[sygazelle]

It's been the rage in the news lately about airline staff treating customers badly. The recent surge in horrible stories about how airlines and airport security are treating the passengers has got me wondering. Is it really worse than "normal" or are airlines just in the cross-hairs right now?

I'm not saying the airlines and their staff are perfect by any means. But, is this recent bash-the-airlines news frenzy justified?

In my case, after flying extensively in the US and to/from Europe and Asia for 30 years, I've not seen one case personally of an airline staff member doing anything that would result in a news story. On the other hand, I've seen countless cases of dickwads and dickwadettes behaving badly on airplanes.

When you get 200-300 people crammed into a closed container for many hours things are bound to happen from time to time.

What's your experience. Are the airlines and their workers evil and deserving such wrath, or are they just trying to cope dealing with passengers who don't always want to play nice?

[aozer]

never seen any airline staff treat anyone poorly

[fbsm]

Originally Posted by aozer

never seen any airline staff treat anyone poorly

I've seen it happen more than once

And each time the airline douchenozzle was so far out of line and unhinged that customers would have been well within their rights to flatten the formentioned douche nozzle if they hadnt been on a plane

[larryn]

I fly 4-10 legs a week and nhave not seen anything of the sort. I've seen more DYKWIA (do you now who I am) idiots giving lip to the gate agents, trying to get cleared for an upgrade, but nothing on the plane.

I think it's the press making all the rage...

Remember last year, where there was either a cop getting assassinated or a black kid getting killed every few days. Do you think that just stopped? The press moved onto the next click bait topic.

[P1]

You're confusing what the media is showing you vs. what's happening in real life.

[Dang3r]

Originally Posted by P1et

You're confusing what the media is showing you vs. what's happening in real life.

I second that.
Major problem are those douchebags who must even post their shit from a lavatory and got their damn smartphone with camera on everywhere and everytime.
Switch off IG, twitter and Fuckbook and you would discover a holy silence. Thats because no ones' be able to manipulate the crowds mood with bollox.
Rant end!

[P1]

Originally Posted by Dang3r

I second that.
Major problem are those douchebags who must even post their shit from a lavatory and got their damn smartphone with camera on everywhere and everytime.
Switch off IG, twitter and Fuckbook and you would discover a holy silence. Thats because no ones' be able to manipulate the crowds mood with bollox.
Rant end!

Preach!

[zx10guy]

https://www.instagram.com/passengershaming/?hl=en

[Maynard]

Hilarious pics, if I can shake the dread of being locked in a small flying tin can with them.

I don't fly much, but I'd say that I've never really seen airline staff go full nutjob, just the occasional mini-hitler (TSA seem more prone to this, but so far I've been fairly lucky I guess). Passengers, on the other hand, are completely off the chain - if it was me, airport cops would have tranquilizer guns like they used to use on Wild Kingdom and they'd just shut 'em down, or at least tasers. And I'd pay a hefty surcharge to get to man the gun a few times - might be a nice way to pump up revenue w/o angering everybody like the carryon charges do.

[RABAUKE]

I think this all goes hand in hand with what the SJW's and social media are doing to every walk of life, and the media feeds off of it and to it just to try to stay relevant. It seems that half the population is stumbling through life looking for something to be outraged about or offended by.......there's a saying I grew up with and based on personal life experience has some truth, "what goes around, comes around". Some of these poor triggered fools will one day be the subject of social justice.....I've gone through the last decade or so assuming that everything I did and said was being recorded and governed myself accordingly. Having said that, I am careful that I'm pretty much willing to repeat most of it, even if some are offended by it.

[pgviper]

I flew a couple weeks ago with my family, 6 adults, a four year old and a 2 year old. All of our tickets were modified because our original flight was canceled and we were to be rebooked on the replacement flight. Obviously the software they use is nothing short of spectactular so when we went to check-in, four of the adult tickets (including my own) and one of the childrens magically disappeared.

This happened as we flew out of JFK and the check-in representatives worked their a$$ off to get it all sorted. They were extremely helpful and apologized for the inconvenience. However, on our way home, the same thing happened. The check-in representative told us there was nothing she could do and to move our luggage (again 6 adults and two kids, about 10 pieces of luggage) out of the way because we were blocking other customers. We all sat their totally confused that she wouldn't help and decided to send us to another line. My wife and family got frustrated at the woman and pressed her for why she wouldn't help as I went to wait on the help line.

All of the sudden I hear the woman yell at my wife "BACK THE HELL UP AND MOVE YOUR LUGGAGE OR I WILL HAVE YOU BANNED FROM THE FLIGHT AND ARRESTED". I kid you not, thats what this person yelled in my wife's face.

I sat quiet in my line and politely cut the person ahead of me where I walked up to a nice lady with a manager name tag. I explained the situation and pointed out how useless and rude the check-in representative was. Manager asked me to point out who it was as she wrote the womans name down. Ultimately the Manager got everything figured out very quickly and we were on our way.

IN SUMMARY: I don't understand why airline employees are so quick to go on a power trip. I have been traveling for well over 20 years consistently and have NEVER had a problem. Its interesting that my first issue occured as these stories are coming out.

Coincidence??? Who knows.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by P1et

You're confusing what the media is showing you vs. what's happening in real life.

