Once a Flight Attendant, Always One.

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Until January, for the previous three years I was a commuter. I used to fly from Phoenix to San Francisco to work before flying FOR work. And, I never flew to work on my own airline. The airline I work for didn’t fly that route, so I was left flying on airlines gracious enough to enter into an agreement with my carrier allowing us to fly for free in exchange for us allowing their flight attendants to fly for free. These agreements are otherwise known as “cabin seat” agreements or “jumpseat agreements.”

On most of my commutes I was in my uniform since I would be working within hours of arriving in San Francisco, and I found myself sitting next to passengers who were not being compliant with rules and regulations that the working crew are asked to enforce. For example, on one particular flight I was seated next to a passenger who continued to use his cell phone as the crew was preforming their safety demonstration and managed to conceal it from the crew as they did their cabin walk throughs. In this situation, is it appropriate of me to ask him to turn it off? I’m not working the flight, in fact, I’m a “guest” on board, but at the same time, he’s breaking a rule everyone knows about it. Is it out of place for me to ask him to turn it off? Do passengers ever ask other passengers to comply?

Not sure if I ever wrote about a past commute on Southwest, but there was a situation in which a passenger became ill and took up most of the crews time and resources. I, along with a fellow employee from my airline, jumped into action and helped prepare the cabin for landing while the crew assisted the passenger who was in need of assistance. Though I worked for a different airline, the majority of the regulations that we enforce are universally the same. I wasn’t asked to jump up and help.. I got up, asked the lead flight attendant for a pair of gloves and a trash bag and went to work. They were shocked and grateful at the same time.

So this raises a question for debate: As a flight attendant non-revving in uniform, would you ever tell a passenger to comply with a rule, or do you leave it up the working crew only? Further, as a passenger, would you listen to a flight attendant seated next to you in uniform when they asked you to comply?

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  • Joseph

    Of course if a uniformed FA told me to do something I would.

  • http://mhaithaca.livejournal.com/ MHA

    As a passenger who was already not complying, I doubt I’d listen to you being authoritarian. In that case, though, I might react well to you giving me a raised eyebrow and saying simply, “Dude. Really?”

  • Mary Jo

    If in uniform, I’d say something directly to the passenger, if not in uniform, I’d mention it to the Flight Attendant.

    If a passenger shows so little regard that that do this is front of you, they deserve to get busted.

  • Laurynamda59

    Yes – most definitely.  As a passenger or as a crew member travelling in Uniform, I would have no hesitation in telling a fellow passenger that it is in their best interests to comply with cabin crew’s instructions.  I wouldn’t ever be in the position of being told to comply – because I always do. The cabin crew are present primarily for your safety on board – apart from which it is downright rude to ignore them.  Passengers should be more aware of the potential hazards when flying – and some potential hazards which have not been investigated enough – eg use of mobile phones on board.  They evidently cause interference with the PA system and potentially could cause interference inside the Flight Deck.  Imagine if the Pilots could not decipher conversations between them and ATC?  Add to that Pilots where English is not their first language… Every airline has different exit locations/life jacket operation etc.  I always familiarise myself with this whenever I fly as a passenger.  Every aircraft has a potential to crash – not every crash is fatal – I would want the best chance possible of survival.  If there was a catastrophic emergency situation – you would automatically shout short sharp instructions to assist people to leave the aircraft – so why be afraid to tell them to shup up and listen to the cabin crew when on board?