American Airlines flight 2557 took off from New York JFK headed to Georgetown, Guyana on Tuesday – but 45 minutes after departure they made the decision to return to New York – for an unusual reason: a rude flight attendant created the issue.
While the airline blames the incident on a disruptive passenger, and while Indian television personality Joel Ghansham was apparently unpleasant to deal with, it’s the crewmember who escalated the situation and led to delays, inconvenience to passengers, and extra fuel and crew costs for the airline.
Ghansham was recovering from neck and eye surgeries and asked a flight attendant on the Boeing 737 MAX to help him by placing his carry on bag in the overhead bin for him.
According to Ghansham, the flight attendant refused, saying “I don’t get paid that kind of money but if you don’t like it there is always another flight.” Another crewmember helped him place his bag above his seat in business class.
Then, when the original flight attendant took his drink order by leaning over from the row behind him and brusquely demanding, “Do you want something to drink?” he didn’t answer and the flight attendant repeated forcefully and Ghansham responded by saying rudely saying no: “No thank you, waiter.”
That’s when things really escalated:
- The flight attendant reportedly said they “have the power to turn the plane” over the disrespect.
- And the passenger responded, “You must be God so you do it.”
The flight attendant went to speak to the captain who turned around the plane.
There were no threats or physical contact that have been reported – just a rude interaction between a flight attendant and a passenger, and a passenger responding to a threat to divert with you do it., two proud people in a pointless competition. Once on the ground, the passenger was met by police and released.
Here’s a passenger telling their the story:
Crewmembers discussing the incident on social media seem to find the passenger to have acted inappropriately – but that the flight attendant was worse here. They should have written up a report, and there was no reason to divert.
When there’s an unruly passenger, the airline wants them to file a CERS report. According to airline Senior Vice President Brady Byrnes, “That is what triggers the entire investigation process with corporate security.”
Cabin crew are instructed that these reports should be accurate, corroborated by a fellow crewmember (for legal purposes “to ensure that when we put somebody on the ‘do not fly’ list it sticks, there’s no legal challenge”), and timely, the faster the report gets into the system, the faster corporate security can investigate, the faster a passenger can be stopped from traveling on the airline. The acronym they’re supposed to keep in mind is A.C.T. This shouldn’t have required a diversion.
Hopefully this prima Donna gets fired for their actions. Doubt the Union would even support someone with this crappy attitude. BTW if internal message boards of FAs agree they acted inappropriately I’m sure they will be a popular member of any future crews. If you hate your job just quit – don’t make everyone else suffer!
FAs need to face consequences for their bad actions and power trips.
At what point does the captain hit the “reset” button and stay in charge of the flight? I get that a captain wants to support his or her crew first, and the captain’s first duty is to safely operate the flight and should not be spending time with babysitting passengers. But as the captain, they have to own the actions of their crew, even when the crew is not being professional. I am going to guess that the other crew members will not come out and contradict their colleague but are also not surprised this happened. Nobody “won” this thing and the other passengers were forced to take the loss.
Wow. Another story about a less than useless FA. Don’t talk to them. Don’t make eye contact. If you have to, give them a “yes” or a “no” and be done with it so they can go back to the galley and make fun of you. At least that way you should get to where you paid to go, hopefully, unless something like this happens with another passenger,
One of my best friends is a retired FA…”old school” type who spend 40+ years in the industry. He’s also still a frequent traveler. His commentary regarding the work ethic of FA’s these days is pretty stinging, observing that they work far less than ever, and prefer, after minimal service to passengers, to spend most of their time lollygagging in the galley/crew areas. I try to be as polite as possible to all FA’s, but it’s about “fifty-fifty” for a reciprocal polite response. “C’est la vie” in contemporary travel.
I was sitting in 1C on a recent AA domestic flight when the stewardess took down my knapsack from the overhead bin above my seat in order to make room for a rollerboard and gave it to me and said to put it somewhere else. I asked her to put it someplace else. She answered to the effect, “I don’t get paid to do that.” I responded by saying to the effect: “Well you took it down, so you find someplace to put it….” and I stayed in my seat. She glared at me but took the knapack (which had to be placed in an overhead bin since I was in a bulkhead seat) and stowed it one bin behind my seat. Just another instance of poor passenger interaction by the in-cabin crew.
