Boarding
Ensure you have the proper size carry-on items; be certain that you know where to put them. Smaller items should be placed below the seats, and bigger items should be placed up top in the overhead bins. This helps you to board the plane quicker and keep the line moving.

Arm Rests
Though not required–if you’re seated in the window or aisle seat–it would be nice to allow the passenger in the middle seat use of both of his/her arm rests. Those passengers are in a very limited space and have no elbow room. Allowing them use of both arm rests can allow them to sit comfortably. Well, as comfortably as they can!

Restroom Visits
If seated in the middle or window seat, try to use the restroom when the passenger in the aisle does. This alleviates that passenger from repeatedly getting in and out of their seat.

Your Cabin Crew
Be patient when dealing with the flight attendants. There is only one flight attendant for every 50 passengers in the United States, and most attendants are usually trying to fulfill more than one request at a time.

Deplaning
Try to remain seated until the line to exit the aircraft reaches your row. This allows the other passengers room to collect their belongings.

This Week in the Cabin two flight attendants in Rochester, NY got into in argument which eventually canceled their flight. A Delta Connection flight from Rochester to Atlanta, operated by Pinnacle Airlines, returned to the gate after push back when a passenger became ill. It’s unclear what prompted the fight but passengers alleged that the fight became physical, and thats when the Captain ordered everyone off the aircraft. Hopefully the more junior FA learned her lesson: not to try and take out the more senior FAs to gain seniority, in front of their passengers.

Arguments weren’t the only thing getting heated this week, just ask British Airways. Two separate reports surfaced surrounding the airlines Flight Attendants in promiscuous situations. First, pictures hit the media of flight attendants “having fun” on board the aircraft, but “fun” means taking their clothes off. Supposedly these pictures were taken to send to friends as jokes, but they were recently found on a hardcore porn website. BA is said to have launched an investigation into the photos. It seems one FA went a little bit further than just photos in India. Indian authorities claim that Shiv Myra Dwivedi, a self-styled “holy man,” ran a brothel from his temple in south Delhi, providing up to 200 prostitutes to clients in luxury hotels. He was recently arrested, along with six prostitutes, and you guessed it; one of them was a BA flight attendant. All of this comes at a time where BA and its Flight Attendants are hashing out contract negotiations. I think the Flight Attendant’s succeeded in making the point that they can’t afford to live on their salaries and are only getting by with the clothes on their back as they look to make money else where. Well, in some cases, their clothes are on the floor. Great job on trying to break that stereotype that we’re all “air mattresses.”

And in the realm of nutty news, Juliane Braren boarded a Mexicana flight back to Calgary last month, and asked the flight crew to not serve the on board snacks to passengers because she has a peanut allergy. The flight crew was unable to change the snack, and asked Braren to take another flight. She then, went nuts, saying:

“It makes me very angry — very, very angry,” she said. “It actually hurts me. It hurts me that people could be so insensitive and just not care about other people.”

I disagree, I think the flight crew DID care about other people.. the other 100 people on the plane. I wonder if she took into consideration the other passengers, who would have been without a snack because of her? Anyway, arrangements were made for Braren to return to Canada, with proper snacks on board for her safe return home. And a note to the traveling public: No airline can guarantee a nut free environment. Even if the airline doesn’t serve them, other passengers might bring their own board to eat. The Flight Attendants can request that no one eats nuts, but can’t exactly enforce it. If you have an allergy, be sure to bring your medication with you.

And on that note, that wraps up what happened in the cabin (and in the bedroom) for this week.

Craig happened to be traveling with a box of See’s Candies and gave one to the crew as a “thank you” for the service and being good sports. Craig then saw that the box of candy excited the crew, and realized that flight attendants are rarely thanked for the job they do.

Then, FAAC was born.

Craig has created a website detailing the purpose of FAAC, how to become an official member, a guest book for flight crews who were given chocolates to sign, as well as a photo section for members to upload photos with/of their crews.

This movement is unlike anything I’ve seen. I am overjoyed to see that someone realizes that being a flight attendant is, most of the time, a thankless job that goes overlooked.

Thanks Craig. I hope to have you on board one of my flights soon, so I can thank you in person for bringing light to our jobs.

You can visit the Flight Attendant Appreciation Club’s official website at: http://sites.google.com/site/faac4u/

To me, it says something when numerous crew members walk past a disruption such as this. I notice one US Airways (it appears to be) Captain park his bag and come over to lend a hand and surround the guy. But, before and after that event numerous flight attendants and pilots proceed to walk past the commotion.

Now, I don’t blame them for not helping, in fact, thats my point. How sad has it become that situations such as this have become “normal” in airports and on board airplanes. Not only did crew walk past this man, but so did many other passengers. A lot of them, you can tell, didn’t even notice that something was out of the ordinary and something was wrong.

