I AM “KAREN.” This is when I was training manager and the flight attendant is my long time flying partner, Cindy Pritchard. My hair was so short because of a bad perm that I had to get rid of. I don’t know whether to laugh or be totally embarrassed. Cheri Leonhardt is the passenger across the aisle giving me the evil eye. Not sure who the disgusted man was. Cindy and Cheri were instructors.
Hi there! You should not be embarrassed at all. This is a great piece of Pan Am history and a time capsule to the 1980s. It is a true gem! Thank you for your service!
I thought you was making a joke at first. I had to reread your message. That must have been a great time working at Pan Am in that era! I am not exactly young either... I do remember Pan Am
My real name is not Karen. It’s Susan. I felt embarrassed because I always thought I was such a terrible actress. We had a blast making these videos and it was an honor to be part of Pan Am flight attendant training.
In all honesty, these training videos have been really reassuring that obnoxious people aren't a new phenomenon. It's just so common now that you start to think they didn't exist before
My notes to recap. 1. Look at people eye-level to lessen their discomfort. 2. Offer possible solutions instead of just the denial of the request. 3. If all else fails, offer free soda. Americans love soda.
"I'm a WorldPass member, bitch! Move me to first class, on the double!" "I'm really sorry" "Oh, I'm sorry, you must be hard of hearing. I'm a WorldPass member!"
i love how realistic it is, the 'do you know who i am', 'i'm more important that those that paid for first' and the other people in seats around them watching and listening.
I think the flight attendant handled it very nicely the second time: kneeling down, being empathetic, emphasizing on what she can do vs what she can't do. Reminds me of an "Airport" episode (BBC show from the mid-1990s) where a trainee flight attendant had to do the same role playing, but on British Airways.
These were the days before of Elite Status Levels, which is why they created them. But I still see customers trying ask for these requests. I'm Executive Platinum with AA.
It’s 2022. Today, “Karen” would be slapping the flight attendant, threatening her, her family and the CEO. Then an all out brawl will happen where either the door depressurizes or someone’s teeth get knocked out across rows 12 to 15. Federal agents will be alerted and the whole plane will be diverted to Wichita for the night.
The drama continues . . . In Wichita Federal agents meet the arriving aircraft at the gate, the woman--now about to experience a total emotional meltdown--rambles on and on about this being a free country, allowing her to do whatever the heck she pleases. She refuses to comply with the agent's request to settle down or face arrest. She starts spitting, punching, and screaming expletives before she is brought to the floor in the aisle. She begins kicking the agents while screaming like an entitiled brat. Susequently she is tased and dragged down the aisle while the other passengers cheer as if they were attending a mud-wrestling competition. So continues another chapter in modern American air travel where no one knows what to expect next except the unexpected! Anything and everything may happen. It's like a modern-day daytime television tabloid talk show in the air, only without a host.
"Do you know who I am" syndrome - it's been around for decades, and has gotten far worse over the past 25 years. Oh how I loathed getting those DYKWIA passengers on full flights. There was NO appeasing them.
If anyone has seen the Stanley Kubrick film, 2001, there are Pan Am logos on the space craft in orbit around earth. Presumably they thought pan am would last into the millennium.
OMG…. So Karen’s have been around forever. She even had a Karen haircut. What a miserable entitled person. Maybe they could find room in the baggage hold.
I saw your post after I said something similar. The baggage hold, though, would be a bit too opulent for this Karen. Maybe strap her to the wings, like I remember Fred Flintstone had to do in the cartoon.
Wow, I hope you never have to work in customer service or anything where humans interaction is required. These actors are actual flight attendants buddies.
Remember, this is a training video. While you're not incorrect about Karen's being around way before they got their name "Karen", she's probably a FA who is basing her acting on an actual "Karen" she had to deal with.
Flight attendant here and I really really LOVE my job but I can tell you there are still people like this lady nowadays and they’re worse than back then. Because not only do they carry their entitlement but they also carry smart phones which they use to post their victimization online about how poorly they were treated because they didn’t do what they asked for and they happened to a “loyal customer”.
I totally agree with you. However, flying today is a nightmare. Stressful and uncomfortable for most people. Airlines are trying to save money left and right, forcing people to spend 8 to 18+ hours in a seat with their legs 1 inch from the person in front of them. I'm 5'6" and around 140 lbs, and I don't feel comfortable flying economy. I can't imagine how bigger/taller people survive these long-distance flights.
I'm sorry ma'am but if you keep on like this I'll have no choice but to duct tape you to your seat and call the authorities. I hope you understand and thanks for flying Pan Am :)
She's a WORLDPASS MEMBER! How many times does she have to say it?! This denial of upgrade is why PanAm went broke. Did I mention she's a WORLDPASS MEMBER?!
