The very popular passenger habit that makes us flight attendants nervous
PASSENGERS might not be aware of it, but they can make their flight attendants feel uneasy without doing a great deal.
It’s not their fault, rather a result of the actions of others, but even so, we have to be overly suspicious of customers to try and stay one step ahead.
In this week’s blog for Sun Online Travel I’ll explain how idiots have made air travel like this and how you can contribute to a more relaxed environment on board.
The first thing I need to explain are the four levels of threat that we have to be on the lookout for, and this starts as you’re boarding the plane.
Level 1 threat includes verbal abuse, level 2 is any physical abuse, level 3 is life threatening behaviour and level 4 is an attempted or completed breach of the crew rest area.
We need to be able to assess very quickly which of those threats appropriately rank a passenger’s behaviour, as all cases are quite different.
However, we will keep an eye out for any patterns that passengers might be exhibiting, even as they’re entering the plane, to make sure we pick up threats early.
That could include people who are drunk, anxious about flying or annoyed about a delay – all of these things create stress which can cause people to behave out of character.
We will make notes as the flight goes on and keep an eye on people to pass on to our other crew members to make sure we’re aware of each and every passenger and what they’re up to.
If they’re going to the toilet a lot for example, we’ll make a note of it. Sometimes it’s just someone with a bad tummy, but there’s also a fair amount of people vaping or even taking drugs.
We catch these people regularly and a lot of the time we do it because we’ve been keeping an eye on them during the flight.
A lot of passengers hang around the galley a lot and they don’t realise that we have to keep an eye on them because of it – it could be considered threatening behaviour.
Most of the time, especially on long haul flights, people are just stretching their legs, but you can’t be too careful.
There are people who steal from the galley too, including really innocuous things like food and water that we could just give them anyway.
I’ve even heard of crew members having their own lunches that they’ve brought from home stolen, as well as treats and things that have been given to us as gifts by other passengers.
Some airlines might consider it a level 4 threat, because it is technically a flight crew-only area. We have to treat it seriously.
Being that stupid can cancel not just your holiday but everyone else’s on the plane as well.
If we consider someone on the flight to be a threat, we have to inform the pilots, who will inform air traffic control.
If they think it’s a threatening enough situation, they will reroute the flight for an emergency stop.
Often, with people coming to the galley and nicking things, they will be given the warning card treatment, which is where they will be shown the ‘notice of violation’ card.
This lets them know that they’re breaking one of the laws listed on the card, as well as any potential punishments that they could be in for if they don’t settle down and behave themselves.
From there, it could be restraints, or even further problems for passengers.
I’m not saying any of this will happen to you if you stand near the galley, I’m just saying that we have to be aware of all of this on all of our flights.
It’s a lot to think about and we’d rather you were just sitting in your seat as much as possible and not giving us reason to suspect you of anything.
You could even help us further by pointing out anything suspicious you think we might have missed that could keep you and the rest of the flight safe.
But just know that if you’re lurking around the galley, we’ve got our eyes on you.
Meanwhile, this pilot recommended a clever way to always be the first off the plane.
And another pilot revealed why you should never change your seat mid-flight.