The job of a flight attendant is complicated. They’re employed to perform a variety of tasks, including greeting passengers, demonstrating safety procedures, serving meals and drinks, and responding to passenger requests. They also play a critical role in emergency situations, providing first aid and directing passengers to safety. (thanks, CareerExplorer!)

Of course, the latter two, involving emergency situations, hopefully, happen as few times as possible. So it’s little wonder that some passengers – especially those who don’t fly often and/or who might think too highly of themselves – consider flight attendants to be little more than “servants of the skies.”

They’re not.

But that doesn’t mean some of these passengers don’t ask way more of flight attendants than what’s in their job descriptions.

An online forum I read that has a flight of flight attendants recently asked its members, “What do PAX expect flight attendants to do that aren’t in their job description?” There were well over 1,000 replies, but these are the Top 5:

Lift carry-on bags into the overhead

The vast majority of adults flying on planes are abled-bodied; they’re more than capable of putting their own bags into the overhead compartment above their seats. Of course, there are some who can’t – they have some sort of disability or injury that prevents them from doing the task.

But that’s the point – if you can’t lift your 35# carry-on over your head because of a slipped disc or you just had surgery and are in an immobilizer, an FA certainly doesn’t want to risk injuring their back, neck, shoulder, etc., either. Or to wind up with arthritis or other repetitive motion injuries by lifting carry on bags (because I promise you that if people see a FA help someone who doesn’t appear to need help lifting a bag, 6 other PAX are going to ask for help too). Oh, and IF a FA helped you and wound up getting injured? Many airlines won’t let them claim Workman’s Compensation because it’s not part of their job description.

An unofficial motto? “You bring it, you sling it.” 😉

Take your kid’s dirty diapers

This one varies from airline to airline; some airlines have rules against FAs taking dirty diapers from caregivers, who are expected to dispose of them themselves. Except a few things can happen then:

• The idiots who leave the in the seat pocket. Because classy people.
• The lavatory trash bin may be next to the water heater for the sink, which then heats the diaper much like a slow cooker, resulting in a lovely aroma of baby poop throughout the lav after a few hours.

Bottom line? It’s your kid; as the FA where you should put the dirty diaper and follow through accordingly.

Take care of your children

Yep, your baby or toddler may be scared. Or bored. Or their ears may hurt. Or you have them registered on the plane as a lap child and your legs are just NUMB.

Don’t ask the flight attendant to watch your kid. It’s not part of their job.

Of course, some flight attendants love children and would enjoy the opportunity to hold a little one and walk them up and down the aisle for a few minutes. But that’s their choice and if they ask permission or offer to do so so you can “take a rest or go pee,” that’s fine.
But to ask them to essentially babysit? Nope.

Passengers taking photos of them without their permission

We get it…it’s your kid’s first flight, and you want to save every memory for posterity. You might even want to take a picture of little Chris with your FA. That should be fine…but ask permission first. And if they say no, that should be respected.

“Taking pictures of crew members working is not permitted by most U.S. airlines for safety of passengers and crew as well as security of the cabin,” Taylor Garland, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, told the Washington Post.

And before you say, “I know my rights! Photography and recording are protected forms of expression under the free speech clause of the First Amendment!,” heads up that when you’re on a plane, you’re on private property and that “freedom of speech” clause goes out the window.

Heat things up in the microwave

Guess what? It’s very, VERY rare that a plane has a microwave oven on it. Apparently, Etihad has them on some of their planes, but it’s still a rarity overall.

A few runners-up

As I said, there are over 1,000 responses to this question; the above were just some of the most popular. There were a few runners-up,  though:

• • • Look out the window and know exactly where you are (this is what FAs do instead)
    • Hold the plane for you
    • Go on a date with you (or join the Mile High Club with you)
    • It really goes up there with “take care of your kid” but “stop others’ kids from crying”
    • Find your Airpod, plug, earring, stylus, and the list goes on and on
    • Predict if you’ll make your connection, as well as know exactly where you’ll need to go to make it in time
    • Cook your food that’s not on the menu. Sorry, they’re all out of French fries

  Wonder if you know their cousin Kristin, who’s an FA based out of Atlanta

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