Flight attendants reveal the two ways to avoid being their most hated passenger onboard
FLYING can be stressful at the best of times, travelling over Christmas can be a nightmare.
One cabin crew member has revealed which passenger he isn't looking forward to flying with this holiday.
Hunter Smith-Lihas is a flight attendant in Florida who works on a major US airline.
If there is one person that the cabin crew can't stand, it's those who completely ignore the safety briefing.
He said: "I’m just so used to seeing so many people not paying attention, with their headphones in, or their heads down, being on their phones or whatever.
“It’s easier to spot someone who is paying attention than someone who’s not, because the majority of people aren’t.
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He said when he does see people paying attention, it definitely catches his eye.
"It is nice to know that people care what we have to say.”
Hunter urges passengers to listen each time even if you've heard it multiple times before because the information is crucial.
He added: "We’re only telling them the information for their own safety."
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Even if you're settled into your book, or you've got your favourite podcast ready to go, flight attendants can't stress enough how important it is to listen for a couple minutes.
And it turns out, they take notice when you do.
In between safety talks, helping passengers, and drink services, Hunter said the crew often has long patches of quiet moments.
When the the seatbelt sign in off, he said one of his favourite things to do is having a natter with passengers.
Hunter said: “It gets lonely and boring sometimes.
"We love when people come back and talk to us, and we love when people give us recommendations for the destination, whether it’s things to do, restaurants, different types of food, to try — we love to hear all of that.”
Often flight attendants will stay at a destination for a period of time before they work on a return flight, or another assignment.
For this reason, he said they love to hear suggestions about how to enjoy the city they're heading to, especially as passengers will have picked that place for a certain reason.
Flying from the UK to somewhere like Australia can take over 20 hours and so employees will plenty of "down time" outside of their duties.
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It's important not to distract cabin crew when they're working as your safety is in there hands.
Hunter recommends only striking up a conversation with your flight attendants when they're not actively doing something.
Top tips to become the perfect passenger
- Pay attention to your Safety Briefings
- Flight attendants notice when passengers pay attention during safety briefings.
- Flight attendant Hunter Smith-Lihas notes that attentive passengers stand out and are appreciated.
- Apparently most people are distracted during these announcements, which can be dangerous.
- Chat with your Flight Attendants
- Don’t hesitate to strike up a conversation with flight attendants.
- Hunter said that crew members appreciate conversations, especially during quieter moments on long-haul flights.
- Downtime on Long-Haul Flights
- Although flight attendants have busy periods, they often experience downtime and welcome a chat with passengers.
- Sharing recommendations for destinations, such as activities and restaurants, is always appreciated by the crew.
