she left them with.

 

[SVQLBA]

The flying public is getting exactly what they demanded. Cheap fares. With cheap fares you get crowded airplanes, crowded airports, overworked employees, limited destinations, tiny seat pitch, even more trashy foul mouthed people, and some people that would have otherwise taken the bus or driven their pickup truck, , etc.

No sympathy. Congratulations "American Public," you got what you, Mr. Bush, and the politicians want. Next you're going to wake up and wonder where you're job went. Oh! You didn't realize that spending all that money in Walmart was helping ship your job to sweatshops in China or letting in more illegal aliens from Mexico was despressing wages here in the U.S? Oh, well. Tough luck for you. I'm still getting stuff really cheap.

Disagree -- the worst behavior I have seen has been from frequent fliers travelling upfront (probably on upgrades). I have never seen bad behavior on the SW flights I have been on. And as for crowding, which airlines are flying at 75% load factors (and losing money) and which are flying at 56% load factors (and making money). Flying SW these days feels less crowded, bith in the terminal and on the plane. On U, UA, CO, DL, it's rare to get a spare seat beside you these days. Blaming the LCCs and wishing air travel were more expensive is a) pie in the sky and B) ignores the real problems that the leagcy carriers have created.

The behavior I detest most -- people up front putting their sweaty feet or dirty shoes up in the bulkhead. Rude, dirty, and often just plain smelly. No-one would do that if they were visiting someone's house. Why is this acceptable in a space that everone has to share? It makes me shudder just thinking about it.

 

[ktflyhome]

SVQLBA: Obviously you did NOT watch "Airline" on A&E the other night. Southwest looked like a JOKE. Overbooked one flight by 50, then had these poor people fly who were going to Florida to go on a cruise, fly to IND. to sit catch another plane which brought them right back to where they started from. They still didn't make it. Many of the Pax's said they would NEVER fly SW again.

Another JOKE> SW closes it's doors 2 minutes prior. Well a Gate Agent walked away at 3 minutes, denying boarding to a Pax.

Gotta hand it to SW though, I got a good hours laugh

 

[longing4piedmont]

The behavior I detest most -- people up front putting their sweaty feet or dirty shoes up in the bulkhead. Rude, dirty, and often just plain smelly. No-one would do that if they were visiting someone's house. Why is this acceptable in a space that everone has to share? It makes me shudder just thinking about it.

Ditto here and posted this very thing on flyertalk this week....

"On a similar note, what is it with putting your feet on the carpeted part of the bulk head. I see someone doing it on EVER flight and with shoes on. I have often, after a few Jack and Gingers, been tempted to ask my fellow first class compatriots if they do that at home. The planes are dirty enough without the folks in row 1 deliberately getting the walls filthy."

I was stunned by the post that followed, by folks admiting they did this, and that they thought it was ok. Can't the F/A just walk up to these folks and ask them to get their Friggin feet off the wall?

link... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum51/HTM...TML/006779.html

 

[SVQLBA]

I don't completely agree about the people "up front"! I detect a little envy to be honest. Just the way it was worded it sounded like "THOSE PEOPLE" you know the way white suburbia spoke of blacks. Perhaps I am sensitive.

Sorry - no envy or slight meant. I've been upgraded often (mainly on CO). At the moment I'm mainly slumming it in the back on non-rev tickets.

Completely agree with all your views on common courtesy and decent behavior, Piney. Airlines may bring out the worst, but you see it everywhere. Ever had older ladies cut in line (in a store, say) and try to play completely innocent. I'm impressed at your handling of the old gran episode you were talking about.

KT -- no, I haven't had a chance to watch "airline." Everyone has their own experiences.

 

[tadjr]

I had an agent the other night ask me if I'd seen the plane that didnt have carpeting on the bulkhead. He said it was the same colors as now, but that it looked like a vinyl type material. I havent seen it and cant verify that its out there so keep an eye open for it. It would be easier to wipe off than the carpet is to clean and if its true, this might just be the reason for the switch.