Flight Attendants Can't Stand This One Request Passengers Always Make After Boarding

Everyone knows that air travel can be a stressful experience. From crowded airports to unforeseen delays, we often anticipate the worst when it comes to catching that flight to a new and exciting destination. Security lines and the special safety rules set forth by the TSA are another part of the deal, and those strict guidelines may be contributing to one of the things you're doing to drive your flight attendants crazy.

I've been a flight attendant for the last 10 years, and I'll be the first to admit that there is a list of things that most flight attendants would like passengers to stop doing. Top transgressions range from bringing on too much luggage to sticking your elbows and legs into the aisle while we're trying to complete our in-flight beverage and food service. Ringing your call button just to hand us waste is one of my own personal pet peeves (we come through every 15 minutes to collect any unwanted items!), but all of these things pale in comparison to when customers ask us for water upon boarding the aircraft.

We get it! You aren't permitted to bring liquids through security, and everything in the airport terminal costs a fortune. No one wants to pay triple the typical price for a bottle of water after traversing the security line, especially when they know that water will be free on the plane. That being said, if you know you can't wait for beverage service, it would be a good idea to come prepared — many airports have bottle filling stations — and we also recommend grabbing a bite to eat before you board. There happen to be some very good reasons for why the seemingly innocent request for water or snacks puts added pressure on us flight attendants during one of the most hectic moments of our day.

It's easy to see that boarding an airplane is a busy and hectic time for everyone on board. Depending on their position on the plane, each of your flight attendants is performing very specific boarding duties. The front flight attendants are greeting passengers, while the rest are executing functions like readying galleys for drink and food service, making boarding announcements, and assisting passengers with bags. Others are dealing with possible seat discrepancies and likely denying upgrade requests, which should always be made prior to boarding. 

When you ask one of us to stop what we're doing to get you water, oftentimes that requires us to navigate a packed aisle, all the way down to a galley, and then back to your seat. This usually necessitates leaving our assigned section of the plane and venturing away from the emergency exit we are responsible for manning, should the need for an evacuation arise. We're also required to return to you later to collect anything we have passed out on the ground prior to takeoff. This is an added inconvenience, as we have important information to convey during our safety demonstration and compliance checks to make before takeoff that include ensuring hundreds of seats are in the upright position and tray tables and personal items are stowed.

To put it simply, we're busy during and just after boarding, and the time allotted to perform drink service occurs once we've taken off and reached 10,000 feet in the air for a reason. If you are truly in need of water and it cannot wait until after takeoff, we will do our best to accommodate you, but a more desirable alternative would be to bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it at a terminal water station before boarding.