On flights, people are always crammed into a tiny space with no room to move their legs and way too many people close by. But a person being disgruntled or entitled can make things SO much worse. Buckle up, because these mid-flight debacles made the actual turbulence seem mild.
1. Non-Stop Tears
You know how babies sometimes cry on planes? Well, there was a full-grown woman who started crying three hours into the flight...really, really, loudly. But that wasn't the worst part. She then started screaming at people for not comforting her, and eventually attacked the guy who was sitting beside her. The plane had to turn around and land to kick her off, still crying.
2. The Most Terrible Family
About a year ago, A woman with a service dog came on a plane I was traveling on. She sat in the front row of seats on a Southwest flight. After preboarding, a man, his wife, and their baby came on the plane. The man demanded that the woman with the service dog move elsewhere because he wanted the front seats for his family.
When she told him she would not move, his response was utterly disturbing. He began grabbing her bags and throwing them in the aisle. The attendants came and told him that he could not move a passenger’s seat. He then grabbed the service dog by the harness and began yanking it out into the aisle. The woman was crying at this time, begging for someone to help.
The man was told that if he continued, he and his family would have to deboard the plane. The man finally stopped but put his carry-on in the bin above where the woman was sitting even though he sat further back. The entire flight, there were complaints that his wife was holding their baby on the tray table, pulling the passengers' hair in front of them, changing diapers in the seat, and disgustingly storing them in the seat pocket in front of them.
When the plane landed, the man and his wife pushed through the aisles yelling that they needed their carry-on, and, in the process, shoved a woman with a full leg brace and a cane back into her seat. They were removed from the plane, though it was too late. The damage had already been done. This was by far the worst set of passengers I have ever encountered on a plane.
3. Let Me See Outside
I was in the window seat ahead of the fire row, so the lady and her grandson behind me didn't have a window view. Crazy grandma starts asking me to put my seat up so her grandkid can see out the window. The thing is, I never even reclined my seat because I'm not very tall. I explained this to her multiple times, but she just kept getting more worked up, so I turned around and ignored her.
The girl next to me gave me a face of understanding, and we hadn't even talked the whole flight. The crazy lady was still ranting to no one that my seat wasn't up so I closed the window so nobody can see. She stopped her crazy ranting after that.
4. A Language Barrier
I was just on a flight from Dallas to Cancun and this woman kept making awful remarks behind us. She was irritated that so many people on the plane were speaking Spanish. She was annoyed at the two older ladies behind her speaking Spanish, so she turns around and said the most shocking thing: “This is why we all want to build a wall.” Jaws dropped.
The ladies just looked at her with this blank stare that I’ll never forget and were literally quiet the rest of the flight. I felt so bad. Looking back, did the woman not realize she was on a flight to Mexico...?
5. First In Line
Once, I got stranded at Newark for 22 hours after our flight had an unfixable fault and was canceled late at night. We got put up in a hotel, but by the time the new flight rolled around, everyone was quite tired and agitated. As we are waiting to board the new flight, the flight attendant announces they would be boarding people with additional needs and families with young children first, followed by first class, then premium economy.
It was all pretty standard stuff. Obviously, it can take a bit longer for people in wheelchairs to board, so it makes sense for them to go on first. However, this business dude races to the front of the crowd and starts yelling at the attendant, saying it was already DISGUSTING that he had lost a day due to their INCOMPETENCE and now he had to WAIT.
The worst part is, he’s looking at others in the crowd to back him up, like it’s perfectly reasonable to scream at this woman who, like us, had also been stranded and had very little sleep, and was doing her best to do her job in this demanding situation. But she was awesome. Without missing a beat, she smiled, nodded, and said, “Ok sir”.
Then, she made a big point of leaning into her mic and telling the waiting line of people in wheelchairs and mothers with babies that this gentleman needed to board before them, and they could wait. Literally, every single person at the gate is looking at this guy with disgust as he tries to backtrack and say he doesn’t mind waiting for the first group, but the attendant says, “No, no, you made yourself quite clear—let’s get you boarded, the others will have to wait.” He is humiliated as he sheepishly walks by.
