Turbulence of Attitude: The Entitled Passengers You Wish You Could Avoid
When it comes to flying, passengers often find themselves squeezed into cramped space with little legroom and surrounded by a sea of fellow travelers. This situation already can be uncomfortable enough on its own, but the situation can quickly deteriorate when someone starts acting disgruntled or entitled.
Such behavior can transform an already stressful experience into a true nightmare. Brace yourself as the following tales of in-flight mishaps and passenger antics made even the worst turbulence feel like a gentle breeze.
1. Never-ending Tears Flow
Everyone is well versed with how much babies cry when they are on a plane. Well, this particular time, there was an adult woman. Within 3 hours into the flight, she started howling while crying and that was not the worst part. She then started shouting at people who comforted her and at some point attacked the dude sitting next to her.
The plane had to turn around and land just to escort her off, while she was still in tears.
2. The Most Horrible Family
Almost a year back, I was on a flight where a lady with a service dog came and sat in the front row. Once she sat down a dude, his wife, and their baby got on the plane. The man wanted the front seats for his family, so he asked the lady to move and when she denied, the man completely lost it. He threw bags into the aisle meanwhile the flight attendants told him that he cannot make anybody move her.
He seemed very pissed and tried to pull the service dog in the aisle as well. The lady cried for help and the man was informed by the flight attendants that if he continued his attitude, his family would leave the plane. Lastly, he stopped but kept his bag above the lady's seat despite having sat way back.
During the entire journey of the flight, everybody was upset as his wife was letting their baby play on the tray table, pulling passengers hair in front, changing diapers right in the seat, and putting them in the seat pocket in front.
As soon as the plane landed, the wife and the man rushed through the entire flight about taking their bag and pushed the lady with a leg brace and a cane back into her seat. They were immediately removed from the plan and it was troublesome because I have never met such worst passengers during any of the journeys.
3. Let Me Look Outside
I sat by the window seat in front of the emergency row, hence the woman with her grandson could not look outside. The grandma asked me to change my seat up right so her grandson could look outside of the window. However, I did not lean through the seat back as I am quite tall and I told her that couple of times and still she would be upset about it. So, I would turn around and ignore her.
The girl who sat beside me gave me a look that meant, 'I get it' even though we did not speak during the duration of the flight. The grandma kept pestering me about how my seat was not up so as a last resort, I closed the window, hence no one could look outside and she finally stopped complaining after that.
4. The Language Obstacle
Once when I was on a flight from Dallas to Cancun and there was a lady who spoke awful things right behind us. She was disturbed by the fact that others on the plane were speaking Spanish. She was so concerned that she looked around and went on to say something that literally took everyone's breath away, that is: 'This is why we all want to build a wall.'
The women just kept looking at her with a surprising look which I shall never forget and they did not talk for the rest of the flight. I felt sad for them and thinking about it I felt why didn't the pissed woman not realize that she was on a flight to Mexico.
5. First One In The Row
I was once stuck at Newark airport for almost 22 hours as our flight had a problem, some could not be fixed and it was canceled at night, pretty late. They had us stay at the hotel in the meantime until the new flight arrived but all the passengers were really very grumpy and exhausted. While waiting to get on the new flight, the flight attendant said that they would allow people who require additional help and families with small children, next the first class and lastly the premium economy passengers.
Such a procedure is quite normal because people in wheelchairs or families with young children take time to board. However, one man who seemed like from the business class ran towards the attendant and shouted to her and was upset about the fact that he lost a day in this process and because of their mistake, he had to wait some more time.
The wild aspect here is that he looked at others thinking everyone would agree with him as he screamed at the attendant who was simply doing her job while being stuck just like us. However, she handled it like a pro by smiling and said, 'Ok sir.'
She went ahead towards the mic and announced towards everyone else waiting—the people in wheelchairs and the moms with babies—that this man needed to get on the plane before them and that they could wait.
Everybody started staring at this man and upset that he tried to say that he did not mind waiting for the first group anymore. But the attendant said, 'No, no, no you made yourself clear—let's get you on board while others will wait.'
He looked awkward and uncomfortable as he walked by.
6. The Vision Was Blurry Because Of Anger
Once while me and my son were traveling through a cross-country flight back to Manchester and our connecting flight had mechanical problems. It was the last flight out that day, so we had to wait until the following morning to get home. The flight attendants asked us to head to the gate agent as they would help guide us into finding a hotel. Once we reached near the stand, there were two middle aged men who were yelling at the gate agent.
