Travelling experiences.... ;)

Andiline · 10-13-2006

Today I added a new episode to my flight experiences. My flight from Switzerland back home was on time which doesn't happen often. We boarded and among the last people to board there were two guys with soccer scarfs and t-shirts. You heard them in the back of the plane already while they were just coming in. They asked everybody for the tickets and they were having lots of fun. On the one hand side they were funny, on the other they weren't as they were way too loud. We all sat down, doors closed and then the captain comes to them (one of them was sitting 2 or 3 rows behind me) and told them that they had the choice to either be quiet or leave the plane. They chose to be quiet. So the captain just said 'okay, but beer only afterwards in Cologne, okay?' Then we were standing there, getting ready for take off but nothing happened. The longer we stood the quieter the 2 became. After about half an hour I hear 'Cabin crew, doors in park.' Flying frequently I knew that this was the wrong command for take off (should have been 'doors in flight'). After another 10 minutes a police officer together with 3 security guys enter the plane and they come to get those two guys out....

After they left one of the passengers (I think I know him by sight) speaks up and tells the cabin crew that he thinks this was not okay as those two were quiet after the pilot talked to them. The flight attendant was slightly pissed off and told him that she rather get them out than having an unexpected landing in between because of drunk persons (you never know how drunk people behave). The really rude part was that she said that she didn't care whether he liked it or not.

Later the captain told via micro that one of guys was supposed to have said that they wanted to make chaos while we were in the air... I didn't hear anything like that but they were speaking swiss-german which I understand only to 75 %. Not sure whether they did the right thing to drag them out. But probably better safe than sorry....

RonH · 10-13-2006

In the "old days of flying", one could cut up, and have a little fun. I don't think thats the case anymore from what I've seen. Everybody does seem quiet and reserved. I guess its just the times we live in.

Rissask · 10-13-2006

I've never seen that happen!
Sounds like they maybe overreacted a bit- unless maybe they really did say that bit about causing chaos once in the air- then I don't blame them for kicking them off.

And drunks can be very annoying for the other passengers, and in a small, confined space, where some people are already nervous travellers- the crew certainly have the right to refuse service to obviously drunken passengers, not only for safety reasons but for the other passengers' comfort.

Andiline · 10-13-2006

I am not sure but it's possible that this airline has tightened it's rules for carrying drunk people. I know that in the last about 6 months they had two flights with unplanned emergency landings because of drunk passengers. And those unexpected landings do cause a lot of trouble and expenses to everybody involved. Might have been one of the reasons...

I have never experienced anything like this either. After the captain had talked to them and they went quiet I didn't expect this (and obviously neither did everybody else as there were a lot of puzzled faces among the other passengers).

When I flew to Thailand though there was one drunk passenger who sang loudly for two hours always the same two lines of the same two songs until finally 5 flight attendands showed up and told him to be quiet. Don't know why they still gave him alcoholic drinks in business class (he didn't get anything any more in economy class). He was told he had to check out in Bangkok but don't know whether he did. I got furious when though when while we were landing he started calling people on his mobile phone... (I got up and informed the flight attendants).

Seakony · 10-13-2006

There was a TV series about Southwest Airlines..it may still be on, but it was sometimes funny to see the people they had to deal with. If the passenger was drunk, they did not get to board. The flight attendents job is purely for safety reasons. They just happen to be nice enough to serve you a drink or food too. It also gives them a chance to check out the passengers better. It's not just the drunks being loud or offensive, the passengers next to them may blow a gasket and cause even more trouble. I am sure they had their reasons to kick them off the plane.

timbit · 10-13-2006

We were on a flight where we witnessed racial profiling. After everyone had arrived on the plane and were sitting the pilot said "Would passenger (name was Arabian or East Indian) and passenger (another Arabian sounding name) please raise your hands and identify yourselves to the flight attendants."
I assume he said it so the flight crew knew which seats they were sitting in. What did not make sense was, is there not a passenger manifest to show where each passenger is sitting?
If I had an Arabian or East Indian sounding name, I would not have been too happy with being profiled like this.

Andiline · 10-13-2006

Timbit, depends on the airline... the airline I was flying with today is one of the so-called 'low-fare carriers' (not really low fare any more though) and you can sit whereever you like. But you'd probably know if you'd fly with a similar airline. Usually they should know where people sit unless they change places. Maybe they did just that and had ordered special meals... you never know.

