With so much press about air rage and now it seems to be filtering down to even the ground crew...I am wondering...have you ever seen anyone get totally out of line while traveling?

Yes, almost on a daily basis.

The only thing I ever saw took place in the late 1970's
We were returning from Calif on a United flight. There was an elderly couple who simply asked the flight attendant a question and the attendant went off on them. She yelled at them for no reason. This was a New Years Day flight and I know people don't like to work on holidays, but she was disgraceful. I wrote United a letter and included her name and told them I would never fly them again, and I haven't.
Luckily I have never seen any passengers get out of line.
But I know JMT deals with this every day.

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John
Moderator Dining Forum and Entertainment, Attractions and Sightseeing Forum
john@talkvegas.com

I'm just a casuall flyer. But I see both sides get out of line on almost every trip. Pushy people, and poor flight attendants, to rude and obnoxious people on both side of the counter. I've been on planes where we had to land to remove a passenger, I've been on planes where the police where waiting at the gate for people. I've seen airline employee's that should be fired on the spot for the treatment of passengers too.

John,
your a lucky man.....please let us know what flights your taking the next trip.....I'd like to fly on your plane! [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]


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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

JMT, what kind of stuff do you see? Just curious.

The most common events I see are violent passengers at the gate checking in. They expect the person behind the counter to know things that they can't possibly know. Most seem to have been drinking, but all are putting on a show like they are on one of those TV shows where rude manners get the most attention.

The second most popular rage is drunks getting on the plane. Usually stopped by the agent boarding the flight, but also by a flight attendant who doesn't think this person can make it through the flight without problems.

The third most popular reason for passengers visiting our local jail is when a plane is on a delay. It could be mechanical, weather, crew change, or whatever. In this situation, the passengers have good reason to be upset, but they approach the situation wrong with unreasonable expectations.

When the arrival flights and diversions come in from rage in the air, I usually don't get to see the big picture. I just see the cops and airline supervisors lining up in the jetway.

I am so glad that I don't work in a job where I have to deal with the public in a thankless industry. The agents that work the flights on the ground and in the air know that they will cussed out and abused several times a day...yet they still do the job. Yes, there are some bad apples. Some really bad ones. Everybody has a bad day, but the really bad ones will quit or get fired pretty quick. It's just not the kind of job that you can keep going to every day if you can't handle the pressure.

My advice for traveling????

If you run across a bad agent, get their name, write a letter explaining the facts, and it will help everybody.

If you are inconvenienced, listen carefully to the announcements. The content in those announcements is all that those gate agents and flight crews will know. The strategic operations and decisions of rebooking, cancelling the flight, continuing the delay, handling of the bags, etc. is all done behind the scenes. Don't expect the front line employees to make operational decisions. You'll be money ahead if you listen to everything the employee tells you, stick to the facts, and don't let your emotions get involved. If you've been drinking, keep a low profile.

About the only thing I've ever seen has been at the gate or the counter.

One trip coming home from Vegas, there was a passenger who had over packed one bag. The counter agent had explained the procedure (I don't know if it was just an extra charge or what). At any rate this guy yelled at the first agent until she left crying. Then he started in on another one. Finally a supervisor came over and just flat refused to budge for this jerk. He finally made some kind of threat and she just looked at him and said, "You're about to make the biggest mistake of your life." THAT got his attention and he started to back down.

I've also seen idiots at the gate when the plane was delayed yelling at the agents like they can magically produce a plane or crew out of thin air. Most seem to think the threat of a law suit will magically make a plane appear at the gate.

I often wonder what their neighbors and co-workers thing about them. Lord knows they probably don't have any friends.

Just in case there are any rude people reading this. If you get in trouble on the plane or interefere with a flight crew performing their duties, it is a FEDERAL offense.

Don't know about the worst, but we saw a difficult situation for US Airways employees when a mother, daughter and father wanted to board a flight to Philly from LV. The man needed oxygen and the plane was not equipped properly as there was no advance notice from the passengers that oxygen would be needed. They went round and round telephoning doctors, bringing in the US Airway oxygen vendor, and trying to pacify these arrogant people. Mother and daughter would not stop bitching and crying. They said the only way the father could stay in LV overnight was in a hospital as he could not be exposed to any casino smoke; therefore, US Airways(according to the passengers) were obligated to fly them on "this" flight no matter what. The airlines agreed to prepare the next flight for transporting the patient, but that did not satisfy the angry passengers. That was a day that I felt every US Airway employee involved was not paid enough for the grief they received. Being sensible and reasonable were not traits these passengers possessed. I felt these three should have been thrown out of the airport for their performance. This go around lasted for more than an hour.