I'm not confused at all. These stories don't reflect my experience and I am not swayed by them. I was just wondering about other peoples' experiences.

If I were an airline employee right now I'd be really stressed out and I'm sure some of them actually really frustrated right now. Serving the public is hard under any circumstance; doing it in a tight, closed container with entitled dickwads makes it even harder.

[fecurtis]

I fly frequently and have never seen airline staff act inappropriately.

[P1]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

I'm not confused at all. These stories don't reflect my experience and I am not swayed by them. I was just wondering about other peoples' experiences.

If I were an airline employee right now I'd be really stressed out and I'm sure some of them actually really frustrated right now. Serving the public is hard under any circumstance; doing it in a tight, closed container with entitled dickwads makes it even harder.

You are misunderstanding me. This probably happens more than you care to know. But now, since the United incident, it's something "interesting" to report about if you're the media, they are probably making it seems like it never used to happen and all of a sudden, it's a massive issue.

Can you tell I'm not a fan of the media?

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by RABAUKE

I think this all goes hand in hand with what the SJW's and social media are doing to every walk of life, and the media feeds off of it and to it just to try to stay relevant. It seems that half the population is stumbling through life looking for something to be outraged about or offended by.......there's a saying I grew up with and based on personal life experience has some truth, "what goes around, comes around". Some of these poor triggered fools will one day be the subject of social justice.....I've gone through the last decade or so assuming that everything I did and said was being recorded and governed myself accordingly. Having said that, I am careful that I'm pretty much willing to repeat most of it, even if some are offended by it.

You are absolutely right. Many I know think that I am stupid and backwards because I believe that social media is destroying our society.

[dreamingat30fps]

I have not run into anything crazy like the stuff being mentioned here. However I have found that especially the gate staff are usually unhelpful and for the most part don't give a shit. Maybe that's from having to deal with people all day and usually pissed off people that got fucked over by the airline in some way or another.

I know I couldn't do that job.

[dmatre]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

You are absolutely right. Many I know think that I am stupid and backwards because I believe that social media is destroying our society.

I look at it another way:

Now, with everyone having a video recorder in their pocket, crappy customer treatment will no longer be suffered in silence - it will be publicly shamed.

This will (hopefully) lead to employees trying to find a sensible outcome to a situation, rather than simply playing the "I'm in charge here" game. In all of the video incidents I've seen recently, the staff could have defused the situation if they had tried to find a reasonable middle ground rather than choosing the path they took.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by dmatre

I look at it another way:

Now, with everyone having a video recorder in their pocket, crappy customer treatment will no longer be suffered in silence - it will be publicly shamed.

This will (hopefully) lead to employees trying to find a sensible outcome to a situation, rather than simply playing the "I'm in charge here" game. In all of the video incidents I've seen recently, the staff could have defused the situation if they had tried to find a reasonable middle ground rather than choosing the path they took.

That's assuming if the company provides their employees the flexibility to accommodate passengers or diffuse the situation. There is a separate thread in the politics forum discussing this. I had a conversation with MKsixer about how a company like Enterprise does it right. Every employee as far as I can tell is empowered to make on the spot concessions which don't require a bunch of red tape or passing the buck. I've had issues with how my reservation was set up when I went to pick up my rental car. No problem. The agent just made some notes in the system and fixed the problem on the spot. No arguing no nothing. The agent was also very apologetic and I actually believe the agent even though it wasn't his or her fault. I've never left Enterprise upset or have seen anyone else. In addition, I've received free upgrades without even having to ask.

While, I agree much of the recent attention is probably due to sensationalism, the airline industry should send their overly paid executives down to an Enterprise branch to see how real customer service works.

[Germanauto]

It's just a media witch hunt. They find one story and cling to it.

Yes the United incident was bad, but I bet that 99/100 negative interactions between staff and passengers are the fault of the passenger.

The media is the enemy of this nation. They prey off the public's stupidity and willingness to believe the first thing they see/hear. We live in a clickbait society thanks to social media.

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

It's just a media witch hunt. They find one story and cling to it.

Yes the United incident was bad, but I bet that 99/100 negative interactions between staff and passengers are the fault of the passenger.

The media is the enemy of this nation. They prey off the public's stupidity and willingness to believe the first thing they see/hear. We live in a clickbait society thanks to social media.

+1

[UncleWede]

I couldn't be a gate attendant. I was truly embarrassed traveling with family recently, and I still fail to see the need to be the 3rd person on the damn plane. We aren't trying to bust the rules by carrying a full-sized backpack and stowe it in the overhead bin. So when our ticket says we are in boarding group E, we shouldn't be lining up with boarding group B trying to sneak on the damn plane. And as I shuffle my feet, head down, mumbling "sorry" under my breathe and board the plane as the last in our sorry group, I can understand the ugly looks the gate agents cast upon us.

Now, that BIATCH in San Salvador, who wouldn't allow my FACTORY SEALED, 3oz bottle of contact solution in my carry-on unless I got fully out of line, went back, paid 5 soles for a plastic bag to put it in, when being SELAED FROM THE FACTORY and 3oz it was legal for me to carry on. Her, I could see giving a rationing of shit to.

[Torgus]

I fly once or twice a month for work. Never had an issue. Just remember that you are at their mercy. Be polite and courteous.