Angry flight attendant hurls beverages and snacks at passenger
Anyone who is looking for evidence that airline employee morale leaves something to be desired should have been on a recent American Airlines flight from Albuquerque to Dallas. That’s where the following episode of Flight Attendants Gone Wild took place, according to passenger Jon Buschman.
Here’s his letter to the airline:
I fell asleep during the takeoff and awoke around the time we reached our cruising altitude. At that time, I unpacked my laptop computer and began working on it. Shortly thereafter the beverage cart was coming down the aisle and the flight attendant flipped a snack bag to me that hit me in the side of the head.
My first thought was that we were fortunate enough to have a crew with a sense of humor (I am not sure if it is just me, but it seems as though the flight crews just aren’t quite as sociable as they were at one time) so I played along with it and simply commented that “oh, we get food on this flight.”
My comment was greeted with another bag being thrown at me.
At that point I suspected this was not merely a playful gesture on the part of the flight attendant, so I discontinued the light chatter. The flight attendant then asked what I would like to drink and I asked for a cup of water with no ice, please. Beverage napkins were then tossed at me.
I continued to work on my computer when water began running down my head and onto my cashmere sweater and computer. I was a bit startled, shocked and not quite certain what to make of it. My girlfriend was visibly upset and began wiping the water off of me.
Within seconds there was more water poured on me. I must say that although I could not quantify the volume of water that was poured on me (I am not certain if that is even important for the purposes of this) I was fairly wet.
I still said nothing to the flight attendant. She then started firmly patting the top of my head and the side of my face but said nothing to me. I thought the event was over but then she placed several napkins on the top of my head.
Needless to say, Buschman was not pleased with the level of service. He continues:
During the rest of the flight I was attempting to justify to myself what had occurred here. I knew that I did not provoke
her. In fact, I didn’t even make eye contact with her prior to this occurring.It took me several days of thinking through the incident in my head before I realized how angry I was at this treatment and abuse. It just isn’t right. I hope there is some explanation for it, and someone might be able to provide that for me. Further, I feel that it is important to report this event to ensure it doesn’t occur to another individual in the future.
Here’s American’s response:
Dear Mr. Buschman:
It has always been our goal to make traveling on American pleasant and enjoyable for all our customers. I am sorry that your recent experience has caused you to question our commitment to quality customer service.
We let you down and we apologize for doing so. Your comments about the bad impression our flight attendant made during the beverage service, while disappointing, remind us of our responsibility to provide our customers with quality service. Your letter will be shared with the appropriate management personnel in our company to reinforce the level of service we strive for every day. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to improve.
We realize that sometimes an apology and a promise to improve just aren’t sufficient enough to make amends. That’s why we’ve added 5,000 bonus miles to your AAdvantage® account. This addition will appear in your account very soon.
Mr. Buschman, your continued support of American Airlines is greatly valued. I hope that we have an early opportunity to regain your confidence in us.
I hope you don’t mind that I’ve sent my response via email. Please continue to send us your comments through any communication channel that is most convenient for you. However, we’ll get to your feedback faster and respond more quickly if you contact us again via
AA.com.Sincerely,
Cindy Baker
Customer Relations
American Airlines
I don’t know, the miles were a nice gesture, and the form apology was fine, but it would have been nice to hear the flight attendant’s side of this story. Was she provoked? What was she thinking when she tossed snacks at a passenger? What could possibly justify pouring water on a customer?
What do you think?
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Comments
54 Responses to “Angry flight attendant hurls beverages and snacks at passenger”
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Angry ex, or a friend of an angry ex, or a relative psycho.
You should have asked the Captain to call the police, have them meeting the flight, and had the FA arrested for assault. she’d plead turbulence, mistake, error, being stupid and that you were being a danger to her. Case Dismissed.
Then your GF would need to be a witness and you’d need to canvas the other surrounding passengers to see what they saw [most of whom would see nothing, hear nothing and deny ever being on that flight] then you’d be a defendant for interfering with a flight crew, since everyone knows its always the passengers fault.