Rita, yes, they might have had their reasons they might have not. I don't know. I understand though that safety goes first when you fly (and I am glad about it). It was just not obvious to the people sitting near those two guys that they were really a RISK after the pilot had warned them (and I don't believe that any of the flight attendants understood swiss german any better than I do).

timbit · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andiline

Maybe they did just that and had ordered special meals... you never know.

On that same flight the lady sitting next to me had pre- ordered a vegetarian meal and they did not announce her name before the flight had left. When the flight attendants were serving the meals they came to her seat first and said " you pre-ordered this vegetarian meal?"
So it couldn't have been about special meals.

Rissask · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by timbit

We were on a flight where we witnessed racial profiling. After everyone had arrived on the plane and were sitting the pilot said "Would passenger (name was Arabian or East Indian) and passenger (another Arabian sounding name) please raise your hands and identify yourselves to the flight attendants."
I assume he said it so the flight crew knew which seats they were sitting in. What did not make sense was, is there not a passenger manifest to show where each passenger is sitting?
If I had an Arabian or East Indian sounding name, I would not have been too happy with being profiled like this.

I just can't believe it was done for that reason...can't be...must have been a different reason.

TimHorton · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rissask

I just can't believe it was done for that reason...can't be...must have been a different reason.

But what reason?????

Rissask · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimHorton

But what reason?????

Possibly they were connecting at the next city and the FAs needed to tell them something or ask them something...possibly they had messages...possibly they had both left things at screening...possibly they had asked to be bumped up to first class if there was room and they needed to tell them yes or no, etc. Could have been lots of reasons besides racial profiling.

Andiline · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by timbit

On that same flight the lady sitting next to me had pre- ordered a vegetarian meal and they did not announce her name before the flight had left. When the flight attendants were serving the meals they came to her seat first and said " you pre-ordered this vegetarian meal?"
So it couldn't have been about special meals.

If she didn't change her seat (the one stated on her boarding pass) while the others did it is a more than valid reason...

timbit · 10-13-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rissask

Possibly they were connecting at the next city and the FAs needed to tell them something or ask them something...possibly they had messages...possibly they had both left things at screening...possibly they had asked to be bumped up to first class if there was room and they needed to tell them yes or no, etc. Could have been lots of reasons besides racial profiling.

This was a charter flight direct from Toronto to Cancun---no stops --no first class.

TimHorton · 10-13-2006

timbit and I were not the only ones on the plane that thought of this being a case of racial profiling.

Quite a few people in our area of the plane were discussing this.

Rissask · 10-13-2006

Well, you never know I guess huh...I just can't believe they would do it so blatantly, if that was the reason. Seems VERY out of character for any airline I have ever flown....I would have freaked on them if I were one of those passengers, how humiliating!

Is it possible one was a cop and the other a prisoner he was transporting? Because the cop may have been armed- that could have been a reason they had to ID themselves too. (I used to be a screening guard and we had them come through all the time...wait- this was a vacation charter? nevermind

)

10-13-2006	#1 (permalink)
Andiline añejo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cologne, Germany Posts: 7,412	Travelling experiences.... ;) Today I added a new episode to my flight experiences. My flight from Switzerland back home was on time which doesn't happen often. We boarded and among the last people to board there were two guys with soccer scarfs and t-shirts. You heard them in the back of the plane already while they were just coming in. They asked everybody for the tickets and they were having lots of fun. On the one hand side they were funny, on the other they weren't as they were way too loud. We all sat down, doors closed and then the captain comes to them (one of them was sitting 2 or 3 rows behind me) and told them that they had the choice to either be quiet or leave the plane. They chose to be quiet. So the captain just said 'okay, but beer only afterwards in Cologne, okay?' Then we were standing there, getting ready for take off but nothing happened. The longer we stood the quieter the 2 became. After about half an hour I hear 'Cabin crew, doors in park.' Flying frequently I knew that this was the wrong command for take off (should have been 'doors in flight'). After another 10 minutes a police officer together with 3 security guys enter the plane and they come to get those two guys out.... After they left one of the passengers (I think I know him by sight) speaks up and tells the cabin crew that he thinks this was not okay as those two were quiet after the pilot talked to them. The flight attendant was slightly pissed off and told him that she rather get them out than having an unexpected landing in between because of drunk persons (you never know how drunk people behave). The really rude part was that she said that she didn't care whether he liked it or not. Later the captain told via micro that one of guys was supposed to have said that they wanted to make chaos while we were in the air... I didn't hear anything like that but they were speaking swiss-german which I understand only to 75 %. Not sure whether they did the right thing to drag them out. But probably better safe than sorry.... Last edited by Andiline : 10-13-2006 at 04:34 PM.

