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> the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the

> the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. Somewhat contrary perspective: the last time I was stuck in an airport indefinitely, everyone insisted everyone else stay put for indefinite lengths of time, because the delayed flight would leave “as soon as possible”. After several hours of this, I angrily insisted that it isn’t reasonable to keep people at a terminal hanging on indefinitely and that we’d all be better off if everyone could agree to reconvene at the next estimated arrival. A bunch of other passengers emphatically agreed, and the airline staff agreed then too. Then everyone went and had their food and drinks and whatever, and no one was angry anymore when the flight finally boarded.

pc86 3y ago
And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in this scenario). At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first. Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.
- eyelidlessness 3y ago
  Well this was apparently an unusual situation. Everyone has been waiting politely for hours, quite a few passengers and staff seemed relieved to have someone speak up and demand some relief, and when the flight left around the time of their final estimated delay it was calm and full of the same people I’d seen for hours preceding. A lot of the folks around me seemed to resonate with “you can’t hold us here indefinitely” and the staff response was very agreeable. I don’t like that I expressed it angrily, but I don’t think anyone in this scenario took it as vinegar, just saying what many people had already been thinking for hours already.
- xeonmc 3y ago
  I am inexplicably reminded of the airport scene in Meet the Parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro
Johnny555 3y ago
I don't understand how this scenario played out -- who is "everyone that insisted that everyone stay put"? Other passengers? Gate agents? You can safely ignore other passengers, but if the gate agent tells you to stay put because the flight may board and leave at any time, you ought to stay within hearing distance of the gate. Once my flight was delayed for a few hours due to an equipment problem, they told us to come back in 2 hours... then we found out that the flight crew timed out and they were bringing in another crew. The gate agents told everyone to stay at the gate because they were going to board as soon as the new crew was there. And indeed, 45 minutes later they announced we were boarding and 20 minutes after that they closed the doors and we departed... with a lot of empty seats (not sure if those people rebooked, or missed the flight)
- eyelidlessness 3y ago
  Sorry that could’ve been more clear. Everyone at the gate speaking on behalf of the airline and/or airport insisted all passengers stay at the gate because the flight would leave promptly as soon as the plane arrived, and repeatedly told us that they wouldn’t stay for any estimated time they had announced. They were framing it like the scenario you describe, but they held everyone there at the gate repeating this and revising the estimates for more than six hours IIRC. And I guess if they had flown out ahead of that last revised estimate it would’ve been too bad for me and everyone else who felt relieved to go somewhere else for the half hour or so we had to roam around, but thankfully they were just starting boarding when we all wandered back.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

pc86 3y ago

And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in this scenario). At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first. Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.

eyelidlessness 3y ago
Well this was apparently an unusual situation. Everyone has been waiting politely for hours, quite a few passengers and staff seemed relieved to have someone speak up and demand some relief, and when the flight left around the time of their final estimated delay it was calm and full of the same people I’d seen for hours preceding. A lot of the folks around me seemed to resonate with “you can’t hold us here indefinitely” and the staff response was very agreeable. I don’t like that I expressed it angrily, but I don’t think anyone in this scenario took it as vinegar, just saying what many people had already been thinking for hours already.
xeonmc 3y ago
I am inexplicably reminded of the airport scene in Meet the Parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro

Johnny555 3y ago

I don't understand how this scenario played out -- who is "everyone that insisted that everyone stay put"? Other passengers? Gate agents? You can safely ignore other passengers, but if the gate agent tells you to stay put because the flight may board and leave at any time, you ought to stay within hearing distance of the gate. Once my flight was delayed for a few hours due to an equipment problem, they told us to come back in 2 hours... then we found out that the flight crew timed out and they were bringing in another crew. The gate agents told everyone to stay at the gate because they were going to board as soon as the new crew was there. And indeed, 45 minutes later they announced we were boarding and 20 minutes after that they closed the doors and we departed... with a lot of empty seats (not sure if those people rebooked, or missed the flight)

eyelidlessness 3y ago
Sorry that could’ve been more clear. Everyone at the gate speaking on behalf of the airline and/or airport insisted all passengers stay at the gate because the flight would leave promptly as soon as the plane arrived, and repeatedly told us that they wouldn’t stay for any estimated time they had announced. They were framing it like the scenario you describe, but they held everyone there at the gate repeating this and revising the estimates for more than six hours IIRC. And I guess if they had flown out ahead of that last revised estimate it would’ve been too bad for me and everyone else who felt relieved to go somewhere else for the half hour or so we had to roam around, but thankfully they were just starting boarding when we all wandered back.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]