Delta Pilot‘s Viral Pre-Flight Announcement Sparks Debate Online
If you go flying a lot, you pretty much get "the drill" pretty quickly. You sit in your seat, the flight attendants will demonstrate how to buckle your seatbelts and what to do in case of an emergency, sometimes with video accompaniment playing along, and if all goes well, you're off. That's 100% par for the course, so when the flight crew does anything to deviate from that norm, people take notice.
A recent Delta flight started generating a fair bit of online buzz on March 2 after a passenger filmed their pre-flight safety announcement. The announcement itself wouldn't have been that bizarre were it not for the fact that the captain delivered it- and judging by his demeanor, it seemed like he might have had a bone to pick.
I must say, despite the @dailymail characterizing the pilot's rules as "incredibly strict," he's really not saying anything that much different than what's included in a standard pre-flight announcement: no smoking on the plane, follow the seatbelt signs, listen to the flight crew's commands, etc. However, the delivery is a bit unusual. These announcements are typically made by the flight attendants, not the pilot, and with his particular emphasis on safety and adherence to the rules, it's almost as if he's anticipating trouble and trying to head it off with a stern warning.
People took note of his stern demeanor, and began theorizing over why the Delta pilot handled it this way.
"Because so many adults act like children, the principal of the plane wanted to make sure you were warned," said @erin_claire56.
"I think it's a shame that the pilot of the plane has to go over rules like a 3rd grade teacher," @rebeccaroseoriginals remarked.
Viewer @shoeyca hardly even seemed surprised: "LOL For people that think the captain is wrong for stating the rules... obviously you have not flown on an aircraft in the last couple of years. Have you heard of the No Fly List? Created for a reason."
A Troubling Uptick in Problem Passengers
Anytime I see a viral video of an airplane passenger behaving badly, or see something like this where the pilot has to lay down the law before takeoff, I'm reminded of the FAA's concerning statistics documenting a huge increase in reported problem passenger incidents. The difference between reported passenger incidents between 2019 and 2020 was minimal, but in 2021, there were 5,973 reported passenger incidents, 492% more than the year before. Though 2022 and 2023 weren't as bad (probably because by then fewer people were throwing fits over masking protocols), the annual averages are still much, much higher than they were in the 2010s.
Passenger outbursts aren't just a problem for flight attendants or a nuisance to other passengers; they can turn very dangerous. Last month, a man on an American Airlines flight tried to wrestle open the exit door mid-flight. He'd gotten far enough that eyewitnesses reported feeling a "gust of wind" in the cabin, and had flight attendants and other passengers not managed to wrestle him down in time, he could have depressurized the whole cabin.
Part of the problem is that many airline passengers apparently see flight attendants as glorified waiters, not trained safety professionals that are in charge of the cabin. It shouldn't take the pilot reiterating the plane's safety rules for people to listen. Still, with how rocky air travel has become in recent years, it's understandable why aviation workers like this pilot feel they need to take extra steps to keep their cabins in check.
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