Air travel is magical, but it does also mean being trapped in an aluminum tube with all sorts of members of the general public. Some of which don’t seem capable of behaving in any reasonable way.

A netizen shared their experience of a particularly entitled pair of siblings that ended up delaying a flight over a lost purse. We got in touch with cabin crew veteran and blogger Jay Robert to learn more about the sort of horrible things flight attendants have to sometimes go through.
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Asking a flight attendant for help is a normal thing to do in some situations

Image credits:nuttapong_mohock (not the actual photo)

But one netizen shared their experience with fliers who created some chaos on an international flight

Image credits:ThamKC (not the actual photo)

Image credits:Popular_Chocolate_48

We got in touch with an experienced flight attendant to learn more

Bored Panda got in touch with cabin crew veteran and blogger Jay Robert and he was kind enough to share his experiences. Most people have at least one story of a nightmare passenger, so we wanted to hear his explanation for why air travel leads some folks to behave so poorly.

“I always say an airplane is a petri dish of the society the airline serves. If you want to understand a particular culture, sit on a plane with them; it acts as a microscope into the broader population. In societies that have lost a sense of community and replaced it with an aggressive, me-first entitlement, people often behave poorly while traveling by air,” he shared.

“For example, over the past three years, I’ve lived in Mexico and Sicily—both cultures with a strong sense of community. When you travel by plane in these countries, the experience is markedly different from that in the USA. In Mexico, I’ve always seen people helping each other and being polite. Here in Italy, I observe very social passengers engaging with those around them. So, if you notice many people behaving poorly on planes and in airports in your country, it’s likely a reflection of the behavior on the streets as well.”

“Also, particularly in America, the TSA can be aggressive, disorganized, and rude in many airports. This entire process is unpleasant and leaves passengers frazzled and anxious before they even get to the gate. As a world traveler and former cabin crew member for the world’s largest international airline, I have operated flights to every inhabited continent and have never seen the treatment of passengers as I have in the US security lines. Even as an experienced traveler, I get stressed and my blood boils when I think about going through TSA. My experiences have been so bad that I got TSA Precheck to minimize my exposure to what I compare to cattle herding the few times I fly back to the US.”

Some passengers end up making everyone’s life miserable

Given Jay’s ample experience, we wanted to hear, in his opinion, what sort of travelers are truly the most annoying. “Every airline employee has countless examples of annoying travelers, and the underlying factor in most of these cases is entitled behavior. Passengers need to understand what they agreed to when buying their tickets, stop demanding rights they don’t have, and listen to the information being given to them,” he shared with Bored Panda.

“As a flight attendant, it annoys me when passengers believe we are enjoying the delay and think we are not in the same situation as they are. In reality, it’s often worse for us because some airlines don’t even pay crew members if they are delayed at the gate. So, when we are sitting on the plane, delayed from getting to our place of rest, not getting paid, and being verbally abused by passengers, that would be my example of the most annoying travelers.”

There are a few things folks can do to make flying easier

We asked him to share some tips he thought travelers could find useful. “Don’t book 30-minute connections! Just because you are offered a tight connection doesn’t mean you should buy it. I try to always give myself at least one hour for domestic connections and 2 to 3 for international. Also, try to purchase your ticket directly from the airline. Going through a third party is fine until something goes wrong, and then the airline will tell you to contact the ticket provider for assistance, which is never fun.”

“Another great source of information for airline travelers is the contract or terms of carriage that every airline must provide on their websites. If you read it, you’ll know what your rights are. I have caught some airlines trying to sidestep their end of the agreement, but when I direct the staff’s attention to the contract, things magically start getting resolved.”

Jay also left us with some parting thoughts. “Flight attendants are under a lot of stress and barely make a livable wage at some airlines, which makes them already feel undervalued by their management. Offering basic kindness, such as saying hello or paying attention to what they’re trying to provide and respecting their position as you would any other safety professional in charge of your welfare, can make a significant difference and bring value to their work.”

“You will likely have a much better time on an airplane just doing these basic things. On my last flight, I simply walked down the aisle with a smile and greeted the crew member, and she invited me to sit in the premium seats by the exit as a result.” If you want to learn more, you can find his work on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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