6. Blinded By Anger
My son and I were on a cross-country flight back to Manchester and our connecting flight had mechanical issues. It was the last flight out that day, so we had to wait until the following morning to get home. The flight attendants told us to go to the gate agent and they would help us find a hotel. We arrive at the stand, and two middle-aged men are just screaming at the gate agent.
They are red-faced and stomping while yelling about some important meeting the following morning. The gate agent calmly got them new tickets and vouchers for a hotel near the airport. They then started complaining about the quality of the hotel and demanded a better one. The agent kept trying to talk to them and kept getting interrupted.
Finally, the men left and continued to yell down the terminal as they left. When I got to the gate agent, my son and I were polite, and she helped us out with the hotel and rebooking our flight. In addition, she gave us $400 each in flight vouchers. Right as we walked away, she gave us the flight vouchers for the two men as well. Apparently, the whole time they kept interrupting her, she was trying to give them free flights and they were too angry to notice, so we got them.
7. Clear The Fog
I once watched a very well-dressed businessman have an epic toddler-level tantrum at a check-in counter when he was advised his flight was delayed due to fog. He literally screamed, jumped up and down, and demanded that the airline "better do something about it or ELSE"! The guy working behind the counter just smirked and suggested that the business guy was welcome to go outside and try and flap the fog away with his arms.
The entire queue burst out laughing.
8. A Runaway Truck
There was this kid on a Toronto to Houston flight who was going nuts. On the flight, he had a full-sized metal Tonka truck that he was running up and down the aisle with. He smacked me in the head with it and nearly hit my Mom. The family refused to sit him down until it was announced that there would be no food or beverage service until the aisle was cleared.
Another woman grabbed the kid and returned him to his family. But the nightmare had only just begun. They let him run loose again as soon as service was over. Finally, someone from the cockpit had to come back and tell the family we couldn't start the landing approach until the brat was in his seat. They put him in his seat while he screamed.
As soon as decent started, they let him up and he was running up and down the aisle again with his truck as we landed. The family was so dense that when the captain ordered everyone to stay in their seats and that only families with small children would be allowed to deplane at first—they smirked their way down the aisle. Mom walked with a cane and getting off was hard for her. Since we were home, we just waited till the aisles were clear.
When we got off, you could hear the kid screaming halfway down the jetway. And that's when came upon a beautiful sight: Authorities were holding him, and the rest of the family were in handcuffs.
9. Platinum Privileges
We were flying through really bad turbulence, the seat belt sign was obviously on, and everyone, even us in the crew, was seated and hanging on for dear life. Some guy gets up out of his business class seat and attempts to make his way towards the toilet, bouncing off of other passengers, and accidentally elbows one lady in the face, breaking her nose.
Amidst the screams from the lady, from my jump seat beside the toilet, I tell him to sit down immediately. His response was “No, it’s fine, I’m a Platinum Frequent Flyer, it’s fine". Dumbfounded by that level of stupidity and entitlement, I try and help the lady with the broken bloody nose, ignoring the assist bell from the bathroom. He later emerges, enraged that we hadn’t responded to the toilet bell to help him.
Yep, you guessed it, he’d urinated all over himself because of the turbulence. Not the best time to use the bathroom as it turns out.
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10. But I Need Them…
Me, my husband, and our toddler had seats behind the bulkhead. We’re all settled, and this woman comes up and asks my husband if we really need these seats. I didn’t catch the interaction, but there was a bit of attitude from her according to him. He replied that yes, yes we do. Especially since we paid extra per seat to specifically sit there for our 12-hour flight overseas. With a toddler.
11. Sky-High Migraines
Once, my father and I were first in line for pre-boarding on our flight to the Cleveland Clinic from Atlanta due to my extreme migraine disorder, cluster headaches, and general frailty. A large 30-something woman in a wheelchair behind us said, "Excuse me! You're too young to need to pre-board! Let us older people go. You can stand!"