They were red-faced and stomped as they screamed about an important meeting the following morning. The gate agent then patiently got them close to the airport. They later started cribbing about the quality of the hotel and asked for a better one. The agent kept trying to talk to them and kept getting interrupted.
Lastly, those men left and continuously screamed while heading down the terminal. As soon as I reached the gate agent, my son and I spoke politely to help us find the hotel and re-book our flight. She helped us but also 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. Free From The Haze
A business man that was very groomed threw a toddler-level tantrum at the check-in counter when he was told that his flight was delayed due to the fog. He literally yelled while jumping up and down as he demanded the airline 'better do something about it or ELSE!'
The man who worked behind the counter smiled and suggested that the business man could go outside and try and flap the fog away with his arms.
The entire queue burst out laughing.
8. The Trunk That Went Out Of Control
There was a child who was headed on a flight from Toronto to Houston who was absolutely going crazy. During 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 lady got hold of him and got him back to his family. But the horror had just begun because he was allowed to be on the loose when the service was over. Fortunately, somebody from the cockpit came to say to the family that we couldn't start the landing approach until the brat was in his seat. They put him in his seat while he screamed.
The family was so clever 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 smiled their way out of the aisle. Because the mom had a cane, it was hard for her to get off. Because we reached, we were waiting for the aisles to get cleared.
When we came out we heard the kid shout halfway down the jetway. And that's when a sight came to behold because there were authorities holding him while the entire family was in handcuffs.
9. The Platinum Privileged Person
When I was flying, there was really bad turbulence. Obviously the seat belt sign was on and everybody, even the members like us in the crew, sat down while praying for our dear life. Some guy dude got up from his seat making his way towards the washroom and bouncing off other co-passengers and by mistake elbowed a lady in the face, resulting in her nose get broken.
Apart from the screaming from the lady and my jumping seat close to the toilet, I asked the dude to sit down right away and he said, 'No, It's fine, I am a Platinum Frequent Flyer, it's fine.' I was astonished with the kind of stupidness and entitlement he had while I was helping the woman with a broken nose and ignoring the assist bell from the bathroom. He later emerges, enraged that we did not respond to his toilet bell in order to help him.
Yes, you got it right, he urinated all over himself because of the turbulence. It turns out, it was not the best time to use the bathroom.
10. Uhm, I Want Those
My husband, I and our little toddler got seats on the plane behind the bulkhead. We all settled in well and a woman came to me asking my husband if we needed those seats. I didn't quite get hold of the interaction but definitely sensed her attitude from him especially because we paid extra per seat to sit there for our 12 hour overseas flight with a toddler.
11. Sore Head In The Sky High
Once when my father and I were ahead in line to pre-board on the flight to Cleveland Clinic from Atlanta due to my extreme migraine disorder, cluster headaches, and general frailty. A large woman in her 30's was in a wheelchair right behind us saying, 'Excuse me! You are too young to pre-board! Let us older people go. You can stand!'
She kept on berating us while I was suffering in pain and with the migraine I had, I could not see so I passed out while leaning on the gate desk and the woman screamed 'stop faking it' and asked to move aside to which my amazing dad responded, 'As if we could move out of your way and still make our flight.'
The lady was screaming 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.
It was relatively a flight I remember that was great even though I don't remember what class it was.
12. A Flight Of Madness
Once, while flying from Thailand to Vietnam, there was a huge group of tourists that came on board 5 minutes before take off. They yelled and shouted while hitting everyone with their bags and finding out that there isn't a lot of space in the overhead compartment. One lady removed others' bags and she ended up being moved to another flight with other passengers.
The air hostess then kept her luggage in an employee's compartment. The flight was horrible: they would not sit while taking off, they were being too loud, and did not respect others on the flight. The lady who removed others' bags was having a cup of noodles when she started screaming at the flight attendant.
When she was asked to prepare for the landing, she started screaming in Cantonese. After about a minute, she goes on to toss the boiling cup noodles on the flight attendant. It was a complete chaos and once we landed, the authorities were waiting for her and immediately took her in.
13. The Seat-Kicker Mischief
Few years back when I was on a seven-hour flight, a kid behind me kept kicking the seat and thought it was better to wait hoping that he would stop eventually but to my surprise, nope it did not stop and went on for another hour until I just could not bear it anymore.
During my 10 years of traveling regularly, this was the first time I complained to the flight attendant about it and she apologized about it and asked the family sitting behind me to keep it low.