It’s all about the culture of a company and some training and hiring the right people for the role they will play. There is little ‘hospitality’ with airlines these days, not to generalize, but American seems to have lost all of its legacy culture — left it in the dust. Some people are just ‘nasty, cold and do not give a hoot’ and feel protected by their employer. Horrible.
This and the United incident prove that it is American and United that seem to be fastest to get into altercations with passengers and fastest to divert. There is something about the culture of both of those companies and their FAs that is decidedly different in a very negative way that spoils the experience for far more passengers than on other airlines.
Speaking of international operations – since this and the UA incident involved international operations – now that all of the big 3 have reported their 2nd quarter financial results, it is clear that international is very strong and helping all of the big 3. Domestically, AA and DL are within a couple percent in size (AA slightly larger) but UA is far behind in size. Internationally, UA is the largest by revenue but DL actually grew all of its international regions more and got better revenue metrics in domestic and every one of its international regions than United and American. Unlike American, Delta is growing its international network and, given that United touts how profitable its international network is, Delta’s must be even more so. Delta also generated more passenger revenue across its system than American or United even though United flew many more ASMs.
And, as usual, Delta generated higher profits and margins.
When you have incidents like this that get publicized, it provides plenty of reason for passengers to avoid conflict and potential delays.
It is not only costly to be unable to de-escalate situations like this but even more so is the negative impact on the brand.
Interestingly, Ben at “One Mile at a Time” has taken the side of the FA and labeled the pax as a “jerk”. It’s unlikely that he or his commentators are familiar with the whole story, much like everyone here, but the dichotomy between the two sites is instructive.
Well seeing the title “rude flight attendant” already makes me think you’re biased. We all know there are 3 sides to every story….we get it you have some vendetta against AA and its crew which is apparent in every article you write about them. Did the crewmember overreact? Probably, but also this guy seems like he was asking for trouble. He seems like he isn’t able to show basic respect and shouldn’t be flying if he can’t act like a normal decent human. However, for the sake of all the other passengers trying to get to their destination if he wasn’t causing a threat or true disturbance it does seem like a lot to turn the plane around. We truly don’t know all the details and what else could have been said and it is really easily to speculate when you don’t have all the information from both sides.
If the flight attendant won’t assist, another passenger might. I have helped numerous passengers by putting their bags in an overhead bin and removing them.
I was on a flight when a passenger wasn’t able to put her bag in the overhead bin. A flight attendant asked me if I could do so and I was glad to help. Although it wasn’t necessary, the flight attendant kept offering me free drinks and food throughout the flight. A couple of drinks and a snack are a lot cheaper than the cost of diverting a flight.
@Tim Dunn: at least on AA/UA the pax aren’t roasted like turkeys on the tarmac!
James
very few if any of the people were on either flight in a position to see it all play out so we really aren’t in a position to pick sides but it is clear that AA and UA FAs seem to be much faster to make a bad passenger interaction worse and then to divert over issues that other airlines seem to be able to resolve.
gringo,
that flight SHOULD have returned to the gate. I don’t think anyone doubts that and a whole lot of people want to know why – but again, none of us were there.
James – because “lucky” is a simpering little wazzak who wants airline freebies.
Ah yes, leave it to Tim to again turn a post into how great DL is.
Tim – you always say you are reporting the facts – but this is an opinion: “ This and the United incident prove that it is American and United that seem to be fastest to get into altercations with passengers and fastest to divert”.
And belied by this: https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-passenger-says-flight-attendant-said-wife-had-stupid-face-2023-2
All 3 have issues.
Both passengers and crew get off too easy most of the time when the behave poorly. The penalties are often nothing (get on the next flight) or much less than they should be for passengers causing trouble on flights and/or requiring flights to divert. You have crew who only want more, more, more and provide nothing in return.
Somehow I got on the twitter feed of this one FA who just complains all the time. At some point you need to find another job. Most recently complaining about all of the hours she is away from home and expecting to get paid for it, yet she posts all of these photos from all of the places she overnights having fun, partying and getting wasted. Is it a perk? Or is it a negative?
