People like this are everywhere, on the road, in stores, planes, I even run into them in church on Sunday. Doesn't always help but I try to consider they may be experiencing grief over a loss or deep hurt or emotional or mental illness. Some make beng a jerk a fine science.

Myself if I'm having a bad day I try to compensate by doubling up on courtesy and kindness because that will make me feel better then making enemies.

I'm now waiting for the "good" stories about passengers and their "emotional support" peacocks-alligators-pythons-skunks, etc. Read a story the other day about a dog that bit a Flight Attendant during a flight.

I've never taken a dog on a flight but it's my opinion that the airlines have brought this "emotional support animal" mess upon themselves. It is extremely dangerous to ship any animal in the pressurized part of the cargo hold but for many years the airlines did it anyway. That is, until the word got out about how many animals were dying. Once this situation became common knowledge, people with pets started to circumvent the "system". To be honest, I travel by air 5 to 10 times a year and I have rarely seen even a tiny dog in an official carrier. Those few dogs have always been not the least bit annoying, as opposed to the numerous crying babies and smelly passengers.

1 hour ago, charliearon said:

I'm now waiting for the "good" stories about passengers and their "emotional support" peacocks-alligators-pythons-skunks, etc. Read a story the other day about a dog that bit a Flight Attendant during a flight.

Do a search for the emotional support pig that went berserk on the US Airways flight from Philly to Seattle. It happened a while ago.

Best check-in baggage item?



 

1 hour ago, charliearon said:

I'm now waiting for the "good" stories about passengers and their "emotional support" peacocks-alligators-pythons-skunks, etc. Read a story the other day about a dog that bit a Flight Attendant during a flight.

Someone, (I'm think it was here at Avsim) was talking about an emotional support snake. A Boa Constrictor called 'Cuddles'...  

That apocryphal story or not, ESAs have gotten well out of hand / slipped off their leash.
 

Bus driver was very professional in his handling. Interestingly I have heard airlines consider a pilot candidates interpersonal skills more then flying experience as long as mininmum requirements are meet. They can upgrade your aviation training but they want individuals who understand the business model of customer service and leadership skills in working with and managing line employees as well as safety awareness. Seem like I once read a degree in business administration carried more weight on an application then engineering or technical studies.

I have read several stories of low seniority FOs being treated poorly by Captains I have wondered if that was not by design as part of a testing process to see how the new hire reacts.

I don't know, I'm just an afficiando who observes and wonders from afar.

4 hours ago, charliearon said:

I'm now waiting for the "good" stories about passengers and their "emotional support" peacocks-alligators-pythons-skunks, etc. Read a story the other day about a dog that bit a Flight Attendant during a flight.

It's bad enough sitting in a nice restaurant enjoying a $20 ribeye while some one in the next table has a pooch with them shaking his dandruff.

24 minutes ago, PATCO LCH said:

Bus driver was very professional in his handling. Interestingly I have heard airlines consider a pilot candidates interpersonal skills more then flying experience as long as mininmum requirements are meet. They can upgrade your aviation training but they want individuals who understand the business model of customer service and leadership skills in working with and managing line employees as well as safety awareness. Seem like I once read a degree in business administration carried more weight on an application then engineering or technical studies.

I have read several stories of low seniority FOs being treated poorly by Captains I have wondered if that was not by design as part of a testing process to see how the new hire reacts.

I don't know, I'm just an afficiando who observes and wonders from afar.

 

Much of the CA -vs- FO stuff was part rite of passage, part pre-CRM training from the old days. I remember my share of cranky, nasty captains, and thankfully they have all retired. There are still some around, and back when I was an FO, I would go to great lengths to avoid them. Thankfully hiring and training has evolved, although I do get my share of newly minted FO's who I'd like to throat punch on occasion. It would seem a certain school in Florida instills in many of their graduates the swagger and cockiness of Chuck Yeager, but without the stick and rudder skills to back it up.

As for customer service. I've taken to actually mingling with the passengers if time permits, by walking the cabin and introducing myself. I've seen other captains at my airline do this, and thought it was a great way to interact with our customers.  

Sadly, European/Asian flights never do this, although I've seen the Captain greeting passengers deboarding on a Delta flight to EIDW from KJFK. - I hate the word "Guests" It seems like we are free and we were invited aboard. As SLF, I try to ensure to be as civil as possible, as  I know there is enough disruption to deal with by crew. I don't recline the seat until the meal trays have been collected.

