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American Airlines passenger Anna Leah Maltezos, shared a video that has since gone viral with over five million views. Referring to an American Airlines pilot laying down the law, she said: “Thank you for coming to his TED talk” and then captioned the video, saying “American Airlines captain has had it with y’all” … and she wasn’t kidding. RELATED: JetBlue Pilot Gives Funny and Inspirational Announcement Ahead of Flight
Although the video, embedded below, only shows the seatback in front of Anna, it seems the 737 captain was standing in the aisle when he addressed his passengers. Here’s the transcript: “Remember, the flight attendants are here for your safety. After that, they’re here to make your flight more enjoyable. They’re going to take care of you guys but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cockpit or in the cabin. And my will is what matters.”
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He’s 100% right about this as whatever the captain says, goes. He decides in the end who does or doesn’t get kicked off a flight and they almost always back their flight attendants, even if the flight attendants are in the wrong.
The captain continued with, “Be nice to each other. Be respectful to each other. I shouldn’t have to say that. You people should treat people the way you want to be treated. But I have to say it every single flight because people don’t. And they’re selfish and rude. And we won’t have it, okay?”
Amen to this. It’s mind-boggling to me how rude some passengers are. One of my biggest pet peeves is when passengers watch videos, listen to music or talk on the phone without headphones, which the captain addresses.
He goes on to say: “Store your stuff, get out of everybody else’s way, put your junk where it belongs. Everybody here paid for space. Don’t lean on other people. Don’t fall asleep on other people. Don’t pass out on other people or drool on them unless you talked about it first and they have a weather-resistant jacket.”
“Alright, a little bit of fatherhood here. The other things: The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode, that is over. Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video. I know you think it’s super sweet and it probably is but it’s your business, right? So keep it to yourself. Use your Airpods, use your headphones, whatever it is. That’s your business. It’s just part of being a respectful society.”
Can I get another amen? That was everything and he could have just ended there but he continued to help the poor folks in the middle seats of the three-by-three configured aircraft.
“Middle seaters, I know it stinks to be in the middle seat, raise your hands. Anybody in the middle,” he asks? “Like five people, yeah right, the flight is full. Alright, nobody’s listening. Fine. You own both of the armrests. That is my gift to you. Welcome on board our flight.”
What’s funny is that you can hear a woman in the background say, “What’s going on in here?” I’ll tell you what’s going on: This airline captain has had it with unruly passengers. If I were a captain, I would give a similar talk.
Given some of the most popular comments, it looks like many people agree with the captain:
“He’s not wrong. For him to say this, that means he’s fed up with all these childish adults”
“I love it, and I hate it. Love it that he’s supporting his crew and laying down the rules. Hate it that people can’t self-manage well enough, that this has become necessary.”
But of course, not everyone agrees and this reply is spot on: “The people who are mad about his speech are the ones who needed to hear it the most.”
Unfortunately, we don’t know the name of the captain but a flight attendant chimed in and said, “If it’s who I think it is, I’ve flown with him before. He’s a captain named Matt, can’t remember last name. Anyways he was AWESOME! He did that spiel every leg telling pax what it is and what it wasn’t gonna be. He waited for all crew to get off before he did, EVEN in the last leg home where 99% bolt out. One of the best pilots I had the pleasure to fly with. We def need more like him having our backs.”
Here’s to having more captains like this one or the JetBlue pilot my sister flew with recently.
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Bravo, that is awesome, good for him!!!!
Bravo! Need more airline Captains like this (unfortunately).