Flight Attendants Can't Stand This Seemingly Helpful Behavior During Boarding

While incidents of unruly passengers are frequently in the news, you may have tried to be extra helpful to flight attendants to help counteract the bad behavior of others. You gather your trash before the cabin attendants get to your seat with the garbage bag. You try not to overuse the call button for non-emergencies. You may also try to move things in the overhead bins to help out, or make room for your own things without asking for assistance. However, that last seemingly helpful behavior is something flight attendants can't stand. Not only can it cause issues with other passengers, but flight attendants are likely to be called over to deal with the dispute.

Overhead bins are very crowded these days, with many airlines raising prices for checked baggage, and not enough bin space for every passenger's carry-on. Plus, fliers throw coats up there, as well as purses and backpacks, or they put their roller bags in the wrong way, leaving less space for other people. However, if you as a passenger decide to move a bag, you're likely to end up with a dispute on your hands. It can cause all sorts of issues, including delays. One flight attendant who commented on a thread in Reddit's r/americanairlines says, "Speaking as crew. I could stop each passenger and visually show them which bin to put their bag in and they'll still find a way to put it somewhere else. Now imagine we have to take the time to correct bag placement for even half of the passengers. Hello delay city." 

Passengers moving bags around can be a nightmare for flight attendants and other passengers alike. Sometimes people move a bag to make room for their own, meaning the original bag is behind the owner's seat, which requires them to stay on the plane until everyone else has left just to retrieve it. As a rule of thumb, bags should never be moved without permission from the owner. Even still, rearranging luggage can damage items in the bag. One person on Reddit's r/americanairlines says that someone was moving things around and their soft bag was smashed. Remember that some people carry medical items in their bags, or fragile things (even in a hard case) that might be broken. Moving bags can also lead to them getting lost. In r/unitedairlines, a commenter laments that they have a generic-looking backpack, and someone moving it means it's harder to find at the end of the flight.

It can be a nightmare for flight attendants. In fact, one FA on r/unitedairlines says, "There have been a lot of times where I've had to play Tetris at the last minute to accomplish this task," in terms of making sure all the bags were stowed correctly and the bins were closed in time for the flight's scheduled departure. Another flight attendant says that even they don't move bags to a different bin without asking whose it is and looking for permission.

Of course, it can be frustrating when you have a seat closer to the front, and people in the back have already taken up your space. The best practice is to put your bag over your own seat and leave everyone else's alone. If you need something moved or adjusted, ask first. Finally, while we're talking about bags, here are five items you should always pack in your carry-on.