I responded that although I could stand, I could not do so for long, and needed to be seated ASAP. She continued to berate us while I was in agonizing pain, and with a migraine aura which meant that I couldn't see. I passed out while leaning on the gate desk, and the woman essentially started screaming at me to "stop faking it" and to move aside.
My wonderful Papa told me later that he responded, "As if we could move out of your way and still make our flight." The woman was shrieking at this point and needed to be wheeled away to be calmed down, being told that she could either calm down at the gate or calm down with TSA. The wonderful gate attendants gave me a wheelchair, helped me onto the plane, and seated me in the nicest open seat on the plane.
I don't remember what class it was, but it was a relatively great flight.
12. A Flight Of Chaos
I was flying from Thailand to Vietnam, and this large group of tourists come on board, probably five minutes before takeoff. They proceed to yell and scream, hit every person with their bags, and then discover there simply isn’t enough space in the overhead compartments. This one lady actually started taking out other people’s bags and ended up in a fight with other passengers.
The stewardess then decided to put her luggage in some employee compartment or something. The flight was horrendous: they wouldn’t sit down during takeoff, were extremely loud, and simply didn’t respect others on the flight. The same lady who removed people’s bags is having a cup of noodles when she starts screaming at the stewardess.
She had been asked to prepare for landing and started screaming in Cantonese. After about a minute, she proceeds to throw the almost boiling cup noodles all over the stewardess. It was absolute chaos. When we landed, the authorities were waiting for her and immediately took her in.
13. Little Seat-Kicker
A few years back, I had a seven-hour flight, and the kid sitting behind me kept kicking the seat. I decided to just wait it out, hoping he'll eventually stop. Nope. It went on for about an hour until I couldn't take it anymore. 10 years of my regular flying, this was the first time I called and complained to an air hostess. She apologized to me and asked the family behind me to keep it down.
They just stared at her and did nothing. The moment she went away, that little kid started kicking again. I couldn't take it anymore, turned back, and loudly said to the family, "Could you please make him stop doing that"? The father said sorry and still nothing improved. The kid kept going on, so finally, I called the flight attendant and asked her if there is any other seat available because of the family behind me.
She came back after a few minutes and proceeded to take me to the first class. My very first experience in the luxury section. The worse thing is, she kept apologizing to me and I kept asking her to stop, because it was not her fault.
14. Entertaining A Kid
I was going to New York from LA for an important business trip. I am sitting in a window seat, and the middle and aisle seats are both empty. Literally a minute before takeoff, a woman and her two-year-old kid board the plane. Eventually, the kid starts having a tantrum because he wants to walk around on the plane while it is still on the runway, and the mother didn’t bring any entertainment for the kid.
So, what does she do? She lets him walk around the plane while it’s taking off. Eventually, the flight attendants bring this kid back to his mother, but since the plane is in the air, they can’t make her leave. I end up stuck with this kid for five and a half hours.
15. In Such A Rush
I was on a plane where half the plane was ignoring the rules. When we touched down, these people immediately got up and started walking around and taking their bags out of the overheads. Mind you, the plane hasn't parked; it's just literally touched the floor of the landing strip so it's still moving and it's dangerous for half the people on the plane to be moving around and taking all their heavy bags down above everyone else's heads.
The flight attendants are now desperately trying to get these people to sit down until the plane stops moving, and some people were waving their hands at them dismissively. I think the captain heard the commotion and the flight attendants yelling, because all of a sudden, the plane did a VERY abrupt stop, knocking over all the people standing before continuing to park.
The flight attendant then said, "This is EXACTLY why we have rules".
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16. Special Treatment?
Flying in and out of DC, we always have air marshals. One time, the agents let them get on early. When the first passengers started arriving, a wealthy-looking older couple came on, and the woman started demanding to know who those men were that boarded before them. Her husband claimed they had paid extra to be the first passengers on board.
This is absurd because we always let wheelchair passengers and others down first. I had the perfect comeback for this kind of nonsense. I calmly explained to her that they were invited down by the captain because they were veterans of the wounded warrior project. That shut her right up for the rest of the flight. I can’t imagine the mindset that allows a person to think they are so entitled they deserve to sit down on an airplane seat before any other person.
