American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passengers

[FrankieFlyCRQ]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Good. I would have canceled the flight as well then I would of systematically slapped each passenger who was booing.
Im sure they had a good reason for the delay. The crew made a wise choice. I hope management was on their side.

:yeahthat::laff::laff::laff: yea I would of helped you slap each one!

I'm willing to bet it was no mistake those bags arrived in JFK instead.

I'm willing to bet your right

 

[Velocipede]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Easy solution. For the loudmouths: "You, you and you are not going."

"Anyone else got anything else to say?" "I thought not."

 

[MQAAord]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Customer service is/should be vital to the airlines. HOWEVER, the crew does not deserve to have to work in a hostile environment where they may very realistically fear for their safety. The crew must have felt they were facing an angry, possibly uncontrollable mob, and NO ONE deserves to have to work in that environment.

I do wonder what if anything they were told by the agents prior to their arrival.......

As is the case with most situations, none of us were there, so none of us know exactly what happened, and what the atmosphere was there at that gate.

 

[SeanD]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Easy solution. For the loudmouths: "You, you and you are not going."

"Anyone else got anything else to say?" "I thought not."

:yup::yup: Excellent.

 

[Minuteman]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

This video is not from the flight/incident in MIA this week, but is probably a fine example.

[YT]Txic-mJ3GeU[/YT]

 

[mtsu_av8er]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

As is the case with most situations, none of us were there, so none of us know exactly what happened, and what the atmosphere was there at that gate.

True. Which is why I assume that the agents did their job poorly. I just base that on what I see every day.

 

[MQAAord]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

True. Which is why I assume that the agents did their job poorly. I just base that on what I see every day.

Yeah, I really am curious what was said to the pax by the agents during that wait.

 

[mtsu_av8er]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Yeah, I really am curious what was said to the pax by the agents during that wait.

Wait until you hear my story about the "pink tagged bag and the gate agent". Un-frigging-believable.

 

[derg]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

I think it's YOUR fault, man!

 

[mtsu_av8er]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

I think it's YOUR fault, man!

Dough, I've learned that it's ALWAYS the FO's fault.

 

[ppilot]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Sure it is Americans delay, and their shouldn't be an excuse to keep people waiting that long, but I'm sure there is a logical reason why they were late, like comming in from another flight that was delayed, or crew rest, reserve crew etc... Either way, that doesnt give the passengers the right to start acting like animals! This is what happens when you travel by car,boat,train,bike,rollerskates,skateboard,"AIRLINES" are just as likely to have delays, especially with AA being if not the largest airline in the US, the world.

Sure, keep thinking that way. Like I said, it's all good for me. The more miserable you make people's experience the better.

 

[melax]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

People to never tick off:

5. A LEO who just pulled you over.
4. Hotel Check in
3. TSA
2. People who prepare your Food
1. Airline Flight Crews

HUMM... How about the Nurse giving you that IV at the Hospital...

 

[E_Dawg]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Not to state the obvious but it probably wasn't so much the crew being late as it was just that they needed legally required rest, having just landed 8hrs prior.

As for AA, so far they have been the utmost professionals in every interaction I've had with their flight crews.

 

[FrankieFlyCRQ]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Sure, keep thinking that way. Like I said, it's all good for me. The more miserable you make people's experience the better.

I will keep thinking that way because thats just the way it is. I experience it everyday as a customer service agent for the airlines. Some things like mechanicals and wx are out of our hands, other delays/cancellations due to crew are more of a disservice to the passenger I would say. I will agree it's not good service for the customers and thats why they get free ticket vouchers, free mileage plus, free upgrades, the right to call customer relations and complain when their is a problem. There is nothing more the airlines can do for the pax other than refund their money back assuming it's a refundable ticket..
Now yes how professional or unprofessional the airline representative handles the situation is different, you can unfortunitly either disservice the passenger professionally or very unprofessionally meaning breaking your back to help them out in any type of situation or blowing them off and taking your lunch 20 minutes early.
Nothing more to it, thats how it goes when you use the airlines. Passengers have a choice, either hate it or love it, fly or dont fly!

 

[Qgar]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

If it was a crew rest/late inbound flight--the pax at the gate should have been informed by the gate agent. That MAY have helped quell the mob. Some agents are good about informing pax, others are horrible and don't care as long as they get to unload their "problem" on the flight crew. :banghead:
That being said, Velocipede is 100% right. If the CA sets the tone and makes an example of the few yahoo ringleaders, I'm willing to bet everyone else will fall into step. If not, well then their sorry asses should be left behind as well.
The last thing any crew needs is a bunch of amped-up pax thinking they run the show. That's why good flight crews make it known from the get-go as to who's in charge of the aircraft. If you leave any doubt in the pax mind, you can bet they'll be a lot braver, more disrespectful and non-compliant. Sorry to sound like a drill sergeant, but that's what it amounts to sometimes. Tis better to come across as a no-nonsense FA and soften up as the flight goes on, then the other way around. Believe me!

