Flying the friendly skies

This at CT.

The other day I was on a flight that taught me why you don’t want to take the last flight out.. and why giving flight attendants the power to throw people off planes may not be such a good idea.

We were sitting in the waiting area quietly waiting for the plane to board. Twenty minutes before boarding we were told that the flight crew’s plane was getting in late so we would be boarding late. The person telling us had a nice sense of humor and everyone seemed pretty low-key about the issue. Eventually the crew arrived and we boarded the plane. Some people didn’t seem so calm anymore. There was some bitterness going around about fitting luggage into various compartments. One of the flight attendants was among the most annoyed people. And sure, passengers can be very annoying, but her reactions seemed a bit excessive.

At this point we were only about fifteen minutes behind schedule. But nothing happened. And still nothing happened. Eventually we were told that we would not be taking off for another half an hour as we were the last flight out and so we had to wait for one more plane that had passengers connecting to our flight. Take note: go for earlier flight next time.

A man in the row in front of mine noticed that there was a cart of luggage still sitting next to our plane. He mentioned it to above referenced bitter flight attendant. She clearly had no idea what was going on and dismissed his comment as none of our business. So he asked again. Next, the following exchange took place:

Flight Attendant: You want to go to Chicago?

Passenger: I am going to Chicago.

Flight Attendant: I wouldn’t be so sure about that.


Ouch. At that point the passenger stopped pursuing the question. Twenty minutes later the remaining passengers arrived. Then nothing happened. And we waited. Finally we were told that 1. There was a crate of luggage next to our plane that still had to be loaded, but no appropriate personnel could be found; and 2. We needed to be pushed out, but no appropriate personnel could be found. Eventually, after a two-hour delay, we took off for our less than two-hour flight.

Added annoyance: the bitter flight attendant was not wearing an ID. The ID badges of the other two attendants were put on backwards.

3 Responses to “Flying the friendly skies”

  1. LiL Says:

    Is it just me or are unpleasant-flight-stories multiplying at a dreadful rate?

  2. sworkman Says:

    Flight attendants not wearing their ID tags are in the business of not doing their jobs and not wanting 2 be identified for it. Report the flight # and date of the flight to airline managment. They will correct the attendants’ “oversight” very quickly.

  3. Pam Says:

    Flight Attendants not wearing their ID tags are in the business of protecting the security of air travel. The FAA and the airlines require the ID tags to not be displayed on the aircraft in order to avoid them being copied and reproduced.