Back to the video. The woman who walks over toward him in the beginning yells out “go back to f***** Canada,” which triggers him to try and start a confrontation with her before the personnel intervene. He then begins to shout “go ahead! Kill Me! Taser Me!” almost as if to expect it, because of his disruption in the airport. Finally, he’s tackled to the ground by a Phoenix Police Officer and arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The Police Officer in the video suffered a broken ankle from the tackle.

First of all, thank god this didn’t happen in-flight, second of all, this raises more questions in my mind as to why we have bars in airports. If alcohol can make someone act like this and jeopardize everyones safety, why do we make it so readily available in airports to people who are going to be locked in a sealed metal tube for a determined amount of time.  And, for that matter, there should be a two drink limit, per passenger, on board flights. The plane isn’t a bar, unlimited drinks doesn’t have to be an option.

I don’t know what it is, but recently it seems like the crazies are out, about and flying around.

]]> http://upupandagay.com/2010/02/23/oh-canada-take-him-back/feed/ 13 http://upupandagay.com/2010/02/22/when-adults-are-like-children/ http://upupandagay.com/2010/02/22/when-adults-are-like-children/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:34:40 +0000 Bobby http://upupandagay.com/?p=1144 On my recent commute flight to San Francisco I found myself in a situation I’ve never thought about before. I’m curious what your thoughts are about this as well.

We boarded late, of course because of SFO weather, but just before we closed the door about 5-6 people come running onto the plane. It was apparent that they were at the bar, well, because they said so. Many times. Now, I usually sit in the back, because theres always a better chance of getting a row to myself, they all came to the back.

Great.

So, they sit 2 rows behind me and fill up a few rows, since it wasn’t a full flight, they spread themselves out. Once inflight, they all had another drink and were all talking to each other, very loudly. And I mean, VERY loudly. At some points during the flight the ‘party’ also moved into the aisle and they were talking between the rows ahead of them, behind them and along side them. I put my iPod on and drained the noise, but before I did that I was updating some paperwork that I brought with me to complete before going to work. I found myself SO annoyed with these passengers. Not just because they were loud, but because they obviously didn’t care about everyone else seated around them. They were having a good time, and that’s all that mattered.

The Crew repeatedly asked them to move out of the aisle while they did their inflight service, and they always moved. They even tried to get the Crew’s names to become friendly with them, in hopes, it would stop the Crew from shutting down their party.

Now, the Crew did find these passengers fun and entertaining and they did converse with them for a bit, but then, to avoid the noise, they all went to the front galley.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having a good time when flying and what not, and I am known to give people free alcohol on occasion to get ‘the party started’ or to further along their experience. However, I would never let the other passengers be disturbed by what was going on, and at the very least I would have asked the group to quiet down a bit.

Here’s my question.. I didn’t pay for my seat on this flight, so I kept my mouth shut. It’s none of my business how the situation was handeled and what the crew did or didn’t do; but.. when you’re flying (as a passenger or FA) what is your view about a few people having a good time and being loud?

On one hand, they have every right to, they paid for their seats… but on the other.. so did the passengers seated around them. Is it rude to ask the group to quiet down?

Further, as a Crewmember, aside from asking the group to quiet down, at what point do you stop trying to break up the ‘party’ and the noise, because you’re worried about your own reprecussions from them writing a letter or such? And, mind you, they aren’t interferring with your jobs or disobeying your instructions, they’re just being loud and having a good time.

This flight struck me as interesting, and I want to know what you all think.

When I moved away to College in 2004 is when I finally decided to change that, and the results are what I am today.

Luckily, when I was at my heaviest I didn’t fly very much. Lately I’ve been hearing more and more stories of heavier-set people flying and being discriminated against. In the industry, generally, these heavier fliers are referred to as “POS” or “Passenger of Size” or “COS,” “Customer of Size.”

Each airline has their own policies and procedures in place to deal with the weighing issue. For example, my current airline will allow a POS to sit in an exit seat, even with a seatbelt extender, where as my previous airline didn’t. Southwest Airlines, subjects a POS to “the armrest test.”

Southwest brought this practice to light, publicly in the A&E Television Show “Airline.” In this particular episode a frequent flier is told at check-in that because of “the safety and comfort of himself and the other passengers” that he needed to buy an additional seat in order to fly. They brought the customer on board the aircraft, prior to boarding, to ensure that he could fit in between the arm the rests. Take a look.

The above situation happened to a record producer, now, let me tell you a quick story about what just happened to a film director. Kevin Smith, calls himself “fat” however, he passes the arm rest test. Because of how crowded Southwest Airlines flights usually are, he usually buys 2 seats when he travels to ensure the seat next to him is empty simply for the extra room, not because the airline requires him to do so. Trying to travel home to Los Angeles from Oakland, CA, Kevin arrived at Oakland airport early for his 7pm flight. He noticed there was a flight leaving at 5pm that he’d be able to catch home. Long story short, he requested to go standby for it, and he got on the plane.