Next time,
1. Fly first class - less risk of being assaulted.
2. Take the 5000 miles but use them fast - in fact - use ALL of your AA miles and,
3. Start flying Delta or Continental or United,
4. NEVER assume any American Airlines F/A has ANY sense of humor. Experience has proven this is not the case. . . .
Joe,
I flew 50,000 miles on American in 2007 and I had a number of very professional and pleasant crews. I even ran into one good flight attendant a second time, which is quite unusual when you fly all sorts of different routes like I do. She was in first on one flight and coach on the second flight.
I’m not saying there aren’t bad workers out there, but I do take issue with your statement number 4.
What the hell? Not saying the flight attendant wasn’t in the wrong (the answer to that is obvious) but there must be more to this story. I’m really confused. Did the flight attendant decide to go psycho at that moment and Mr. Buschman happened to be in the wrong place, wrong time?
At a bare minimum, I would get the national news on the line and make the name of the flight attendant a household word. There’s no excuse for this.
Assuming Mr. Buschman wasn’t doing anything that provoked the attendant, a form letter and 5000 frequent flier miles is an insult. Hand-written apologies from the CEO, the flight attendant and multiple first-class upgrades to use on future flights would be more acceptable. 5000 miles - sheesh - what use are they anyway in today’s world?
If a passenger had been the one who had dumped water on another passenger (or god forbid a flight attendant), he would have been tackled and the plane would have been put down to the nearest airport. There he would have been greeted by the FBI, TSA, local police and anyone else that currently make up the ‘travel gestapo’ and charged with as many felonies as they could throw at him.
Why is this flight attendant being treated differently? Anyone who has to fly knows that flight attendants can be as abusive as passengers, yet their actions are protected for some reason. Someone needs to insist on an investigation of these actions. I believe there should be equal treatment for all here. Let’s get major media involved!
If a flight attendant hurled anything at me in anger, I would not wait several days before complaining and would not accept a form letter and miles. I would probably take some of the suggestions mentioned above, perhaps even calling police and claiming simple assault as suggested. However, this story just doesn’t add up to me, as though some important detail is missing. I’d like to hear from other passengers who witnessed this exchange.
I tend to side with airline workers in general and what we have here is one side of a disturbing story. That said I have witnessed over the years a trend when flying AA and that trend is that a great many of their InFlight staff is downright nasty for no apparent reason. Not sure why this is as the overwhelming number of trips on any legacy carrier have been at minimum a pleasant experience and I fly the Big 6 plus Midwest over 100K combined per year.
5,000 miles sounds like a weak gesture. File a DOT complaint and I bet you get something more compensation wise. Also write via certified mail to the CEO and gently demand some meaningful compensation, like a space positive First Class upgrade to business on a trans atlantic flight.
Mike - #4 was sarcastic - i.e., mostly truth but there are exceptions!!
I used to fly AA a lot - now that I have fly myself I’m thankfully on the airlines alot less. Though my spouse is a life time gold on AA - not that gold matters that much anymore.
As for MrBad - i’d want more than a business class upgrade since AA busiiness is nothing to write home about transatlantic or transpacific - First maybe - but business is nothing like it is on BA . . .
Like some other posters, I do have to wonder if there isn’t more to this story. After 15 years at a newspaper, I’ve found there’s ALWAYS more than one side to a story. However, I figure there must be something to it since he got the 5,000 miles. Now, how much was due to what actually happened, and how much of it was intended to pacify/get rid of a passenger who may have brought this on himself (although that’s a bad way to handle it on the FA’s part), I don’t know.
Because I have to deal with the public in my job, I too, am apt to wonder what this man did to so sorely provoke the FA. You’d be amazed at how often people are completely clueless that their behavior is offensive/rude/obnoxious. In the words of my 8th grade civics teacher, these people have had no “home training.” But he may have been completely blameless, and his behavior civil.
