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American Airlines flight cancelled due to booing passengers
People love to get angry and take sides when things turn south during air travel. If you don't believe me, go to Flyertalk.com, click on ANY forum, click on ANY thread, and you'll probably see a labor vs. management or passenger vs. airline dispute.These disputes come into particular focus during delays. Whether mechanical or weather related, it always seems like there are a dozen armchair pilots sitting in the crowd saying something like "It's just a landing gear locking pin! Who needs that? I'm going to miss my connection!"
Just last week in Providence I sat next to a guy howling because the weather was fine in Providence and there was a weather delay. What he didn't realize was that there was a ring of thunderstorms around the airport causing traffic. Not right above us.
Passengers on a recent American Airlines flight were so fired up from a delay in their crew showing up that they actually booed the employees when they boarded the plane. The pilots and flight attendants were so miffed that they canceled the flight, stranding passengers in Miami overnight.
Now who is the villain here? Nobody deserves to be booed at, especially when you're just doing your job and connected in from a late flight. But as a rule, passengers don't really know the full details of what's going on so we can expect them to act like a fussy mob. Especially if your job is to deal with passengers all day. Should you have really canceled the flight?
It's a close one, but I'm going with the passengers on this one.
[Via Gothamist]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brian M Jul 9th 2008 10:54AM
And just think, this is the START of the period in time when it's going to get bad. There is a long, long, LONG way to go till we hit bottom ~ both in terms of service And in terms of how passenger are going to act/react.
I'm dreading the one planned flight I have in the near future... and yet, I'm glad I only have one, and it's on a carrier I tend to not see spoken of much (Alaska).
Wendi Jul 11th 2008 4:30PM
Alaska is a great airline, I never have trouble with them.
Kennth Jul 9th 2008 10:58AM
absolutely, I agree with the flight crew. It's about time somebody stand up for us.
Kenny Jul 9th 2008 10:59AM
Absolutely, I agree with the flight crew! It's about time somebody take a stand; passengers need to be put in thier place.
Brian M Jul 9th 2008 12:29PM
You mean to say "The paying customers who allow all flight crew to be paid/have that job, and the airline to exist in the first place" ought to be.. I'm sorry, "Put in their place"? What place is that, per-say?
So, when you walk into a restaurant, pay up front for your meal, then sit there for 2 hours with nary a word of why there's a dely, then have your meal come out cold and served by an apathetic, unapologetic waiter... that if you complain, that YOU should be put in your place?
The logic fails me. Does it fail anyone else?
While I don't agree with the behavior, I can 100% understand it (on BOTH parts). AA is getting what they give though, none of it good.
Caroline Jul 9th 2008 11:03AM
I think it would be scary to get on an already-hostile flight, but at the same time... customer service is failing all over the place, and I think people are just getting fed up.
If the airlines would be more transparent about WHY things were happening, people would maybe be less likely to complain.
Nick Hawkins Jul 9th 2008 11:16AM
Flyertalk is filled with whiners anyway.
jonnie Jul 9th 2008 11:23AM
this goes to show that this crowd was acting childish. if you have a complaint, write to the company. i have been booed at too just by doing my job, but i never canceld the flight either. i delt with it, made an announcment as to why we were late, even the captain made an announcment. after that, no complaints were made to me.
Casey Jul 10th 2008 12:25PM
That is how it SHOULD have been handled. Make an announcement as to why you were late, apologize, and move on. Unless, of course, you don't have a legitimate excuse.
No one was getting violent from all the reports, and a little "boos" never hurt anyone. Only a sniveling baby would feel "threatened" because of a boo.
To all of the airline employees who think they should be able to treat paying customers this way because of how the airlines are treating them ... you are immature, juvenile, spoiled brats! For God sakes, grow up. This world would descend into complete chaos if everyone who didn't like their pay, or benefits package, decided to treat their clientele like garbage.
Just imagine police, firefighters, teachers (ok they already don't try because of pay), or anyone else were to stop performing their duty because they were unhappy with their employer. If you aren't happy ... quit.
kdraks Jul 9th 2008 11:40AM
I have been on many flights where the crews are late and certainly an apology is required. It used to be that when a flight was delayed due to reasons that were controlled by the airline - they compensated passengers in some way (a free round of drinks). In this case, the ENTIRE crew was late and that sounds like an airline issue, not an act-of-god or weather issue so I side w/ the passengers. Face it, the airlines are treating passengers poorly - even those like me that have high status (w/ American). Crews, as the first contact w/ passengers, need to go out of their way to explain what is going on in an honest way. (how many times has the captain said we have a (warning light) and it will only delay us 15 minutes - and 2 hours later you are still on the ground! It is just common courtesy to keep your 200 paying customers informed.
Nancy Jul 10th 2008 7:54AM
What evidence do you have that this was not an "act of god" or weather related? Often entire crews fly a rotation together - so if they were coming in from somewhere and there was a delay, then the whole crew would be delayed.