As a result of this incident, Fred and I did not get the bump we were to have as these three seats became available.<g>

Have seen other incidents of rage among passengers where attendants were really challenged in trying to diffuse a difficult situation. You can usually spot the troublemakers even before boarding takes place.

Beth

Beth and all,
The booze card seems to play a hand in this also. I've met what I thought where nice enough people on a conecting flight then seen them after they got hammered at the conecting flights cocktail lounge.
Me, I'm a happy drunk! Everything becomes funny to me and nothing is a big problem anymore. But others go the other way and become stuborn and rude and then obnoxious.
BTW, if your ever behind any of these people giving the ticket agents a hard time, a little understanding when it's your turn at the counter goes a long way! To me a rude or obnoxious passenger in front of me is a bonus. I just wait patiently untill it's my turn, then have a privite joke with the agent, and I have just made a temporary friend in battle. You'd be suprised what can happen. Rule #1 in Lee-PA book of travel, always side with power! (the power of the pen...that is)

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

I heard today there was a passenger on a SW flight from Calif. bound for Houston that had to be taken off in Phoenix due to her profanity in flight. When they take them off a flight, do they go to jail, take a Greyhound or what? Man, I never get to see the good stuff. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

It might depend on a few factors. If the PHX landing was scheduled, and the rage took place on the ground during a delay (such as waiting for Houston weather to clear so they can resume flow control) it might be a go to jail trip on a public drunk type charge. It depends on local law as to when they are let out of jail. The airline will usually give them another chance once they have sobered up, but they are being watched closely and will get yanked if they start trouble again. And they don't get a refund.

If the plane was not scheduled to land in PHX and the reason for the diversion was to remove the lady, federal charges are automatic. The feds are involved in the deal because it's a diversion of flight plan, more work load on the air traffic controllers, unscheduled traffic at PHX, refiling of flight plan, etc. There have been cases where charges are not filed, but that is rare.

I fly A LOT with my job and there have been numerous situations where air rage has started bubbling up.

I just flew from O'Hare to Philly this past Sunday. It was probably the worst time to fly - Sunday night after the 4th of July, plus there were severe thunderstorms in the area. The 4:00PM flight to Philly was cancelled so my 5:00PM flight was packed to the gills. As is typical, they load up the plane, push away from the gate, and then sit on the tarmack. The pilot comes on and says there are 24 planes lines up and "we're not sure when we're going to take off but I'll update you when I know."

So we're sitting there and sitting and sitting. I'm in the 3rd last row of the plane (at least I was on the aisle!). In the row behind me is an incompetent father and his two screaming daughters. Across the aisle from them is his incompetent wife/mother and another screaming daughter. Two rows ahead of me is a little yipping dog in a dog carrier. The yipping and screaming go on and on and on and we're just sitting there. After 45 minutes, the man across the aisle from me calls for the flight attendant and starts complaining about the dog (and I'm sure he was frustrated with the yelling people behind him as well). The flight attendant basically says, "there's nothing I can do about it" and the guy starts getting more and more upset and the voices are getting louder and louder. Soon another flight attendant gets involved and so do a few more passengers. I thought I was going to witness some air rage right then and there but miraculously, the pilot comes on and says we've been cleared for take-off and that it would only be another 15 minutes. Thankfully, everyone (including the dog) calmed down after that. Whew!

Being only an occaisonal flyer, I guess I have missed all of the fun - all of my flights are usually dull and routine. One humerous incident happened when we made our final decent into McCarron last week. There were 2 little boys behind us (I would guess about 6 & 7 who started to holler MAYDAY, MAYDAY as the pilot made his rather steep decent into Las Vegas. The whole aircraft including flight attendents litterly cracked up. Wendell

Good stories. I can associate with the screaming kid part. We were coming back from MIA with a stop in Houston and a woman boarded with a small child in the row next to us. That kid screamed all the way to PHX. The mom did absolutely NOTHING to help. She read her book the entire way. A flight attendant would try to talk to the kid and get it calmed down, but it didn't work. The mom never looked up from her novel. I wanted to choke her!

Jan,
The sad part is, you can't blame the kid. he/she only knows what they have been taught or allowed to do. Bad parents come in all shapes and sizes and color, and from all walks of life, and all religious backrounds too. Don't get me started on the unruley kid thing! I'm sorry, I have no problem giving my child a swat on the bottom when I raised her. She turned out fine too, dispite her parents! <VBG>

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com