excop48

Cell phone use to me has gotten out of hand. At the ticket counter and at the gates folks are so in a hurry they keep talking when trying to checkin or board aircraft. As a ticket agent when someone who is speaking on a phone tried to checkin or board and they are on the phone I feel they are rude when they refuse to stop the conservation to speak to the airline representative. When the passenger asked me a question I tell them which is more important your conservation on the cell phone or boarding your flight.

Jenbel

I think that falls into the category of 'don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer!' I know it's rude, but if I'm having to do it, then I'm HAVING to do it, otherwise I'd have hung up already.

Anyway, now I've expressed my 2p worth, I'm going to move this onto a more appropriate forum for others to express their opinions too!

Jenbel
Co-moderator, Communitybuzz!

Doc Savage

This is even worse than the idiots in line at stores who do the same thing.

I hear Texas is considering making this a justification for lawful killing.

To Jenbel...

If you HAVE to be on the phone when at the airline counter, get out of the line. Simple. You are wasting other peoples' time at a point when that time is very limited and important. It's not just rude, it is extraordinarily, incredibly, self-importantly rude. You could be responsible for someone missing a flight. Sorry, but them's the facts.

cordelli

There was a news item last night about a woman arrested on an Amtrak train after spending sixteen hours on her cell phone (it was for disorderly conduct when she started yelling at the passengers who told her to shut it off)

From - http://www.katu.com/news/local/121962009.html

The point being that's it's totally out of hand, not just airports, but restaurants, trains, planes, elevators, grocery stores, etc.

We could probably come up with dozens of places people in the past would never have considered using a cell phone, where now it's a common thing.

Before you would assume anybody just talking to themselves was just plain crazy, now it's safe to say they are just chatting away on a cell phone and don't get why it's rude to do that when the are ignoring the check in agents or whatever.

Yoshi212

Back in my retail days I would say to them, "I'll wait until you're done." and then I'd move on to the next person. Some would get angry but most would either set aside or hang up. The few that did get angry I had easy ways of handling them. My boss would never fire me so I didn't have to worry.
When it comes to being in things like airline boarding if I HAVE to be on the phone during boarding when I get to the actual gate I tell the person to hold on a moment and put my phone down to do what I need to do. It's simple and polite. Also I tend to smile and say thank you to the GA and they often smile back and appreciate the simple courtesy.

emma69

Am I missing something? When I board a plane I am not normally asked questions, I show my ID, hand over my boarding pass and move on through. Whilst not ideal to be on the phone, if needs must I am not sure why not. If the person has a question about the ID or boarding pass fair enough, but it has been a long time since anyone said anything other than 'next' and 'have a nice flight'. I would always nod and smile, say thank you etc if I were on the phone, so not sure how it is different to me doing it not on the phone to be honest.

dchristiva

No, not really. I may be on a conference call where all I'm doing is listening or offering infrequent input. I'm able to respond to the counter agent in timely, polite manner and I'm not holding up the line. Even if I'm engrossed in a conversation, if I can respond to the counter agent effectively and complete my transaction, I don't care what s(he) or anyone in line thinks about my cell phone usage. My call may be equally important as getting on the next flight. If a person can't effectively and politely multi-task, then maybe (s)he should get out of line. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine with me if someone is on the phone and trying to conduct airport business at the same time. Heck, sometimes I've even on the phone with the airline at the same time I'm in line waiting for a counter agent. You have no idea what others are trying to accomplish when they are multi-tasking.

6P&E

At least you nod and smile, that is you acknowledge the person with whom you are dealing; to me that courtesy is important while you are on the phone dealing with something else that sometimes cannot be helped.

Otherwise, not acknowledging someone with whom you are interacting is to treat them as if they are inantimate objects.

KoKoBuddy

Give me a break. When I travel I can't just take 3 or 4 hours off and shut down communication with the rest of the world as I check in, board, flight, deplane, etc.

I need to talk to people, send emails, text. And sorry if I offend a GA by walking and chewing gum as I check in and talk or an FA while I board and type an email. If FAs and GAs are so easily offended by someone talking on the phone in their presence, maybe they need a new line of work where they don't interact with the general public.

Granted, people who won't shut off the phone on take off....yes total a$$wipes. Same for people who won't shut the laptops down after being told to shut them down 5 times.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

There is a difference talking on your phone while an agent is typing away or printing a BP. Its another is the agent is trying for example to reroute you or take care some other matter that involves your attention. For the latter, if your cell phone call is sooooooo important than you need to step aside and let others who do not have such a sooooooooo important cell phone call to be waited on. Personally, I've gone to texting and email for just about everyone except my mother.

hedur

Your wild exaggerations aren't doing you any favors in this debate. No one is suggesting you need to turn off every communication device you own from the moment you step into the airport till the moment you leave. If your actual interaction time with gate agents is 3-4 hours, you have serious problems.

It has nothing to do with an agent being "offended" by your phone use, it's that their job is to promptly resolve your issue and move on to the next customer. If you're distracted on a call and making the agent wait, you are holding up the process and inconveniencing everyone else in the line.

As other people have pointed out, if your attention is given to the agent when needed, it doesn't matter if there's a phone in your hand.

Wally Bird

If you or a loved one is not dying, you don't NEED to be on the phone. Want to yes, need to no.

thomcat00

+1

Can't people take a 10sec break from a call to hand over the bp/ID? We're all human and deserve a modicum of dignity and respect. If you can't offer that brief moment of respect to others, as noted above, kindly check youself out of the human race, step out of line and let others pass until you're ready to rejoin the human race.

Redhead

+1

TrojanHorse

I'm confused, who shows an ID when boarding a plane anymore?