10-13-2006	#4 (permalink)
Andiline añejo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cologne, Germany Posts: 7,412	I am not sure but it's possible that this airline has tightened it's rules for carrying drunk people. I know that in the last about 6 months they had two flights with unplanned emergency landings because of drunk passengers. And those unexpected landings do cause a lot of trouble and expenses to everybody involved. Might have been one of the reasons... I have never experienced anything like this either. After the captain had talked to them and they went quiet I didn't expect this (and obviously neither did everybody else as there were a lot of puzzled faces among the other passengers). When I flew to Thailand though there was one drunk passenger who sang loudly for two hours always the same two lines of the same two songs until finally 5 flight attendands showed up and told him to be quiet. Don't know why they still gave him alcoholic drinks in business class (he didn't get anything any more in economy class). He was told he had to check out in Bangkok but don't know whether he did. I got furious when though when while we were landing he started calling people on his mobile phone... (I got up and informed the flight attendants). Last edited by Andiline : 10-13-2006 at 04:58 PM.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

10-13-2006	#2 (permalink)
RonH life=playa Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: INDY Posts: 982	In the "old days of flying", one could cut up, and have a little fun. I don't think thats the case anymore from what I've seen. Everybody does seem quiet and reserved. I guess its just the times we live in.

10-13-2006	#3 (permalink)
Rissask Brit basher Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 18,214	I've never seen that happen! Sounds like they maybe overreacted a bit- unless maybe they really did say that bit about causing chaos once in the air- then I don't blame them for kicking them off. And drunks can be very annoying for the other passengers, and in a small, confined space, where some people are already nervous travellers- the crew certainly have the right to refuse service to obviously drunken passengers, not only for safety reasons but for the other passengers' comfort.

10-13-2006	#5 (permalink)
Seakony añejo Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: no longer in Mesquite with nothing to do Posts: 10,146	There was a TV series about Southwest Airlines..it may still be on, but it was sometimes funny to see the people they had to deal with. If the passenger was drunk, they did not get to board. The flight attendents job is purely for safety reasons. They just happen to be nice enough to serve you a drink or food too. It also gives them a chance to check out the passengers better. It's not just the drunks being loud or offensive, the passengers next to them may blow a gasket and cause even more trouble. I am sure they had their reasons to kick them off the plane.

10-13-2006	#6 (permalink)
timbit way into it Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 210	We were on a flight where we witnessed racial profiling. After everyone had arrived on the plane and were sitting the pilot said "Would passenger (name was Arabian or East Indian) and passenger (another Arabian sounding name) please raise your hands and identify yourselves to the flight attendants." I assume he said it so the flight crew knew which seats they were sitting in. What did not make sense was, is there not a passenger manifest to show where each passenger is sitting? If I had an Arabian or East Indian sounding name, I would not have been too happy with being profiled like this.

10-13-2006	#7 (permalink)
Andiline añejo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cologne, Germany Posts: 7,412	Timbit, depends on the airline... the airline I was flying with today is one of the so-called 'low-fare carriers' (not really low fare any more though) and you can sit whereever you like. But you'd probably know if you'd fly with a similar airline. Usually they should know where people sit unless they change places. Maybe they did just that and had ordered special meals... you never know. Rita, yes, they might have had their reasons they might have not. I don't know. I understand though that safety goes first when you fly (and I am glad about it). It was just not obvious to the people sitting near those two guys that they were really a RISK after the pilot had warned them (and I don't believe that any of the flight attendants understood swiss german any better than I do).

10-13-2006	#14 (permalink)
TimHorton beachaholic Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Southwest Ontario Posts: 438	timbit and I were not the only ones on the plane that thought of this being a case of racial profiling. Quite a few people in our area of the plane were discussing this.

10-13-2006	#15 (permalink)
Rissask Brit basher Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 18,214	Well, you never know I guess huh...I just can't believe they would do it so blatantly, if that was the reason. Seems VERY out of character for any airline I have ever flown....I would have freaked on them if I were one of those passengers, how humiliating! Is it possible one was a cop and the other a prisoner he was transporting? Because the cop may have been armed- that could have been a reason they had to ID themselves too. (I used to be a screening guard and we had them come through all the time...wait- this was a vacation charter? nevermind )

register to remove these adverts