Right now we’ve are in a period of time where people don’t think they are accountable to anyone.
Gary, Guyanese, not Indian, television personality.
Obviously, airlines have the power to shape corporate culture, and certain airlines have decided that they do not care to compete on service. Basic de-escalation skills could have avoided this problem, but this presupposes that both the airline and the employee had any interest in avoiding problems.
I’d REALLY LIKE to see video of the guy’s original request for assistance. I have shoulder issues and often ask for a hand if another pax doesn’t help. No FA has ever been less than gracious.
But … I don’t fly on American.
Forgot my main point … I am POLITE and APPRECIATIVE.
Why would an FA go out of their way to continually ask a passenger if they wanted a drink? This FA is just looking for more confrontation.
I think someone needs to create a laminated sheet which outlines what the FA is getting paid for. I keep hearing they don’t get paid until the door is closed. Does that mean they are purely an hourly employee? Now we know they don’t lift your bag, and don’t receive any training for how to decline that request.
In my opinion, the passenger had two choices. Shut up and take it quietly. Or, call for the head person in charge and file a complaint. Let them move the FA to another area and pursue the argument on the ground at their destination.
I have seen this scary brand of flight attendant. Power Peons. Ridiculous. Why would anyone fly American?
Lol. I read this first over at another blog who immediately blamed the passenger. Despite 2 other business people on that same flight saying there wasn’t anything in the confrontation worthy of turning the plane around and being a massive inconvenience to the rest of the passengers because an FA got her feels hurt.
Guess one blogger needs to suck up to American rather than report the facts.
There was clearly trouble on all sides here. But none of us were there to see it.
From my perspective, rude and demanding passengers are nothing new. Flight attendants have to recognise that they will be treated inappropriately, rudely, or with indifference. It is just an unfortunate part of social and cultural norms.
A wise flight attendant should be able to keep safety first followed by “greatest good, greatest number.” Yes, there are work rules about carrying luggage. We do not want crew to be injured lifting a heavy bag. But there is also common sense: get the bag into the locker, push back, everyone is safe and punctual. No, the flight attendant is not paid to do that, but it is a lousy argument.
The stereotype of the arrogant and dismissive flight attendant plays out a bit too much in real life. Everyone has bad days, but flight attendants also have a duty to be self aware. They need to recognise their own triggers, how to manage their own stress, and which strategies work best with demanding guests.
My favourite example was on Turkish Airlines. A toddler started walking around as we were taxiing. The flight attendant swiftly got out of her jump seat, held the toddler’s hand, and brought the toddler back to the seat and buckled the seatbelt. Done. Safe, quick, no need for a lecture. No harm done. If that happened in the USA, the flight attendant would be making announcements, “This is an ACTIVE TAXIWAY! Ma’am. Ma’am. MA”AM, MA’AM, I’m not going tell you again. FAA regulations state that you are NOT in COMPLIANCE. Ma’AM!”
@Max. Pretty well put. Don’t even get me started on the differences between a US airline and an Asian airline crew.
I mentioned it earlier, but it might help if passengers knew what the FA was getting paid to do. A comprehensive list. I suspect we don’t get that information because we would find out the FA’s are not doing the things that they ARE paid to do.
I would say that in my 30 years of flying, 60% or more of the flights have been in business or first class. Throughout those years, the elite seat FA’s have become older and older and much too privileged to do anything more than sit in the galley or their hidey holes. Seniority has created this mess which is exacerbated by their unions.
So FA’s, what exactly are you paid to do?
Two things about this story strike me. First, the airline is likely to get reminded, via a lawyer, what the words reasonable accommodation mean. This gentleman had just had surgery. Second, the airlines have been treating their employees like garbage for years. Behavior like this comes from the top down.
I’ve helped one too many passengers with bags who boarded with a suitcase KNOWING they can’t lift it, and as a result inured my rotator cuff on my right shoulder. Due to the fact that the door was open, the company will not cover any portion of getting it corrected. So here I am, on day 3 of 4 of another trip with bad shoulder pain.
@Injured FA
That truly sucks. But if FA’s are so pissed off at managament’s treatment, pick a fight with them, and leave the customers out of it. I cannot see there is anything to gain from going to work with this attitude, and potentially there’s a lot to lose, for themselves and for the airline.
