Recently, a family came on my flight. I got almost no 'vibe' about them at all.
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The man was probably in his early 60's. He wore a dark suit, a white shirt, and a very nice, but very loud, Christmas tie. The woman was wearing a bright green sweater dress. She was in her late 50's to early 60's. Her short hair was carefully styled. She wore full makeup, and appeared to be ready to attend a party. Nothing flashy, just slightly dressier heels and purse than I normally see people wear on flights. (Well, hell, anything beyond pajamas is a bit fancy these days.) I'm just saying that if I was hosting an office Christmas party and opened the door to this couple...I'd think they were dressed exactly right for the moment.
Their grown daughter was with them. She had on a nice, dark pantsuit, with a bright red top, and was in full hair and makeup.
They looked like a perfectly nice, perfectly respectable, middle aged, middle-American family.
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We eventually got a different gate and moved to that. Then there was a small mechanical problem that had to be addressed.
We all thought we were finally ready to leave, when the captain announced that our destination of Chicago had a ground stop. (This means air traffic controllers decided it's necessary to slow down the flow of inbound aircraft into the airport.) The captain said the ground stop would be at least 20 minutes.
The agents working the flight were great. They rebooked passengers with really tight connections, and kept everyone updated as the situation changed. The passengers were incredibly nice about it. Some joking about it. Mostly shrugs and 'Best laid plans...' sort of comments.
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There was a young man in the military who was traveling out of uniform. Because of the reroutes one seat opened in first class and they upgraded this man to it.
About the time the captain made the announcement about the ground stop this man realized he'd left his backpack at the original gate. Because of the ground stop, the agents knew they had a little time to work with. They tracked down the bag. It had been taken to lost and found. One of the agents ran all the way through the terminal, outside of security, retrieved the lost article, hurried back, and got it back to this passenger just as the captain was going out to get our revised flight plan,
The young man had gotten really upset by his mistake in losing his bag with his wallet and other valuables in it. He was so overwhelmed by the situation, and the kindness of these agents that this big old strapping soldier started crying. When the agent brought his bag and gave it to him he gave her the biggest hug and everyone in the vicinity started clapping and cheering.
It was a very heartwarming moment. I was so proud of my coworkers for really going above and beyond to help this man out.
And I thought:
Ahhhhh...Christmas really brings out the best in everyone!
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So, the ground stop was finally lifted and we were on our way.
When we got in the air the young woman in this group asked if we had chargers for passengers because "You made us so late that my phone's almost dead." I told her I'd lend her mine, and went to get it.
When I came back and was handing it to her at the window, the man on the aisle started yelling: "If we hadn't waited for that VIP in first class we'd be halfway there!"
"What? No. We were waiting because O'Hare had a ground stop.", I said. "The captain made an announcement."
"I heard what he said but he was lying to us. It was so obvious we were waiting for Mr. First Class VIP to get his precious stuff back."
The woman in the middle said: "We're late to an event because of him!"
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| I was looking for an angry passenger image. Maybe I should check this out? |
Just then another flight attendant, Amy, whose jumpseat is up front, and was there through the incident with the backpack, came back.
I asked her to explain why we were delayed. She tried to tell them what I'd just said, but the older couple both just crossed their arms, shook their heads 'no', and kept insisting that the delay 'was all caused by waiting for the VIP to get his bag.' Then the man yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Liars!!! You're all liars!"
Passengers for rows around jumped when he started yelling.
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Amy started to head back to the galley. The passenger from the row in front of this group came back to tell us these people were drunk. Apparently, they'd spent the delay time in the bar.
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We all agreed not to serve them any alcohol.
I called the captain and told him where these people were sitting, what they thought had happened, that we'd been informed they'd been drinking and that we weren't going to be serving them.
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Our galley flight attendant, Jane, was the one who had the pleasure of getting to them first and informing them we wouldn't be serving them. The woman slammed her tray table shut and started yelling about how terrible Jane was. The man loudly and belligerently started yelling about how "We lie to them, then won't even serve them."
Jane said she'd be happy to get them soda, juice, or coffee.
"That's not what we asked for!" the woman screamed.
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When we got back to the galley I called the captain again and explained how volatile they were becoming. He then talked to Amy who told him about the name calling and tray slamming.
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I'll have someone meet the flight and talk to them.
For the rest of the flight every time we'd pass their row they'd make rude remarks, laugh loudly, and talk about how they were going to get free miles out of this incident for their inconvenience.
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When we landed the captain announced "I'm so sorry for the delays today and I apologize their will be one more. Everyone please keep your seats when we get to the gate. Unfortuntately, there's been a passenger disturbance and the authorities are meeting the flight.
The general manager came on. We watched as he went all the way back to their row...then turned around and walked all the way back to the front.
He then came back and asked the group to get their belongings and follow him.
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The police met them on the jet bridge and escorted them away to discuss the matter.
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I asked Amy why the man came back twice.
"He didn't think that could be them. He said most of the disturbances are by some 20-something year old guy."
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The more I thought about the incident, the more I sort of thought the same. They weren't your typical problem passengers. I began questioning my trusty 'Problem-Waiting-To-Happen Customer' radar.
Mainly, I kept fixating on the fact that this guy was wearing a Christmas tie. You just don't expect trouble from a middle-aged guy with a festive tie on.
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It would have been helpful if his tie said something like:
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