People don’t get thrown off airplanes for wearing masks (usually), so I’m not defending the couple removed. But the childish antics of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant remind me of why I tend to avoid that carrier.
Unprofessional Southwest Flight Attendant Mocks Couple Onboard
At Southwest, at least prior to the pandemic, humor was key. Flight attendants were encouraged to improvise around essential safety and boarding announcements and YouTube is full of such examples.
But while Southwest is known as the airline of humor, it has also thrown off two-year olds and handicapped passengers during the pandemic and takes a “rules must overrule common sense” approach to onboard masks.
We don’t know what happened on this particular flight, but video was posted on TikTok of a woman in the first row arguing with a flight attendant. She is clearly wearing a mask properly in the video and insists that she was earlier, calling the flight attendant a “liar” for implying she was not. Nevertheless, she was kicked off the flight and complies.
Other passengers on the plane applaud and she responds by giving them the middle finger.
@b_edler56
Fine, fine. That’s still commonplace these days.
What caught my attention was the flight attendant’s reaction once the couple were removed. Did you notice it above in the final seconds of the video?
She does a little victory dance, causing many flight passengers to laugh.
Appropriate? While social ostracization is a powerful tool to encourage conformity and compliance, my answer is no.
I’m not going to generalize and label this flight attendant a “power tripping matron” or other insults routinely levied at flight attendants.
Yet I view the flight attendant’s actions as so incredibly churlish for one who holds herself out as a safety professional.
CONCLUSION
Flight attendants should work on being nice to customers, not being mean to them. Even if unruly passengers deserve our scorn, I believe that flight attendants cheapen their profession when they revel in the downfall of others…
The pearl clutching is over the top. FA’s have to put up with the worst society has to offer and I don’t blame this one at all for her actions.
So the actions of someone that pose a possible health risk is not newsworthy but the harmless reaction by a FA is?
And the FA is a human being first and foremost, so I will excuse her for her brief moment of schadenfreude.
A different type of false equivalency.
Not sure where I said the actions of the passengers were not “newsworthy” (I said their actions were commonplace, which is quite sad, but undeniably true).
Totally agree that flight attendants for this airline seem to make a mockery of the importance of safety on board. I want to know the safety rules without all rhe humor and would prefer they take a more serious approach. I remember asking on an international flight on another airline where the over water float devices were- it made me less nervous just to know. Flight attendant said don’t worry about it- you wont need it. His confidence was assuring but I would have preferred a professional answer. Southeest makes a mockery of the whole process, in my opinion .
Not sure I agree with you Matthew, it’s quite funny…
I disagree. I like her style.
Disagree with you on this, Matthew. No sympathy for non-mask wearers here, and you shouldn’t too.
I don’t have any sympathy for the non-mask wearers. They deserved to be thrown off if they did not comply.
But I don’t like dancing on graves. It cheapens the profession.
What an interesting yet not unexpected reaction from you to belittle the front line worker for taking some joy in a small victory against what is certainly a daily occurrence of dealing with Karen’s and Chad’s who place their wants above the needs of everyone else. Judging from the previous comments and the plane full of people applauding, you are thankfully in the minority.
Celebrating victory = throwing off losers for not wearing a mask?
Wow…
I agree with Matthew. The passengers are losers but the true Karen here is the obnoxious FA.
If you’re going to try and play the anti mask game on a plane you may not want to sit in the first row under full view of flight attendants. Just saying. Clearly that couple were not the sharpest pencils in the box.
The whole thing, top to bottom, is indicative of American society these days. The idiots wearing camo on a plane and refusing to wear a mask and giving passengers the finger. Along with the flight attendant displaying additional crass behavior by turning it into a circus act. Nowhere else in the world would you see the combined of the two. I think even Ol’ Herb would have not thought this a proper response.
Well-said. Exactly my thoughts.
Others seems to think that by not defending the flight attendant, I am defending the two idiots in row one. Trust me, I am not.
Herb Kelleher must be spinning in his grave at Southwest’s descent into Spiritland.
I agree with Matthew.
Oh for anyone reading:
twitter account – Ianmsc
might open some eyes.
I’m sure Southwest Airlines agrees with Matthew here. That’s not a great look for your “safety professionals.” Not that it matters… the union would defend her actions regardless of how egregious they may be.
I agree with you, Matthew. The crew sets the tone. It is a sad situation- dancing makes light of a situation.