17. Occupying The Seats
While on an eight-hour flight to Florida, a family of five boarded first and demanded the attendants rearrange their kids’ seats to all be together. I get it, I’m a mom too, but they occupied the entire row—including my seat—while the flight attendant tried to arrange for them to all sit together. I politely asked them to let us sit down and they just ignored us.
When I asked again, they said, “No we are waiting for our seats, and you could wait at the back of the plane”. I just crossed my arms and stared them down. That held up people behind me, but I made it clear it was the entitled family that was the hold-up and not me. They finally moved to go wait at the back of the plane.
18. Thin Seatbacks
One time, I was flying out of Heathrow back to my native Belfast. I was in an aisle seat, and there was a guy behind me who was digging his knees into my back. Now, I get it, it's not comfortable on a plane, but there are ways and means. If you have long legs, put your baggage in the locker and use the space under the seat ahead to stretch out.
Or y'know, move your legs so they're not digging into the spine of the person ahead of you, and pay attention to the beverage cart. At first, I thought it was an honest mistake, so I put my hand behind my back so he would realize that he was digging his knees into a person. This worked briefly, but soon I felt that kneecap back between my vertebrae.
Hand goes back, knee moves, hand moves, knee goes back. This carries on for about ten minutes. Finally, I've had enough. I move my hand away and wait for the inevitable kneecap. Kneecap arrives. I put my hand back, grab the knee through the seat, and I squeezed as hard as I could, using my best guess as to the pressure points. The knee goes away and does not return. I tried not to make eye contact as we were disembarking.
He was an ordinary-looking bloke, not too tall, not too fat. Guess he just really wanted to put his knees in my back?
19. The Designer Purse
As a flight attendant, it really bothers me when I tell someone something simple, for example, "I need you to stow your purse underneath the seat in front of you," and they argue as if it's my personal preference. I always very sweetly explain that it's a federal aviation regulation, and sometimes even then, people argue.
Why? They want to know. And that's fair. So, I tell them, "If we need to evacuate the aircraft, your purse could get caught on an armrest and slow not only you down but all of the people behind you". Usually, at this point, people comply. But I had one lady continue past that point, telling me how expensive, handmade, and Italian her purse was.
Which is neat, good for her, but all I could think was, "Wow. You are seriously implying that a bag you carry nothing in is more valuable than the lives of those around you... The balls you must have, ma'am", But I can't say that. I can only think it. I had to put it to her in selfish terms and in a mental space that she appeared to be in.
"Is your purse more important than you being on this flight?" I asked her. She asked me if I was serious. I started walking towards the open cockpit to tell my captains we had someone unwilling to comply, and she yelled. "I did it. Are you happy now?" I wasn't, but we were able to taxi at that point. That was extreme, but yes, I hated her. Still do.
20. A Snappy Comeback
My mom and I were flying back to the States after visiting family. I was a kid, like seven or eight. Apparently, there was some mix-up, and they double-booked my mom's seat. We were there first, and the other lady who had the seat came by and demanded that my mom move. She was traveling alone, so you'd think, logically, the person with the small child should stay.
But nah. She just screamed at my mother until eventually my mom gave up and took me to try finding seats close enough together that we wouldn't be separated. The lady tried stopping her and said I could stay with her, and according to my mom, I hit her where it hurt. I said, "No, you're mean." I don't remember saying this, but I do remember being very weirded out about her offering that.
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21. Taking The Heat
One time, I was an unaccompanied minor, and the boy who sat next to me—also an unaccompanied minor—would not SHUT UP. And unfortunately, since he was trying to converse with me, I received the dirty looks meant for him as well. He kept screaming "BUTTS ON FIRE!" and would laugh like a maniac. He also kept messing with a dog from another passenger, and we would both be berated for his behavior.
Miss, all I did was order a hot chocolate and look out the window. I am not with him.