I don’t fly that often, but when I do, I make a point of greeting the FAs with a smile and saying, “please” and “thank you.” Good manners are free and even if the FAs are surly, I know at least one person was nice to them that day. It’s surprising what a smile and a kind “Good morning” will get you.
Still, I’d love to hear “the rest of the story.” I suspect it would be interesting.
Provoked or not, that is no way to treat another person. If the Flight Attendant was that pissed she could have had another Flight Attendant deal with the passenger. If the passenger did in no way provoke the Flight attendant, he shold have said something to the head Flight Attnedant, the Pilot, or once the plane landed someone from the gate crew. And because the Flight Attendant basically got away with it, she’ll probably do it again.
There have not been snack bags on flights in a long time definitely not on AA.
There are always two sides to every story. AA accepts passengers letters as the truth so the miles aren’t vindicating. The flight attendant’s behavior was unacceptable IF his story is how he described, although embellishing isn’t abnormal either. Were the little bag of mixed snacks pitched or tossed and how was the water “poured” on him or did it splash around in such an unforgiving manner. Obviously, she won’t have the chance to tell her story here unless someone alerts her to it. A letter was written, accept AA’s apology, use the miles, and move on … or if the water traumatized the “cashmere” sweater (Luckily boody mary mix wasn’t ordered) ressurrect the experience and get a cleaning voucher from them also. There are bigger violations we’ve faced from employees in the customer service industry (once again if this version is truly how it happened). If you’ve been able to avoid those, then you’ve been luckly. So you got a bad egg or one who was having a bad day….get prepared, rudeness will happen again no matter what airline or industry for that matter. Maybe next time you fly, dont wear cashmere just in case, a bumpy airplane isn’t the place to wear fancy threads.
Flying first class may not be any better since the same flight attendant could be working there the next time. The difference is, rather than being hit aside the head by a .01oz bag of snack mix it could be a full on serving of pasta in a ceramic bowl. Seriously, complaint letters can be genuine or exaggerrated to get free stuff. It’s a good read but to bash on someone who’s side you havent heard is lame. Also, file a complaint with the DOT, Department of Transportation?? LOL!!! Hilarious. Like they would care that someone got their feelings hurt. Might as well notify the police also…oops, that was already suggested. I got a nasty worker at the drive up window when ordering my hamburger who literally threw my bag in the car, the straw hit me and to top it all off she forgot my fries. Should I call 911 for assault and battery? I didnt provoke it either or even if I did, that doesn’t matter since I’m the customer. Good grief.
Hi if you give me the date and flight number. Which side of the cart the FA was working on. Were you on a S80 in MC ??? I could find out what was going on maybe
I fly regularly with American…typically two flights or more a week…. and have seen my share of those flight attendants not in the friendliest of moods…but never have I seen one become aggressive or rude. And to go that far in hurling something at a passenger and then dumping water on him to boot?
Something about the story just doesn’t seem….right.
American doesn’t serve snacks for free except in First Class. Coach is offered a snack for sale, and it is a big can of Lays Stacks, M&Ms, or a Cookie.
The DFW to ABQ leg is right at two hours. That’s not a short flight, but not overly long. If this was the true story…I think surrounding passengers would have complained to another crew member or to the gate agents upon arrival….
I’ve flown AA before and not once have I been hit with snacks or had drinks poured all over me. One time my parents were on a AA flight and the flight attendant was nice when she asked them about the Mars bar they were carrying.
Not that I’m defending AA. AA Ground staff at LAX were rude and unhelpful.
But what bothers me is the way Mr. Buschman reacted. I applaud him for not getting upset no the flight (I might have), but he should’ve talked to AA staff in the terminal immediately after the flight, NOT several days later, and he should’ve gotten the flight attendant’s name and the flight number he was on. He should’ve reacted faster, NOT slower. Very stupid move by Mr. Buschman waiting to contact AA, if you ask me.
FA, I’ve followed up with Buschman to get some additional details. He says he has the name of the flight attendant and has already spoken with her supervisor. He does not want to reveal her name in a public forum.