And provokes ridicule
Got to tell you Matt I’m not sure I can agree with you on this one. I just think people are tired… especially flight attendants…of bad behavior. So I’m she did a little dance.
I watched the video 4 times and didn’t see a dance. Looked like the flight attendant was making sure she got her belonings out of the overhead bin. Am I missing something? Is it the one in the aisle or the one in the galley?
The last three seconds (my center image at the top).
Why would you write a blog about a situation you don’t have all the facts for. I know the gentleman pulling this lady off the flight, and this woman caused so many issues before they got to that dance. She almost made 80+ people miss their connection, because she wasn’t complying and the plane returned to the gates 20 minutes after pushback.
She deserved to be thrown off. That’s not the point, here, is it?
Agree with you Matt on the reasoned and nuanced response.
Sad to say, I think this reflects a broader decline in professionalism in the U.S. perhaps because excellence and merit have become political words.
Holding the powerful to account has it’s place, but it seems we’ve swung too far in the other direction and now have lost all respect for each other’s dignity. With power comes responsibility; if FA’s want people to defer to their authority they have to hold themselves to a professional standard.
I’d guess, and maybe I am wrong, that these people were rude to the FA team and that this is NOT the first time that has happened to this team, probably not even the first time that DAY someone was rude to them. So yeah, I feel for the FA. Have you never been in a service position and been treated like crap over and over and finally had a small victory? And honestly, SW is not like a stodgy airline, so dancing or singing or whatever is the usual and taken tongue in cheek. Would it have been classier to not dance? Sure. But was it human to do a little “huzzah, we can take off and not be snarked at by selfish idiots” dance? Yes. Absolutely. I’ll go with human every time over stodgy and rude. (looking at you United). Also, great tension breaker for those left on the plane watching this unfold.
“They shouldn’t revel in the downfall of others”, a passenger getting kicked off a plane for failure to comply with a public health directive isn’t a “downfall”. They chose not to follow the directive, and they should face the consequences. It’s really quite pathetic that you would expend all this energy to scold a flight attendant for a harmless gesture, especially given the circumstances. “They should focus on being nice to customers”, I’m sorry, these people deserve no niceness from anyone. This blog spends such an expansive amount of time picking apart every little minor action taken by crew members that the author sees as improper. It’s honestly very disheartening and pathetic
Oh please, lighten up. Given what flight attendants have to go through each day facing morons like those two, I’m willing to cut them some slack. The little dance was not over-the-top either. It was appropriate!
A relative worked for them for eleven years…. trust me they (Southwest) march to the beat of a different drummer (and not in a good way). The childish antics and “religious” fervor – well you’d have to be on the inside to know what I’m talking about (hideous stories my relative told me).
I have flown them but I only needed one such “experience” on a flight – late night, FA singing to a 4-year-old for his birthday and insisting the whole planeload of people join in to be totally turned off. Sorry, but don’t drag tired adults and strangers into the silly, stupid gyrations only meaningful to the child and his parents. Trust me when they do the hiring it is practically a theatrical audition they look for. No thanks, they are not for me, not to mention their ridiculously high prices. My relative quit due to extreme pressure to be “up” and “perky” 100% of the time as well as power-tripping management that sees it no other way.
Low class people on all sides of this. Was on Southwest coming out of Seattle on Friday…..one of the worst flighg attendants I’ve ever seen was onboard. Chastising people while making pa’s and blaming an elderly couple in the aisle for delaying the flight…..we were not delayed by the way. Typical of the post 9/11 flight attendants in the USA. Passion to serve has been replaced by the hero complex that 90% of them share. They are not heros….not even close.
Matthew, you better start getting a grip on reality. You saw the reaction from pax so cut your righteous BS. So the FA did a little shake, not a dance…and most probably there were other things involved with that particular pax and obviously, the guy with her was wearing camouflage pants. Ignorance is bliss and unfortunately, I think sometimes with you that is the situation. The pax were supportive of her. Many of you pax are assholes…period! So quite your damn putting down of aircrews! You buy a ticket on the plane… you do not buy the plane nor the crew buddy!
Actually mouth piece Matthew, maybe you try doing the job, you arrogant idiot!