22. Get Off The Plane
I’m a passenger, not a flight attendant, but on a flight from PHX to some airport in Texas, there was this really creepy guy. He was alternating between getting angry at the male flight attendants for the flight being delayed on the ramp and hitting on the female flight attendants. When he tried to touch one inappropriately, one of the flight attendants told him, “Sir, you need to get off of this plane. You are not going to be on this flight".
The entire section of the plane started clapping. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an entire group of people on a plane to have a valid reason for clapping.
23. I Could Fly Better
I was once on a flight with really bad turbulence. It went on for about 10 minutes and the old lady next to me reaches up and presses her button. The attendant walks over to see if the woman is okay, and that's when this woman throws a fit. She begins to yell at the attendant for the rough flight, that she’s been flying her whole life, and clearly, the pilot has no idea what he’s doing.
The stewardess just walked away.
24. Well, That’s Rich
I booked a first-class ticket from Hawaii to St. Louis two weeks ago because my grandmother passed, I needed to fly rather quickly, and it was the only way I could make my travel needs. I get on the flight, and the guy next to me looks me in the face and says “Are you sure you’re in the right seat? You don’t look like you can afford this seat”.
Granted I wasn’t dressed the greatest, but I showed him my ticket and told him to shut his mouth. Didn’t hear a word out of him except “excuse me” the rest of the flight.
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25. Wedding Blues
I had someone have a meltdown because I, as a flight attendant, had to have them properly stow their wedding dress. The thing was massive and spilling into the aisle, blocking the seats of the entire row. They may have had to pay the hotel to get the wrinkles out, but I likely saved them from shoe prints and beverage cart rollers going back and forth over it.
She was in tears, but I was not going to risk others' safety including my own.
26. Too Many Warnings
I had a passenger a couple of rows in front of me aggressively asking the attendant for drinks. We were still loading at the time. He was warned twice. Just as we were pushing back from the gate, he was given his final warning by the senior attendant. As she walked away, he swore at her. She turned around and told him we were going back to the gate and he was getting off.
And we did. It took 20 minutes for his luggage to go, and we were off again. I congratulated her at the end and emailed the airline to say how well I thought she had handled it.
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27. Seat Selection
I once had a man get very heated because he was on the plane with his wife and children and did not pre-select seats, so he wanted me to switch my window seat for a middle seat in a different row so his family could all be together. But I paid extra to pre-select my window seat. Why should I have to give up what I paid for just because you wanted to save money and thought others would rearrange themselves for your family?
The flight attendants sided with me, and the family was spread throughout the cabin.
28. The Cat Lady
The worst I’ve seen was a lady who brought a cat in a huge hard-sided carrier as her "carry on" and a cat in a slightly-less-huge hard-sided carrier as her "personal item". Neither carrier fit in the overhead bin or under the seat, but she insisted they both had to be on the plane. She was in boarding group five and delayed us over an hour fighting with all of the attendants and the airport workers about where the cats were going to sit.
I love animals, but this was awful and I'm sure the entire plane full of passengers wanted to leave her and her cats behind.
29. Disrespect Both Ways
A friend of mine is a pilot for a North American airline and there was a passenger on the plane during the flight being rude and extremely disrespectful to the female flight attendants. Halfway into the flight, one of them finally got fed up and confronted him, asking what his problem was and how they could find a middle ground. His response was unspeakable.
He sneered, "In my culture women are supposed to be slaves for the men". Her response was also unacceptable. She said, "Well in my culture you’re a taxi driver". He proceeds to lose it, and they had to restrain him in his seat. Nothing happened to the flight attendant because they all thought he was being so disrespectful and deserved it.
30. Changing Seats
A few years ago, my wife and I were going down to Mexico for a friend’s wedding. I remember seeing a young lady getting very flustered at the ticket counter. She was demanding a seat next to her husband. As we started to board the flight an attendant pulled my wife aside to say she had a seat change. We knew exactly what it was about and just laughed.
