An American Airlines passenger made the holidays a bit brighter for the crew of his five hour Airbus A321neo flight when he brought gifts for the crew – an AirPods Max for each flight attendant and pilot. He was seated way back in row 37, and a passenger at the first class bulkhead was inspired to switch seats to honor him for the gesture – so he winds up in 1D, instead of in back by the lavatory. It’s going viral as others grab the video and repost it to their own accounts.
Most observers are warmed by the gesture,
“Nice to see someone appreciative of crew during holiday travel”
“small kindnesses matter”
On the other hand, this is an account that is doing this for content – it’s not a random candid moment. So some people see it as performative engagement-farming, and virtue-signaling with a camera on.
It’s also bribery-adjacent. You hear a flight attendant ask where he’s seated and say she’s going to take care of him. The “upgrade” he got was from another passenger, the implied bargain is still “gift crew and special treatment happens.
Some commenters in social media frame the event as ‘flirting because the flight attendants are attractive’ and that they’re benefiting from ‘pretty privilege.’ I don’t buy this angle because he clearly bought and brought the gifts without knowing who his crewmembers would be (and he’s gifting to the pilots, to, who he doesn’t even see – he gives those to a flight attendant to deliver to the cockpit).
Here’s the same person giving gifts to a Frontier Airlines crew several weeks ago.
People do give flight attendants gifts, but typically small and boring stuff like chocolates and thank you notes. AirPods Max for “the entire crew” is way outside the norm. In fact, airlines often restrict employees from accepting cash or valuable gifts (and some explicitly ban gift cards). There are also reports of crew getting in trouble when passengers frame gifts as bribery or special treatment.
- At American Airlines, airport customer service employees are allowed to accept “promotional items, complimentary tickets or perishable gifts (candy, fruit, etc)” that’s worth no more than $100. American tells employees to “share[..] with colleagues when practical.”
- However gifts worth over $100 must be returned.
- Employees are not allowed to accept “cash, gift cards, and gift certificates” regardless of amount. So no Starbucks gift cards.
At several airlines, customer tips, credit card signups, and duty free or meal purchases affect cabin crew compensation.
- Flight attendants at Frontier Airlines went viral before the pandemic because the airline had a policy of supplementing cabin crew wages with customer tips.
- On many airlines flight attendants earn a commission on credit cards passengers sign up for. If you want to ‘tip’ cabin crew, maybe the best way to do it is apply for a credit card using their referral code.
- At Ryanair they have an inflight sales quota, the opposite of a tip or commission, they’re disciplined if they’re not closing sales. On Ryanair, buy stuff from your crew.
Your airline also may give you employee recognition certificates, if you have status with them, and those can entitle them to entries in a drawing for big prizes or other benefits.
Of course I find the best way to get ‘special treatment’ is to just be nice, and if you don’t get what you want or need to just ask someone else (“hang up, call back“).
So I don’t know – what do we think about holiday gifts for crew? And does it matter if it’s modest Starbucks gift cards versus electronics?
“a passenger at the first class bulkhead was inspired to switch seats to honor him for the gesture”
WTF. This is just absurd. Just like giving up a seat for a cop or soldier.
How is this not a bribe?
Oh, cool. Bribes! Sorry, I mean, ‘gratuities.’ See Snyder v. United States, 603 U.S. 1 (2024).
If I am flying long-haul on a US or British carrier, regardless of class of service, I routinely will give the FAs a bag of mini-Toblerone or other assorted chocolates. It’s a nice thing to do and the FAs appreciate it. Costs very little to make someone’s day, and if the standard service I receive comes with a small extra smile, great, but that’s not the point. Chocolates may be boring, but it’s the sweet gesture (see what I did there?) sometimes that counts.
I would never do that on an Asian carrier of course, because I believe culturally they would be hesitant to accept a gratuity, and it would just lead to awkwardness. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe some folks wish that we tipped less in the US. C’est la vie.
As for handing out Airpods Max to an entire flight crew – I guess everyone wants to be Mr. Beast? I’m not sure it’s bribery-adjacent per se (and in an age of $26 upgrades, not sure this is the most cost effective way to be upgraded to first class), just performative. But if folks want to do performative things that can be written off for tax or estate planning or other corporate reasons (like handing out Airpods Max to a flight crew, or handing over $6.25b to children $250 at a time), and some folks get a tangible benefit (headphones or, you know, cash), great? I suppose this is the world we live in.
As we approach our semiquincentennial, I don’t think we’re all going to start following George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, but perhaps we might all labor to keep alive that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
“Pretty privilege”. Really? Obviously spoken by someone that isn’t. Get over it. Numerous studies have shown that attractive people, those that are in good shape and taller men are selected often over other candidates. That is just the way the world works so live with it and maybe try a little harder if you don’t fit this demographic.