People need to realize that if you pack a rollabord full your looking at around 30-50 pounds in your bag, and if you can’t lift it above your head why would you get a FLT ATT to do it? Check your bag please! Just put your meds/laptop in smaller light weight bag. I’ve had a flight that a man wheeled in a carry-on bag that, ( get this ) 100lbs! Asked the FLT ATT to stowe it for him, even asked to stowe in in the coat closet!, Now mind you there is a 6 in lip on the coat closet, there was no way to maneuver it in there with one person let alone two. So they called me to carry it down the stairs to the ramp… Meanwhile, the guy who’s bag that belong to said to please be careful because it had electronics in it, so was my back, so I took it by the handle and wheeled it to the steps and clunk clunk clunk it went with me down those metal stairs, it shooked the jetbridge as I was going down It took another colleague to help me lift it up onto the cargo-veyor to put in the belly of the plane. Moral of the story don’t be an idiot… Be reasonable. If you can’t lift that bag then you need to lighten your load or check it in.
@tim dunn
The FA was disrespectful speaking to the customer from behind. The FA was disrespectful with his comments about putting the luggage in the overhead bin. The FA was disrespectful, incorrect, threatening saying the plane will be turned around for being disrespectful.
American Airlines does not allow employees to speak to the media or post on social media after incidents or accidents. It is grounds for immediate termination.
A captain has to turn the plane around if a crew member reports a a legal, threatening disturbance. Obviously, the FA lied to the captain to have the plane turned around and should already be terminated.
That’s just a bullshit, fact-free, inferential conclusion. DL FAs are human beings just life AA and UA FAs, making the sample size of two (N=2) too exceedingly small for anyone to claim to be able to deduct anything about the airlines’ “culture” that would make some FAs more prone to midair altercations.
Just the facts, sir.
That’s just a bs, fact-free, inferential conclusion. DL FAs are human beings just life AA and UA FAs, making the sample size of two (N=2) too exceedingly small for anyone to claim to be able to deduct anything about the airlines’ “culture” that would make some FAs more prone to midair altercations.
Just the facts, sir.
That’s a fact-free, inferential conclusion. DL FAs are human beings just life AA and UA FAs, making the sample size of two (N=2) too exceedingly small for anyone to claim to be able to deduct anything about the airlines’ “culture” that would make some FAs more prone to midair altercations.
Just the facts, sir.
A power tripping flight attendant.
In my work I met rude and demanding people almost daily (just retired).I received training in de-escalating situations. Very seldom needed to involve anyone else. Airlines could try that.
The flight should never had been diverted. Write up the Flight attendant for failing to do her job and the pilot for poor decision making. Compensate the passenger before he sues.
@Gary – So the FA was supposed to accept grief from the miserable POS on a repeating basis? This is a perfect example of why a no-fly list is so crucial for airlines to enact. Remove idiots like this guy and normal people will have a lot more peace.
Only in the USA, the land of “personal choice”
I’m retired, and moved to Malta. We take about ten trips year within Europe. Each trip usually encompasses two flights each way. We always fly on LH. In four years of doing this, we have NEVER encountered such behaviors as daily seen in States. Chalk it up to professional flight attendants, who do their complete job, and to passengers who manage to generally retain a civil attitude.
From my perspective, flight attendants in States act like lawyers and bullies, not providers of safety and service.
@Christian – the flight attendant should have filled out a CERS report for the airline to make a determination about next steps
If the passenger knew he would have difficulty lifting his bag to place in the overhead bin, he should’ve checked the bag. Why would you expect someone else to lift your bag, injury or not? Flight crews have endured too many injuries lifting passenger bags in overhead bins, and once Worker’s Comp finds out the reason for the injury, they are done with you.
I know I can’t lift my bag into the overhead bin. Therefore, I always check my bag. The passenger knew he wasn’t able to lift his either, & definitely should have checked it. The flight attendant didn’t have to be rude, and in my opinion, was totally wrong for the handling of this. But what about the entitled passenger? Two wrongs in this altercation
Yeah sure. I mean OF COURSE its the FA’s fault.
Really?
