A Delta Air Lines passenger flying economy from Paris to Boston placed their used meal tray on the ground in the aisle, so they could make tray table space to get work done. At least three people stepped in the partially-eaten trash on the way to the lavatory. According to another passenger in the cabin watching, he “could care less.”
Food tray left in aisle to continue work
byu/srbinafg indelta
This passenger probably thinks they’re pretty important, and can’t waste time waiting for their tray to be removed before returning to work. I do have to wonder, though, if that were true why are they in coach? Besides, the real power move in economy is two laptops not just one.
This is a new one…
byu/NationalIngenuity420 inunitedairlines
Last year I wrote about a Delta Air Lines passenger working while standing in his coach seat, turning the seat into a standing desk. That’s a great hack, it’s great for the back, though it can annoy your neighbors and may not turn out well in turbulence. It’s the move of a dedicated, upwardly mobile junior executive or consultant.
In coach I’ll usually decline drinks, because a cup on the tray can easily be knocked over and takes up space. An open can is equally dangerous. I can keep my bottle of water in my bag for whenever I need it, and if I’m seated in back I can have snacks handy there too. The tray is for my laptop.
In first I can usually turn the meal tray so that it’s vertical and I can fit my laptop and the tray. If I’m not super hungry I’ll just skip the meal and keep working. The food isn’t going to be very good on domestic flights anyway.
Flying long haul I’ll generally be up front with a bigger tray and more spaces to spread out food and work, which is great – I have a lot to do, and I’d rather get it done during quiet alone time than need to get work done when I’m home with my family.
I care about two things more than anything else when I travel: the space to open my laptop, and a strong internet connection in the sky. I need at least extra legroom, so that nobody is reclining into my screen.
I am sure to have a laptop with enough juice to last through the majority of my flights, but I still need seat power too. That means Southwest is out for anything more than three hours. Even their newest interiors only feature USB power.
If it’s the start of a day, I crank out the day’s work before I land. And if it’s the end of the day, I’m more than caught up on everything I need to do that piled up during meetings. There’s nothing better for work than starting and ending the day in the air.
@Gary: If he “could care less” then he cared. You mean he couldn’t care less.
The tray in the aisle is basically Tim Dunn’s comments on every Delta article.
And YET another instance of The Premium Airline’s customer base. Give me a Frontier or Spirit passenger anytime.
Sometimes flight attendants have other things that they have to do so they are slow picking up meal trays. Most of the time it has been because of turbulence and the pilot wanting them seated. That doesn’t seem to be the situation here because people were walking in the aisles. I wonder how much time elapsed after handing out meals before they were picked up. As usual, only some of the story is told. The person close enough to photograph it should have slid the tray into the owner’s footwell instead of making a story about it.
I have been on many Asian airline flights and the cabin crews are very good at coming around in a timely manner to pick up meal trays. Since I fly coach in the USA, I no longer have meal trays.
There’s an entire generation of otherwise-intelligent adults who are so socially stilted, yet at the same time so indignant, that is the reason Reddit is able to run as a for profit business on inane posts such as this one.
I’m debating whether or not they deserve to die of cancer.
If he covers the tray contents carefully, he can place it in his foot space and not dirty his shoes.
As corruption proliferates the globe, enjoy this wake-up call to what awaits us. Celebrations of selfishness, ignorance, and disorder. Why bother ‘doing the right thing’ when others won’t either. Who cares about your fellow passengers when the President is a convicted felon. I’d say, this passenger actually gets it. He/she/it is ungovernable. Well done, comrade. Or just an asshole. Either way!
People can be so self absorbed.
Glad this is national news
International Delta One® passengers are encouraged to avoid leaving used meal trays in the aisle. Instead, please utilize one of the complimentary aircraft lavatories as an appropriate makeshift place to store your tray, minimize aisle trip hazards, and provide a safe and pleasant environment for all onboard. Some elite passengers dispose of their smelly, leftover food waste by flushing it down the toilet. Passengers will appreciate your cooperation in maintaining a high standard of service for your fellow Delta Air Line frequent flyers.
I enjoyed reading court documents that lawyers pretend to look over next to me. Lots of nice personal information to ingest on a long flight. I fill my tray table with double whiskeys while i read the sad stories of litigants, motions to dismiss, and edit closing arguments in my head as the poor slob next to me labors away, scrolling diligently down the page.
Planes should have regular sized trash receptacles where passengers can place trash on their own. This way, passengers could simply get up and take their trash to the receptacle rather than waiting for a flight attendant.
Unfortunately, lavatories do not have large enough garbage receptacles for this.
“the real power move in economy is two laptops”
No, the real power move is a second portable display.
GuFlyer.
That was the dumbest ‘solution’ ever. Way to go moron.
Now the real solution is this jackass to quit acting like a jackass.