That’s strange. Our supervisors don’t call the complaining passenger directly, they meet up with the f/a to find out what really happened when they get a copy of the letter like 2-3 months later. Regarding the name, unless she gave him her full name herself, it’s a privacy and security issue and isn’t released by the company. Why not post the date and flight number? Normally passengers who write in, whether complimentary or complaining, say which flight they were on in the body of the letter. Smelling fish here. Even though a flight attendant should never do that, even if provoked, it’s the legitimacy of what exactly happened that I’m questioning. I would do so whether it was a passenger or the employee who decided to post a situation on a blog that results in one sided responses.
I did not ask for her name. I asked which side of the bev cart she was working on the flt # and date, but thats ok he got to the FSM
C’mon, does this story add up for anyone? He went through all this and didn’t once say, “Excuse me, why are you dumping water on my head?”
The airline gave him miles automatically (hell, it costs them nothing). In no way does that indicate they found any validity to his claim.
This airine just had a baggage handler at DFW shoot his wife , kids, and then himself as he was chased by Arlington police. He ran his car off the boat ramp at Lake Arlington and shot himsel in the head due to financial harship brought on by AA and their paycuts.
DO NOT FLY THIS SATANIC AIRLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If this is a true story, all I can say is, you will NEVER see this type of behavior with any asian airline.
The customer may not always be right but they are always the customer. Why is it that american workers imagine themselves to be equal to the customer?? They are to do their job, smile and always be pleasant. The worker forgets that they represent something much, much larger than themselves.
This is so typical of customer service in America today. You all need to turn off your TV and music and stop trying to emulate the worst of your society.
having flown many miles in my nearly 19 years @ AA, I had to respond. Yes THEY are out there, those that pick on and abuse certain passengers. I see it, not often, but we do try to move the assailing crew member to another cabin or @ the very least, to the other side of the cart.
The letter from our complaint dept was not nearly sufficient. CEO Gerard Arpey, tho I’m sure quite busy spending his latest million dollar bonus, should be put to the task of explaining the lack of morale. Look, times are tough for all those that work for “the man”, regardless of your industry, so most try to make the best of it. Some are too burned out, as is likely the case for this,my fellow crew member.
We have one major problem @ AA: many flt atts are tired, poor, and bitter. I know them, and work beside them. I am sorry for them and all of you. The pay cuts took their toll, most of us have learned to deal and smile now finally. Still, some have not.
I appreciate all of your comments and understand how incredible this sounded. I have learned here that in the event something of this nature were to occur in the future, I will certainly report it to the flight captain. Like all of you, I too would have loved to have heard from the FA. It was one of my early requests (both verbal and in writing) of American. While I sympathize with those in industries that are struggling, I can assure them that the path to profitability for an organization such as American does not include abusing those who pay for your product or service. We all have bad days, but if you cannot get up every day and go to your respective places of employment with a positive outlook then you owe it to yourself first to find something that you can appreciate doing. Everyone will benefit.
Hi! If the passenger would have been a female who got that treatment, those commenting here would not say there is something fishy, because in this feminize society, there is this equation that women can do not wrong and men are bad. People are treating women just like they were Princess. That man has the right to complaint, even though it was a bit late. Me too on a Southwest flight four years a go, I did absolutely nothing to the FAs, because I was really nervous, it was my first flight and I got very rude treatment from on of them, with absolutely no reason, if I would of been accountable of my acts towards her, I would say so, I am a Christian Man and lying is a very big sin, I do not know, it is just my assumption, but she know I was Canadian, I told her, maybe she had a grudge towards Canadians. It was a flight from Manchester New Hampshire to Tampa, it was on March 29th 2003.
I do not know why you are vilifying that man who got the maltreatment, if it would have been a woman, you would all say poor her, this is society now, women are important and man and boys are disposable. If he exaggerated the events,well he should go repent or got to hell, but if he took it on this forum or this website, well I think it has some merit and validity. I do not think if it was not a valid story that Mr Elliot would have posted that story. If the Fa would have been a man doing it to a woman she would be on Oprah now and the male FA would be tarnish for the rest of his life.