@@appleiphone69 No fresh ideas since the 70s. Wanting to serve the world. But had no US domestic market. The German market broke away once the reunification was sealed.
I'm check in and gate agent in a huge airport, those kind of situations it's standard every single day, actually the majority of the passengers want different type of seats. The worst is that they can be very rude when you try to explain them that you can't upgrade them free of charge.in ten years I've heard everything, from bribe to threats not only for a better seat but also for the overweight luggage. The pick of all is the pendemic restrictions, it's like working in kindergarten sometimes.
That's because you have too many seats inside I can't even fit my knees. Because you're making fun of people. It should be illegal to put so many seats inside a plane.
@@billhosko7723 I just fly Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, they don't treat people like monkeys. Just so you know, when airlines buy a plane they specify how many seats they want inside. They do it on purpose. It's not what they have, it's what they are
@@Jack_The_Ripper_Here That's not really a alternative solution for crappy domestic airlines. Heck, even for international travel, a middle East layover doesnt make sense for most destinations. Emirates/Qatar only make sense if you're flying between Europe and Asia, or the Americas and Africa.
This is truly painful to watch. And the only difference between the 2 tries, is that PanAm stewardess still gave her shit but knelt down the 2nd time and gave her shit just a bit more politely.
Pan Am had the first "Karen," decades before the term became more widely used. No reservation agent would tell a passenger at booking the plane will only be half full. If the passenger wanted a plane half full, she should have booked half the seats on the plane for herself. Joining a frequent flyer program doesn't make you some sort of entitled individual. If I was the flight attendant, I would just tell Karen you're full of B.S., and move on. I guess that's why I never was a flight attendant.
You're right about a reservations agent telling that to someone on the phone, never happen. BUT, airport people might although they shouldn't. When I worked tkt counter I would tell people that any upgrades are only handled at the departure gate.
It’s a “training” video! At least the two women up front were Pan Am crew playing roles, teaching how to handle a tough cookie! Not necessary to criticize
@@strafrag1 I tried once coming from Amsterdam to JFK on KLM. At the time, and maybe still, they liked revenue and would sell an available seat for 25,000 miles plus some cash, I forget how much. Ticket agent said biz was full, I said I thought so but thought I'd check, he said "Always ask."
Not true … I’m always nice to the FAs. I got moved from coach to business in flight one time… the business seat was broken so I moved to first. A two cabin hop !
No, no no. I'm not interested in that. Only first class will do. My meeting is in San Francisco. San Francisco! I need to spread out. I'm a WorldPass member.
I got moved from Economy to Comfort Class on Virgin Atlantic by a ticketing agent at DEL who called me up to her desk because she didn’t have anyone in her line (the line for the big shots who pay for expensive tickets). That was pretty nice! Another time on a Virgin Atlantic flight (I think LHR-DTW or IAD), as soon as the plane took off, everybody in economy bolted for an empty row in Economy Plus, I got a whole row! Then the flight attendants came round and made everyone go back to their assigned seat, unless they wanted to pay a few hundred for the upgrade to Economy Plus.
If you want first class, buy it. Simple as that. Karen should have bought it. On short flights the difference is sometimes roughly in line with the cost of checking 2 bags.
She was going to buy it (allegedly) but thought she knew how full the flight was going to be. Second runthrough the FA body checked her by offering to try to find an empty seat next to her, which would give her what she claimed to want. Faced with that, she couldn't quite summon up the gall to say oh no, I want the full first class experience without paying for it.
The problem was technology. Today, many airlines will sell upgrades on board using the duty free or food sales system. I know Air France/KLM will even let you upgrade with miles on board.
These days passengers are much more unruly to airline staff. Airlines should require passengers to sign a legal contract upon reserving a ticket, promising no abusive behavior or violence of any kind. At the same time there should be government legislation for stricter standards requiring airlines to provide more seating space for passengers (or less seats) and more cabin crew to fulfill all in-flight duties adequately.
They do sign a legal contract. Even without the contract, it is illegal to threaten or commit acts of violence against anyone. If you get unruly on a flight, chances are you will be arrested when you land.
This reminds me of an incident I observed on a PanAm flight from JFK to São Paulo, Brazil back in 1971. A passenger sitting in the row ahead of me was quite insistent to the fight attendant that he should be moved to first class. She handled the situation very well and he didn’t get the upgrade. How I miss the glory days of “the world’s most experienced airline”!
My dad had experienced something worse. Instead of asking, someone just moved to first class when he noticed an empty seat/row. But one of the flight attendants noticed his move. And told him, if he wants to sit in first class he would have to pay for the upgrade. The guy quickly moved back to his original seat after that. What I'm talking about happened somewhere in the last decade though. At least back then people bothered to ask first instead of taking advantage of the situation.
@@onee One time when I took an overnight flight on BA to London, a passenger did the same thing. I was in an almost empty Premium Economy and heard someone sit down a few rows behind me when the lights were dimmed. She managed to stay an hour until an FA came by and kindly told her she had to move back. Passenger tried to play off that it was her seat until the attendant asked to see her ticket. She left then but not before complaining that there were all these empty seats up here to be used. Being a flight attendant now is between a waitress/janitor/and bouncer.
@@MsTimelady71 I was in premium class coming back from Hawaii in a half empty plane. The FA announced you could move to another seat. Three people rushed to the premium seats when they originally sat in economy. The FAs chased them out real fast.
The irony is that most first class in the US these days are upgrades or frequent flyer miles people. Vert few US domestic flyers pay first class. I was one of them. First class in the US has been devalued greatly since the 1980's.
It's because the recession in the 90's led to companies putting out polices that banned most employees from first. Airlines devised the trick of "complementary" upgrades based on the explosion of fare classes. For example, if you want first, you buy a full-fare Y-class economy ticket that effectively costs the same as first, and if you have FF status, you're virtually guaranteed to sit in first.
That is unfortunately true on AA’s transcon (A321T), as well. My husband and I travel often in paid J (business) between JFK-LAX but, 9 out of 10 times, we end up involuntarily upgraded to F/first at the gate, presumably because their J seats get completely full w/ upgrades from coach. We ABSOLUTELY HATE their F product b/c the seats aren’t all that different from the J seats and, more importantly, we end up being separated by the aisle and can’t talk to each other. The ONLY benefit would be that you get soup, which you don’t in J…but the soup is nothing to write home about, anyway… [Usually, this happens at the gate as we board, and we once tried to decline the upgrade-and it caused them SO MUCH chaos, forcing them to shuffle other passengers around, so we now just say “thank you” and be grateful…for the soup…]
First class is pointless unless you’re flying more than 8 hours anyway. You don’t get the full experience. I haven’t flown international before but that’s the only time I’d pay for first class.
The higher you get, the more realistic you are. I was Delta Platinum and I did a lot of roundtrips JFKSEA. Departing JFK I wanted to pay my way into the Skyclub, the Skyclub agent couldn't get my payment to work, after a couple tries she said it must be because you're a Platinum and get in free. Returning from SEA I went to the Skyclub. Pretty sure I was getting ready to pay my way in but I forget. But first I said coming from JFK the agent told me I got in free as a Platinum - which I didn't believe, but I thought I'd check. So I was happy to get my freebie but knew what the actual rule was and didn't argue when faced with it.
21stC solution: pull out the hand held and say, 'sure can upgrade you for the small upgrade fee. Ok the fare difference is $1,845....will you be handling this with an airline branded credit card?" BOOM ...game over.
Delta would have solved this much easier… Passenger: Can you move me to first class? I am Platinum Elite… FA: Unfortunately we can’t… But please accept these two SkyMiles vouchers for 25,000 points. Can we offer you water or Coke? Passenger: I want a Starbucks coffee. FA: Sure, I’ll be back. 💀
Ha, ha, during the whole conversation about the "full" flight and the stewardess offering to looking for an empty seat, there is a guy across the aisle from her with an empty seat next to him. Geez, you'd think for the purposes of the video, they'd fill every seat.
Don't worry, ma'am, a seat will be opening up in about a couple hours just past door 1L for you. If you're unsatisfied with that and continue to be belligerent, we can even give you a free upgrade to Custody Class, which comes with a free pair of silver chain-link bracelets!
Oh my gosh lady. Give the flight attendant a break. You want first class you prepare and pay for it. You move her and next ting you know 4 other people want you to prioritize them as well regarding their comfort and are frequent flyers and none of them gave you so much as a $10 tip after the flight was over. Instead, complaining nobody helped them get their luggage down so they can disembark quickly.
