A passenger may have had a bad flight attendant on American Airlines, but responding by posting her picture online and calling her a “pig” was not accountability, but ugly, petulant behavior that deserves to be called out.

Passenger Calls American Airlines Flight Attendant A “Pig” Online…Which Says More About Him Than Her

A man who was unhappy with an American Airlines flight attendant took to social media to complain about her, posting her picture and calling her a “pig.”

As One Mile at a Time notes, a New York-based Guyanese media personality and political commentator named Ossie Winston Rodgers posted a photo of an American Airlines flight attendant after a flight from Georgetown to New York JFK and wrote:

How come this pig got employed by American Airlines? Most of the passengers on this flight agreed she is the worst flight attendant they have ever experienced. #PigOnBoard Apology to JetBlue!

I think we all know who the pig is here, even if the flight attendant was one too.

And that is my point. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that this flight attendant was rude, dismissive, obnoxious, and unprofessional. I was not there, and I do not know what happened onboard. Maybe she provided poor service…it would not surprise me if the passenger had a legitimate complaint.

But you do not respond to rudeness by being even more rude or trying to humiliate someone online. And you certainly do not post a recognizable picture of a flight attendant doing her job and call her a pig…

There Is A Right Way To Complain

I am not necessarily opposed to documenting bad behavior onboard. If a flight attendant is acting wildly out of line, taking a discreet photo or video may be appropriate. We live in a world where evidence matters, and I understand why passengers sometimes feel they need to document what happened.

But that does not mean you publish it!

You send it to American Airlines with a concise explanation of what occurred. Date, flight number, seat number, what happened, and why you believe the crew member acted improperly. Keep it factual and do not exaggerate or insult.

Will you probably receive a canned AI response that thanks you for your feedback and assures you that American takes these matters seriously? Frustratingly, yes.

But you may get a real answer and trying to publicly shame a flight attendant by doxxing her face and attaching a vile hashtag to it is a really bad look. It makes the complaint harder to take seriously, not easier.

Once you cross that line, the story is no longer only about the alleged bad service…it becomes about your own conduct.

Respect Still Matters, Even When Service Is Bad

I review flights for a living and I take pictures onboard constantly. But over the years, I have become much more careful about photographing crew members.

If I am reviewing a flight and want to include a flight attendant in a picture, I generally ask permission first. If I do not ask, I make sure the crew member is not facing the camera, is far enough away not to be recognizable, or is incidental to the cabin shot. I do not always get it perfect, but that is the standard I try to follow and it becomes non-negotiable when I’m flying on a European carrier.

I do not support blanket bans on photographing cabin crew. That can be abused too, especially when passengers are trying to document legitimate problems. But I also think respect goes a long way.

Even when respect is not reciprocated, offering it anyway is usually the better way to live.

American Should Look At The Underlying Complaint, But The Post Crossed A Line

American Airlines can still review whether anything inappropriate happened on the flight. If multiple passengers truly complained about this crew member, I suspect it will be taken seriously. Bad service should not be ignored simply because the person complaining behaved badly.

But the social media post itself was indefensible.

Calling someone a pig is dehumanizing, even if we are talking about Rosie O’Donnell (sorry, I couldn’t help it). Posting her picture made it personal and the hashtag was so juvenile. This was an attempt to humiliate someone, not hold her accountable.

It is bullying…

Should AA ban this tool? Airlines have a legitimate interest in protecting employees from harassment, but I’d probably stop short of the ban since he deleted it (after first lying and saying the flight attendant told him he could take her pictures, which of course calls into question his entire story).

CONCLUSION

A passenger who believed he had a bad American Airlines flight attendant posted her picture online and called her a “pig.” Maybe the flight attendant was rude…or maybe she was not. Either way, the response was unacceptable.

Documenting bad service is one thing, but it should be done without publicly humiliating a flight attendant by posting her face online with a degrading insult. If you have a legitimate complaint, send it to the airline or even take it to social media but don’t hurl vile insults and post unwanted photos.

Respect is not weakness. If only more people would remember that (and yes, I better practice what I preach…).

image: American Airlines