This is society now. The comments by women on this story is very telling indeed.
In this society women are thought to have no accountability, but men to have accountability. This is the thesis and antithesis and the matrix of this sick society.
Even men do not care about their brothers. I care about women, but I will not treat them and to put them on a pedestal and to give them entitlements and give her freewill when do not have those. This is what I wanted to share and thank to hear me today. Take care you all and have some good flights and God be with you all.
To the person who said you won’t get that from asian airlines: They’re paid handsomely, is highly competitve, and are thought of similar to a celebrity (my cousin tried out). However, you have to be single, can’t get pregnant and have to quit by 26 on some, up to 29/30 on others. If they start up with oodles of “low-cost carriers” like the US, it won’t be so glamorous and discriminating….or can afford to be picky.
So what was the flight number/date again? She won’t have a chance to tell her version if she has no idea there’s a thread about her. Why not talk to her “supervisor” again and pass this on? Although rudeness can happen, actually flinging food to hit people in the head and blatantly dousing people with drinks on purpose is unheard of. It’s a small world among us and Im susprised it didn’t hit the galley gossip circuit. For those who want to generalize and say all flight attendants would do that is ignorant or to make blanket statements on an entire workforce because of the desperate actions of a few is no different. Everyone took paycuts and some that filed for bankruptcy even more. If outstanding morale would be required to work during depressing times, everyone would be bussing it. A majority are professionals that deal with it because they still love their job and take the utmost care in what they do even if it’s not wonderful and the general attitudes have changed dramatically from BOTH sides, whether they’re met with the courtesy of eye contact or not.
regarding what StrangetoMe said on the 17th, you only have half the story of how an investigation is conducted. I don’t know about this particular investigation, but they are all the same. The complaint letter will go to either Employee Relations or Human Resources (depending on the nature of the complaint) where an investigator will read the complaint and proceed to draft a “questionnaire” to forward to the supervisor for use when the flight attendant is interrogated. The flight attendant is not permitted to read the complaint letter beforehand to provide proper answers to the questions. The supervisor proceeds to ask the flight attendant the questions and she/he is required to provide answers without necessarily fully understanding what is being asked. Nonetheless, answers to these leading questions are then used against the flight attendant to determine what discipline, if any, will be levied, notwithstanding that because the flight attendant didn’t fully understand the precise nature of the investigation, the answers she/he provided may not have been appropriate for the particular question posed.
Thanks for going into detail. Other than that, they usually arent questioned for months after the incident, so it can be hard to recall unless it was something extreme. This isn’t limited to flight attendants, but other departments in the customer service area as well.
To the guy who thinks it’s some issue on sex, you’re WRONG. It wouldn’t have mattered if the f/a was a man or woman or the passenger was either or both for all I care. I actually had to look back to see whether to call her a “he” or “she”. So, no…just because the flight attendant was a woman in this case had nothing to do with her opportunity to defend herself whether there is a defense or not. Sorry you weren’t treated well, it can happen no matter which gender you are.
BTW, why do you think I’m a woman? Because I want to give another human being who happens to be one a fair shake? I guess you already have this preconcieved notion which discredits your theory. Wrong again.
Sam- you have some deep-seated issues with women that should not be the subject of this forum. Just as many men as women responded to this story who questioned what exactly happened. Not one belittled him but correctly pointed out that there are two sides to the story. Even the passenger admitted to wanting to know if he unwittingly did something wrong and that his story sounded incredible.
Stop blaming society/women for whatever is going wrong with your life.
You lose 30% (yes THIRTY) of your pay due to concessions and you would not friendly either. Everybody wants a $99 fare from Point X to Z. If you pay $99 you get $99 service.
Flight Attendants PRIMARY ROLE is your safety, not to serve a drink.
To LostWages - I appreciate your primary role being my safety. It is obviously a key element of what you are paid for. For that I say “thank you”. I didn’t ask to have the water poured on me nor was I allowed to select who would be on the plane with me. I do, however, expect common courtesies extended to me as I am certain you would.
