Flight attendants aren’t just employees in snappy uniforms rolling drink carts down the aisle, they’re real people with real feelings who sometimes get just as frazzled as the travelers they’re helping. Between cranky passengers, tight schedules, and the tiny challenge of keeping a metal tube full of humans safe at 35,000 feet, they have a lot on their plates. In other words: the just ain’t easy.
While most passengers mean well, there are a few habits that can make a flight attendant’s job a lot harder than it needs to be. The good news? A little awareness (and maybe a tiny bit of patience) goes a long way.
Here are seven of the biggest flight attendant pet peeves, and what we can all do to make the skies a friendlier place for everyone.
1. Touching Them Without Their Consent
Just as you wouldn’t tap, poke, or grab a stranger on the street, the same rule applies in the air. Flight attendants are there to help, but they’re not push buttons.
“Do not touch us. Stop touching us. Don’t poke me or tap me or wiggle your fingers on my arm. I have a name tag,” shared one anonymous flight attendant during a 2025 interview with Travel + Leisure.
If you need their attention, your voice works perfectly well.
“Ma’am” or “excuse me” will usually do the trick.
“We appreciate it when people use their words, and poking and shaking items like trash in our faces is beyond annoying and rude,” another attendant added.
And perhaps the most direct request of all, “Poking me or touching me on any part of my body in an attempt to get my attention — don’t. Just please don’t.”
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