Why Your ‘Overzealous’ Flight Attendant is Actually Just Doing Their Job Properly… For Once

Crew Insider is our series of informative articles that answer some of the most common and less common questions about the aviation industry from the point of view of an industry insider. Our question answerer-in-chief is Mateusz Maszczynski, who has worked in the airline industry for nearly two decades and has honed his expertise in the field through this blog since 2015.

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A passenger on a recent British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Mumbai has recounted their experience with what they described as an “overzealous and overexcited” crew member who went around the cabin like a hospital “matron” as the plane was preparing for takeoff.

The crew member instructed the passenger, who had taken off their shoes, to either put them on for takeoff or place them in the overhead locker before turning her attention to a slew of other issues.

Describing what happened on the popular aviation forum Flyer Talk, the passenger explained that he was instructed to either wear or stow his eyeglasses, hold or stow his mobile phone, wear or stow the airline-supplied headphones, and either use the blanket or place it in the overhead locker.

“Basically NOTHING anywhere other than stowed or in hand or attached to the body,” the passenger said of their experience with the crew member.

“She pretty much instructed every single person under her supervision in a similar manner. The ancient lady in the aisle across from me actually asked her if she should just get in the overhead bin herself!”

Traveling in Business Class, the frequent flyer had clearly taken advantage of the additional space on offer and made himself comfortable in a manner that he had done on multiple other flights.

So, was the cabin crew being overly officious? The simple answer is no; everything that the matronly crew member told the passenger to do was, in fact, correct.

It’s no surprise that cabin crew are expected to carry out a check of the passenger before takeoff to ensure that it is ‘secure’ and that passengers are complying with standard aviation rules.

Some of these pre-takeoff and landing rules have been ingrained in us for a long time – seatbelts must be fastened, seatbacks placed in the upright position, tray tables and stowed, and in the case of many non-US airlines, window blinds are open.

Other rules are, however, not so well known and have evolved as new types of seats have been developed and installed on various airlines.

Seat manufacturers work with local aviation authorities to have their seats certified, which can sometimes lead to anomalies between different airlines. I’ve reached out to sources at British Airways, and they confirm that the instructions given by this crew member are correct.

BA’s Business Class seats are certified for safe use on the condition that all personal belongings are safely put away in the supplied stowages and the floor area is completely clear.

The problem, of course, is that these rules aren’t consistently enforced, which means that when a crew member actually goes to the effort of properly securing the cabin as intended, it seems as if they are being overzealous.

The situation can become even more confusing as different airlines enforce different rules even with the same seats. For example, passengers sitting by an emergency exit could be instructed to remove their headphones before takeoff and prior to landing.

I don’t think anyone likes to be told what to do, but be reassured that the vast majority of cabin crew are not on a power trip and are simply trying to do their jobs as instructed.

And remember, aviation regulators regularly conduct secret inspections to ensure cabin crew are doing their job correctly.