They just looked at her and did nothing and the minute she left, the kid started kicking and I couldn't take it anymore and I loudly addressed the family after turning back, 'Could you please make him stop doing that?' The father immediately said sorry and still nothing improved. The kid kept going on, so finally, I called the flight attendant and asked her if there was any other seat available because of the family behind me.
Later she came back after some time to move me to the first class. It was my first experience in the luxury section. The worst bit is that she kept apologizing to me and I kept asking her to stop, because it was not her fault.
14. Amusing A Kid
When I was traveling from New York To LA for a major business trip. I was sitting on the window seat and the nearby middle and aisle seats were empty. Just before a minute or two prior take off, a lady and her 2 year old kid boarded the plane and the kid started having tantrums because he wanted to walk around the plane while it was still on the runway. Additionally, the mother did not did not carry anything for the child to be entertained.
As a result, she lets him wander around on the plane when it takes off. The flight attendants then eventually got the kid to be with his mother as the flight is in the air and they cannot have them leave as well. Hence, I ended up suffering with this child for almost a good 5 and half hours.
15. In Such A Hurry
Once when I was on a plane, half of the passengers ignored the rules. When all of us landed, people immediately got up and started to take their bags from the overhead bins. Let me tell you, we just landed and touched the floor of the landing strip so it's moving and it is dangerous for the passengers on the plane to move around and take their heavy bags above others' heads.
The flight attendant tried their best to get people to sit until the plane stopped moving and some people waved their hands at them scornfully. I guess the caption could hear the chaos begin and the flight attendants as well scream because of it all, the plane got an abrupt stop while knocking over all the people standing before continuing to park.
The flight attendant went on to say, 'This is EXACTLY why we have rules.'
16. Special Care!
When I used to fly in and out of DC, we always had an air marshal. Once while traveling, the agent let them get there early. Passengers started getting on board and the first ones to arrive were a wealthy-looking older couple where the woman demanded to know who the men were that boarded before then. Her husband then asserted that he paid to be first before the other passengers boarded.
It is ridiculous as we would let passengers with wheelchairs and others in first. I had a great comeback for this kind of nonsense. I 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 cannot even imagine how a person thinks that they are so entitled they deserve to sit down on an airplane seat before any other person.
17. Taking Up The Space
When I was on my 8 hour flight to Florida, a family of five was boarding first and asked the air hostess to rearrange their kids' seats to be put together. I understand that, I am a mother too but they occupied the entire row—including my seat. The air hostess tried to arrange for them to be together and asked them softly and politely to let us sit and we were simply ignored.
On asking repeatedly again they told, 'No we are waiting for our seats, and you could wait at the back of the plane.' I folded my arms and was staring at them down as they made people behind me wait and I said it wasn't me that's holding space up but the entitled family.
They finally moved to go wait at the back of the plane.
18. Seatbacks Thin As Sheets
Once when I was flying out of Heathrow to my native place, Belfast I was sitting on the aisle seat and there was a man behind me who kept digging his knees on my back. I understand if someone may have long legs but one can keep their luggage in the locker and use the space below to stretch or maybe move their legs so they are not hurting others' spine.
Eventually as time passed by, his hands moved, knees moved, then hands moved, and this went on for 10 minutes or so and I had it all. Next when the kneecap arrived, I kept my hand back, grabbed the knee through the seat and squeezed as hard as I could, using my best guess as to the pressure points.
The knee then went away and never returned and I made sure to not have eye contact while getting off the craft. Although, he looked like an ordinary dude who was not too tall or not so fat. I think he just wanted to just push his knees against my back and enjoyed that.
19. Hand-made Italian Designer Purse Priority
Working as a flight attendant, it gets to me when I say something simple and people argue as if it is my personal preference. I then have to politely explain to them that it is a federal aviation regulation, and sometimes even then, people argue and you know why? Because they want to know and I get it, it's fair.
When 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.' At this point, most of them comply, however once this woman told me how expensive her handmade, Italian purse was.
I had to put it to her in selfish terms and in a mental space that she appeared to be in so I went on to question her, 'Is your purse more important than you being on this flight'? She asked me if I was being serious
When I began 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?' No, I was not, but we were able to taxi at that point. That was extreme, but yes, I hated her and still do!
20. A Clever Comeback
After meeting our family, mum and I were traveling back to the States on a flight when I was around 7 or 8 years old. Back then I guess there was some mix up and they had double booked my mothers' seat. We were the first ones to reach and there was a woman who asked that my mother move because she was traveling alone.