One of my high school teachers told me whenever he’d walk with a cup of coffee and a careless student bumped into him, he’d spill the coffee in the student. I think if my old teacher was on this flight, he’d take a walk up the aisle with a coffee, accidentally-on purpose step on the tray, and spill his coffee on the entitled passenger
Guflyer, that is assuming the passenger has enough capacity to take his/her trash that FAR. Have you seen trash bins around the city? Have you seen where shopping carts are dropped off ( 10 feet away from the stall.)…
JNS: just how fast can you serve 100 people, who have a real hard time deciding between 2 choices and can”t remember if they take cream ans sugar in their coffee? …and can”t remember to remove their headphones/ earbuds when being spoken to?
OMG!!!
This is SOOOO triggering!!
Pass me my emotional support unicorn teddy!
As a flight attendant for possibly this particular route i can say this is so unbelievably common and they expect you to pick it up off the ground for them when we come through for trash. Like me and many other flight attendants who are tired of being treated horribly, underpaid and work themselves to the bone on these international routes…. i can tell you that will usually stay there until someone hands it to me like a human.
35 years as a flight attendant I’ve seen worse, It wasn’t Donald Trump’s fault 35 years ago!
Another premium amenity brought to you by the worlds premier airline!
Typical the world only revolves around me mentality. I guess the passenger was too lazy to take his fat ass back to the galley and ask the FAs to take his tray. Sorry, but the modern coach tray tables isn’t really even made for meals let alone working on a lap top.
Why did this turn into a story about you?
@doug, you describe conditions that I have not seen among the passengers near me in coach. That is not to say it doesn’t happen but it has not been what I have observed. The FAA regulation is one flight attendant per 50 passengers or fraction thereof, so if you are serving 100 passenger by yourself, your company is misapplying resources. In coach on USA domestic airlines, there is no meal service for the entire cabin. I usually see only a few getting a meal and often that is preordered. I do not get meals in such cases but I will bring food with me. Most people know what they want for drinks and quickly tell the flight attendant what they want when asked. On international coach, which I fly on Asian airlines, I get meals along with full drink service. Per my observations of meal and drink service near me, once in a while someone is indecisive but most times people make up their minds quickly. More of a problem is if there is a language problem where the passengers cannot understand the flight attendant. In some cases the flight attendant has a flash card to help. Personally I make up my mind before the flight attendant gets to me, sometimes with help from seat pocket meal cards. I usually get Asian type meals on the way to Asia and often get Western type meals on the way to the USA but I will change it up in certain situations. I rarely get fish. I prefer chicken or pork as my proteins. I don’t drink coffee but will sometime get tea with two sugar packets. I prefer a can of cola with a cup of ice.
“That means Southwest is out for anything more than three hours. Even their newest interiors only feature USB power.”
The newer or refreshed Southwest planes with USB power have USB-C ports with 60W of power. This is enough to power a MacBook Pro.
Very rude to do that leaving tray in aile, what can he use button to call stewardess???
For a pickup is etiquette is out of windows
Wonder if do that at is home???
@Gu – to accommodate a trash bin, a seat would have to be removed. There’s no way an airline is going to give up a paying seat for a freeloading trash bin. And a trash bin(s) would only encourage passengers to walk the aisles and, probably, cause a foot traffic jam.
To.L3..It IS could care less . Couldn’t care less means you could care some.
@Jeff:
Time for a grammar lesson; you are dead wrong
@ Tired Flight attendant:
The below description is BEYOND hilarious!!! The idea of an underpaid FA who works at all, let alone to the bone? Really???
tired of being treated horribly, underpaid and work themselves to the bone
@ 1990. Congratulations . . . you are the only commenter on this thread to still be politics 24/7. That was a long way to go to vent your vitriol. Get over it/yourself.
I almost always sit in the window, even on longer flights . If I were sitting in the aisle, I’d have no problem walking the trash back to the galley as I am not crawling over anyone to get out of my seat . While I may have a laptop in my carryon, I’d never try deploying in on an economy tray. Tablet is much easier and smaller.
Gary working on a flight with his laptop equates to basically searching Reddit and TikTok for the next sensationalist BS he feeds his audience. That is, on the few flights he ever actually takes these days.
@Antwerp – you’ve got a strange sense of fanfic
I’m up in the air far more than most, and I also have a full-time job that keeps me very busy
“L’enfer, c’est les autres” Satre, Huis Clo.
Some passengers are so disrespectful. Maybe the Flight Attendants hadn’t served everyone yet & we’re still serving. There are procedures. After everyone is served then they pickup. He could have done it differently. He would have to pick it up anyway to hand it to me, I don’t serve food on the floor therefore I don’t pick up off the floor
Lack of seat power also rules out AMERICAN, since MANY of their aircraft STILL do not have ANY power…even in FIRST CLASS!
Once on Emirates I waited over an HOUR to resume working before they came to collect our trays, as I heard the FAs chit-chatting in the center galley. When they FINALLY came, I politely asked what the time standard is for food removal. She said, “Oh, we don’t have one. We just do it whenever.” WHAT!?
Every good service business has standards to be met for everything. I don’t blame the FAs. This is a training problem.
Wow. What part of keeping the aisle clear is not understandable, especially for someone so smart as to be gainfully employed? Does the person leave their crap on the ground at a restaurant? Their kitchen table? Oh that lowly person isn’t fast enough to pick up my waste, so I’ll just trash it where I see fit. Loser.