The amount of entitled, under the influence, rude, obnoxious (and a whole lot of other things) Passengers they deal with every day, not too many this way that people dress on an airplane (wearing flip flops and even going barefoot… which is disgusting) vastly outweigh the admittedly occasional, somewhat aloof FA.
Kindness goes a long way. This passenger was described by many as entitled and rude. First of all, why is your carry on weighing 50 lbs? (Oh….to avoid checking a bag…).
Second … If you’ve trudged through the airport, onto the plane, etc…. with it….then LIFT IT YOURSELF!
Third….if pax was nice, someone would have assisted them. I do it all the time when flying.
Fet over yourselves, rude people. I agree with the crew 100%.
Incidents of drunk, high, and otherwise nasty, entitled individuals are reported almost daily. Most of them pull the mental health card.
Well……..I guess the FA pulled a card on THEM this time.
Based on this, American will not have any customers soon.
Right off the bat the title of this article puts the FA to blame. After reading the comments, it is obvious that it worked. Only the passenger’s side and story was heard from what I gather. How does this make this an unbiased story? Naturally we hear from people who claim they have had surly FA’s. If you really use your head, all of this builds on a case that it must have been the FA’s fault. Although there is no real proof. What is that purpose of that ridiculous video? Just more crapola to bolster the fragile ego of the passenger.
I see a confluence of problems:
1. Hand luggage is not scrutinized in the USA as it is elsewhere. Bags are not weighed. Passengers go insane if they are not permitted to take hand luggage with them. Many ATW crews are outsourced, so they do not have an interest in what happens on board.
2. Airlines advertise their larger bin/locker space, so they ask for trouble.
3. D0 pressure makes it difficult for gate staff to board the plane and deal with heavy luggage. Some flights are staffed with only one agent.
Then there are the interpersonal struggles:
1. Flight attendants are frequently disrespected (to use the mildest of terms,) and passengers often have unreasonable expectations. That is an unfortunate reality. Flight attendants cannot change passengers’ attitudes easily, but they can change how flight attendants respond. Under-react, stay in control. Kindness and courtesy can coexist with authority.
2. Passengers will not change easily in terms of their bags. Unless there are vast changes in airline staffing, wages, availability of personnel… we cannot fix that. So we have to expect that passengers will bring absurd bags on board. Flight attendants have to address coping strategies in difficult spaces.
What we can do:
1. I try as hard as I can to be aware of other passengers. If someone needs help with their bags, I will help them. I’m not going to file a worker’s compensation claim. This is largely out of self interest. I want us to push back. I am REALLY short, so it’s not always simple. But I try to set an example.
2. I check my bags more often than most would. It’s a frequent traveller sin, but I do not want to wreck my neck (again). It’s easier to check bags now with kiosks, facial recognition, 20-minute guarantees. Knock wood, I haven’t had a lost bag in over a decade. Who cares if I wait at baggage reclaim. It won’t kill me. And there’s far less hassle on board. I also like the bulkhead, so there isn’t room anyway.
3. Unless they are immediately aggressive, I always say hello to the crew, ask them how they are doing, or offer any sense that I know that they are there.
It helps remind everyone that not all passengers are evil, it sets an example for other passengers without brown-nosing or being strange. It is just a matter of courtesy. I imagine that the crew can sometimes think: 1B is being such a jerk about his bag, but 1A smiled and said hello. It’s not my job to make flight attendants happy, but it sets a tone for others. It is also a nonverbal message that I will help if there is an emergency (and that’s happened more than a few times.)
It’s like taking off my headphones for the safety demo. I know it in English and Spanish for every plane I know. I know where the doors, slides, and rafts are (usually). But I show respect, and I send a tacit message to others: you’re not in your living room, this isn’t your house. It probably makes minimal impact, but what if it helps one person act a bit better?
4. Take polite authority when the crew are busy. If it is reasonable, offer to swap seats, spot a bag that will not fit under a seat, offer to help. It is a bit of onboard collectivism. Help your neighbours in a shared space. Hold the baby, the leash, the backpack for a minute. As a frequent flyer, you know how it’s done. Just show them how, and we all win. If you’re smiling and kind, you will make someone’s day. You will also feel better about yourself.