Agro in the sky

[bean]

Saw something interesting last night. Everyone was lined up somewhat in an orderly fashion waiting for boarding to commence. Then just as boarding started a guy standing off to the side near the service counter came bolting across from the side to the shock of everyone and cuts the line to be first!! We all sort of looked at each other with bemusement waiting for him to be turned away. What did the ground crew do...nothing, just took his ticket with a smile....

Anyway one of the other passengers who had been waiting in line took exception to this terribly selfish and inconsiderate behaviour and the two exchanged words until they were seated on opposing ends of the isle....in row 3!!

Then upon arrival I watched wondering what would happen. Sure enough the inconsiderate degenerate that was too special to line up at departure physically pushed the other guy out of the isle to force himself past and in front!! He physically pushed the other guy!!!

More words exchanged and I was concerned it was about to escalate.

I can’t help but think this type of frustration and aggression could be avoided if the Virgin staff maintained control and order and turned away people who cut the line and in this case get physical instead of just letting the rules of the jungle prevail with a smile...it’s not the first time I’ve seen this type of thing happen

Shocking behaviour by the que jumper but more concerning imho was the shocking behaviour by Virgin staff who’s inaction effectively condones this sort of behaviour and forces other passengers to speak up in such situations, which as I saw last night could very easily have escalated to a physical confrontation.

Get your act together Virgin and control your pax!

 

[Denali]

Now, I would not be shy in saying, 'Oy! The lines back there" but if someone is obviously an ahole, no point in getting in a poop fight with them as they will still be an ahole and you will only be more agitated by the encounter. (Im trying a new "relaxed" motto lately).

And for the VA staff, their job is to handle the sheep with as little escalation as possible. It would take a ballsy gate agent to "control" their pax at the boarding gate because they cut into a queue then the person will either have to be pulled from the flight or will be a handful during the flight. Both are not good for the other pax or flight schedule.

 

[Dannyism]

Get your act together Virgin and control your pax!

You think this guy would have been controllable? The best de-escalation tactic would be to ignore him, try to reason with the other passenger.

There's a lot of people in this world, sounds like the guy pushing in is probably a mental case. What can you do? You can't argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

EDIT: don't get me wrong, what a d*ck, rude and uncivilised I agree. But, relax, you're all going to get on.

 

[bean]

Well if the guy is a mental case I don't want him on the flight! What else is going to set him off? I would have thought asking him to return to the line would be a simple vetting process for people who may be 'uncontrollable'.

It is the crews job to control the passengers, not the passengers responsibility to look the other way...

 

[bean]

You can't argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Lol classic, I love this line! I'm going to use it!

 

[dajop]

Sounds like some sort of substance induced behaviour to me. Or the person in question came from a culture where that sort of thing is the norm. This is not normal in Australia.

 

[Guvner]

Sounds like some sort of substance induced behaviour to me. Or the person in question came from a culture where that sort of thing is the norm. This is not normal in Australia yet.

:edited for accuracy

 

[bean]

And there’s the issue-do we as civilised people just look the other way when these types of things happen which no doubt will lead to an escalation of other people repeating this behaviour out of frustration.

Or is there an onus on Virgin to maintain decorum and manage these situations to avoid an escalation of poor behaviour....

Or do we just say goodbye to civilised social niceties and revert to the law of the jungle?

 

[dajop]

Sounds like some sort of substance induced behaviour to me. Or the person in question came from a culture where that sort of thing is the norm.

Actually upon reflection I'm going with the former. The latter won't argue back so much if called out on their behaviour when in a place that it is not the norm. Sounds like substance or, given it was Row 3 ... DYKWIA....

 

[jbman]

Should have taken a picture of the offender and posted it on the thread.

If they are a frequent flyer there is a good chance they are a member or lurker on this forum

 

[andyhui01]

I wouldn't confront, 1. Because you don't know if that guy is in a proper mental state. 2. You risk getting kicked off the flight if you do confront and turns ugly.

 

[Happy Dude]

If the VA staff heard/witnessed the initial exchange between the passengers at the BP scanner queue, then yes, they should have intervened. It's their job to control the who boards the plane and the circumstances in which they board.

