Why are passengers rude to pilots?

[Maiko]

IMHO - Be a Professional Pilot, when interrupted by a rude passenger, do the best you can to help them with a smile and a kind word. We might not know where their flight leaves from, but we probably know where the information can be found.

Often passengers are running late due to no fault of their own and their stress is a normal reaction - after all we will leave them at the gate if they don't connect in time. If I can help someone with my ALPA pin and bag tags in plain view, I hope that passenger goes away with a better impression of airline pilots and of our association.

I once heard a senior US Attorney (two levels from the President of the US) relate a story how as a child she got lost at CVG and a Delta Pilot helped her find her way back to her father. This made enough of an impression on her that she still talks about it 28 years later and candidly, she holds Delta pilots on a pedestal as a result to this day.

After all, take a deep breath, forget all the Reguest for Proposal garbage for a second and enjoy smiling back at the kids that smile at you. They go back and draw pictures that they want to be airline pilots some day. Our percentages against Firemen have fallen in recent years and darned it, this is a better job that going into a burning meth lab, or an apartment complex engulfed in flames at 02:30 in the morning.

Even the backpacker pilots with the ear buds have the newest Ipod'o'Treo with WiFi. Show off that internet connection. Starbucs has free wireless and every airline (except for AirTran ) has a site where you can get current flight & gate info. These are our customers who pay for those jets we get to scoot around in. Go ahead and hate airline management for the stupid schedules and lousy service that get these people so jacked up to begin with, but don't hate the customer.

Well said.

 

[Maiko]

It's not just airline passengers, but in society in general there is no sense of decorum, courtesy or common decency. Take your family to a nice restaurant and some idiot will be sitting nearby letting the expletives fly because they think they're the coolest in the place and have a right to say and act how they want. We blew off our parents and grand parents when they wanted us to learn a few manners, and now we're paying the price for it. No one even thinks of saying please, excuse me, or thank you anymore. Just FU because I think I'm better than you. This is a trait that crosses all lines of gender, age race, and social background. Learn to live with it because that's just the way life has become.

I believe the cause to be "Political Correctness" ie dont reprimand your children when they misbehave, you might hurt their feelings. Dont smack them when they mouth off because they will call the 800 number.

 

[Maiko]

the pax that are rude are the ones that are accoustomed to riding greyhound, but since they got on travelocity and got tickets for the same price as the bus, they get to ride with us. Hopfully ticket prices will go up, and we can get coustomers that take daily showers agian and speak english.

AMEN!!!

 

[siucavflight]

AMEN!!!

Do you know you can have more than one quote in each response?

 

[VABB]

9 pages on nothing more than simply avoiding people when they ask a question. How hard is it to just give an answer and move on??

 

[BlueCanoe]

IMHO - Be a Professional Pilot, when interrupted by a rude passenger, do the best you can to help them with a smile and a kind word. We might not know where their flight leaves from, but we probably know where the information can be found.

Often passengers are running late due to no fault of their own and their stress is a normal reaction - after all we will leave them at the gate if they don't connect in time. If I can help someone with my ALPA pin and bag tags in plain view, I hope that passenger goes away with a better impression of airline pilots and of our association.

I once heard a senior US Attorney (two levels from the President of the US) relate a story how as a child she got lost at CVG and a Delta Pilot helped her find her way back to her father. This made enough of an impression on her that she still talks about it 28 years later and candidly, she holds Delta pilots on a pedestal as a result to this day.

After all, take a deep breath, forget all the Reguest for Proposal garbage for a second and enjoy smiling back at the kids that smile at you. They go back and draw pictures that they want to be airline pilots some day. Our percentages against Firemen have fallen in recent years and darned it, this is a better job that going into a burning meth lab, or an apartment complex engulfed in flames at 02:30 in the morning.

Even the backpacker pilots with the ear buds have the newest Ipod'o'Treo with WiFi. Show off that internet connection. Starbucs has free wireless and every airline (except for AirTran ) has a site where you can get current flight & gate info. These are our customers who pay for those jets we get to scoot around in. Go ahead and hate airline management for the stupid schedules and lousy service that get these people so jacked up to begin with, but don't hate the customer.

Perfect...couldn't have said it better myself...

 

[yaya]

Everybody on here has a black or white opinion. Quite frankly, my response to any qiven passenger in need is " its going to depend the scene". Is it an elderly person traveling alone at the last minute for some family emergency like a funeral who has clearly been neglected by our "people" department? Or it that woman dressed like a hooker clicking her gum in my face, oss is hanging out of her short shorts, bra straps fully visible,,, I might not be as accomodating. If someone comes up to me and starts yelling in my face (like recently when they assumed I was a gate agent) Yeah, I might walk away. Its not too hard for them to figure out guys,,, you are wearting an ID that says PILOT, carrying a rollerbag with kitbag and have a leather jacket on indoors.

I do think that too many uniforms in the airport look like ours. The TSA should not have stripes.

 

[CopilotDoug]

The other day a lady asked me if she could bother me for directions, to which I promptly screamed, "IF YOU CAN CATCH ME!"
I turned around and ran off in the other direction yelling to her over my shoulder that she'd never take me alive! I guess I gotta lay off the Starbucks

 

[EMB170Pilot]

You had the double mocha latte didn't you?

 

[yaya]

The other day a lady asked me if she could bother me for directions, to which I promptly screamed, "IF YOU CAN CATCH ME!"
I turned around and ran off in the other direction yelling to her over my shoulder that she'd never take me alive! I guess I gotta lay off the Starbucks

Nope, Some days are just like that.