Regional planes and pax reactions
 

Regional pilots,

A humorous thread to break the tension. RJ's and props are small and pax are often weary of them. Any interesting stories of pax throwing a fit over the "little plane" they're asked to fly on even though their ticket is from a "real" airline, or similar such? Or what the hell, any other funny/stupid pax stories lately???

This usually works for me...

Passenger: "Wow! This is a small plane"

-Small plane for a small town ma'am!

or

-Well, there is a bigger plane coming in about 4 hrs., if you want to get on that one.

or

-No, it just seems small cause you have a fat a$$.

Never had pax complain about the E170.....comfortable seating... no gate checking bags as 99 percent will fit in the overhead.......

to those who dont think pax NOTICE the difference ....they do..... are they willing to pay more... only in rare circumstances...

Any other Jetstream or Metro pilots remember having to spin the props to cool the shaft after each flight? How many passengers asked if you were "winding the rubber band"? At least 3 or 4 a day.

Well I fly the Saab and never have people make cracks at the plane I fly.

(Sarcasm intended)

Pax (coming on plane): Ooooo boy, whoaa, this is sooooo small, is it safe to fly?

Flight Attendant: You wouldn't be boarding this Barbie Jet if it wasn't safe. If you don't feel safe, I can find you a smaller one, you know, one with those little propellar thingys that go in circles. This might be small, but at least you're travelling in style with Rolls Royce Jets (engines).

TRUE OVERHEARD CONVERSATION!!!!

PS - I literally about rolled on the floor laughing. The FA gave it to him, but it was sooo funny, it almost sounded nice...lol.

Oh boy, let's not start another one of those threads...

I have had people comment on the 170. Some people aren't happy unless the plane has two aisles and holds 300 people, regardless that we are going to be flying to podunksville that is 25 min away.

flying props I always heard "Is this thing safe" the Jet is "O its so tiny"

"Sorry Sir, the 747's in the shop today getting it's tired rotated."

Heard this one in the CRJ900 from someone in desparate need of Jenny Craig......

Oh I'm not sure about this....I mean this plane is soooo small. Captain: well instead of taking you direct you can take a big plane to Atlanta and then another big plane to your destination?

Oh uh....I guess this will do....

Ok now in these cases were the pax saying this to themselves or other pax, to the flight attendant, or were they sticking their heads in the flight deck and telling it right to the flight crew?

And aside from this, any general pax stupidity lately? I love hearing about stupid pax; it makes me feel smarter. lol

Overheard this one, and just about died!

Male passenger boards shouting "Dang this plane is small!"
Flight attendent replies "I am sure you have been told before size doesn't matter"

never flew for a regional but used to fly navajo's for an air ambulance company, got quite a bit of concerned looks. if i had a dollar for every time i heard "is this thing gonna get off the ground" i probably wouldn't have to leave home again.

Passenger: "Wow, this plane is so small!"
Me: Punches passenger in the head
Passenger: Stops complaining

Hey, I can dream can't I?

I'm on the EMB-145 and I've overheard people get on and ask whoever they are traveling with "Is this a prop?"

My all time fav

PAX: This plane is small
FA: It's bigger than your cubicle

You guys are too sensitive.
I fly a tiny airplane. It is the smallest airplane I have flown in my professional career.

I'm ok with that as long as the paycheck keeps cashing.

"Honey, I think the only plane smaller is a cessna"

when I use to fly the CRJ:
Pax: "wow this is small"
Me: "you should see it when its cold outside"
about half way down the isle you heard them laugh!!!

I always hear people complain about the 737 when I deadhead on it.................

In Northwest Arkanasa XNA,

Pax: This plane is small!
Capt: It's bigger than your trailer

Maybe you are missing the point of the thread.

One time we got a call from a new flight attendant who hadn't worked on the ATR before. She called right after we started to taxi.

"Did you guys know the left propeller isn't spinning?"

on that note...
 

took off out of JFK to fly to ORF i think

about 10 minutes after the 10000' check we get a call from the FA
"sorry to bug you but umm, which ocean is that out the window?"

I could barely contain myself while telling her it was the Atlantic, when I switched back to the cockpit I was laughing so hard I was crying, told the CA and he lost it too:D


...unbelievable

Sitting in the gate area waiting to Jump home on a 9E -200 flight once. As the plane pulled up a lady got out of her seat and went to the window and exclaimed "That best not be the plane, because they're getting a complaint from me. If that is the plane." She the proceeded to explain to the CSA that she would not be plane side checking her bag and wanted to know if Boeing manufactured the aircraft. When she was told it was Bombardier she flipped until the captain walked by and told her it was Canadian, she calmed down but not before telling the CSA that it was a 2 hour flight and she really expected a 747 on this trip... yes thats right a 747 for a 2 hour RJ flight... I **** you not.

