Flight Attendant Confessions – Volume 1.

Flying.  It really brings out the best in people, doesn’t it?  From impatience to all-out brawls on the airplane, you really see every aspect of human nature.  It’s almost a fun social experiment (assuming you’re not seated next to someone on the more appalling end of the spectrum).  

But the small snippets of inflight drama we experience is nothing compared to what flight attendants deal with on a daily basis.

Interested to hear some of these stories, I surveyed flight attendants on my recent flight from Sydney to San Francisco.  And so, in this volume of flight attendant confessions, we’ll explore the best and the worst in traveler behavior.  From shockingly awful situations to those that will reaffirm your faith in humanity.

What’s your worst passenger horror story?

“During a flight from London to San Francisco, a passenger had a medical emergency and needed to be attended to when he broke out in hives.  We were asked to find an empty row so the nurse and doctor could assess him.  I kindly asked a man who was sitting by himself in an empty row if he could move for the medical staff, and his response was ‘unless you’re upgrading me to first class, I’m not moving.'”

“Sitting on a jumpseat in the back of the airplane during turbulence, a passenger ran to the back to vomit.  He didn’t get the lavatory open in time though, and vomited in my lap.”

“On a full flight leaving Lagos with a bunch of passengers who did not use deodorant, the AC lost power within 2 hours.  No entertainment, no reading lights, no chiller/oven or food, and 100 degrees on a 12-hour flight.”

“We had really bad turbulence and the crew had to sit down for the last hour of the flight.  A passenger threw up, causing people around to do the same.  It was all over the plane.  Yuck!”

“A passenger checked buckets of honey.  Buckets.  Saran wrapped.  One spilled and ruined everyone’s bags.  The flight was delayed 3 hours and everyone had to change aircrafts.”

What’s your best passenger story?

“Going along with the honey story, the passenger whose honey it was felt so bad and was so sweet.   All the other passengers comforted her and weren’t even angry about their ruined baggage or delayed flight.  The whole plane was like a family by the end of it.”

“A business class passenger in 8B gave her seat to a quadriplegic in 16C.”

“When a passenger walked off the plane and had a heart attack.  I worked on him and the other passengers were clapping.”

“A passenger in first class gave up their seat for a soldier coming home.”

“An elderly couple offered to help a blind passenger next to them throughout the flight.  The couple even stayed with him through baggage claim to meet his family!”

Moral of these flight attendant confessions?

While flying can be one of the most stressful situations in life, it doesn’t have to be.  Show a little empathy, respect, and kindness for each other and the experience will be a much more pleasant one for everybody.

WANT MORE CONFESSIONS?  THEN CHECK OUT…

» Flight Attendant Confessions, Volume 2 – Pet Peeves
» Flight Attendant Confessions, Volume 3 – Beyond the Drink Cart
» Flight Attendant Confessions, Volume 4 – Favorite Destinations