Cabin crews are often hard at work assisting passengers and meeting their every need on board. With this role comes dealing with passengers’ behaviour and emotions which can range from happy to sad and even downright strange.
In a forum on US knowledge-sharing site Quora, flight attendants discussed some of the most ridiculous passenger requests they’ve received, ranging from cringeworthy to highly entitled.
“The fact that she didn’t think that I am working on board and would not have the time to hold her camera and follow her around is beyond me.
“I told her that I was sorry but I did not have time for 30 minutes and that I could only help her with this for five minutes because I had to go and do other things.”
“She then became rude towards me and told me: ‘Who does a five min vlog?'”
Derry Lin, another flight attendant for Cathay Pacific, shared what she described as “one of the worst moments of her career.”
The incident began while she was finishing the meal service during a flight.
“I had just finished the meal service as normal, then I heard the call button.
“I went to the passenger and here’s how the conversation went:
“’Hi Sir, I see that you’ve pressed the call button, what would you like?’”
“’Uh, yeah, you know that you’re pretty and all that, can I take a picture with you so that I can make my wife jealous?’”
Lin said she was taken aback by his comment. She said: “You want me to help you with your relationship issues? I’m sorry, but I can’t do that, it’s not part of my job.”
Lin said the man then proceeded to push her into a wall and he said: “Will you kiss me? Please just once, I’ll remember it forever.”
She then slapped the man and pushed him off of her.
“He was restrained until landing with the help of other passengers who witnessed what happened.
“Needless to say he was met by law enforcement on landing and arrested,” Lin concluded.
Another flight attendant shared a rather unhygienic request from a passenger.
“I was working one flight and a passenger was in the toilet for an extended period of time and a queue was forming outside,” she said. “I then went to the lavatory door and asked if she was ok and I could hear her cursing.
“She then opened the door and she was completely flustered and kept looking back into the toilet bowl.”
The unnamed flight attendant revealed that the passenger had dropped her mobile phone into the toilet.
“The passenger was clearly frustrated about dropping her phone in the toilet. She then asked me to reach in and retrieve it for her. It’s not the strangest request but it has to be the cheekiest. We both have arms and that’s your phone. Why the hell would I put my hand down there when you could do it yourself?”
Phillip LeBlanc, a former flight attendant shared an equally entitled request from a passenger.
“Once as I walked by a lady sitting in her seat holding an infant on her lap she said, “’Excuse me. Would you mind changing my baby?’”
“Without breaking stride I said: “’Into what?’”