 

[cre8flyer]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Airlines get hundreds of dollars (market prices) for a ticket then treat their paying customers like $#!&. The gate agents and crews are the company's face to the customer, they should expect to pick up flak. Its ridiculous the way customers are treated (by crews and gate agents!). Crews and gate agents would make a huge difference to the experience of the flying public if they treated them with respect, provided information, show up on time for work, etc. is that too much to ask?

This may be an unpopular opinion on this site. . . but you guys don't know where to send my baggage on my next flight anyway, so who cares. . . tee hee.

 

[MQAAord]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

This is from another AA FA who flies a lot of these trips and knows a few of the crew members on this flight.

Flyertalk: AAFA

For background: The crews who work caribbean and MIA know the difference between hostile/dangerous and hostile/blowhard. You work enough of those late night SJU flights or MIA over the years and you usually wind up with an unwanted lesson in the life of a drug mule whose drug filled condom punctured, junkies shooting up in the bathroom and fainting with needles sticking out of their arms that you discover after taking the door off the lav when they don't respond to your knocks, people pulling knives/knife like objects on each other, and blood splattered (sometimes drunken) brawls.

From the story I had told to me the passengers weren't just booing. They were shouting obscenities and making derogatory references to people's sexual orientations. The behavior was "mob like" and threatening as they converged around the crew as they attempted to walk through the boarding area.

Their delay was caused by missing crew clearance documentation clearance in U.S. customs. They had to wait for someone to fax the paperwork to customs. It was a long wait because the office was closed at that time of night and they had to find someone with access to that info to make a copy and get it over to customs. They already had a long day at work and that wait was frustrating.

Then they get to the gate and had to deal with an unruly crowd booing and yelling vile things at them.

My person told me they wanted to go minus the people they picked out as threatening but the agents told them removing the people they wanted to was not a possibility. It became an all or nothing thing so the crew opted for nothing.

For the record, I've worked charter flights to Turkey and Spain and the New Yorkers, New Yorricans, and Dominicans would make them look like school girls in a match up.

 

[WestIndian425]

Re: Gate Agents & Media

This video is not from the flight/incident in MIA this week, but is probably a fine example.

[yt]Txic-mJ3GeU[/yt]

Gate 41? Port Authority? That took place at JFK.

Easy solution. For the loudmouths: "You, you and you are not going."

"Anyone else got anything else to say?" "I thought not."

:laff: As funny as that sounds, I like it. Good counsel, Velo!

Oh, and the NYC crowd can be childish and immature. I walked away from a guy last week because his comments were like that from a whiny child. I never thought I'd have to walk away from a customer while they were still talking but I'm not gonna stand there and listen to "Since this airline is obviously going out of business, what are YOU going to do about it?" I recommended other airlines and other hubs as usual, and that was it.

That's the EWR crowd, eh? I would venture to say that it can get testy in the tri-state area, but a lot of these passengers are not O&D, or even live in NYC. Of course I would defend it since it's my home.

That being said, if I see that there is no "diplomatic solution" and the passengers want to stay irrate, I'll transform into Velo and unleash.
(Did I just give Velo props again? :banghead:)

 

[Firebird2XC]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

I think Velo's 100% right there. People think they have a sense of entitlement when they fly now. They view the speed, relative comfort and convenienve of air travel as a right, not a privelege. I can't help but notice the contrast between the U.S. and some of the other countries I've been to. The difference in quality of life.. and the resulting difference in attitudes is staggering.

This sort of 'Paris Hilton Syndrome' that's affecting U.S. citizens is disgusting. I won't tolerate it, and I hope the captains I fly with set the exact tone that Velo demonstrated. I go out of my way to be nice to customers when I can, but if they come at me sideways, they can talk it over with airport security.

Seriously. U.S. air travel has its share of woes, to be sure, but if you're booking a ticket and leave yourself a 20 minute gap to make your connection, you're an idiot. I've been screwed by an airline before (and I knew they were lying to me...) but for the most part most passengers are just out for a free lunch. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
(TANSTAALF - R. Heinlein)

We need a two pronged approach to this, however- first off, we need to get our own houses in order. We need to bring the customer service at all levels back to a reasonable level. In addition to that, we need to take absolutely ZERO crap from passengers making unrealistic demands, and supervisors need to back personnel standing their ground when that happens.

I really like Velo's attitude on this one- if they dont' want to play nice, they don't ride. :rawk::rawk:

 

[Qgar]

Re: American Airlines Cancels Flight Due to Hostile Passenge

Captain's Authority, isn't it?

I like it! I feel so much safer and happier as a crew member when I'm flying with a no-nonsense type CA. Don't get me started on the ones who say, "you'll be rid of him in a little while...forget about it." :whatever: