One of the first things you notice when boarding a plane is a flight attendant greeting you. What most passengers don’t realize is that the greeting does more than just offer a polite welcome. It may look like a quick hello and a smile. But that quick hello is actually doing a lot more than it seems. It all has to do with safety.
What they’re doing
Being a flight attendant is a whole lot more than giving out blankets, snacks and drinks. That’s all most of us see, so some people think that’s all there is to it. But there’s a load of things they’re trained for, to keep us safe in the event of an emergency. The training flight attendants go through was even featured in a reality TV show a few years ago.
And that greeting when you come aboard the plane? That’s when flight attendants are actually assessing passengers. So if there’s an emergency, they want to know who they think are (what they call) A.B.P.s – short for Able-Bodied People. Those are folks who they think could help the flight attendants (FA) in an emergency.
An explanation of what flight attendants are doing
Kat Kamalani is an FA based in Salt Lake City. She recently posted a TikTok video showing everything the FAs do when they greet you.
“So when you’re walking on the airplane and you see our happy, smiley face, we’re actually looking you up and down and we are trying to find our ABPs and what that is called is our Able-Bodied People or person,” says Kamalani. “So this is people who are going to help us in an emergency.”
Some examples of ABPs are doctors, firefighters, military personnel, nurses, pilots and police officers. But also people who appear to be big, strong and capable. That way, if there’s a medical emergency or security issue, they already know who they might ask for help.
In other words, if you look like a bodybuilder, they may call on you to help with someone like this woman, when she started beating up her husband on their flight. Or if you’re listed as Dr. Smith on the plane’s manifest, they may ask if you can help with the woman giving birth in row 27.
Here’s the video to explain more:
@katkamalani You would never guess the last part… #secretsrevealed #traveler #momsontiktok #flightcrew #travelhacks
Flight attendants are also watching for something else while passengers board — anyone who might be a victim of human trafficking.
“It happens a lot in the industry,” she said, “and our passengers’ safety is our number one priority, so we’re just looking for things that look off.”
Kalamani didn’t go into detail about exactly what flight attendants are trained to look for when spotting potential human trafficking victims. But it’s something crews are specifically trained to watch for while passengers board.
And now you know 
Feature Photo: Vera.vvo / Wikimedia
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