If you think logically, the person with the small child should stay but no she yelled at my mum until she gave up her seat and took me along to find seats which would be together and not separate.
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 are mean.' I don't remember the incident quite well but I do remember being very weirded out about her offering that.
21. Absorbing The Fire!
Once while flying, I was an unaccompanied minor, and the boy who sat next to me—also an unaccompanied minor—would not SHUT UP and KEPT TALKING and because he was talking to me I received looks from the passengers passing by that were meant for him as well.
He kept shouting, 'BUTTS ON FIRE!' and laughed like an idiot. He also kept irritating a dog with another passenger and we were both pulled up for his behavior during that journey.
22. Worth The Applause
I was a passenger on a flight from PHX to an airport in Texas and I saw a creepy guy who kept switching between getting angry male flight attendants for the flight being delayed on the ramp and hitting on the female flight attendants.
He also tried to touch one of the female flight attendants inappropriately, one of the flight attendants told him, 'Sir you need to get off this plane as you are not going to be on this flight.'
The entire part of the section clapped loudly and it was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an entire group of people on a plane to have a valid reason for clapping.
23. The Plane Could Be Handled Better
Once when I was on a flight, there was really bad turbulence and it did not stop for around 10 minutes and the old woman next to me reached out and pressed her button for help. The flight attendant walks over to see if the woman is okay, and that's when this woman throws her tantrum that she had been flying all her life and said that, 'The pilot has no idea what he is doing' and the attendant simply walked off.
24. Pretty Stinky Rich Attitude
Two weeks prior to my grandma's death, I had booked a first-class ticket from Hawaii to St. Louis as I needed to fly quickly because it was the only way I was allowed to make my travel needs. Once I was on the plane, the guy next to me looked at me and asked, 'Are you sure you are in the right seat? You don't like that you can afford this seat.'
I was probably not the one who dressed great but when I displayed my ticket, and told him to shut his mouth, I did not hear a single word out of his mouth apart from 'excuse me.'
25. The Blues Kicking Before The Wedding
On the flight I was on, there was a passenger who had a meltdown because, me who worked as a flight attendant had to have it properly load their wedding dress and because the parcel was huge and spilled into the aisle, blocking the seats of the entire row.
I guess they would have 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. A Lot Of Warnings
When I was on a plane, there was a passenger who sat a few seats in front of me and kept aggressively asking the attendant for drinks and by this time others were just loading off their luggage. He was warned twice regarding his behavior and just about the time when we were pushing back from the gate, he was given a final warning by the senior attendant. Once she walked away, he abused her.
She turned around and told him we were going back to the gate and he was getting off. It took 20 minutes for his luggage to leave 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.
27. The Choice For The Seats
Once there was a man on the plane as me who was very short-tempered because he was on the plane with his wife and children and did not pre-book his seats so he wanted me to switch my window seat for a middle seat in another row.
However, I paid extra to pre-select my window seat so why should I give up what I paid for just because you wanted to save money and thought others would rearrange themselves for your family?
The air hostess stood by me and the family had to spread throughout the cabin.
28. Why People Hate Cat Ladies
The worst I have seen so far was when a woman who got her cats in a huge hard-sided carrier as her 'personal item.' It could not fit into her seat or the carrier above. Additionally she said both of them had to be on flight and was in boarding group 5. She caused us a delay of an hour while fighting with the attendants and airport workers about how the cat would be placed.
I am an animal lover myself but this was horrible because I am sure all the passengers on that flight wanted her and her cats left behind.
29. Being Disrespectful From Both Ends
My friend works as a pilot for a North American airline and in his plane there was a passenger who was rude and disrespectful towards the female flight attendants. Halfway through the journey, one of them was fed up and confronted him asking what his problem was and how a middle path could be taken and his response was beyond description
He smirked while saying, 'In my culture, women are supposed to be slaves for the men.' Her response was also unacceptable. She said, 'In my culture, you are a taxi driver.'
He lost it so 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. Change For The Seats
Few years back, me and my wife were traveling to Mexico for our friends' wedding. I remember seeing a young woman who was agitated at the ticket counter. She was demanding a seat next to her husband. When we started boarding 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 were quite adjusting and were excited for the trip so went with it. Once I began settling in my seat, the young lady and her husband came and sat next to me and began a small talk with how airlines are 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.'