We are very flexible and just excited for the trip, so we went with it. As I settle into my seat, the young lady and her husband come and sit next to me. She starts small talk with how the airlines are so mean and they had the hardest time getting seats next to each other. I just casually mentioned, "Yeah I know, my wife was supposed to be in your seat, but someone threw a fit about it."
31. Early For Once…?
I was in a foreign country getting ready for a long flight home. Through some minor miracle, the plane was fully boarded long ahead of schedule and the runway was clear, so the pilot announced that we'd be able to depart about 40 minutes early. However, the flight attendants literally could not get all of the passengers to sit down.
They were standing, stretching, and even spitting in the aisle. And I don't mean one or two people, I mean maybe a quarter of the plane. The flight attendants would go up and down the aisles getting people to sit down and buckle up, and the moment they passed, those passengers would get back up again. This went on way longer than you might think, and finally, the pilot came back with a translator to yell at the passengers to sit down or the plane would not leave.
We ended up being 30 minutes late to leave.
32. Stuck In The Middle
I once flew from Chicago to Israel with a woman who didn't seem to understand that everyone around her was in the same situation she was in. Over the course of our day together, she dropped a number of passive-aggressive gems—but the worst one was right when we were being seated for the first leg. The plane was one of those 3-5-3 setups, with aisles on each side of the five-seat section.
This woman was seated in the middle of the five-seat section. "But you can't seat me in the middle!” She said. “What if I need to get up and walk around and the people next to me are asleep?! I'll be very uncomfortable for this whole flight!" …Wow, lady! You figured out why flying kind of sucks all by yourself! Now sit down and start pretending you're not here like the rest of us.
33. Not Really Standby
I was on a plane at the Burbank airport and a family that was on standby boarded the plane without being told they'd be on the flight. They proceeded to go passenger to passenger trying to get people to de-board the plane so they can use their standby tickets. They even argued with the flight attendants. It was at least 45 minutes of us sitting there listening to this family argue about how they "need" to be on this flight because they have somewhere to go.
I don't think I've ever been more annoyed than I was in that moment.
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34. But I Paid
I saw a man berate the flight attendant because they let employees of the airline board before the customers. He was so angry because he “paid for business select! They didn’t pay for anything so why are they boarding before me!?” The flight attendant responded that it’s company policy, many are actually working and need to get to the airport they’ll be leaving from.
And there were also only three on the flight so what’s the big deal anyway? He continued to whine and complain to her for another 10 minutes or so. All because now there were only 140 seats available instead of 143.
35. Just A Greeting
I was a flight attendant for five years and I spent every boarding standing at the front saying hello to every single person that walked on. Less than 30% would say hello back. Have some decency, treat your flight attendant like a human and say hello. We aren't happy the plane is small or late either. But if you're a jerk, you're going to get the bare minimum in service.
People that would chat with me while pouring drinks and such usually got free drinks and snacks from me.
36. A Bratty Kid
I was on a flight from Dubai to Houston a few years back. There was a little kid, maybe five or six, behind me who had far too much energy. He was kicking my seat and pulling my hair. At one point, he took off my airline headphones and put them on to listen. I asked for them back, but he just laughed at me. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
An hour or two later, when his parents noticed and told him to stop, he started yelling at them.
37. A Rough Storm
I was a passenger flying Melbourne to Gold Coast once, and I was aware that the Gold Coast had some severe weather so we would be flying into storms. For landing, we had to circle the ocean for 20 minutes and flight attendants were told to sit down. Someone behind me pushed their call bell. There was no response, obviously.
But they pushed it repeatedly. Finally, one of the FA's got on the speaker and said, "Look, we are having a rough landing and can’t attend to your needs at this time". I heard this person complain that they wanted another drink and that the airline was losing their money.
38. Exactly Zero Awareness
I can say that the one thing that truly makes me angry is those people who take their sweet ever-loving time getting into their seats while blocking the aisle from anyone behind them getting through. They take a good 30 seconds perfectly jimmying their carry-on into the overhead, then they just stand there in the aisle spending another minute adjusting their belt, taking off their jacket, or doing whatever before finally moving to sit in their window seat.
