Who else thinks drill sergeants should be used to deboard planes? “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated while we deplane the person sleeping on your shoulder.” I might be misinterpreting your comment, but there are no Drill Sergeants to de-board a plane. If there were they wouldn’t be flying that plane. The real issue would be if it was able to land safely. The next time you book a ticket just watch the flight attendant for a few minutes, she will call a “drill sergeant” to board the plane before it takes off. “I might be misinterpreting your comment, but there are no Drill Sergeants to de-board a plane. If there were they wouldn’t be flying that plane. The real issue would be if it was able to land safely.” No I was agreeing with you, the flight attendants (sorry about the sexist term) don’t have the training or authority to actually force passengers off the plane…but they can get someone’s attention and the passengers who are sleeping can be rudely awoken…which sometimes works out great. Not a sexist term, just a short hand way to express it, and the meaning is obvious. As for training, the drill sergeants at West Point train to become leaders not flight attendants. No need to call anyone sexist here. The original message was that a drill sergeant couldn’t do any better job than an annoyed flight attendant. A flight attendant may not be able to physically pull someone from their seat but they can make it so that people don’t want to sit next to them on future flights. I’ve had both in my lifetime and there was no need for any violence or abuse – my seatmate and I ended up having a pretty cool conversation because the situation allowed for it. “A flight attendant may not be able to physically pull someone from their seat but they can make it so that people don’t want to sit next to them on future flights.” I understand your point, but in my case I always put an aisle seat in front of my own, so having someone sit in the middle seat is not a problem. I also think people who are drunk should be prevented from boarding, but then again we don’t live in a perfect world. Now there’s an idea! Just add one more hour to the boarding procedure. “Now there’s an idea! Just add one more hour to the boarding procedure.” Sounds like a great idea, I have just one suggestion – charge for it. At least it would be good for the economy. As it is now airlines simply nickel and dime everyone on their fares and with the addition of another fee they will continue to increase until they decide that passengers are no longer worth it (which they are because of lack of security). I think they should put all cell phone users on the ground if they don’t have a phone that stays on silent during flight, I mean why do we have to put up with every Tom Dick and Harry making noise by doing a conversation in the cabin. I think they should do this but since I have read many articles stating that cell phone use during flight is not harmful, maybe they could do this using other means. Like not letting people sit in first class if their seats are in the middle. “I think they should do this but since I have read many articles stating that cell phone use during flight is not harmful, maybe they could do this using other means. Like not letting people sit in first class if their seats are in the middle.” Why bother? Those are the only two seats on a plane where people don’t talk at all! 🙂 But I seriously doubt anyone would do this so we’d be right back where we started from. This idea is a non-starter. Now, why don’t the airlines implement all the other stuff I suggested? I mean those were excellent ideas. I think it is fine to have cell phones on during the flight if they are on silent, like most people do. Why don’t the airlines consider doing other things I suggested? One would be to allow passengers to pay for a guaranteed spot in row 18, 20 or 21 instead of picking their own seats when they make their reservation, and seat assignments can be made for these rows even up to 24 hours before the flight. At some point, flights have gotten too full so they simply make people get up from their assigned seats and re-assign them to more desirable ones. This might go a long way towards decreasing overall flight delays and problems by ensuring that as many passengers as possible will be seated comfortably for the duration of the flight, which means everyone else should arrive at their destination on time instead of sitting around waiting for a couple more passengers to check-in. This would also make life a lot easier for people like me, who always pick the aisle seat and don’t mind being placed next to someone else. The worst thing about flying is the lack of leg room, that has been getting worse every year. I wouldn’t want them to take away a passenger’s right to have a more comfortable flight. Another thing I read somewhere recently is that all flight attendants are required to complete training in how to defuse hostile situations, or at least how to get people off the plane quickly if they get out of hand. Maybe they could use these methods if it comes to it. If they do make these rules then they should also apply them equally between male and female passengers – after all, the men were rude too. @Dave – you are probably right about those flights getting full, but here’s the thing, by not allowing men and women to sit together you are also reducing the revenue generated by each individual seat. My main reason is that people should be able to sit where they want, based on their own choice and not made by an airline. Some people actually do find it more comfortable to sit next to someone they are familiar with and I have been in several cases where I got very bad service sitting alone in the middle seat because of this very thing. I also think that people who choose to use a cell phone during a flight should be charged for the privilege, and they should have to take it with them if they switch seats, at least until they are off the plane. I don’t like this idea. This sounds like taking away my freedom of movement and my rights as a citizen. It is wrong. There are tons of reasons why this is wrong, here are three: 1) It punishes people for not obeying rules in any part of life that don’t apply to me. 2) It punishes people for not obeying rules because I think that cell phones should be prohibited in flight (I’m sure they will find some other way to punish those who do so anyway). 3) It sets up two classes of citizens, those that will be separated on flights and those that will not. If someone is not listening to the flight attendant about their seat assignment, it’s probably because their attention is not focused on what she’s saying. So why give the seat to someone else and create a situation where other people will have a problem? Of course, airlines are always looking for ways to increase revenue, and as long as that revenue comes in the form of making people happy rather than decreasing revenue by doing something stupid like charging for extra leg room, I guess I can live with it. That might mean that I should have been sitting next to this one passenger who slept the entire flight anyway, but I am glad that it didn’t come to that. I agree with you and I also would have sat next to the sleeping passenger if it came down to it, but that’s not how things played out. It seems that no matter how good we are, and regardless of whether or not we’re really paying attention, we will always get screwed because of those people who are more irresponsible than us. 🙂 I don’t like this idea because if they choose you for that one seat they would also choose others which would cause other passengers to be put in uncomfortable positions. As it is now, the next time they fly the passengers in the same group get placed together. No, they wouldn’t because first of all they might not know who they were going to bump anyway, and second of all passengers will always be able to pay extra to sit next to friends or family members. If the airlines would charge per extra inch of leg room, then people will always pay for that and they won’t sit next to a stranger who took the extra seat. That would keep revenue high but at the same time make the passengers happy. In my opinion, there should be no need to penalize travelers for not listening to their flight attendants. That’s like treating a criminal for not paying attention during a lecture in college and calling him stupid. Also, if you were able to pay extra for more leg room then the airline wouldn’t make any money because you would take the extra leg room and they’d still have two seats left together on the plane. I personally think that putting people in uncomfortable positions will always cause more problems than it solves, especially when no one is listening anyway. Maybe they should instead start by just making people move their seats if they start to get too close to each other, or put them in an uncomfortable position for a bit like having to sit in some sort of “spooning