I think people forget that at Southwest the employees come before the customers, which in the airline industry I totally agree with. The flight attendant was verbally harassed by the woman, if she needs to do a little move to calm her nerves and reduce the tension then good for her! The abuse that these flight attendants are dealing with is enormous. For those who say Southwest employees are unprofessional and not nice what airline in the US is better?
I respect you, Matthew, but I disagree with your assessment of the situation. I would have agreed had the FA performed her short dance in front of the offending passengers. Instead she did it after they had deplaned. I assume she was lightening the mood for the remaining passengers who had just been through a very stressful episode with the anti-maskers. Humor and lightheartedness are completely on brand for SWA. Had I been a passenger on that flight, I would have appreciated her dance.
Just celebrating a rare win. Next story please.
Completely agree. The dancing is cringeworthy. The applauding passengers are not much better: some of them seem to regard these events as a spectator sport and find it hard to resist inserting themselves into a situation they know absolutely nothing about.
I’m going to guess you tip 15% and take a lot of attention from your server at restaurants
I take very good care of those who provide good service…
masks affect our emotional state.
few people seem to understand this.
crime rise, taiwan-china escalation, myanmar, blm, people losing temper faster, whatever latent emotions we have – they come out easier. for many this is FEAR.
I cannot agree with Matthew.
Matthew, I have been regularly reading your flight descriptions and have enjoyed them.
I think this time you are way off base. The reports you have been filing are of your experiences in business class, such as recently comparing business class (C-class) from your EWR-LHR-IAD flights. Tough job!
Please, flying in C-class is another experience compared to cattle class which is what WN is providing. Why don’t you fly the cattle class in any airline and you will see what the stress level is that not only pax but also the flight attendants are experiencing on a daily basis.
After getting two idiot flyers off a plane for not wearing a mask (have you ever seen this in C-class?), I would dance too. It is not disrespectful, particularly when the idiot flyers are giving the whole cabin the middle finger.
Sorry buddy but you were off base as these flight attendants have to let off steam every once in a while too. the one in this video did it actually with charm,
United Million Miler
I don’t like southwest. Never did. And probably never will.
I’m an old fashion type of traveler. I like friendly, attentive and professional service but I’m not interested in clowns or sky divas.
Southwest FA’s always do things that are considered “unprofessional” why are you surprised. Do you really think their off-scripted comedic safety briefings are considered professional???
Great another thing for these flying waitresses to get a power trip over. I mean it’s Southwest like really. Do your job get me my coke and shut up.
As a health care provider, I quite understand the stresses these underpaid Flight Attendants are subject to while making public health decisions. Perhaps passengers who critique don’t care to see a bigger picture. Sad.
Nothing unprofessional about it. The FA needed a way to destress which she seems to have found.
You’re right Matthew: this was childish and unprofessional.
I don’t think this is a big deal at all. Nowadays everyone is so sensitive and has a strong opinion about every issue,. The flight attendant doesn’t smile enough, or is too friendly… the service is too attentive or they don’t come around enough…. Anyone who works in the service industry and prides themself on customer service has probably, like me, experienced how increasingly difficult it is to satisfy consumers. Too bad I was on the flight, I’d probably get up and dance with her!
Did she do the Dougie?
As a Flight Attendant here in the U.S. I find articles like these disheartening and question the intention. People are so quick to have an opinion or critique (often times not very informed or without all the facts) and no matter what is done/not done or how we respond/don’t respond someone gets upset. It’s a lose/lose situation I’ve learned. Plus if we ask people several times nicely and they fail to comply we are ignored/viewed as pushovers. The second we have to get serious or possibly even stern we get called unprofessional or unkind. I’m not saying I 100% agree with this FA’s actions, but moreover the overall tone and sentiment of the article just seems unnecessary. Everyday we have over one to two hundred people per flight judging and critiquing us on how we do our job and now we have to worry about videos/articles like these being posted all over the internet when dealing with unruly passengers. But alas, I digress, what would you like to drink? Can I get you a snack?
The FA is a c*nt, and has no business in the air. Anybody that doesn’t see the danger in giving such power is a fool. Amazingly, the time may come that we would live with more freedom in Eastern Europe.
It’s Southwest. She’s allowed to express humor and lighten up a heavy situation. This guy sits in a seat for 200,000 miles a year being served, not serving on the aircraft, and he is judging this flight attendant for 2 seconds of her career. Time to apologize for being a total jerk. The earlier reply saying “get me my coke” is part of this mob.