If I'm behind this type of person, I just give them a piercing stare the entire time. They're still completely oblivious to the fact that they're not the only person on the plane, the world doesn't revolve around them, and the other passengers would like to get to THEIR seats, too. Argh, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.
39. Shaking Snores
I’m currently a flight attendant, and on my very first flight, I had a passenger complain to me that the man behind him was snoring too loudly. Putting on my best customer service smile, I offered to move the complainer, who very aggressively told me that he’d paid for his seat, and he wasn’t moving. He yelled loud enough that he woke the snoring guy in the process.
I wish I’d had a first-class seat available to move the snoring guy just to spite the complainer, but there were only other economy seats available so I just told the complainer that he could continue yelling at me or he could accept my offer of a different seat, but that was all I could do for him. I ended up giving the snorer free drinks for the rest of the flight.
40. So What Are You Planning?
My sister was a flight attendant. She once had an elderly passenger sitting in her seat with her relatively large purse on her lap. She went up to her, asking nicely to put it underneath the front seat if she didn't want to put it in the overhead compartment. The lady responded, “No, but that's alright, I'm not planning on opening and rummaging in it while we're starting or landing”.
My sister explained to her why she needs to put her purse away and she still refuses. Exact same answer. So, she responded with, “And I am not planning to crash our plane, but on the rare occasion that we do, we'll need your purse out of the way! And if you still won't comply, I feel forced to take it from you and leave it at the gate!”
41. I Want My Soda
Once, we had a medical emergency and we needed to get the AED out. While I had my hands full of medical equipment and we are paging for doctors, a woman grabs my dress and yanks it to get my attention. I turn to her thinking maybe she’s a doctor. No. She wants a Diet Coke because we skipped her. The good news is this usually isn’t common behavior.
42. Surrounded By Awful
I was just recently on a flight from Madrid to Tel Aviv, and the lady sitting in the economy section was upset and yelling at the passengers around her about the amount of room she had. Basically, the person behind her put his bags too far out under her seat, and the people in front moved their seats into the leaning position and now the seat was too close to her face.
She yelled for the flight attendant, who with a smile, told her to just move her seat back and she’d get the same room back. She was angry the whole flight.
43. Nothing You Can Do
I was traveling business class from Dubai to Melbourne on Qantas, Australia's airline. We were supposed to leave at midnight if I remember correctly, but two passengers didn't turn up and we had to offload their luggage before we could leave. Because of this, we missed our takeoff window and the captain informed us we potentially had to wait up to two hours to find another gap.
The entitled man behind me in business class took offense to this and started loudly protesting to the flight attendant, "Always late, every time I fly! This is a second-rate airline! I didn't spend five grand to be late". The attendant was good and tried to calm him, offering him champagne or orange juice, but he wasn't having any of it.
He kept grumbling for 10-15 mins, then, when he realized there was nothing any of us could do, he reclined his seat to lay flat and pulled his convenience mask over his eyes so he could sleep.
44. The Boys’ Dreams
One lady got enraged that we wouldn’t let “her boys” visit the flight deck during the flight. Important to note, this was post 9/11 and her boys were three massive 30-year-old men. She insisted “Little Danny” had always dreamed of being a pilot, and we were destroying his dream by not letting him visit. She literally screamed, yelled, and complained so loudly and endlessly, the captain had to come out and tell her to sit down and shut up, or she and “her boys” would be taken in upon landing.
45. Be Prepared
There are much nicer toilets in the terminal than there are on the plane. Please use the ones in the terminal instead of waiting till you get on the plane, walking all the way to the bathrooms in the back on a single-aisle aircraft, and then trying to swim upstream during boarding. Also, there are usually water fountains in airports. That water is free.
Please drink that water or buy a bottle of water instead of waiting to board the aircraft and then asking for a cup of water during boarding.
46. It HAS To Fit
I was on a flight where a middle-aged gentleman wound up sitting next to me. He was obviously on a business trip from his attire. He was late getting to the Southwest flight, and he had a roller carry-on. He starts trying to shove it forcefully into an overhead bin. He does it in a way that shows a complete disregard for the other items already in the bin, smashing it against everything to get it in.
