An American Airlines captain’s unexpected announcement about social etiquette has taken the internet by storm.
Comedy producer and flight passenger Anna Leah Maltezos shared the announcement footage via her Instagram on July 26. The video, captioned “American Airlines captain has had it with y’all,” has since gone viral and racked up over 5.2 million views.
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From the get-go, the unnamed captain of the Boeing 737 flight urges passengers to be courteous to the cabin crew.
“Remember, the flight attendants are here for your safety. After that, they’re here to make your flight more enjoyable,” the pilot announced. “They’re going to take care of you guys but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cabin.”
He continued, “And my will is what matters.”
Though the video is just over a minute long, the pilot managed to tackle a handful of social behaviors he finds unpleasant — from playing videos out loud and putting baggage where they don’t belong, to passing out and drooling on other passengers.
“The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode, that is over,” he said. “Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video.”
As his speech garnered attention, the captain honed in on manners and etiquette over the plane’s intercom.
“You people should treat people the way you want to be treated, but I have to say it every single flight because people don’t,” the pilot said. “They’re selfish and rude and we won’t have it.”
The witty rant took many passengers by surprise, with some exclaiming “Jesus” and “What’s going on?” in the video’s background. But the internet is loving it!
One user commented on Maltezos’ post, siding with the pilot, “He’s not wrong — for him to say this, that means he’s fed up with all these childish adults.”
Another Instagram user commented, “If you’re offended by this speech, congrats, you’re the problem.”
An annual report by the International Air Transport Association found that for every 835 flights in 2021, an “unruly incident” was reported. That number rose to one in every 568 flights in 2022.
Non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication are considered typical unruly behaviors, the IATA said.
“The increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents is worrying. While our professional crews are well trained to manage unruly passenger scenarios, it is unacceptable that rules in place for everyone’s safety are disobeyed by a small but persistent minority of passengers,” IATA’s Deputy Director General Conrad Clifford said. “There is no excuse for not following the instructions of the crew.