You’re right she was way out of line. If you were so engulfed into your laptop when her cart reached your row, and continued to only make eye contact with your computer when she handed you the drink, then she should have just passed by. I’m guessing that might have been the problem she had. Not that I would ever condone her actions but just thought of this reason unless she did it to everyone on the plane. She shouldnt have taken your lack of common courtesy so seriously by battering you with snacks and water. It’s not something anyone who works in a service industry should expect anymore and if they can’t handle those kind of personalities, the I agree, she shouldnt be in this industry. Different era, different employees and different crowds. 9 hour layovers aka 6 hours of sleep if your lucky doesnt help either. Long time employees and passengers can agree.
As others have said, there seems to be some misunderstandings and/or missing information here.
The passenger acknowledges that he didn’t make eye contact with the FA, and on being hit with a snack bag said, “Oh, we get food on this flight.”
I can see how the FA — assuming she was having a REALLY bad day already — might interpret the passenger’s demeanor as being deliberately curt, dismissive and sarcastic. This in no way justifies abusive treatment on her part, but it might help explain it.
Also, it seems odd that the passenger doesn’t claim the FA deliberately pouted water on him; just that he somehow got wet and the FA tried to dry him off. Perhaps it was an accident; perhaps it wasn’t. But the passenger’s letter doesn’t say.
So yes, there are always two sides to every story.
In such an enclosed space it is difficult to respond as one would do in another
place like at an AA service counter. I suppose I would have observed the attendant,like you, and then reported it to AA Platinum. I have about good experience about 75 % of the time with AA and the quality of the flight attendants is all over the board but
much more professional and happy on their own desired senior routes. FAs are under stress as we are.Much of the problem I see now is
mechanical and so called “weather”, which really means old equipment and tight schedules.Add to this lots of non functional toilettes.Summer is very bad!
I have witnessed an AA flight attendant detained for being under the influence or suspicion of worse
entering Miami from South America and I have see the pilot have a crisis conference with other flight attendants to control an undesireable situation. You see this from seat 3 aisle ,even though they obviously block what they can.
The Admirald’s Club helps take off a bit of the edge of all the complications of travel.
I have received very good help there.
Some passengers I know complain alot about other airlines. We live in an imperfect world and economy class is a commodity now.
Throwing snacks at you is not acceptable…..at least so far….
This whole story is very strange. I believe there are some blatant holes and we are not privy to the actual truth.
I have to agree with Chicky - there seems to be something missing from this story. I’ve been a reporter for over 20 years and this just doesn’t ring quite true or at the very least, whole. I know if it were me, I would have definitely said something. My approach in dealing with people is to treat everyone how I would want to be treated, and to bring respect and dignity to all situations. I find that 99 percent of the time, I get the same respecit. When it doesn’t work, I go to plan B, which is to assert my rights.
I, like Chicky, would really love to know the rest of this story….
A few years ago, I had something like this happen to me–it was on CO but could have just as easily been on almost any airline. An FA threw a pillow at me. In fact, Chris Elliott did a story on the incident (and others like it) that appeared in the NY Times.
I can attest that I did nothing to provoke the incident other than ask for a pillow; there wasn’t one in my seat. I did nothing at all. So this particular incident of this story may well have happened exactly as described.
I have to agree with others that there is more to this story. Where were the other FA’s? What about other passengers? Something it not jiving here.
Why would he just sit there? Even if he didn’t get up and smack her, any normal person would have at least jumped up as ice water was pouring down his back.
Something is rotten in Denmark!
Don’t mess with a flight attendant… no matter what she does… Its like tweaking the nose of a postal employee
Reading this article, with it’s subsequent blog postings, reminded me of a flight I took 2 months ago with my 60 year old mother, and the questions it brought up afterwards.
