Airline Workers Shared Their Wildest Unruly Passenger Stories
People are fascinated by flight attendants. Think of the kinds of crazy behavior they must have seen at 35,000 feet. It sometimes seems as though flying brings out the very worst in people. Luckily for us, though, flight attendants all over the world have taken to Reddit to share their most horrifying customer service experiences. They're enough to make us not ever want to fly again — or at least never become a flight attendant.
No pay, no play
"Not one specific passenger, but a type of behavior I've unfortunately seen too much of: Couple will book separate seats, the man in a premium economy seat with extra leg room, the woman in a normal economy seat. The woman will then play the sad sack and ask another passenger to give up their comfy seat so they can sit together. If the other passenger refuses (usually because they paid extra and literally don't fit in a regular seat), some will even complain to the crew to make them move the other passenger. And all this to save a few bucks on the second Premium seat.
Seeing as a lot of people asked: no, the crew doesn't move passengers because they're sitting next to someone else's spouse. And certainly not from a Premium Economy seat." — ConstableBlimeyChips
You don't have the pick of open seats
"Every so often we get the odd straggler who boards last who finds a vacant seat in first or business thinking that we won't know that they are from coach.
> Excuse me, sir, may I see your boarding pass...? Sorry, your seat is 58A, not 1A.
> But I'm so tall, I need the leg room.
Awkward silence....." — zlinerlabs
"I saw this being given as advice on Twitter recently. This freelance guy who travels a lot decided to share his pro tips for long flights... One tip was to always be the last person on the plane so you have your choice of open seats... That’s a great way to have nowhere for your bags and still get the same seat you were assigned." — PretzelsThirst
First things first
"Flying in and out of DC, we always have air marshals. One time, the agents [boarded the plane] early. When the first passengers started arriving, a wealthy-looking older couple came on and the woman started demanding to know who those men were that boarded before them. Her husband claimed they paid extra to be the first passengers on board. Which is absurd, because we always let wheelchair passengers down first. So I calmly explained to her that they were invited down by the captain because they were veterans in the wounded warrior project. That shut her right up for the rest of the flight. I can’t imagine the mindset that allows a person to think they are so entitled they deserve to sit down on a airplane seat before any other person." — jdrouts
Bridezillas
"I had someone have a meltdown because I had to have them properly stow their wedding dress. The thing was massive and spilling into the aisle, blocking seats of the entire row. They may have had to pay the hotel to get the wrinkles out, but I likely saved them from shoe prints and beverage cart rollers going back and forth over it.
"They’ve gotten rid of most coat closets. Every flight attendant wishes they hadn’t, because it was incredibly useful for, you know, things like this!" — Anaxamenes