What happened next though, was nothing short of embarrassing. After Kevin boarded the flight, the agents discovered that there was only 1 seat left on the plane, that they gave Kevin, but they noticed he had 2 seats purchased. They must have believed that he had two seats purchased because another employee didn’t believe he’d pass the ‘armrest test’ and went on to the aircraft and pulled him off the flight. They told him the “Captain” requested his removal for his safety and comfort. Later, he found out that wasn’t the case.

Rather than asking him quietly on-board the aircraft why he had two seats, for him to explain the situation, they instead removed him.

As a former heavy guy myself, I would have been mortified if I was removed from an aircraft under the pretenses that I was too overweight to fly in a single seat. Further, the agents who came down to remove him from the aircraft, obviously saw that he was seated, between 2 women, comfortably and didn’t require the second seat.

I am glad that at my current airline I’m hardly ever, if ever, faced with the situation that these agents were put in. But what I do know is, having been in Kevin’s shoes just a few years ago, I would have handled this situation very differently.

Some people are larger then others because they don’t care, have medical conditions, eat emotionally, etc. But, to handle a situation that can be embarrassing and humiliating for that person even in an intimate conversation, in front of countless others, the way that Southwest did,  is down right wrong. Not only did they not have respect for him as a paying customer, but they also lacked respect for him as a human being.

There are many people today who are comfortable with who they are and will, in front of others, announce that they need a seatbelt extension. Even though they were open about it, I still make every effort I can to hand them the extension as discreetly as possible. Even though they are okay with the situation, the interaction we’re having as passenger/customer and flight attendant, isn’t the business of the people seated around them.

What did we learn from this situation? We learned that we are all in this together, there is more to a situation that might meet the eye, and its best to ask questions. Asking questions will not only provide you with an answer to what’s in front of you, but it’ll also give you the information needed to make an informed decision.

Follow-Up: Southwest Airlines reached out to Kevin Smith, who made his ordeal public on a podcast and on Twitter. They refunded his airline ticket and formally apologized mentioning that the ‘communication between their staff wasn’t where it should have been.’

Lately, I’m noticing the strangest requests coming from people via the button, and some requests that make me want to scream. First off, realize that when you ring the call button, nose goes. No one really wants to go get it. We’re all sitting in the back or the front, we hear the ding.. someone leans over to check the ACP (area call panel) which shows us who hit the button. We then all look at each, figure our if we’ve already had an interaction with you – then, based on whether or not it was a good or bad interaction we try to decide who goes. As the most junior person walks down the aisle (just kidding!) we’re all peeking out to see whats going to happen.

The request that makes me the most upset is when I’m asked a question that I just gave the answer to over the P.A. It becomes obvious to us, even though we already know, that you’re not listening to us. So we answer your question and go on our way. In about 2 minutes, someone else will ring the button, and ask the same question. We become a never-ending broken record of information, which could be avoided if everyone just paid attention the first time.

Then there are those requests that we just can’t do. We can’t ask the person behind you to put their shoes on, or the person in front of you to bring their seat upright because you feel cramped and we especially can’t stop the baby from crying. Nothing is worse than having to talk to the parent of a child that is being too loud especially if you know they’re trying to calm the baby down. I refuse to.

I have a question. When you hit the button, you expect one of us to come by and ask whats going on, right? Becauselately, almost all of the call buttons I’ve been answering either no one knows who rang the button, everyone is watching a movie with their earphones in and pays no attention to me what so ever, or they just say “sorry it was an accident.” For your information, you can turn off the call button by hitting it again. I find so rude though when I go up to a passenger whose wearing earphones and rang the call button. I ask them if everything is okay, and they yell “WHAT?” – so I ask again.. “can I get you anything?” and they say “I can’t hear you.” People take OFF your headphones when you’re having a conversation with someone, especially someone you asked to speak to.

Also, like I mentioned on The Crew Lounge, don’t ring your call button during taxi, takeoff or landing unless its a dire emergency. Ringing it during the critical phases of flight for a fork for the food you brought in the terminal, something to eat or even to question our flight departure/arrival time is unacceptable. During those phases of flight we are there for your safety, positioned by the doors and readily accessible to assist in a medical emergency, and for no other purpose.

I love answering the call buttons for “what lake is that down there?” – my answer is always “Lake Las Vegas.” Even though we might be over Kansas, no one ever questions it.

Oh yeah, and don’t ring your call button to hand me a half eaten apple or a dirty diaper. Get up and throw those out yourself. Ew.

DC is expecting over a foot of snow tonight into tomorrow, and my flight is supposed to depart at 7am. I wish they’d just release me and let me go home. But at the same time, today provides for some much needed catchup time with my friend Jenn, who I’m flying with and my friend Aimee, who just landed here in LA from…DC. She was lucky, she was the first and only flight out!

Well.. I’ll keep you updated.. this trip is full of surprises.

Thanks to the storm on the left, my schedule is up in the air, literally. My LAX DC flight is canceled so now I’m waiting for a re-assignment.

Who knows where I can end up.. I’m hoping to just work to LA, layover, then deadhead to DC to pick up the rest of my trip. Let’s hope that happens. Less work + same pay = Happy FA