With the holiday season around the corner, many of us take advantage of long breaks and travel either for pleasure or to return home to loved ones.
As this is the month of giving and sharing, let’s not forget those who sacrifice their festivities in order to provide us with service and forgive those who are grumpy this month because they missed having jolly good fun and spending it with their family.
One service line that comes to my mind is the airline crew. With holiday seasons, it is common to encounter overbooked flights, flight delays and lost pieces of luggage. While we might be anxious to get going to our destination, we need to remember that most of the time the front line crew are not to blame. Yes, they might be representing their airline but there is little point in screaming at their faces, is there?
Check-In Airline Crew
Most of the time, these people are lowly wage staff handling a massive crowd eager to check in their pieces of luggage, ready to be transported by a baggage tug and print their tickets. They have to repeatedly ask you to present all the passports of the passengers and do it with a smile. It doesn’t help that you are stuck behind a family of 10 with 5 screaming overly excited kids in tow.
My advice: Check in early or even better, check in online.
Tips:
- If you are nice to them, they might even upgrade you to a window seat or a business class. (Upgraded to an aisle seat when I couldn’t do so online.)
- If you asked politely or appear with a puppy face, they might turn a blind eye to the additional 3kg from your overload luggage. (Achieve that many times on my part.)
Boarding Crew
They are the ones who usually faced with the worst customers typically when there is a plane delay. You are stuck in the boarding area, anxious to get to the plane and settle into your seat. The moment the PA announced that your flight is delayed for the next 10 minutes, you’ll see a horde of angry passengers surrounding and harassing the poor crew who is trying his or her best to persuade you that the plane will get off in due time, plastering a tired smile.
My advice: It is a good thing when flights are delayed. Rather have the flight to be safe, the crew to be careful than to risk it. This is the mantra that I keep telling myself whenever my husband’s flight is delayed or postpone and he can’t come home in time.
Tips:
- Always have a good warm scarf or wrap with you. You can always use it as a pillow or an emergency blanket if you need to sleep in the boarding area.
- Bring along your devise chargers. I know folks always bring along their mobiles and laptop with them but checked in the heavy chargers. If you have chargers, you can still work or play on your devices. Watching movies online will probably ease your impatient nerves. (I have been stuck in a 3rd world airport with no wifi for 5 hours but I managed to get a lot of my articles written with no distractions.)
Flight Crew
Okay, you finally board your plane, don’t go growling at the flight attendants when she asked to see your ticket. She just wants to make sure that you are boarding the right flight. Remember, as much as you might think that her or his job is glamorous, she needs to face the grumpy passengers when they are told to buckle up when the seatbelt sign is on, get bumps and bruises from the food carts while explaining why the roasted chicken meal is no longer available and clean the washroom after some jerk messes it up with his leftovers.
My advice: Board early and know where your seat is so you don’t back up to find your seat. Try to keep your carry-on luggage to one piece so everyone gets a space to put theirs too. And don’t be an idiot, trying to sneak a peek at your mobile phone when they announce all mobiles should be switched to flight mode.
Tips:
- Smile and say your warmest thanks whenever the flight attendant does something for you. They really appreciate it.
- Have all your requests ready when you call for assistance. Nothing is more irritating if you keep pressing the call button for water, for an extra blanket, for whatever you need for the tenth time in the same hour.
- If you want extra food, ask early. They might reserve for you especially when it is a long flight. I always get my extra croissant this way.
I’m sure there are plenty of unsung heroes in the airline industry like those who ensure our plane is ready and safe to take off, those who are in the control tower, those who prep our meals on board. Take this holiday season to be kinder to those who need to work in order for us to enjoy our time with our loved ones.
Do you agree with the above? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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A nice post of recognition Kally.
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Thank you, Miriam!
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yep
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Miriam, you are totally right – this is a thoughtful post, Kallie 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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Great advice, I have learned calling them by their name (they don’t wear those names plates for nothing) and talking to them like a normal person would can go a very long way 🙂
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Thank you! We are afterall, humans and working during holidays can be a mood downer for a lot of people.
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Great post Kally 🙂
I salute them too
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Thank you, Ben!
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Thank you for “liking” 7 of my last posts today. If you wouldn’t mind, please review the last post I have included in this comment to help me better understand my lack of clarity in this post. Did I need to reword the post or is it possible you were simply being kind in “liking” it without having read it? https://allabouthealthychoices.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/17-out-of-over-5000-people/
Your honesty in response would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for liking so many of my posts.
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Hi Jonathan, I did love the post and how you are driving the donation drive. I’ve copied your web link and send it to my husband and a couple of my friends since they don’t have WordPress accounts. Do you have a Facebook page on this so it is easier to share with others among our community?
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I have a personal facebook page. You are welcomed to ask to friend me and I will gladly do so. My name is Jonathan Colter. My wall has many posts from wordpress, so these would easily be found via facebook. I appreciate your idea and hope it exposes more people to helping these children experience a true dream; it certainly beats offering donations in their MEMORY!
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Buona serata
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Thank you
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Buone feste
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Nicely written. I flew from Atlanta to Israel in November. We first landed in Turkey and then flew to Israel. After my lay over in Turkey we boarded the plane. I loaded all my carryon in the upper compartment. I watched as the flight attendent tried to load someone eles carryon into every compartment butv was not finding any room. I knew that I had things in mine that I could hold. When I asked her to hand me those things, you could see the smile on her face. After the flight I was leaving the plane and she came up to me and said thank you for your help earlier. Sometimes its the same thinks that came help a persons day.. Be nice. It so easy.
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Awww… that is such a nice gesture! I wish everyone is as nice and generous on the flights. I always seem to bump into grumpy passengers who always are in a hurry to get somewhere.
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I agree on all counts! Check in online, be mindful of the graceful signs of an event otherwise known as a flight delay and always, always and I do mean always . . board early and be extra mindful of your seating arrangements.
If I may add? Should the person sitting next to you wish to switch seats and you really don’t give a fig as to where you sit? Switch with them. Every time.
As a PS2? Compliment the lovely people who work the flight. Overtly. Because let’s face it, we say thank you every single day for things less simple than flight inside a tin can.
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Lovely advice! Thank you for sharing them. I always prefer to have my seat by the aisle so I always prebooked my seat early to avoid disappointment.
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Smart lady!
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Excellent post, that I can say as a former airline worker. 🙂
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Thank you so much. Would you like to share your former experiences as a guest post? If yes, please do drop me an email at kally@MiddleMe.net
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