I was cabin crew for 45 years – I know why passengers’ behaviour is worse now
Diktats on how to behave can feel patronising as an adult. So perhaps prompts from the US government for airline passengers to ask themselves if they are “dressing with respect” and “saying please and thank you” may irritate some already stressed travellers. Yet the US Department of Transportation’s campaign to restore “courtesy and class to air travel” may have some weight. The number of “unruly passenger incidents” rose by 8 per cent worldwide in 2024, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Cabin crew members face the brunt of this behaviour. Joan Foulks, who worked as cabin crew for 45 years, first with Pan Am, then United Airlines, experienced it first hand – but she has some theories about why passengers aren’t as polite as they once were. (Photo: Supplied).
Sympathy for passengers
With shrinking legroom, reductions in in-flight meal services and the growth of mass air travel, Joan has seen flying turn from a luxury for most people to something akin to public transport. In 2024, the aviation industry carried around 9.4 billion passengers globally, compared to around 648 million when Joan started with Pan Am in 1979. In its early days, the seat pitch (the distance between one headrest and the one in front; the best indicator of leg room) of economy seats on Pan Am flights was up to 38 in, on DC-6B planes. Today, some low-cost airlines have a seat pitch of as little as 28 in. It’s no wonder, Joan suggests, that passengers who feel cramped don’t behave as well as they did when flying was a more enjoyable experience. Cabin crew have adapted to this new reality. “It’s expected now that the job is going to be kind of thankless; that people are going to be rude,” says Joan. She sympathises from her own experience of flying as a passenger. “When you’re sitting four in a row, and you have to [almost contort yourself] to use the loo and you can’t get up very often [it’s no fun].” (Photo: Supplied).
The controversy of reclining seats
A common disagreement between airline passengers is whether or not it’s acceptable to recline your seat. Surveys suggest that around 40 per cent of travellers find it annoying when the person in front of them puts their seat back. Joan points out that often seats on modern planes recline “about two inches”. She remembers when they would recline enough to help with sleeping. Indeed, those who’ve taken short-haul, low-cost flights will have become used to fixed seats, or seats with a minimal decline – on some Airbus A320neo models, for instance. Cabin crew sometimes have to step in when arguments occur between passengers. How did Joan handle it? “If you’ve got an empty seat, you can try to move someone, and perhaps offer them a free drink. “About 90 per cent of passengers are kind, and then there are the ones who make the flight difficult.” (Photo: Reuters).
Dressing down has become the norm
While working for Pan Am, Joan soaked up the now lost glamour of air travel. She had royalty and other well-known people on some of her flights, including Princess Margaret, George Harrison and Jane Seymour. “You had to have loads of money to travel, so you were already feeling privileged,” says Joan. “You might run into a celebrity onboard”. Flying was a novelty for which you’d want to look your best; today, passengers dress for comfort. “I believe that when people aren’t dressed up [it changes how they act],” says Joan. “I mean, don’t you behave differently in your pyjamas?” (Photo: Michael Nagle/Getty).
'People are more antisocial'
Joan asked some of her former colleagues for an up-to-date take on passenger behaviour, as she retired in 2024. One respondent said: “I would say people are more antisocial. They used to [care more] about service, now their concern is about the seats they get, and the Wi-Fi.” Drunk passengers can also be a problem. Joan recalls a time when two people who seemed to have been drinking alcohol boarded a flight on which she was working. The pair promised not to drink in the air. “When we cut them off, they got other passengers to pay for their drinks,” Joan says. The rise of such incidents has led the industry to remind travellers of the consequences of being drunk and disruptive while flying. This summer, for example, UK organisations, including the Travel Retail Forum (UKTRF), AirportsUK, Airlines UK and Iata, joined up for the “One too many” campaign. This initiative highlighted that disorderly passengers could face fines of up to £80,000 and lifetime airline bans. (Photo: Pexels).
The rising costs of air travel
The culture, among some travellers, of drinking alcohol at the airport before boarding a flight might be part of the issue. Yet passengers might also note that onboard alcohol sales go towards the profits airlines make from ancillaries – the aviation industry’s term for optional costs that aren’t included in the ticket fare. Globally, ancillary revenue now accounts for more than 15 per cent of total airline revenue, according to research published this year by IdeaWorksCompany, a consultancy on airline ancillary revenue. As well as paying for extras that would once have been included in the fare, such as more legroom, passengers have seen a decline in punctuality. Data analysis by the consumer-focussed organisation Which? found that flights were more likely to be delayed in 2025 than they were before the pandemic. Of course, these changes are not under the control of cabin crew, whose jobs have become more challenging aside from dealing with an apparent decline in passengers’ manners. (Photo: Getty).
Cabin crews can hope for festive goodwill
Another response to Joan’s survey of her one-time colleagues came from a fellow retiree: “As a former crew member, my working experience changed so much over the years. From 65 hours per month to unlimited hours. From being overstaffed on every flight to bare-minimum crews. From five-star layover hotels in city centres to much shorter layovers and some in hotels in the suburbs.” More than five million UK travellers will head abroad for Christmas and New Year, according to estimates from Abta, the travel association. Most of those people will be taking a flight. Their cabin crews will be hoping for a little festive goodwill – and that passengers don’t consume too many celebratory drinks before take-off.