6 hours ago, Chock said:

...I should point out that the conveyor we used to unload that particular item, had just prior to that, been used to unload seventeen crates full of monkeys off a Fairchild Metroliner, and the amount of monkey p*ss running down that belt as we unloaded it is enough to convince me never to consider any such possibility....

..and yet, despite the urine problem, I suspect the monkeys would have been better behaved on the flight than some humans..  (not that the humans would have been in crates of course..... )

7 hours ago, Chock said:

...the crew....decided that it was necessary to have their strobe lights going during that process. 

Now I see you, now I don't, now I see you etc. etc. 

Jude - Easy Jet have had the Captain greeting the passengers - mind you it was on their TV documentary.... However I had no reason to doubt the Captain's integrity regardless.

Never flown EasyJet, since they don't do Ireland, I've been on plenty of Ryanair flights, of which the crew have my full sympathies. 🙂

 

I've not flown on them either Jude,I just watched the documentary, but then again it's been many years since I was in an airliner; family holidays are invariably in England, not to mention a limited budget. 

Edited July 30, 20196 yr by HighBypass
additions

1 hour ago, Jude Bradley said:

Sadly, European/Asian flights never do this, although I've seen the Captain greeting passengers deboarding on a Delta flight to EIDW from KJFK. - I hate the word "Guests" It seems like we are free and we were invited aboard. As SLF, I try to ensure to be as civil as possible, as  I know there is enough disruption to deal with by crew. I don't recline the seat until the meal trays have been collected.

Ha ha. Every time I check into a hotel I have to resist the urge to say "you mean I get to stay free" when they refer to me as a guest.

2 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

Much of the CA -vs- FO stuff was part rite of passage, part pre-CRM training from the old days. I remember my share of cranky, nasty captains, and thankfully they have all retired. There are still some around, and back when I was an FO, I would go to great lengths to avoid them. Thankfully hiring and training has evolved, although I do get my share of newly minted FO's who I'd like to throat punch on occasion. It would seem a certain school in Florida instills in many of their graduates the swagger and cockiness of Chuck Yeager, but without the stick and rudder skills to back it up.

 

Yeah, it seems like we are the sandwich generation as having flown through those years of grumpy captains as FOs and tried not to be like them when you take command, it now seems that all the ****s are now in the right seat 

On 7/29/2019 at 11:35 AM, busdriver said:

..... I have her removed from the flight, and take a 45 minute delay. I wonder if I can MEL the front lavatory for my next leg!  😎

When I toured Europe by coach in 2017, we had a Canadian tourist like that, who thought the world owed him a living.  If someone did not put the seat down he complained and would embarrass the person.  I finally got into it with him and like one of the actors in the movie "In Brugge", I almost "heet" the Canadian.  People can be arrogant from all cultures and the dude just did not seem to enjoy the trip that much.

There was a saying I got from a WWII escape book which reminds me of your bathroom monitor.  Rather than charging a door and bashing oneself into it, then turning the knob--just turn the knob.

When I was traveling as a business pax, on a wide body aircraft, a poor woman, disabled and hard of hearing, was struggling to get off the plane.  I business man behind her started swearing at her to move more quickly, she burst out crying.  I and two other pax, without saying anything, turned around and gave the man the evil "do not make one more sound or move" eye, as another summoned a flight attendant.

The man got off the aircraft and started to pursue the lady until two of us, me and another pax, caught up with him and placed ourselves between him and the woman, until he got frustrated and dove for the nearest bar.  I walked over to the bartender, being a former one for a while myself, and told the bartender not to serve him.

The whole scene begged the question--why did he not, on a wide body, just cross the row of middle seats and exit the other aisle?  And it was a 767, for cryin' out loud.  Again, someone who threw his weight against the poor woman, rather than using the door knob.

When I get frustrated, I bite my tongue, even if it bleeds knowing that now being 58, I may be like that woman someday.  But I hate "line hogs", younger folk in supermarkets, or at ticket counters, who amble like cows so slowly being unprepared with their form of payment or tickets and luggage tagging.  Still, I bite my tongue, put on my tunes, and find something to distract myself.

John