Inappropriate Flight Attendant

[EternalOptimist]

I am just going to vent a little here. I should probably write a letter to the InFlight Supervisor or something but I'm going to vent here first.

I was non-reving to meet my husband in OAK this past weekend and there was a planeload of army reservists who had spent the past year in Iraq and were on their way home. One of the flight attendants made a great announcement welcoming them back home and thanking them for their service. The Captain made another great announcement letting them know how much their service was appreciated and telling them that the Captain was former Air Force and the FO was former Army - bonding with the soldiers by their common military histories. The other passengers on board (including myself) applauded the soldiers and we were all feeling the love. The soldiers were in great spirits. I was seated in the last row and between me and the next set of civilian passengers were about 15 soldiers - including the unit Captain and Commander.

One of the aft flight attendants (not the one that made the aforementioned announcement of appreciation) came up to what happened to be the unit Captain and started talking to him. She said the following:

"I'm just so glad you are all coming home. I'm so proud of you all. I just don't think you should have been there in the first place, but that's just my opinion. I don't agree with the war. But I'm really proud of you and so I'm torn."

I was shocked and offended that she would have the gall to talk to these soldiers, who were on their way home after a year of service, in this manner. She has every right to her opinion but when she's in uniform, she represents the entire company and she should have kept her opinions to herself.

The soldiers were very nice but they also were obviously uncomfortable and irritated with her. Several of them rolled their eyes and groaned. It doesn't end there though. Next, she said the following:

"Whatever you say now, I'm sure that there are times when you feel the same way I do."

At this, the Captain said:

"No ma'am, we are 100% supportive at all times."

She didn't leave it at that. She had to get her digs in. She continued by saying:

"But do you know what it is your are supportive of?"

She said it in this condescending way. Like she was talking to children. She was probably in her 50's and the soldiers on board were probably all under the age of 35 - at least the ones she was talking to so I suppose she felt like a mother-figure or something. But she was WAY inappropriate. I'm not offended easily but wait until you read what she did next.

It was obvious she had upset the soldiers by her comments so I think she tried to overcompensate. She decided that she was going to offer, for free, a beer for each of the soldiers. The soldiers told her that they couldn't accept the alcohol as they were in uniform and technically still on duty. They told her they needed to be unimpaired if, for instance, a terrorist tried to take over the flight.

Again, she got that condescending tone of voice and told the Captain that he shouldn't worry about that - that "we have that area covered."

She argued with them repeatedly saying that one beer wouldn't hurt - just ONE beer. Finally one of the female soldiers shouted out:

"Ma'am, are we going to have to escort you off the aircraft? You're becoming
belligerent."

This was all before the plane got off the ground. After the flight was in progress and the passengers had been served their drinks, the same flight attendant proceeded to harrass each of the soldiers throughout the entire flight - asking them all kinds of personal questions about spouses or significant others. She even woke one of them up to get her to fasten her seatbelt and then proceeded to pepper her with questions about her husband and whether they had children - even though she was obviously not feeling well. When she found out that the Commander was single and available she invited him to a concert and tried to get him to give her his email address. She focussed on him the rest of the flight and she became a real joke to the soldiers - they teased the Commander about it as we were deplaning.

I know the soldiers can defend themselves. They did a great job defending themselves against this inappropriate flight attendant. But it really made the airline look bad and I think flight attendants should go through training that emphasizes their customer service role.

 

[FlyFlyFly]

Poor old hag...

 

[Goose Egg]

I'd report it. That FA was completely out of line.

-Goose

 

[bobbysamd]

Flapping her yap

Everyone has opinions, but there are times and places to express them. Just like the solidiers in uniform, this FA, in uniform, was also on duty, and representing her airline. She should have kept it buttoned. She is an embarrassment to her company and, indeed, should be reported.

 

[mayday1]

Everyone has opinions, but there are times and places to express them. Just like the solidiers in uniform, this FA, in uniform, was also on duty, and representing her airline. She should have kept it buttoned. She is an embarrassment to her company and, indeed, should be reported.

ditto.

