Of Crew Power Trips and egalitarianism (US Airways purser)
 

Warning, this is long...

Yesterday evening, I boarded a US Airways flight ex-DFW and sat down in seat 1B. I said hello to the purser as I boarded but she gave me this upturned nose deal, so that was the end of that, or so I thought...

I placed both my bags in the overhead and sat down. A few seconds later the purser makes an announcement that because this will be a full flight, each passenger will only be permitted to place one bag in the overhead, with the second bag either placed under the seat in front or checked. A couple more minutes roll by and I get up, remove a bottle of water and an ipod from my carry on bag and place it in the magazine holder in front of me. A few seconds later, the purser makes another announcement... “If you are seated in a bulkhead seat, you are not permitted to place anything in the pocket in front of you. The pockets are reserved for emergency instructions and our award winning inflight magazine, blah, blah, blah”. “That’s funny”, I thought to myself, removing the bottle of water and ipod I had just jammed into the bulkhead pocket. Next, I get up, remove my laptop and aircard from my bag, sit down and start doing some work. The boarding process continues and she began making another announcement requesting that “all passengers keep their electronic devices off, so that we can get going as soon as we close the doors". I put the laptop behind my back (not to annoy her; I do this often, as it helps keep my lower back straight and makes it easier to retrieve my computer when it is needed). I didn't think she saw me, so I was surprised when she made an announcement pertaining to correct storage of laptop computers. Mr. 1A piped up with an observation about how she seems to be making customized announcements for me. I got up, put the laptop in my bag and a few of the other passengers in F chuckled, so I took a bow before sitting back down. A couple of minutes go by and she again makes an announcement about each passenger being allowed to place only one bag in the overhead, and that additional bags placed there will need to be checked.

Then she walked over to me and began moving her lips…
FA: "Excuse me sir, I'm sure you heard my announcements about placing only one bag in the overhead and noticed you have two in there, so I need you to remove one so that I can check it for you."
Me: "I appreciate that. As you can see, both my bags are small, and I'd be happy to comply with your directions if I wasn't in a bulkhead”
FA: "I'm going to have to check one of your bags"
Me: "Is there any room in the closet?"
FA" "I'm going to have to check one of your bags"
Me: "OK, but first can you tell me why you would apply that standard to someone seated in a bulkhead, where there is no foot storage?" It’s a little strange, and frankly I think you are targeting me specifically with your announcements and this request.
FA: [pi$$ed] "Sir, I'm trying to ensure compliance with company policy and be fair to everyone. For security reasons, I need you to give me a bag now!"

I got up to remove a bag from the overhead and while handing it to her said: "How very egalitarian of you, to select just one passenger with whom to demonstrate compliance with what you claim is policy". She didn’t take the bag and stormed into the cockpit. A minute later the captain came out and asked me “Are you going to follow crewmember instructions or get off the plane?” I informed him that I was in fact following crew member directions when the purser stormed off". He told me that I had used offensive language toward a female crewmember and "I don't tolerate that on my ship”. The passenger in 1A interrupted my explanation, which was falling on deaf ears anyway, to point out that I had not been offensive and that the purser seemed to get upset when I used the word "egalitarian". The captain seemed to calm down and stated he would have me removed if there was any more trouble. The purser followed him into the cockpit and a couple of minutes later came out. I was still standing with my bag in my hand and asked her if she was going to check it or not, and she replied “It’s too late for that now – I’ll make an exception this time, but you need to follow our directions in the future if you want to fly with us”.

I was irritated about this, not so much because the purser was making announcements aimed at me - I thought that was funny at the time and assumed she was playing with me. I was irritated because IMO, this was yet more proof that any member of a flight crew can pull the security card or order you to do something ridiculous without any rhyme or reason. I could have reported this but I don't fly US Airways that often and I'm sure Karma will take care of things automatically.

I thought you handled the situation very well
 

The Purser on the other hand. . .

Wow! If I had had the time I probably would have deplaned, refunded and bought on another airline. Unreal.

Make sure you get this reported. Don't just report the Purser, but also the Captain. Dougie really should be listening to things like this. It's ridiculous.

As this seems overall, more specific to US than general to carriers as a whole, I'll move this to the US Airways forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

So, did you let her have it on your way out or did she disappear?

