Hi, Hello, Good!

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Flight Attendant, Airlines, check it out, Travel Industry Insight | 1 comment

The holiday travel season is in full swing, that’s for sure. All you have to do is stand on the curb at the airport and watch folks getting dropped off to figure that out. No one seems to know where they’re going, why they have to be x-rayed (and we’re not talking their bags) and no one has a clue that there’s no longer free food, pillows or blankets in coach.

But something that never changes for me, and is always fun, during this time of the year is the boarding game. I’m always at the boarding door greeting people. In fact, I hardly ever move during boarding. I like to try and say hello to everyone. This way, you can kind of feel out how the crowd is going to be for the duration of the flight and, plus, you’re also scouting for possible “able bodies” to help you if you need them.

I usually just say “Hi there!” “Hello, how are you doing?” “Welcome, how’s your day going?” you know– a simple question or statement to break the ice get them talking for a few seconds, and send them on their way down the aisle of oversized bags and a-la-carte food service.

But the game is: how many people actually acknowledge you. You may snicker, but it’s quite amazing how many people walk right by without even returning a simple “Hi” or “Hello.” Sure, there are those passengers who are preoccupied with work, family issues, the stress of running late for the flight — but even then, that’s not an excuse. That’s not an excuse to be rude.

Yes, I think it’s rudeness. I think its rude that if someone says “hello” to you, you at least say “hi” back, especially if you’re going to be locked in a metal tube with them for the next five hours — oh yea — and they’re going to be the ones serving you a drink, food (did I mention that you have to pay for it?) and possibly helping to save your live in one kind of an emergency or another god-forbid.

The media keeps reporting that the travel industry is stressful, uncomfortable and just rigorous.. but does it have to be? Can just saying a simple “hello” change someone’s day?

One of my last flights, the last passenger on the plane was running late. It was a woman in her late 20′s who arrived at the airport 2 hours prior, but it took her an hour to find parking which set her back. As she ran down the jetbridge dripping in sweat and walked through the door she exclaimed “Thanks for waiting! No really, thanks!” Truthfully, we still had 5 minutes left, we didn’t wait for her — but I returned with my usual “Welcome! We’re happy to have you.” She looked at me and said “that’s the nicest thing someone has said to me all day” to which I responded “you said the word thanks twice, I guarantee you no one else will say it twice on this plane today.”

What does being nice get you? Priority luggage access. She was the last passenger on, the bins in the main cabin were full and first class was fully boarded and I still had extra room so I let her put her bags in the first overhead bin then said “that’s one less thing you have to worry about today” she smiled and went to her seat.

Was that so bad? Did it take any effort on either of our parts? That small conversation changed both of our moods.

Something that does make me giggle a bit is the people who feel obligated to say “hello” when they come on the plane, but don’t want to converse. It usually creates an even more strange conversation with me saying “hi there! welcome aboard” and their response being “Hi, hello– good” while making a B-line to 23B. They obviously weren’t listening to me – but, hey, they said “Hi.”