CarolynUK

Have any of the rest of you ever said anything to an unpleasant fellow traveller about their behaviour on board?

Well until last week, I never had, but felt I had to say something to one lady on my flight to Belfast who made the flight miserable for the passengers within earshot, and was rude and offensive to the crew.

To se the scene for the flight..... We arrived at the gate for our 17:35 flight to be told that there was a short delay as the crew had not yet arrived, then the cabin crew arrived, but no pilots, then the pilots arrived and boarding began about 10 mins before the advertised departure time.

Once on board a jammed flight, it became apparent that there was a problem, and the pilot came on to tell us that one of the brakes was leaking hydraulic fluid, and although they would normally have taken off, as we were going to Belfast City, which has a short runway, all the brakes were required, especially with a heavy plane.... We were told there was a a minimum 30 mins delay, then another, and then another, and we finally took off in a fully functioning plane around 19:15.

The lady in seat 3b was a cantankerous old so and so, who complained non- stop at the top of her voice for the entire duration of the delay, doing the whole "I'm never flying with BA again!" Routine and generally giving the crew the runaround.

At one point, the crew came round with drinks, offering orange juice or water, and this lady kept demanding to be served a whiskey, and when the girl said they weren't allowed to serve alcohol on the ground, called her a moron at the top of her voice. About 20 minutes later she demanded a pillow, and verbally abused the other crew member when he told her that they weren't carried on short domestic flights.

In general, she and her complaints and appalling behaviour made the delay miserable for all around her, and even when we finally arrived, as people were disembarking around her was gobbling off about the crew, BA etc and how awful they were.... The chap a couple in front of me first said something as she yelled "unbelievable!" As he passed her, he retorted "you certainly were, love!", and as I was passing she was still grousing so I just told her she needed to grow up and roll with the delay...(after all, it wasn't the airlines fault the plane had a technical fault, nor could the crew she was abusing do anything about it), the other people on board weren't all happy bunnies either, but were adult enough to just suck it up and read, play games or make phone calls while we waited.

Why does one person think that they can sit there and make everyone else's life even more miserable in these situations? It's not as though the endless whining and rudeness will get the plane fixed any faster, and haranguing the crew and calling them names achieved nothing either - apart from the contempt of her fellow passengers.

Personally, I thought the whole thing, while very inconvenient was handled well by the crew, we were kept informed, given drinks, and I would rather arrive at my destination in one piece on a fully operational plane...... Please God - never let me turn into that woman!

mike&co

Good for you, I can't stand passengers who think cabin crew are cannon fodder. Cabin crew should have removed her from the flight as it would appear from your summary of events there was no shortage of support from the passengers. Expressing an opinion is one thing but referring to someone as a moron crosses the line.

CanIhelpyou et al what's your view on this one ?

aceman

I've only ever had to address the parents of an annoying child (seat back kicker and general nuisance) before. I think the conversation with the parent went:

"excuse me, would you like to change seats with me?"

"Er no?"

"Oh that's probably because you don't want a mannerless little brat of a child kicking the back of your seat non stop while his useless selfish parents do nothing about it either, right?"

"Ummmm"

"Get the point?" Turn around...


The funny thing about pax huffing and puffing like that "I'm never flying ba again" are generally people that fly once a year, if that, and swell with self important pride about being on a plane. Hearing people boast about how regularly they fly then finding out they are meaning regularly as in "scheduled" (ie 25th December once a year regular as clock work!) as opposed to its "often" meaning is always funny

Can I help you

Water off a ducks back, when we have someone like this on board other customers always have a quite word and show some support.
What I would like to have said was, the delay was bearable but you madame you are unbearable.

lorcancoyle

Right attitude CarolynUK - would hope she gets a tailored response to any complaint letter: "as you stated you would never fly BA again unless the crew who you believe were impertinent towards you were flogged and/or horsewhipped (though we're not sure of the subtle differences between the two) we have obliged and have placed you on our no-fly list. We hope you enjoy the free whiskey and pillows on Aer Lingus and Ryanair when flying between London and Belfast in the future."

olybeast

I disagree with that point

Kgmm77

Another T1 BA flight where the pax are onboard before the flight crew (I've had two in the last 6 months to DUB and BHD).

Passengers like that should get one warning then turfed off IMO.

JeffBHD

Ryanair dropped Belfast years ago

UKtravelbear

'Miserable' ? I think you were being charitable!

GlasgowBlue

I work in retail and over the years it's become VERY apparent to me that a certain percentage of the population feel that because you're providing a service/products they are paying for this somehow gives them the right to be rude, abusive and generally treat the person serving them in anyway they see fit.

At times I've been utterly disgusted at the behaviour of some members of the general public to staff. I've seen someone being rude and abusive all because they felt the tannoy music was a bit loud. On another occasion an elderly lady literally take a temper tantrum, stomping her feet and squealing like a 2 year old, because some products had been moved to a different part of the store.

I completely understand that people should have a right to complain if service is poor however those that act in this way usually tend to do so when either for very trivial issues or more often than not when the issue is completely out of control of the people they are abusing.

I normally find that pointing out to such people how would they feel if their mother/father/wife/husband/son/daughter were treated in the same way in their work gets them to stop and reflect a bit on their own appalling behaviour.

orbitmic

I tend not to intervene. I did it once when an unsufferable passenger in row 1 who had been moaning from the start and complaining about everything told the flight attendant that 'nowadays, FAs are only good to mop the floor' at which point I told her that whatever bad experience she had had, that was enough and that there was no excuse to be rude and personal and that I'd give the FA my contact details if they wanted to file a complaint and needed a witness. It calmed her down and the FAs seemed relieved as they had tried many different things to calm her down already!

That said, I do make some allowances for people being abnoxious when things go wrong. I sympathise with the OP's wisdom but by experience I know that some people find it hard to take when things go wrong especially as you never know what the consequences are for them.

kanderson1965

If it were my airline anyone who threatened to never fly with me again would have any future bookings cancelled and refunded and no future bookings would be accepted. It is always best to call their bluff, as a complaining customer is no use to any business and acts a a deterrent to anyone else making the same threat. I am sure BA is big enough to do without this sort of customer.

jacobitetraveller

there is a certain standard of behaviour that 99% of us maintain

unfortunately there is always the minority

I have in the past felt compelled to comment on people's behaviour and attitude towards honest hard working people [ not just on planes ]
the risk of course is any intervention can aggravate the situation

flyingcrazy

I was on a long haul PHX-LHR on a BA 747 in economy and the guy in front's seat was not working properly so it kept leaning right back into my son's face. I put up with it as I knew it was not his fault his seat was broken. However the man had the cheek to turn around and shout at my son when he moved because it was annoying him. He verbally abused and swore at my son (this guy was a serious physco with a vile and very short temper. I got up and explained that he was a thug, bully and was incapable of thinking about anyone but himself. I also said that if he found my son accidently bumping his seat annoying he should upgrade himself to J and pay for it.

Personally, I think the thug was trying to use my son to make a bigger fuss about his seat to get a free upgrade. Not cool.

South London Bon Viveur

People like that are pathetic. It sounds like she was at least deserving of a final warning, if not being off loaded. I have been inconvenienced many times through delays etc, sometimes even downright incompetence, and there are ways of making a legitmiate complaint. But to throw a hissy fit and try and bully the cabin crew and inconvenience fellow passengers is very poor. I have thankfully never seen anything like that. I have seen a couple of rowdy stag parties, but they are good natured, even if they are a bit irritating.