We checked in, but were not allowed to select seats together. When we proceeded to the gate, we were told that seats together were not available, and assigned 4b, and 4e. As we took our seats in the gate area, we were astounded to hear a couple berate the agent for not assigning them seats together for a four hour flight. My mother turned surprised eyes toward me. Then as we boarded, we noticed that a young mother had allowed her child to spilll animal crackers all over the floor, crushing some of them. I wondered, aloud, if they were going to attempt to clean up their mess. Apparently not. They boarded without a backward glance. Once onboard, we overheard the man in 3c tell a woman she could not occupy the seat at 3b as he blocked her entrance from the aisle. He stated that one of his perks, as a premier, was to have the seat open next to him. The woman seemed taken aback, and proceeded to sit across the aisle in 3e… 3d offered no objection. Again, my mother turned shocked eyes toward me. When we deplaned, 3c paused to allow the woman, who he refused the seat, to exit in front of him. As she walked by she stated, “that’s surprising”. At this point, 3c attempted to try and explain his actions…. as if he had not had this opportunity during the previous four hours. My mother laughed out loud, and remarked that air travel sure had changed…and so had the people!
Question: Why is behavior, normally viewed as rude, somehow seen as acceptable when one boards an aircraft? Why didn’t the passenger, who supposedly got the peanuts thrown at him, LOOK UP and acknowledge the FA when she got to his row? If you are being waited on, don’t you acknowledge the person? If you do not, don’t you expect to be thought of as rude? I am not saying the alleged behavior is acceptable, however I am saying that both participants SEEMED to display rude behavior. For that matter, since when is berating a person in public, or throwing your trash down (and leaving it there) acceptable. Furthermore, when you purchase a seat, why is there this terratorial behavior when you’ve only purchased the seat you are sitting in?
Who knows if the situation truly occured as printed. After all, we have only one view here. But, people often react to rudeness, or what they perceive as rudeness, with bad behavior of their own.
While there are many of you who have asked “why is there only one side to this story”, I say that I agree with you. My two FedEx’d letters to American, my two phone calls to American and my one email have all been acknowledged with no American response other than that which you have read at the beginning of this blog. To HockeyFan who indicates I was rude to the FA by not acknowledging her, you should know that I was working on my computer as she parked the cart next to me. She started asking for drink requests from the two rows in front of me when I first saw the cart parked. There was no point in waiting since I knew there would be passing time before she got to me and if she were like any other FA she would simply say to me, as she did, “what would you like to drink?” To which I answered “two cups of water, no ice please”. To BOB above, I would say “it wasn’t ice water, it was simply water from the Artesia or Ozarka or whatever bottle she had”. I really attempted to not make a scene. I guess I thought that was the mature and civilized thing to do. Fool me!
The last time I flew American the food was so inedible that I wouldn’t have fed it to a rabid fox. I have not flown American since.
Do you remember the FA on a feeder line, who got the plane turned around and had the mother and her toddler thrown off, claiming the mother had threatened her. This was all because the toddler was saying, “bye bye plane,” and the mother wouldn’t head the FA’s advice to drug her child. The incident was overheard by other passsengers.
Airline travel has changed. This was the main point of my first posting. Many people have indicated that airline travel used to be a time where: people dressed in formal wear, crews presented an elegant service to well-mannered passengers, and air travel was viewed as a priviledge. Now, we see more of an atmosphere where people display behaviors that are not acceptable; over-aggressive demands, and no respect for the space they share with others for what will be a limited time in their lives, and all for the lowest price possible.
My second point is that many things are about perceptions. “The Passenger” states, initially, that flight crews are “less sociable”. While I wanted to address this, I did not intend to state definitely that “the passenger” was rude, (since I wasn’t there), but that he may have been PERCEIVED that way, by the FA, since he should have seen her coming down the aisle, but didn’t acknowledge her. Furthermore, to request two drinks on a short flight, where supplies may be limited, may also be viewed as demanding.