Later on as I was boarding I overheard the boarding agent tell the CSA that she was being denied boarding because she refused to gate side check her bag.

wonder what she would have done when she was told that the twizzlers and trail mix was $3, and their would be no caviar and champagne...

Hey, she paid $59 bucks for that seat! Whaddya mean there's no free food, free drinks, free movie, free manicure, free.... free... free!!!!

I get far fewer PAX commenting about the size of the 402 than I did on the E-145. Maybe they're programmed to say stuff like from all the TV they watch. My cousin, a DL FA, has gotten the "ooh this plane is so small" comment on a 757!

Go figure.

Best one I've heard:

Pax sticks her head in the cockpit "Wow, you still need two pilots to fly one this small?!?"

Best reply I've heard:
Pax: This plane sure is small...
CA: If you think this is small, you should see my paycheck!

On the 1900 I used to get all sorts of stupid coments. I flew with one captain that was great though. When I had to adjust people's seating assingments for weight and balance and people would complain, he'd turn around and tell them "this thing's like a teeter totter. We have to make sure we balance the load correctly over the wing."

Sitting in the terminal as Lynx pulls up with a brand-spankin-new Q400, I overhear some redneck lean over to his honey and say:

"Aw man, we gotta ride in one of those old-arsed puddle jumpers".

His clothes were in a black garbage bag, if it helps the visuals out at all.

Classic.

I usually overhear at least one a day on the dash about how old the planes are, but I have yet to see even one person refuse to board - when it comes down to it they still get on and they still pay the 39 bucks each way. I don't know how the FAs deal with all that nonsense back there..

Hell, i'm almost convinced they preffer to fly the dash because it gives 'em something that they can all mutually whine about to help pass the time on their short flight to timbuck three.

I was sitting in first on an AA 757 when an older couple came through and the lady said "I guess American sold all their big planes to save on gas, this one doesn't even have beds in first class". The guy replies "no they keep the big ones to use on international flights and use these little regional jets between small towns".

My question is -- since when were MCO and DFW small towns?

I remember diverting to Muskegon a couple of years ago for weather in Milwaukee. There were three Beech 1900s on the ramp (all of us Skyway folks were in the Mesaba crew room eating hamburgers). As I was walking to the bathroom I was flagged down by a concerned passenger who very frankly asked, "When is Midwest going to get here with a big plane that can take us all into Milwaukee?" She was dead serious. The only thing that came to mind to say in response was, "I don't know, but we might be able to leave before they get here because we fit through the holes in the clouds better." She was completely satisfied with that response.

After reading this thread which just reaffirmed how stupid people are, a great Clerks line came to mind, "I hate people but I love gatherings, go figure!"

I enjoy RJ's- I like the CRJ's a little better than the ERJ's, although Jetblue's E190 is pretty nice.

But then again, I'm average size and tend to travel light. The best is getting your bag right at the bottom of the stairs.

The only time I was a little concerned/unimpressed was flying in a Shorts 360 that looked as though it had served in Burma flying the Hump; I've never seen a more threadbare interior.

I used to fly a Citation jet and the owner had invited some friends to join her on a trip to TEB. Niether of these had flown on a corporate jet, as they boarded I heard the wife say that she was unsure about this flight as and I quote " this plane is so small that you cant stand up". I quckly paraphrased Bill Lear and reminded her that she cant stand up in her BMW either!

I have a Student Driver sticker on the back of my chart case. My conversations with passengers generally leave me wondering how these people get to the airport in the morning.

I was walking down the jetbridge last month to board my DH, in full uniform...
Pax: "Are you really a student?!"
Me: "Yeah, I get my license next week."
Pax: "So you're just observing this flight then?"

You just can't make this stuff up.

Pax: Ugh, this plane is so small.
Me: (inaudibly sighs) Story of my life...

My standard line whenever I am in Canada. I understand it would be more accurate if I were on the -700 or -900, but who cares, it makes me laugh and that is all I care about.

Pax: "This plane is so small!"

Me: "Its the biggest airplane your country makes."

Similar story.....flying MSP-Providence RI, Just crossed the shoreline of Lake Michigan over Milwaukee. Some nutjob in the back convinced the FA to come check on us because he knows that we have fallen asleep because we are over the ocean. He even wrote a comment card and mailed it to the airline stating we fell asleep.

Others....on a CRJ200...
"I hate these damn turboprops!"
"I hope the FAA doesn't see you have the wrong passenger safety cards in this DC-9!"
"I dont think we should be flying around with bombs on a civilian airplane, which one of you is the guy that drops them?" (Bombardier CRJ)