Flight attendants weigh in on their biggest pet peeves
Cabin crew members pick the most irritating habit of travelers, and it's not what you think.
We’ve all spent a flight cramped in the confines of a plane cabin with The Passenger from Hell. Perhaps it’s a feral three-year-old and his blasé parents, who can’t (or rather, won’t) keep him from kicking the back of your chair all the way from CDG to JFK. Maybe it’s the businessman who insists 30,000 feet up is the perfect locations to clip his fingernails, or the nervous flyer who guzzles four mini bottles of booze in the first hour and then passes out into your already limited personal space. My personal favorite is sitting next to the newlyweds who can’t keep their hands off each other.
It’s enough to make you feel sorry for the poor cabin crew members responsible for keeping these misfits in line.
But what habits do these patient saints of the sky actually find the most irritating in travelers? It’s not the nail clipping or the booze swilling or the making out. According to a Skyscanner survey of more than 700 international crew members from 85 countries, the most annoying habit is when passengers snap their fingers to get attendants’ attention (folks, that’s what that little call button is for). Other unpopular behaviors include getting out of your seat at the end of the flight before the sign goes off (I hate that, too!), stuffing too many bags in the overhead, and asking for more blankets/a different meal/a certain brand of beverage. What, did you think flying was supposed to be comfortable?
Another interesting tidbit from the survey: the ideal passenger is apparently a 30-something single male traveling for pleasure rather than business.
What’s your pet peeve among fellow flyers?
Photo courtesy of bradleygee.
I took a red eye from Anchorage to Seattle. I had the window seat I requested but was hemmed in by two teen age mothers with screaming infants. Apparently they had not brought a bottle, wet wipes or diapers for the babies that were throwing up, having diarrhea and screaming because they didn't even have a pacifier to suck on so their ears would pop and stop hurting.
The man behind me gallantly offered to change seats with me. When we switched, I found a passed out drunk woman who had vomited all over herself next to me.
I got up and went to the front of the plane and stood the whole way to Seattle. How do these idiots even afford to fly???
I hate when the person in front of me puts there seat back in a rough way, which often hits me in a part of my body, maybe my head if I'm leaning forward, for instance. Then we fly the rest of the way essentially with them in my lap! And even if they're not sleeping, they stay there. I, at the most, put my seat back, after checking behind me, an inch or 2, and put my seat back up when I wake up. If it's someone with very long legs, I just don't put it back at all. It's simple consideration.
I find the best flight attendants simply smile--makes everything better. And I try to do the same.
I blame the airlines partly for my pet peeve. Why don't airlines with assigned seating, start seating from the rear of the plane first. That way, people are not climbing over each other when they are trying to get on board. If you work from the rear forward, it would solve a lot of the waiting and frustration issues.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Do you think sunrises or sunsets are more romantic?
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