Unforgettable passengers

Working as a cabin crew member can be rewarding and exciting, as you get to travel the world and meet different people. However, it also comes with its fair share of challenges and difficulties, especially when dealing with some unforgettable passengers because of their nature of demands and their particular behaviour. Here are some real-life experiences of cabin crew members who had to deal with passengers' demands that were exceptionally unrealistic or challenging:

- A passenger who claimed to be a doctor and tried to perform CPR on another passenger who was sleeping. The passenger had noticed that the other passenger was not moving or responding and assumed that he was having a c

doubted his claim and reported him to the authorities. In a situation like this cabin crew is in logger jam, passenger who claimed to be a doctor but could not produce his certificate. Secondly without any request from cabin crew (As per SOP we make announcement for the availability of doctor on board for medical emergency) he acted on his whims and fancies? What could cabin crew do, hand over the passenger to the concerned authorities for required action.

- A passenger who asked for a vegetarian meal but ate the chicken meal of his neighbour. The passenger had pre-ordered a vegetarian meal for his flight, and the cabin crew served him accordingly. However, he noticed that his neighbour had a chicken meal, and he asked him if he could have a bite. His neighbour agreed, and the passenger took his fork and ate half of his chicken. The cabin crew saw this and reminded him that he had ordered a vegetarian meal. The passenger said that he was still a vegetarian, but that he liked to taste meat once in a while. He said that he did not see anything wrong with that, and that he was not harming anyone. The cabin crew told him that he was being disrespectful to his neighbour and to other passengers who had ordered chicken meals, and that he should stick to his own meal. The passenger shrugged and continued to eat his neighbour’s chicken. Now if a neighbour passenger doesn’t have problem in sharing his meal, what poor cabin crew can do? Very funny and to be left aside situation.

On ground the cabin crew are always advising passengers to stow the baggage in over all bins or under the seats, keeping the aisle and movement area free. Once one passenger had a very odd, shaped bag which could not be fitted in the overhead lockers. I was taking round of the cabin and saw that it was placed near the door exit in A300 aircraft. I asked the girl working in that area to check on that. She asked him to remove and keep it somewhere else and continued sweet service (those days we used to serve sweets on ground). The esteemed passengers tried to divert her attention by calling her again and again. Finally he said, “Lamboo” ( slang used for tall people), she looked at him and saw that he had kept bag on his head , asking  her , “Is it alright”as she had asked him to keep anywhere else as it was not fitting on overhead locker and door exit he was not allowed to keep. Needless to say, everyone around and hostesses burst out laughing and she did manage to stow the bag somewhere in the cabin. It is not that passengers always create unpleasantness, they do leave sometime, actually more often pleasant and hilarious memories. The attitude of the cabin crew and the passenger’s mindset also plays an important role in diffusing the situation or escalating the same.

As a matter of fact, the cabin crew are the punching bags where they get beaten up for various reasons, for which they are not responsible directly or indirectly. Like deteriorating weather conditions, announcements made at the last minute, short of meals on board the aircraft, passengers changing their preferential meals, medical emergencies etc. Unprecedented behaviour of passengers could be due to their mood swings resulting, because of pent up emotions or difficult situation at home or office front. The cabin of the aircraft is a quitter place where the traveller is at ease to ponder over the lagged behind issues and resultant behaviour could be the total outcome of the reactions faced so furtherer. Therefor it is easy to conclude that the behaviour could be the total outcome of the reactions and actions the passenger went through in the recent past or to say before the onset of the flight. It is also not necessary that the behaviour could be the total reflection of the past happenings, it could be whimsical as well. The human behaviour in itself is a big enigma. There could be plethora of incidents all could be summarised under pleasant or not so pleasant ones. Some more incidents...

- A passenger who demanded a full refund because the plane was delayed by 15 minutes. The passenger had a connecting flight to catch and said that he would miss it because of the delay. He said that he had an important meeting to attend, and that he would lose a lot of money and reputation if he did not make it. He blamed the airline and the cabin crew for the delay and said that they were incompetent and irresponsible. He asked the cabin crew to give him a full refund for his ticket, and to arrange another flight for him. The cabin crew explained that the delay was due to bad weather, and that it was out of their control. They also said that they could not give him a refund, as it was against the policy. They offered him an alternative flight and a compensation voucher, but he refused and said that he would sue the airline. Whether he sued the airline or not is not the question, the matter is that he managed to divert the situation and put forth his point of view creating the scene on board the aircraft.