Why do I feel United Airlines reused theses training videos but failed to let their staff see the second part of the videos so the staff at United never knew they were seeing what NOT to do. 😂 😂 😂
When did they start offering upgrades in the air? Usually if you have cash you can upgrade if you want. I did when I was 14 on a school trip to Washington DC and it cost me half my spending money 😂😂 worth it though, it was over 3 hours so we didn't get full meal service but we did get choice of cake or brownie on a real plate 😂🤙
Once someone is seated in a particular cabin they cannot be upgraded. That was always the rule. All upgrading has to be done at the gate before boarding and when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
I have been moved up a class in the past while i was seated in coach. My dad and sister were sitting in business class on United to Hawaii in the late 80s. I was in coach and my dad asked if I could come up and sit next to them and they let me. My dad had 2 upgrades he was using but I didn't have an upgrade. We were on the plane when my dad asked and once the doors closed the stewardess came back and brought me up. I was in my 20s so it wasn't like I was a little kid.
My mum was upgraded by herself once after take-off. The adjustable headrest in her seat fell off and would reattach so the metal plate was exposed. There was not a single seat left in economy so they put her in the back of business.
It would have been so much more efficient for the cabin attendant to listen with empathy, whilst aligning herself with the passenger, with constant eye to eye contact. Then once the passenger had bid her request, the cabin attendant should have simply stood up and given the passenger a really really hard back hander right across the chops followed by the response ' Wanna travel First Class, then pay for First Class.' Actually I have seen this myself, on a BA flight LHR to BOM. I was in First Class 1A, and the woman in 2A was creating such a fuss because they wouldn't move her husband from Economy to join her in First. I thought how crass...I mean why didn't she go join him in Economy if she was so bothered ( bet she had a points ticket too ).
😆🤣 the FA should have offered the woman a seat in cargo, of course, only if the pets & luggage didn't mind. However, you're exactly right, want first class, pay for it, otherwise...shuddup Karen 😉🤭
@@terryhinch I have been flying for 40 years and some of the self entitled rude badly behaved passengers I have seen ( even in First Class where it is actually quite common ) I am surprised I haven't actually witnessed a passenger being 'back handed' by a member of the cabin crew. They have the patients of saints in most cases
I've flown over 3 million miles in my life and only got upgraded on board after asking for it once, and surprisingly recently (pre-covid). I was seated in a 747 bulkhead economy row on a BA flight from Heathrow to JFK. Three family members were seated in the 4-seat section with me. A daughter who looked to be roughly 14 was on the isle to my left, and her brother, who looked to be roughly 11 or 12, was sat directly to my right. The brother and sister were quarreling and wouldn't stop trying to wack each other across and over me. The sister would not switch seats with me when I asked her to, saying she didn't wish to sit next to her brother. The person who I assumed to be their mother was sat in the other isle seat reading her magazine and astoundingly did not intervene or say a single word. A flight attendant came out of the galley after hearing the commotion and saw what was happening. I looked at up her silently as if to say "please make this stop." She motioned for me to come to the galley and I said to her, "I will literally pay whatever the airline wants to upgrade right now, I honestly don't care how much. I simply cannot sit between these kids for the next 8 hours." She called the purser down to the galley and as luck would have it, a single passenger in the otherwise very full business class cabin had no-shown. The purser and the flight attendant whispered to each other briefly and then the purser looked up and smiled at me. He said, "well mate, you're in luck. We're going to do something we very rarely do anymore and move you up. This one's on us!" I have never been more grateful to an airline or an airline employee in my entire life as I was at that moment. But I'm pretty sure it was being very nice and offering to pay rather than acting entitled that got me that amazing gift. (Later on I chatted with the same flight attendant and she said half-jokingly that I had looked to her as if I might have a heart attack and they didn't want a medical emergency!)
horrible training video -- as soon as karen flashed her credentials and membership card, she should have been moved to first class immediately and a parade given at the airport
@@user-e-idk how is this sarcarsm? the attendant was extremely disrespectful in both places to the lady. she wouldn't have a job if it weren't for this customer and needs to remember it.
@@user-e-idk you've obviously have never travelled. the customer is always right. and if a customer has a rewards card of any type should be moved to first class if they request. even if it means moving someone out of first class.
@@aaronerskine3401 I’ve traveled a lot of times and in the airline I fly customers can be wrong and having frequent flyer doesn’t mean you can just upgrade to first. You even need to fly business or first class or have the highest frequent flyer, platinum just to get access to lounge. Here frequent flyer is only to get access to lounge and acquiring miles. Sometimes at extremely special events tho you do get discounts if having frequent flyer.
Believe it or not, there are Lufthansa passengers who are "HON" and can even evict passengers from their seats. Imagine you have bid for an upgrade and someone with a HON status comes up front and wants your seat. It is a dumb policy.
Or how about "You know those people up in first class? You know what they did that you didn't? They PAID for first class, free country, you can do it too next time". Fast forward to 2024..."Ma'am, if you don't stop causing a disruption in the cabin, we'll get the police to offload you....counting 5..4..3.."