The flight attendant comes up, and he politely says, “Sir, I don't think it's going to fit, and the flight is rather full, I think I will need to check your bag”. The businessman gives him a snooty response, the flight attendant repeats herself. This goes on for about five minutes, with the businessman insisting that his bag goes into the overhead bin.
The guy is getting more agitated. The attendant finally appears to relent, and says “Okay, how about you let me try?”. The guy hands him the bag, and as soon as he has it in hand, begins walking away saying, “I'm sorry sir, we're going to have to check this”. The businessman has a hissy fit but takes his seat next to me.
I noticed him immediately take out his laptop, open his email, and start typing an email to Southwest customer service, complaining about the rude and awful behavior of the flight attendant by name and about how he had been "publicly embarrassed". Seeing this happen, I knew exactly how to get some petty revenge.
Already having my laptop out, I also immediately drafted an email to Southwest customer service. The guy put his full name in his email, so I saw his name. I sent an email to customer service, saying that I'm watching my seatmate currently sending a very nasty email about the flight attendant. I made sure to comment on how polite and professional the flight attendant was, and that the businessman was far too old to be throwing a hissy fit when we're trying to get people in the seats to pull back from the gate.
I still feel good about it.
47. Wi-Fi Rage
I have pretty bad hearing issues and wear hearing aids. Normally when I fly, I leave them in for the safety check, then pull them and promptly check out. I was on my way back from work-related travel and had the cheapest most awful seat on the plane. About 30 minutes into the flight, this 20-year-old guy starts having an EPIC meltdown.
Apparently, the Wi-Fi on the plane is too slow for him and he starts pounding and banging the seat in front of him. He then hits my tray with his knee, knocking my hearing aids up and away. I try to get up to catch them and he hits me right in the face. I’m a 5’3" tall, 100 lb girl, and this guy is like six feet tall and pretty big. He sent me hard to the floor.
I was told that after that, someone restrained him, the plane turned back around, and he was escorted off the plane. The attendants were super nice, and the other passengers helped me find my hearing aids. I still don’t know what happened entirely, but they let me lay down across two first-class seats with an ice pack over my face for most of the cross-country flight.
48. A Major Inconvenience
I was on a Vegas to Boston flight when a passenger died in his sleep. The whole situation was heartbreaking, and the flight attendants were clearly shaken. We stopped in New York for emergency personnel to attend to him. The entire process was very quick, and the pilot and staff handled it like champs. Just as we were about to take off, a guy in the front row asks the attendant the dumbest question imaginable.
He wanted all the passengers to get free drinks due to the inconvenience. I've never wanted to yell at a stranger so much in my life.
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49. Engine Repairs Needed
I was a kid flying out to Utah to start my teen tour. About halfway through the flight, the captain got on the speaker to announce an engine had failed and we needed to make an emergency landing in Chicago. Needless to say, we got a little concerned. But one angry passenger took matters into her own hands. She stormed up to the flight attendant and let loose.
She explained she was a nanny and needed to get to Utah to attend to the children she took care of. I'm not exactly sure what she was hoping—that the pilot, upon hearing that a babysitter was on board would risk the lives of everyone to fly us all through, or that the flight attendant would be so moved by this story that she would climb out on the wing and repair the engine mid-flight.
Alas, there was no emergency jet pack to give this passenger to blast away from the plane to get to Utah on time, and she was told to sit down.
50. Mid-Air Deliveries?
My sister worked as a flight attendant. She had many stories, but the one I remember was an entitled jerk on an overseas flight who made constant demands until he finally fell asleep. The plane was in descent when he woke, and he asked for that day’s paper. She got him one. He complained that it was yesterday’s paper and he wanted one from this morning.
My sister told him: "Sir...we have been in the air for 16 hours and have not stopped for paper delivery en-route". He kept complaining and would not accept that he would not get today’s paper even though it was the airline’s policy to provide him with a newspaper.
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Sources: Reddit,