The passengers were in the wrong for their behavior. There is no civility in the world anymore - Bravo to the crew.
kdraks Jul 14th 2008 1:34PM
Granted, the crew could have been late due to weather delays - in that case a simple explanation is due. Since an entire plane load of paying customers has been delayed a nice apology is appropriate - that is where civility comes in.
Carolyn Aug 29th 2008 8:55PM
Be real! Why should they give an apology for something they can't control ? The gate agents made several announcements explaining why the flight was late that should be enough! they can't control weather or how fast a crew gets thru customs when their coming from an international flight-which was the case I was there! Also just so you will know,the crew was all late because they were coming from the same connecting flight. Thats how crews are scheduled they don't come from seperate places,could you imagine that nightmare ?
Mark Jul 9th 2008 12:44PM
I think the point is that in the cramped, stressful, and perhaps dangerous environment of an airplane, any sign of things getting out of control can be very scary. Cancelling is the best thing to do. And the passengers should have been herded into a room to be questioned by security people. Passengers need to understand that behavior on a plane is different than in other contexts.
Hiromi Jul 9th 2008 12:24PM
I'm gonna side with the flight crew on this. What's not to say one of those booing passengers is not a complete hostile passenger that will cause harm to the crew and the rest of the passengers. In that the booing passengers has already made it a safety issue. So the flight crew was in their rights of cancelling the flight. These are the days that you really never know what's going to happen and the flight crew is mostly there for your safety. As for the flight crew coming in late that could be many reasons way out there control such as one of the many airports in these United States having a ground delay due to weather... the passengers don't know, but that's why they need to be flexible when traveling... things happen. So what's the purpose of making it worse by ridiculing the flight crew and possibly making the flight crew think that this is now a safety issue and completely ruining your flight to where ever you need to. People need to seriously think before they act.
Jim Jul 9th 2008 1:18PM
The crew should have immediately apologized to the passengers, via microphone in the waiting area..explained the reason for the delay and said they would do their best to make it up to them...
a few words is all it takes sometimes...and I mean words from the CREW, not the gate attendants...
Passengers are fed up with their holier than thou attitude..they forget it's just a JOB they do,,cabin crew are nothing special, although they think they are
Jack Jul 12th 2008 5:59PM
You stupid passengers need to realize that the crew was not late because they simply showed up to work late. The crew was late because they just flew in from a flight that was delayed because of weather or some other issue. You idiots that are on the side of the passengers don't realize that flight crews just dont fly your one flight, they fly about four flights a day switching from one plane to the next. The crew was probably close to their FAA max of flight time and they were probably over their contractual flight time set by the unions. I am guessing they waived their contractual legal rights to layover in order to get those idiot passengers out of MIA. When they arrived tired and worn out from their previouse flight to a gate full of idiot passengers that were booing, they had a right to cancel the flight. They were doing them a favor by working that flight. Passengers dont realize how these cheap airlines try to stretch crews to the max. They are on duty for nearly 16 hours a day. Now lets talk about security. It wasnt too long ago that my friends were killed on UA175 and UA93. Airlines have a right to not mess around with passengers these days. It is a new world we live in. Not only the lives of passengers and crew could be in danger but thousands of peoples lives on the ground are in danger when you have stupid foolish people on your flight. I SIDE WITH THE CREW. I hope all those idiots who were booing go to H*LL.
RETIRED 777 CAPT Jul 9th 2008 3:01PM
screw the passengers. i would have done the same thing. reduced pay & benefits, eliminated pensions, lack of respect....why would these peckerhead pilots continue to fly? anywhere from 1.2 to 2.4 million dollar pensions.....GONE. pilots are flying for free. how stupid is that?
retired at 54 and i got what belonged to me. see my profile.
carolyn Aug 29th 2008 7:29PM
you are sooooo right ! Pay us more and stopp kissing the customers tail-when they are in the wrong and things will be different! Airline employees are fed up and tired of customers demands and disrespect!
RETIRED 777 CAPT Jul 9th 2008 3:10PM
yes jim, it's just a job. lets see...when i was hired by the airlines, it was required to have a 4 year college degree, minimum 2500 hours of flying experience, which usually took up to 10 years to aquire, with about 500 hours of jet experience. that was just to get the interview. there are only 67,000 airline pilot jobs in north america, so after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for your education, and flight experience, you finally get that 'dream job'. then they change the rules, and your ay and benefits are cut, your pension (which was worth 1.2 to 2.4 million dollars) was eliminated, so the government (being the good guys they are) extend the retirement age to 65, so you can make part of it up by working 5 years longer. how nice. but you want us to apologize to the passengers. this is why i retired at 54, because i planned ahead for these slimy maneuvers (which is what any good pilot would do.) now you have 500 hour pilots flying your plane, because who else wants to? the old pilots are flying for free, after the loss of their pension. screw the government, screw the airlines, and screw the passengers. you wanted cheap tickets....and how did that work out for you? have a nice flight