Is there any conduct that would justify a flight attendant yelling at passengers as a mother would yell at her naughty children? Probably not, but I’m not prepared to make any definitive judgments concerning a strange flight attendant meltdown incident onboard an Air Canada A330 on the ground in Casablanca.
Flight Attendant Meltdown On Air Canada Lacks Context
We have a video, below, going viral around the world (now trending at the top of the UK Daily Mail homepage) of a flight attendant yelling at passengers onboard an Air Canada Airbus A330 flight from Casablanca (CMN) to Montreal (YUL). The incident occurred on Friday, July 26, 2024 on AC73.
In a fierce tone, she says:
“You will behave or we will get off!”
“I’ll tell the captain right away. Yes or no?”
“I don’t want no bullying against my crew.”
And yet we don’t know why. It is suggested that a cold passenger requested a blanket as the aircraft was taxiing for takeoff prompted this standoff.
And that could be…
…But do you expect a flight attendant to react like that to a blanket request?
Because I don’t.
And in one sense it does not matter…a flight attendant must de-escalate situations, not inflame them. Here, even if a passenger uttered every hateful slur under the sun against a colleague, it does not justify this yelling. And yet I would like to know how the conversation went over because I think that would really determine whether this flight attendant should keep her job.
If it was just a blanket request, then I think the conduct is unbecoming of a flight attendant and there is no mitigating circumstance to spare her position.
But if another flight attendant was verbally attacked, chewed out, or otherwise rudely treated, sometimes you have to talk to children like children…that still would not necessarily justify her manner and tone, but it could provide sufficient mitigating circumstances to at least spare her position with retraining. What prompted this tirade?
Air Canada has apologized for the incident and promised compensation:
“We are taking this incident very seriously. It is under review, and we will take appropriate action. We apologize to our customers and deeply regret that their experience today fell far short of what they have come to expect when flying with Air Canada.
“We informed them of the compensation we are offering, not only for the delay but also to take into account the nature of this exceptional incident that does not reflect our values of hospitality.”
A replacement crew was dispatched and the flight operated a day late.
I’d just caution us to wait before making a final judgment, even with the statement from Air Canada. I am expecting more to come out about the flight and the nature of the “blanket request.” Until it does, let’s not rush to judgment, even if we can broadly agree that such behavior from the flight attendant is never appropriate.
I would say that although we don’t have all the facts, AC’s response is pretty telling: “We informed them of the compensation we are offering, not only for the delay but also to take into account the nature of this exceptional incident that does not reflect our values of hospitality.”
IMO, that statement essentially says: “Our FA was really out of line and since someone got it on videotape, we better try and salvage the situation with compensation and hope it will go away”.
So this was even before taking off so assume the FA was rested and fresh to work .Imagine how this FA would react at the end of the flight.
DEI hire?
Why is a presumably kind and compassionate pax asking for anything during departure procedures? If blankets are not available on the seats or overhead compartments it means they are in a storage area not available until cruising altitude. I’ve experienced plenty of staff exploding on my face. The adult response should be to listen and ask to speak later in the flight after mandatory service is finished.
For some reason, flight attendants seem to be more abusive to passengers who have legitimate requests.
WOW.
I hope they fire that bitch. Given that I’m basing this on what I’ve seen.