I’d like to nominate someone for the “least self aware passenger of the year” award, which is saying a lot, because there’s quite a bit of competition! Thanks to PYOK for flagging this.

Air France water request ends with police being called

There’s no shortage of people behaving horribly on planes. What’s unique here is that the person behaving horribly is also the one uploading this content to social media, and pretending like the way she’s acting is completely reasonable (hint: it’s not).

The woman posted a nearly four minute video to TikTok, with the following caption:

I hope no one is treated and mocked just cause they need a glass of water to drink. Things can be conveyed in a very polite manner and this is something @Air France needs to do. Train your staff right. #discrimination #freedomofspeech #viralvideos #help

The video features her arguing with a flight attendant after the plane landed. Essentially, this whole issue arose because the woman got up to request a cup of water three minutes before the plane landed, after the crew was already strapped in for landing, and everyone needed to be seated.

She wasn’t happy with how the crew reacted to her, so she then started taking pictures of the crew, and then they called the police (privacy is a much more important thing in France than in the United States, for example). This woman’s escalation is just next level.

Here are some of the details of the conversation (let me note that she’s super condescending, and constantly cuts off the flight attendant):

She claimed that she was offended and that it was her right to drink water, because she was “very thirsty”

When the flight attendant explained that everyone had to be seated, she claimed she’s “well aware” and that she has “been flying since [she] was a baby” (then why the heck are you getting up three minutes before landing to request water?)

She then claimed her issue was with the flight attendant’s attitude, and that he should have politely said he will give her water after they land

She claimed that on other airlines, the staff give her water just minutes before landing (this is really sounding like a problem she has, if she constantly needs water right before landing)

The flight attendant explained that the real issue was that she then started taking pictures of the crew, which isn’t allowed; she claimed she “understands,” but also had to do it “because of the way you talked to me,” and that “as a person of color” she “isn’t treated friendly,” and therefore has to record everything

This woman was incapable of answering any questions; the flight attendant asked why she took a picture of him, and she responded “because I need to speak to somebody,” and then he asked again, and she said “in all honesty, I didn’t intend to” (sorry, what?)

This woman doesn’t understand what the word “understand” means. It seems to be the word she uses simply to be able to interrupt when someone else is speaking. Never mind the fact that this was reportedly a one-hour flight, and the woman had already been served a cup of water inflight, just like everyone else.

In a follow-up video, she can be seen waiting in the galley for the police to show up. They demand her passport, to which she responds “what’s this for?”

She reportedly then posted another video on TikTok of the police officers with their guns, which was taken down, due to TikTok community guidelines. So following that she posted yet another video, asking people to support her and share her story, because she thinks this shouldn’t happen to anyone. She captions that video as follows:

Help. #justice #abuseofpower

Gosh, I feel really bad for flight attendants…

Typically when you see people share victim stories on social media (even if baseless), most people come out in support of them. In this case, a vast majority of the comments are against this traveler, pointing out how completely unreasonably she’s acting. Despite that, she keeps going with her crusade.

I don’t understand, does she have some medical condition that requires her to drink a lot of water? If so, maybe she should bring more water with her, or request more water while the plane is still at cruising altitude, and before the cabin is prepared for landing.

On just about any airline, if you were to get up a few minutes before landing, the crew would probably have a stern tone with you, telling you to return to your seat immediately. This woman keeps claiming she “understands” what the flight attendant is saying, but nothing about what she repeats suggests she has actually processed it.

Across my millions of miles of flying, I don’t remember ever being in such dire need of water three minutes before landing that I need to get up while everyone else is seated in order to request it. Yet it sounds like this woman repeatedly gets really thirsty on flights right before landing, and Air France is the first airline to give her a hard time? Really?

It’s amazing that despite her very high level of thirst, which couldn’t wait until she got into the terminal, she was able to argue endlessly with the flight attendant, dehydrated as she may be.

Bottom line

A combative Air France passenger traveling on a short haul flight demanded water three minutes before landing, while everyone (including the crew) needed to be seated. The crew told her to sit down, but she wasn’t happy with that response, and ended up giving them a hard time over it. She then photographed the crew, and the situation escalated to the point that the police got involved.

What’s wild to me about this situation is that this story is being shared directly by the person involved, who doesn’t seem to realize how off base she comes across.