John

I've logged hundreds of thousands of miles in the custody of Alaska Airlines and I've not encountered this sort of treatment; quite the contrary, I've found the AS cabin crews to be a cut above the other carriers for the most part. I have to think your experience is not only unusual, it's nearly unique. It frankly sounds as if the FA in question was having some serious emotional problems and you were just the unlucky recipient of her acting out. My wife was on a flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco a few years back when one of the FAs apparently had a bad reaction to some hallucinogenic drug and started duck-walking up the aisle, with her feet on the aisle seat armrests. In this case the other attendents grabbed her and secured her for the 10 hours remaining in the flight (she was talking to some unseen person part of the time, then asleep.) I suppose you could blame the airline for one employee's misbehavior, but condemning the whole corporation for an isolated incident seems unnecessary.

(My personal complaint with AS is the little prayer they include with your meal. Whether or not one agrees with the religious principles of the CEO, I don't think preaching to the ultimate captive audience is a particularly smart business move.)

Armstrong, have you actually contacted the airline about this, or just posted it on the Fodors bulletin board? If you really want to bring it to the attention of someone who might be in a position to do something about it (maybe for you, maybe with their HR staff) try this URL: http://www2.alaskaair.com/company/commitment/AS_CSC/commitment_as16.asp

If you've already done so, what was the result?

x

In this era of post 9-11, maybe they need to replace the cute little flight attendants with trained security personnel or keep the FA's to serve drinks only.

xyz

Seems to me that this whole thing could have been avaoided if you'd just put the pack in another overhead compartment. Why didn't you do that? Was this the first time in 20 years of flying that the space above your seat was full? If so, you've been luckier than most people.

Jack

xyz-He stated the overheads were full. Even if his backpack did stick out that is NO excuse for any Flight Attendant to start sreaming at a passenger, I don't care if they are having a bad day or not. As a passenger you can't say anything negative about the crew without getting thrown off. FA's are hired to be courteous if they aren't get rid of them.

FrequentFlyer

Seems to me that you were toally wrong.

However, the flight attendant should have been courteous to you ..unless you were not responding.

If I were on a flight and someone was not obeying the flight attendant, I'd wnat them off the plane too.

x

Sorry Flight Attendants should NOT be shouting at passengers. Furthermore, it was her job to help him stow his bag....

XXX

Give it a rest Armstrong. You are probably just another one of the many spoiled yuppie types who think the entire world is there to cater to them (and their spoiled kids). I doubt if the FA really yelled at you, she probably had enough of you (and the kids) not following instructions. Your precious backpack goes completely under the seat in front. Completely. Them's the rules.

FrequentFlyer

Perhaps what Armstrong calls shouting was actually a firm voice in an attempt to get your attention and demonstrate the NEED to obey her.

I'd like to hear the flight attendants impression of you/

xyz

Jack, he only said that the overhead over his seat was full. Happens all the time, you just find another overhead.

xx

Flight attendants are hired because of their looks??? Where might these FA's be located, I'll book the next flight on their airline! The FAs on Delta and most other major airlines are old, fat, rude and not in the least bit attractive. I would love to have a flight with some young, attractive, service-oriented, smiling FA's -- like the model types they have on Air France.

xxx

It is NOT the FA's job to help the pax stow carry on luggage. As an FA, it astounds me how many people want me to lift their heavy carry ons. Not a chance.

me

XXX-

That's fine, assuming you work for Air France.

Sam

Alaska Airlines puts a little prayer in with your meals? Let's have details -- I live on the East Coast and will probably never fly AS, but I've got to hear about this!

John

The prayer is a little printed page with a passage usually from the Old Testament (Psalms or Proverbs most often) stuck under the plate on the dinner tray. AS says it's a longstanding practice and they're not about to change it. (The scripture appears to be a King James extract - God is a He, etc.)

I don't mind the sentiments, but what if you're a Buddhist or Hindu?