 

[Snakum]

It was, in my humble opinion, completely inappropriate for her to bring up her personal opinions concerning the conflict in this particular situation. If she'd stopped after the first sentence even, I maybe could support her. But everything that came afterward was completely and utterly out of line and she should be reported to her airline's management.

As an officer, the company commander was never going to express his personal feelings about the war to a civilian (or a superior), no matter how vehemently opposed he might be personally. Out of earshot of a superior, she might get a different response from an enlisted man, or even an NCO. Of all my friends serving on the ground (all US Army and combat arms) in Iraq ... not one supports the war and not one buys the reasons we went to Iraq. All say Afghanistan was justified (one served there first), but that Iraq was not, and further, that it is being handled poorly on the ground to make matters worse.

But this situation was a crowded aircraft with God and everyone listening in, and a soldier will most likely avoid the issue, or at least sugar-coat his personal feelings about the war. That is as it should be. And in this scenario, it is my opinion that she should have done likewise, i.e. avoided the discussion altogether ... thanked the men for their service, taken their drink orders, and then get her b!tch @ss in the galley and make them a pie.

I don't care if it was an NG unit that did nothing more than push pencils at the airport, surrounded by the Third Infantry Division and facing nothing more dangerous than a paper cut. The bottom line is ... they SERVED. They stepped up ... PERIOD! And in doing so they have earned the right to not be baited and badgered by an opinionated dip$hit on the way home to their families. They have EARNED every last ounce of respect they should now be afforded.

While I fully support her right to have an opinion about the war (and in fact, I probably share it), and these men have all essentially stepped up to the plate to ensure she will always be able to express her opinion without fear of reprisal, in this particular situation ... someone should kick her f@ck'n period on!

Minh

 

[jetexas]

That was totally uncalled for.
If you could have, a good idea would have been to get a message across to the Captain after the flight about her behavior. 'AND' write a letter.
I would think a letter to the company would be a good idea. They would want to know about this totally unprofessional behavior. Airlines take it very seriously when an employee steps out of line with revenue paying passengers.
Whatever their political leanings, a crew member representing a company should never openly vent political feelings or frustrations like this. Besides, shes obviously unstable to messing with troops like that!!

 

[mattpilot]

hmm... i hope we don't get another queen of skies type blog....

 

[I.P. Freley]

ditto.

Ditto squared

 

[EternalOptimist]

That was totally uncalled for.
If you could have, a good idea would have been to get a message across to the Captain after the flight about her behavior. 'AND' write a letter.
I would think a letter to the company would be a good idea. They would want to know about this totally unprofessional behavior. Airlines take it very seriously when an employee steps out of line with revenue paying passengers.
Whatever their political leanings, a crew member representing a company should never openly vent political feelings or frustrations like this. Besides, shes obviously unstable to messing with troops like that!!

I met my husband that afternoon in OAK and told him and his captain what had transpired. They both had the same opinion, that I should have told the Captain about it. I DID have the foresight to write down the name of the Captain and my husband has flown with him before so I could still get a message to him but it would be too late to save the company or flight crew from embarrassment. I felt so badly about her behavior that I almost apologized to the soldiers that they had to endure her insensitivity but I never did identify myself as a non-rev passenger to the FA's and I was so close to the aft galley that I decided not to cause a scene. I'm going to write a letter to the company though. Like I said in my post, she DOES have a right to her opinion and I'm not making a statement about whether I personally agree or disagree with her. I just think it was wrong of her to go to these soldiers (who were travel and battle weary) and essentially tell them that their service was a waste in her opinion (especially while she was in uniform). And then to try to get them to break the rules and have a beer, refuse to give the others a moment of peace and quiet, and flirt the entire flight with the Commander. It was incredible. I was more in shock than anything that someone would have such a lack of class, tact and common sense.