Some more incidents that could happen in flight after the flight is air born are:

- A passenger who tried to open the emergency exit door mid-flight. The passenger said that he wanted to get some fresh air, and that he was feeling claustrophobic. He ignored the cabin crew's warnings and instructions and attempted to pull the lever of the exit door. Luckily, the door was locked, (as it is always under pressurized cabin atmosphere) and he could not open it. The cabin crew restrained him and moved him to another seat, away from the exit door. They also alerted the pilot and the security personnel on the ground. The passenger was arrested upon landing and faced legal charges for endangering the safety of the flight and the passengers.

- A passenger who smoked in the lavatory and set off the smoke alarm. The passenger had a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in his carry-on bag, and he decided to sneak into the lavatory and have a smoke. He did not realize that there was a smoke detector in the lavatory, and that it would trigger an alarm if he smoked. As soon as he lit his cigarette, the alarm went off and the cabin crew rushed to the lavatory. They knocked on the door and asked him to open it. He panicked and tried to hide the evidence, but it was too late. The cabin crew found the cigarette and the lighter and confiscated them. They also gave him a stern warning and a fine for violating the no-smoking policy of the airline.

- A passenger who drank too much alcohol and became unruly. The passenger had bought several mini bottles of liquor from the duty-free shop before boarding the flight, and he consumed them all during the flight. He also ordered more drinks from the cabin crew, and they served him until they noticed that he was intoxicated. He started to behave inappropriately, making loud noises, singing songs, cracking jokes, and flirting with other passengers. He also refused to wear his seat belt and follow the cabin crew's instructions. The cabin crew cut off his alcohol supply and asked him to calm down and sit properly. He became angry and started to argue and curse at them. He also threw his empty bottles at them and at other passengers. The cabin crew had to call for backup and restrain him with handcuffs. They also informed the pilot and the authorities on the ground. The passenger was taken into custody when the flight landed and faced legal consequences for his actions.

Once in flight from Calcutta to London a lady passengers started brawl and was walking with thumping noise straight from rear of the cabin to the business class in the front. Her mother was chasing her, trying to seize her movements but could not. She was shouting and yelling unscrupulous dialogues which nobody could understand. I had to forcibly escort her to rear cabin. Her parents were apologetic and had a story to share that she was going through difficult phase of life and had seen psychologist and some Muslim priest. Anyways, to bring her mind under control I had to engage a cabin crew who could talk to her continuously till she came to the levels of serenity. These kinds of situations are unwarranted but out of control. Here, the wisdom of the experience comes into play.

Similarly, a lady passenger was shouting at top her voice since the time she boarded the flight from Kathmandu till we landed at Delhi airport. There was delay in take off as ATC clearance was taking time, she was raising her voice. Then landing at Delhi airport was in queue due to ATC, situation beyond the control of captain even. Again, she was continuously shouting, if anyone went to her, she would rebuke and send them back. Those days there were different airports for domestic and international flights. I saw her waiting for baggage at the conveyer belt and mustered courage to talk to her. That is the time she told me she had a connecting flight to Patna and her father was going to get through open heart surgery. That explained her anxious and relentless behaviour. I accompanied her to the domestic airport, spoke to the cabin crew on board that flight, explaining him the position and asking commercial through him to wait for her check in. All was done in quick succession and in the end, she gave her compliments to that purser on the Patna flight.

The whole incident is still so vividly marked in my concise after so many years also? why? perhaps, because I tried to intervene and did possible help using my available resources. And after accomplishment, after that lady passenger got down at Patna contented to some extent, felt happy about self. Point to bring o kind notice is that if some initiative is taken at own behest, comfort can be given (if not to the full extent) to certain extent. Passenger can derive that satisfaction that cabin crew did try and that itself is good enough to carry on current phase, if I may say so.

The incidences are so many that one full book can be jotted down with that. The explicit behaviour of passengers resulting due to variety of situations, coupled with cabin crew who is facing the situation can bring smile or infuriate passenger to some extent. The real charm is in deriving positivity even if the situation is full of negativism. Easily said than done! of course.