One more thing: You state in your last posting that you didn’t want to make a scene - but rather to take a mature stance. Initially, you didn’t broach the subject, when you could have spoken to the FA directly in private in order to get her views. Quite frankly, two Fedex letters, two phone calls, an email, and this blog article, are excessive contact for an issue you didn’t address at the time. Why not just let the matter drop? Honestly, I think it was just a communication glitch, and it’s better to move on. I’m not sure it’s likely you will be able to contact the FA now, and AA probably views their action an adequate compensation. There probably isn’t a more decisive resolution forthcoming.
Agreed!
I always wonder how accurate these stories really are. Some seem salacious while others have a tinge of truth, but this? Makes me wonder who is performing for the media — the pax or crew?
there are always 2 sides to a story…. in this “entitled” self focused culture its very possible this passenger could have been just as ‘angry’ or rude and exagerated just a wee bit. we should hear both sides before passing judgement- yet I also see- by how degraded the flights attendants have been treated by their money hungry upper exec’s that after so long of being treated with such contempt by their own company- that it wouldn’t surprise me that they’re depressed or easily angered ….could YOU live on 30K a year and work 14 hour duty days with NO pension or retirement to look forward to?????? unfortunately lots of single moms and people are working their _____ off trying to make it on that salary & much less as FAs these days…
My guess is that the flight attendant was speaking to him — probably for a while. You were probably focused, or wearing headphones she didn’t see.
Anyway — she probably reacted and treated you in the same way that her husband and/or kids ignore her — by over-reacting.
Mark
this guy is full of shi*t. i don’t believe that story for a second. she probably “slid” or “dropped” the snack on the table. she definitely “spilled” the water rather than “pouring” it on his head. this guy is a real a-hole!
As a customer who’s flown my entire life including as a child… I’ve noticed that flight attendants on all airlines have gotten nastier since 9/11… Maybe it’s a power thing… Maybe it’s a fear thing… Pay cuts may have something to do with it… But hey, it’s rough all over… It seems attendants don’t have to be nice to customers anymore because if you say anything they’ll think you’re a threat… I flew 10s of 1000s of miles last year for business and I noticed a definite degradation of service from past years and some really outright nasty attendants on various airlines… And to everybody, not just me… You can watch them coming down the aisle during beverage service and hear them… NOT NICE!!… You’re left feeling helpless because you are a captive customer… Also please note passenger bill of rights being shot down in New York yesterday…
All this over a bag of peanuts and a little water. Is this a man or a mouse? I hope next time she hits with a wet noodle. Grow up, move on and get over it already.
FA’s - Airline employee’s - Lost Wages
Don’t take your anger over your employment situation out on the people who are still paying your wages. If you don’t like your job or it doesn’t pay you what you want find one that DOES!!!
FA’s were using the “we’re here for you safety 2 years before 9-11 in an attempt to relieve them of their duties.
I asked one once back then why she thought that and her reply “well the first FA was a nurse” yes I agree’d, but it was on a military craft during WW2
I asked her if she was nurse, her reply “no” so again I must ask. What exactly do they do for our safety??
Any time there’s an issue they simply spout “please sit down or something to that effect” and then expect the PAYING customers to handle it.
Here’s an idea why don’t all fliers pick a day, any day and simply not fly. If no one in the USA flew for just one day. It would send a strong message both visually and financially to all Airline personnel!!!
I have met several AA psycho stews so this does not suprise me. AA will get away with anything they can. They are a negligent and ridiculous airline. Some of their pilots are as socially inept as a can of soda and some of the stews I have met could not even forumulate their own sentences. There are some really strange AA people. I have read that AAs good employees are writing management about their contracts and I am sure if these people are writing about their contracts, then they actually probably work for a living while many AA stews lay on their butts waiting for someone to marry them. The polyester tranny pool of out O’Hare is disgusting. This airline seems to be sinking fast. If that FA hit me, I would have knocked her from here to China after I exited the plane and I would have had her charged with assault and battery and if there were such a thing as charging someone with being an incompetent idiot, I would have the dip arrested for that too. She should have been restrained, she sounds like a lose cannon.
Sounds like you took plenty of time to embelish the facts or just plain lied.
The stewardess should be fired. Simple as that.