No. Her attitude changed once we were airborne and I decided that since I had managed to hold it together at the gate there was no point being an ar$e at this point.

On disembarking, she said good bye in a professional manner, and as I walked past her, I gave her the standard PhlyingRPh reverse nod (move head in an upwards direction first, pout lips very slightly on the upward; face away on the downward, maintain a slow, crisp walk).

I've found Power Tripping F/A's in far greater numbers at other carriers that I give less business to.

Not saying US doesn't have them because they do. The question here for me is what should a customer do in a situation like this?

I think confrontation is likey out as you're not in a position to win short term.

Cheerful is often effective. Nothing like a "Good Morning Ma'am" to "Welcome to another day in paradise" usualy seems to work as it's very very difficult for someone to be nasty to someone so cheerful. In this case however it seemed to make little difference. For the OP I think it was just "His Turn" to feel the wrath of a disgrintled airline employee.

Giving the offending F/A an earful upon deplaning will only convince her that she was right and you're a jerk.

I'd likely apologize for any "misunderstanding" along with lots of empathy about what a tough job it is just long enough to get a look at her ID so I can get an accurate name. Then, time permiting I'd write an accurate narrative of the events and off that narrative would go via e-mail and snail mail to Hector Adler, VP of InFlight and anyone else I thought might want to know and if it were me I'd include the VP of Labor Relations just to stir the pot with the AFA. In fact I might even mail the President of the AFA with my story.

IMO you don't waste precious time and energy arguing or mouthing off in these situations. You just calmly gather the information needed to make your point with US Airways management and see what happens. There is no excuse for rude, however there is a measure of accountability you can extract when you encounter it. Last "dust up" I had over rude behavior landed me a nice fat voucher AND I never asked for a dime.

I wouldn't give the OP so much hope for compensation. Most pax (including myself) are getting zilch, nada, nothing! Leave US - and if you have to stay *A, go to UA (don't know what a better option is right now).

That is ridiculous. I hope you give US an ear-full.

I agree with everyone else - I hate to see reports of what appear to be disgruntled employees taking their frustration out on passengers. Unfortunately too many employees, and one is really too many, have the attitude that everyone pays (insert cheap fare here) for their ticket and should realize that those cheap tickets are subsidized by the employees, so the passenger becomes the enemy.

Just idle curiosity, was it mainline or Express - I assume mainline out of DFW.

Jim

+1. If no other reason that it seems like US is trying to improve in a lot of areas and episodes like this mean they're taking 1 step forward and 1 (or 2) steps back.

Wow. This is amazing...simply amazing. Why don't these bitter people who hate the world just shut down, quit their jobs, go home and let someone who would appreciate the paycheck take over? Amazing.

I'm still trying to figure out the reverse nod.;)

Really awful :td: Write US. I believe from your posts in Omni you are from Pakistan. Do you feel that this was racially motivated. Her behavior was obnoxious. Sorry to see you experience that.

Please report this...

If for no other reason...the NEXT time this purser gets a complaint against them it will be clear there is a problem.

It is also possible that management knows this purser has issues but needs to have enough complaints in their file to take action...

Half of my parental heritage is indeed Pakistani, but to clarify, I never posted that on Omni; it was actually a fellow FT member attempting to identify me to the general membership that repeatedly mentioned this fact in a pejorative manner in various Omni threads.

Anyway, I'm pretty good at sniffing out various types of prejudice and I am 99% sure there was no racial component involved. Because of my skin tone and hair colour, I can literally appear Occidental, South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African on the same day, depending on the light, that is.

If prejudice were involved, it might possibly have been related to the tags on one of the carry on bags I am using on this trip. I'm looking at it now, and it literally has a couple of dozen of those colourful metallic security labels inscribed with "Baggage Screened - Dubai International Airport" and "Baggage Screened - Doha International Airport" plastered all over it (the adhesive is so strong on those that it's no use tearing them off - you just need to give your bag a good scrubbing with soapy water and a brush every so often to get rid of the residue). It also has a number of half pulled Emirates and Qatar Airways tags on it's handles and did initially have a very large red Emirates tag with big Arabic letters scrawled over it which was hanging out of the overhead bin, before I tore it off due to the fact that it was in the way of the overhead bin latch.