 

[AviatorInsight]

Well if the guy is a mental case I don't want him on the flight! What else is going to set him off?...
It is the crews job to control the passengers, not the passengers responsibility to look the other way...

I have on many occasion removed people from a flight for this reason. For example, the other week we were chasing our tails all day trying to get back to SYD before curfew. This DYKWIA was in row 7 and decided to park his bag in business on a full flight. The CS was trying to tell him to take his bag back to his seat and so he dumped it in the aisle. We only had a 16min window in which we needed to push and start engines. There was no time to be dealing with this clown.

He perhaps forgot that there were two more people with more of an authority sitting a lot further in front than this DYKWIA, because once I was out in the cabin telling him we don’t have time for this, either sit and take your bag with you or we remove you AND your bag and you wait until tomorrow for the next flight. He immediately took his bag and was as quiet as a church mouse the rest of the flight. In the end we got all 177 pax to SYD 5mins before curfew.

 

[Denali]

I have on many occasion removed people from a flight for this reason. For example, the other week we were chasing our tails all day trying to get back to SYD before curfew. This DYKWIA was in row 7 and decided to park his bag in business on a full flight. The CS was trying to tell him to take his bag back to his seat and so he dumped it in the aisle. We only had a 16min window in which we needed to push and start engines. There was no time to be dealing with this clown.

He perhaps forgot that there were two more people with more of an authority sitting a lot further in front than this DYKWIA, because once I was out in the cabin telling him we don’t have time for this, either sit and take your bag with you or we remove you AND your bag and you wait until tomorrow for the next flight. He immediately took his bag and was as quiet as a church mouse the rest of the flight. In the end we got all 177 pax to SYD 5mins before curfew.

In a non harassing way....

 

[Happy Dude]

I have on many occasion removed people from a flight for this reason. For example, the other week we were chasing our tails all day trying to get back to SYD before curfew. This DYKWIA was in row 7 and decided to park his bag in business on a full flight. The CS was trying to tell him to take his bag back to his seat and so he dumped it in the aisle. We only had a 16min window in which we needed to push and start engines. There was no time to be dealing with this clown.

He perhaps forgot that there were two more people with more of an authority sitting a lot further in front than this DYKWIA, because once I was out in the cabin telling him we don’t have time for this, either sit and take your bag with you or we remove you AND your bag and you wait until tomorrow for the next flight. He immediately took his bag and was as quiet as a church mouse the rest of the flight. In the end we got all 177 pax to SYD 5mins before curfew.

Aviatorinsight, is there some sort of follow up communique to the gent or a note on his file (strike 1!) or similar?

 

[AviatorInsight]

Aviatorinsight, is there some sort of follow up communique to the gent or a note on his file (strike 1!) or similar?

Unfortunately, none that I’m aware of for an incident such as this.

I have been told of only person in particular being banned from a previous airline due to safety issue mid flight that caused us to return to SYD and the AFP called in for our arrival.

 

[texanaust]

What about when everyone is huddled around the priority boarding lane just prior to the commencement of boarding and then someone decides to move through the swarm down to the boarding pass scanning station? I've seen people verbally grumble that they were first, but actually the first walk down the tensa-barriers is really first in line. This happens a lot and forces all the gate lice into the lane and lined up regardless of when boarding actually starts. What do you think?

 

[clipped_wings]

How about we just concede it was some selfish boofhead who had the nerve to challenge the crowd and then physically defend his poor actions with more stupidity.

 

[Jack_OC]

What about when everyone is huddled around the priority boarding lane just prior to the commencement of boarding and then someone decides to move through the swarm down to the boarding pass scanning station? I've seen people verbally grumble that they were first, but actually the first walk down the tensa-barriers is really first in line. This happens a lot and forces all the gate lice into the lane and lined up regardless of when boarding actually starts. What do you think?

"gate lice" ..... I love it! Agree that this happens literally all the time.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

.....
How about we just concede it was some selfish boofhead who had the nerve to challenge the crowd and then physically defend his poor actions with more stupidity.................

Precisely !