THEN

 are passengers always right?

NOW

My name is ROSEMARY ANONYE. I started my flying career on the 1^st of April 1980 with the Liquidated National Carrier (Nigeria Airways LTD). I have over 27 years of flying experience. During my service years with the National Carrier, I was seconded to fly with International Airlines British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines and Air Atlanta.

I underwent trainings in different aspects of cabin crew administration and procedure. I went through supervisory and managerial training and rose from the post of a Superneumery to the post of a Snr. Purser. I hold four (4) internationally recognized cabin crew licenses certified by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. I attended leadership training course in Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON). I am a cabin crew instructor from Active Solutions in England. I am certified as one of the “Train the Trainers” from Nigerian Institute for Training and Development (NITAD). I am certified as an instructor in Customer Service, Aviator Medicine and Aircrafty Type from British Airways and Active Solutions.

I have the privilege and opportunity of flying and serving VVIP’s, VIP’s and passengers with reduced mobility. I was trained and have also flown 12 different types of commercial aeroplanes. I am a columnist with the Aviationline Magazine for over 10 years on “Reminiscences”

IS A PASSENGER ALWAYS RIGHT ?

There was an episode that took place 3 months ago in our Aviation Industry. I am on this write up going to discuss what happened in the cabin first as that is my area of specialty. Cabin crews are always looked down on as “Tea and Coffee Servers” far be it from that. That is why customers/passengers feel they pay money to be served by their servants with an attitude that they are always “right”. Cabin crews are graduates men and women from different disciplines of studies. I did Nursing as a career in waiting to become a flight stewardess. Whatever discipline that we joined the airline with, we must start as Abinitio (Superneumery) (Sny) and then go through years of in-flight trainings to become a “Flight Purser”. It takes many years to become a “Purser” which means as a Purser you can handle the Cockpit Crews, the paper works, Passengers, Fellow Crews, take charge as the commander during any emergency situation and mange the entire cabin from take off to landing throughout the flight (voyage). Cabin crews on any flight are for (1.) Passengers safety (2) Passengers’ comfort.

I am now writing on the unfortunate incidence that took place in one of our reputable private Airline between a Purser and a passenger before take off which resulted in a show of shame. The Purser, after his/her flight briefly goes round the cabin to ensure that passengers adhere to instructions before she reports to the captain that “Cabin” is ready for take-off without which the flight will be grounded. In the event of the Purser walking round the cabin and discovers that passengers or a passenger is not carrying out her flight briefing instructions e.g. turning off electronic gadgets or fastening of seat belts etc will make sure that the passenger/passengers complies. In the event that the passenger refuses to obey the flight Purser he/she will be declared as a security risk onboard especially in the event of any emergency if In-flight. At this point, the Flight Purser will notify the Flight Captain that there is an unruly passenger onboard who has refused to adhere to her instructions after briefing by not wanting to turn off his/her electronic gadget. I understand the passenger in question mentioned to the Purser that he/she does not know how to turn off the phone or put it on flight mode. The argument was taking part of the take off time when a passenger volunteered to help to turn the phone off. At that time, other passengers were throwing uncomplimentary remarks at her. The passenger must have felt humiliated that is why she planned and staged a comeback to retaliate after landing at her destination. What happened after landing as I was told and also read from the media that there was a fracas where the passenger picked one of the equipment and wanted to use it as a weapon on the Purser and in turn her clothes were torn in defence. At that point, the Captain had to notify the Airport Security who escorted the passenger out of the aircraft. The rest of the story is History. The passenger apologized to the airline and to the Flight Purser.

To the Flight Purser, she didn’t handle the situation with wisdom and experience even though she was in charge of the cabin management. As Flight Pursers we were trained as leaders to handle passengers irrespective of the situation at hand.

Another in flight case is one of the highly reputable International Airline I was seconded to fly with. An unruly passenger is classified as an item In-flight. No airline in the world will accept such passengers. There is no parking space in the sky to judge In-flight matters that is why the airline treats such cases seriously before any flight is allowed to proceed for take-off. The airline sanctioned a renowned, popular and a regular first class passenger who was unruly in one of its Transatlantic flight some years ago. The passenger had a good case and was “Right” but because of the wild attitude and verbal abuses to the entire ground staff and aircraft personnel exhibited before departure. The first thing the airline did was to hand over the passenger to the Airport Security (2) Banned for flying the Airline for five years. (3) Paid a fine (4) Served community duties.

I believe these two in flight cases out of so many will serve as a lesson to passengers. So many of the procedures have changed in some  airlines because of passengers attitude of “A Passenger is always Right”. That slogan is dead and buried long ago. In this particular Airline, I and my colleagues were privileged to attend a course on “Security and Restraints”. Onboard the aircraft in this airline, are security gadgets for unruly passengers in-flight. There are two colours of cards; Red and Yellow as in a football field, (2) Handcuffs (3) Harnesses. If these security gadgets are exhausted, the Captain will land at the nearest airport and off load such a passenger. We were told that if this happens, the passenger will pay for the landing etc.

I am going to bring in two cases again. This story is about two responsible and respectable citizens in the society. Passenger (one) refused security checks before boarding even though the passenger arrived few minutes before departure time with an article that needed to be checked and certified by the security agent that the content of that article was not dangerous to other passengers and the aircraft. An argument ensued and caused more delay for other passengers who were onboard. The Captain of the flight had to intervene for the passenger to submit to security checks.But still to no avail. The Captain had to return to the aircraft and got clearance to take off without the passenger. As the aircraft taxied for take-off, the passenger ran to the tarmac to block the aircraft from moving. This story sounds like Nollywood movie but it is a real life drama. The passenger on seeing that the Captain was still taxing for take-off as the flight was about 50 minutes behind take-off time, gave way for the flight to take-off. The captain of the flight has no case in this matter as far as I know. The public were judging that particular incident because of the female gender. The captain spoke to the press. It should have been her company after submitting her voyage report. The case was handled by the appropriate airline authorities and the regulatory body.

Passenger (two) arrived late at the airport after the check-in counter was closed and other passengers were boarding. There is a procedure before flight departure, first book confirm for tickets days or same day for departure. Online or front desk and be at the airport for checking of baggage at least one hour or one and a half hours. In the case of that passenger, there was no confirmation for that day and the flight was full. What happened as I followed that story can only happen in this part of the world. When the passenger insisted that the checking in staff should check their system, there was no confirmation in the passenger’s name, the passenger went into a rage and broke the security rules and blocked the area which houses the conveyor belts for passengers baggage going through to the point of loading into the aircraft. The case is still being under investigation.

The regulatory body Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced that there is no more Christmas for “Unruly Passengers”. There is no more slogan that “Passengers are always Right”. Passengers should take note by going through their tickets for more information. Passengers should dress decently especially our female passengers and not as “Runway Models”. Flying remains the Safest, Most Reliable and Most Comfortable means of transportation in the world. I am proud of my career as a Flight

Hostess of 27 years  Flying Experience.

Rosemary Grace Anonye (Snr Flight Purser)

08023082308/08140789362