For what it's worth, Hilton hotels used to have a similar bit of personal religious philosophy, signed by Conrad Hilton, in each of their rooms, along with the Gideon Bible. Thanks, Conrad, I'll remember to love my brother while I'm taking him to the cleaners at the business meeting tomorrow.

It's their plane and they can put what they want on the dinner tray I suppose. I just hope they don't include something from Jerry Falwell if there's a management change. But I think in this age of snippy passengers looking for something to complain about it's not the swiftest move on the airline's part.

mytwocents

John, I can answer that since I'm a practicing Buddhist. If I found a prayer under my meal tray on a flight I wouldn't feel offended. IMO people are perfectly entitled to their spiritual beliefs, and as long as they aren't ... well, ramming it down my throat there's no reason to get bent out of shape about it. Buddhists don't believe that the Buddha was a god anyway, he was just a normal guy who became enlightened.

marge

John, I'm not so sure I agree with your statement: "It's their plane and they can put what they want on the dinner tray I suppose."

It may be THEIR plane, but if I'M paying for seat, that changes things a bit, don't you think? Of course, if they'd like to let me fly for free, they can place anything they want on my food tray.

traveller

I personally would find it disconcerting to find scripture under my plate. An airline deals with people of all beliefs and faiths and as such, should be neutral, imho.

I don't believe in wholly in scripture and would be somewhat taken aback and put off by this. It is to me, passing off your beliefs on another. However, being the agnostic that I am, I would probably go for the cheapest flight costs and throw away the scripture, eat my meal, and not worry about it too much. Except for a laugh.

Armstrong Wong

Jason ([email protected]), thanks for your kind words. At that moment, in light of post-9/11, I tried my best to avoid confrontation and escalation in order to minimize inconvenience caused to other passengers.The 50-year old FA could have explained to me that it's a FAA regulation. Instead, her yelling impressed me that it's only her own arbitrary rule. She clearly indicated either I complied with her demand or she could stop the plane. "End of discussion" was her only explanation. She did ask the pilot to stop the plane. She even threatened me to throw myself and my two sons out of the plane. She constantly manufactured crises, one after another just because a simple storage problem. Apparently neither the pilots nor othe FAs took her seriously.

Jen ([email protected]), I did send an email to Alaska Air to file a complaint. As of today, I received no word from Alaska Air.

Gretchen ([email protected]), you're welcome to find out the actuality of the unfortunate incident which took place on AS180 15:36 July 26 (Friday).

Sue ([email protected]), no, the children boarding first policy wasn't honored because we had to go through strigent security search. As a matter of fact, the search was so thorough that we were the last ones boarding on the plane. To be exact, we went through 3 separte security searches--ticket counter, terminal entrance, and boarding gate.

xyz ([email protected]), obviously some passenger(s) carried excessive baggages on board. All ceiling storage cabins were occupied. I could only manage to insert a camera bag and a luggage on two separate cabins by removing some pillows. That's exactly how the incident occurred. Whether the FAA rule applys depends upon who you're.

Thanks for your valuable remarks, which help me understand how other would perceive the incident. Many thanks again.

Sincerely,
Armstrong Wong
Hong Kong

John

I mentioned the Gideon Bible for reference. They're universal, but I don't need to (and don't) open it up. The AS prayer is pretty innocuous but it's different from the Gideon Bible in that you can't ignore it, it's between you and your mystery meat. I just don't think preaching, no matter how inoffensive it is, is smart business in America nowadays. This is a big diverse country and people are very attuned to their rights under the First Amendment. And of course it's their plane and you can always choose another carrier. Unless you live in Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Kotzebue.....

brenda

Perhaps if we all traveled with less carry on baggage these problems would be eliminated. Its still obscene to me what some passengers get away with taking on board in the form of "carry-on" baggage these days. Even with the tightening up of carry on pieces after 911, some people still don't get it. Sure its a hassle to check bags, but it is also a hassle to have no space available in the overheads or to have someone smack you in the head when they walk by with their so-called"carry-on".