Analysis
More than 700 international cabin crew in 85 countries were interviewd by Skyscanner to find out what they REALLY think about the airline passengers they serve.
And you might be surprised by some of the results of this eye opening survey.
Behind those sweet smiles and sugary phrases, flight attendants have about as many pet peeves about the passengers they serve as passengers have about the in flight meals they are served by flight attendants.
Top 10 Pet Peeves of Flight Attendants
Here are some of the top annoyances that flight attendants have about the airline passengers they serve.
- Clicking fingers to get your attention – 26%
- Leaving seat at the end of flight before the light goes off – 13%
- Stuffing too many bags into overhead locker – 11%
- Complaining there’s no space for their bag in the locker – 10%
- Talking through the safety demo – 9%
- Asking for more blankets/pillows – 8%
- Stuffing rubbish in the seat pocket – 9%
- Asking for a different meal – 6%
- Ringing the attendant bell to complain about temperature – 6%
- Asking for a specific brand of drink – 4%
Analysis
Having worked once as a salesperson in a department store, I can totally understand why flight attendants resent people snapping their fingers to get their attention. This is both rude and disrespectful.
I also have no patience for the passengers that jump to their feet to leave the plane before the seat belt signs are switched off. What’s the rush? The faster you leave the plane, the longer you will have to wait for your bags to arrive at baggage claim.
As for passengers trying to cram too much hand baggage into the overhead lockers, I once had the screen of my laptop computer smashed by some clod that did this. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize what had happened until I got home.
The airline refused to compensate me because I hadn’t reported the damage before I left the plane. So what if I had done so? Wouldn’t they have assumed that it had already been broken and that I was trying to get them to pay for it?
I’m fascinated by the issue of stuffing rubbish into seat pockets. I was told to do this when I was a child – that I shouldn’t just leave stuff on the floor the way we did in movie theatres.
When you think of it, however, leaving trash on the floor really does make more sense than stuffing it into seat pockets as it’s easier for the cleaning crew to tidy up the plane.
All they have to do is sweep rather than remove trash piece by piece from the pockets on the back side of seats.