I was not going to write to US, but based on the feedback I'm getting on this thread and via PM, I think I will do so. I also have the business card of the gentleman I sat next to on that flight, so I may ask that he corroborate my story.

The race card gets tossed in so many of these stories I do appreciate the OP for not jumping on that bandwagon. I hate to think it, but a racially motivated story might have ended up with the OP off the plane.

Good on 1A for witnessing the event.

Ridiculousness by the FA! I have never, ever seen a FA try to tell F pax that they can only put one bag in the overhead, even when the flight it full. And Row 1 pax should not even be questioned, considering that there is no seat in front.

You are just never going to look cool then. :D

Absolutely agree with you. Most of the time the FAs (In my experiences) are very concerned for pax in row 1 that they stow their bag/bags ASAP lest all the room be taken by the time they get settled. If not that, they make sure to save room in the overheads.

+1 to the OP for staying calm. My genteel NJ roots may have hampered my ability to stay calm and collected in this spot.

And by 'may have' I mean 'would have'.

Mainline...Ironically this is a West Route :rolleyes:

Just goes to show that every group of any size has their bad apples. They haven't had the concessions like the East so maybe she was having a bad day or just the pressure to get the flight out on time, but still no excuse for that kind of behavior.

Just from the cockpit perspective, I'd love to know what she told the captain to make him so emphatic. One thing I'll say about the East F/A's as a group - they have mostly been around so long and seen it all that the cockpit rarely hears of problems until the ride to the hotel unless it involves threats to life and limb.

Jim

The captain was very irritated when he first emerged from the cockpit, and didn't want to listen to any explanations. It is my assessment that whatever he was told was pretty intense, since it took the intervention of the passenger seated adjacent to me to calm him down. Based on the look on the purser's face and the fact that I was not removed, it is probable that he told her he did not believe I was the problem.

I guessed that the story got somewhat "exaggerated" by the time the FA got to the cockpit...

Of course, I'll freely admit that there's that 1% among the pilots as well, so I can imagine one of them storming to the cabin with only "a passenger isn't doing what I told him to do" to go on.

Jim

I applaud the OP for his restraint and good humour in handling this situation. I do, however, think that he should write a very neutral letter to the airline to recount the incident (with 1A's contact information) just so that this entire thing can go on the FA's permanent record. He would be doing the rest of us a favour, really.

I think she thought "egalitarian" was a swear word. ;)

Seriously, this was clearly personally motivated, whether racial or not.

OP - I would bring this to Parker's attention. Send him an email on it, and some elevated CS person will respond. At least you'll feel like you addressed it, and didn't let it pass without comment.

All I have to say is what bag??:D

Maybe you reminded her of an ex. I recall being mistreated in Lufthansa Business Class by an FA for no apparent reason...when I was asleep she woke me up by throwing a folded blanket on me..and grinning when she saw she woke me up...took my dinner order last when most options were gone (and I was in the middle of the section, not the end), asked to see my BP twice (I don't look young, was well dressed, and full fare which she could see the FIRST time) and didn't offer me the pre-take off drink.

I swear I was well behaved and gave her no reason to be like that. I was sober. I was quiet. I did not get in anyone's way. I did not make any requests let alone special requests...it was like she picked me randomly and I could see everyone else was being treated nicely by her. I never bothered complaining, it is Lufthansa after all! I know germans can be abrassive but holy cow.

Anyhow, it may be worth a complaint to US..even if it goes nowhere that you can see, it will certainly make her file or make it to her supervisor's desk. Don't bother asking for compensation..sometimes the sight of her name alone on too many complaints is enough to impact her career, so add to the pile or start one.

At that point, the right move is to get off the plane and find the PHX station manager and (if it was a West crew) ask for the chief pilot. The captain has the authority to boot you--but will be questioned on it in that case.

Part of the problem in these situations is the Captain's reflexive defense of his idiotic crew. I suppose it happens, but you would like to see them actually exercise some discretion with that authority rather than blindly back a flight attendant.

I've dealt with power tripping FAs before, and I'm a white guy. So I will assume, given OP's belief, that this was in no way racially motivated.

I have heard and seem some crazy FAs but I can't imagine why they would ever insist the "1 bag in the Overhead" bin rule applies to bulkhead passengers. It most clearly does not. And in any event it is not a rule so much as a courtesy policy to make more room for other's bags. And it most certainly has nothing to do with "security."

The problem with the power tripping FAs is that they can raise "security" concerns at the drop of the hat to win any argument -- and the passenger is completely stuck and has to give in 100%. Some FAs are incredibly dumb and misunderstand the rules, others just might be having a bad day and looking for a fight. But they have pretty much absolute power to make your trip interrupted, or otherwise delayed, with no recourse. And in the right situation, they will absolutely abuse this power to win any stupid argument.

And this problem is not unique to US, for sure. It is a by-product of FAA regulations that pretty much give the Captain the power to do whatever he or she wants on a plane, and the Captain will always support the FA, as a fellow employee, etc.

Don't forget: U S Air BEGINS WITH U

Bad behavior is never acceptable! I am assuming this was either on an express flight or west side because:
(1) The only flights we have pursers are our transatlantic flights, all others are just called flight attendants.
(2) None of the main line airplanes on the east side have seat 1B, it's only
1A and 1C.
And as Boeing Boy said earlier, we VERY rarely take our problems to the flight deck unless we fear physical harm.

Unfortunately, when you are an airline passenger, you essentially forfeit all of your rights the minute you step onto the aircraft. If you are lucky, you will get a great flight crew. If not.......just keep (silently) repeating to yourself over and over again that a well-written complaint letter after-the-fact will ensure that any power-tripping FA will be........re-trained. ;)

I once had an FA tell me that I could not keep my under-the-seat bag stowed under 21D (I was sitting on 22D on a 321), because 22D was an exit row seat, and it was a Federal Regulation. My bag was fully stowed, by the way. After dozens of times sitting in that very seat, I knew that she was wrong (or if she was correct, US and other airlines never enforce the regulation)........but I silently complied. The only reason why I did not report her after-the-fact is that at some point during the middle of the flight I went to the rear galley and we started chatting, and she was actually very nice. She got off easy that day! :D

[QUOTE=GalleyWench;13512009]Bad behavior is never acceptable! I am assuming this was either on an express flight or west side because:

(2) None of the main line airplanes on the east side have seat 1B, it's only
1A and 1C.


And I thought I was the only one who picked up on that 'fact' in this complaint.

There's no "B" seat on the West side either.

What was the route?
CLT-based F/As tend to be older and crankier than PHX-based ones.

Phlyer,

Thanks for the story -- glad it worked out for your. Life is a journey and some interesting things will indeed happen if you travel enough.

In this instance, I agree with others who suggest that you follow this thing up & report this incident in detail to US, but not so much to "teach this FA a lesson" as it is to correct an employee who sounds more like a hazzard to pax and the airline. It is never a good thing when any individual fabricates facts and you end up with an angry captain ready to boot you off the plane. In my book this is serious stuff and I would treat it so, if not for your sake, but for the sake of other pax who might run into this clearly troubled individual.

Perhaps she is a good person having an extremely bad day. Could be the captain's GF or mistress :o ( just thinkiing out loud to fathom how she escalates things ). It's not about how she deliberately stalked you -- that is indeed amusing. Her blatant lie & accusation is over the line under every circumstance and you're sort of obligated to call her out on that one. She either gets with the program or hits the road.

Also good advice from Clue about procedural matters if you had been unlucky enough to get booted.

Barry

I've sent a complaint in and shall circle back with their response.


You are correct, there was no B seat at all on this aircraft. I was actually seated in C. Additionally, I was on a mainline 737-400 traveling from DFW to CLT.

I do think she was having a bad day because I really had done nothing other than to say hello to her upon boarding, put my stuff away and take a seat.

Do let us know what US Airways replies. The FA you had is the type that should be fired immediately. I hope that US Airways checks her history.

Just because the OP thinks it might not have been racist doesn't mean it wasn't. I am not saying it was. It shows the OP does not throw around charges of racism lightly. What's strange is why would some one would appreciate hearing that it wasn't racist :confused.
If someone though it was racist, would it upset you?