An airplane pilot went viral for scolding his passengers—Harvard expert says it’s great leadership: ‘Bravo’

Good story, but it doesn't take "an executive fellow at Harvard" to validate the pilot's actions.

i dont see anything wrong with this at all! people have gotten very "me first" selfish about everything,and especially on airplanes..you expect professionalism and courtesy from the flight crew,so why should it not go the other direction?i have been on flights,long before political issues or divisiveness were the norm, and had pilots make the announcement that the f/a's were on board mainly to provide for the safety and comfort of the passengers,so please be nice or respectful..never heard any complaints then, and it should be more applicable now! bravo to this captain as if there is any sort of hassle or fight or whatever,its his plane,his crew and the rest of the passengers he has to take care of (along with air marshalls if they happen to be on board!)..

Those sitting in the middle seats, you own both arm rests. That is my gift to you.

Priceless.

I've never understood the speakerphone in public thing. Nobody else is interested in listening to your conversation, the music you are listening to or the video you are watching. In the early 2000's my wife and I were in a 1/4 full Ruby Tuesday's and the guy in the booth next to us whips out his flip phone and goes on speaker with someone - and had it cranked. The restaurant was otherwise pretty quiet. After about 5 minutes of that and giving him a couple of looks that clearly conveyed my message - I went over to him and told him to knock it off. He looked at me in surprise and tried to tell me how busy he was. Guess what? Nobody here gives a shit how busy you are was the response he got - and I again told him to go off speaker or go out in the hall or I'd have him removed.

Use headphones or put it up to your ear. Stop being an attention whore.

I once flew out of KCOS (long before 9/11) and the Captain greeted every pax at the aircraft door. Once boarding was complete, he gave a personal introduction and full briefing on the flight, its routing, expected weather and turbulence and timings for meals, etc. He introduced the cabin crew and outlined his expectations of every passenger while dealing with them. He concluded with his thanks for our attention and wishes for a pleasant experience. It never made the news, people were quite respectful (90% were) and everyone greeted their fellow pax. It was one of the nicest flights I’ve ever been on.
It’s a real shame that leadership is obsolete. PK

Excellent - all common sense, and he is 100% right when he said "I shouldn't have to say this..." but that is the issue - people are often just ignorant and selfish, especially in the confines of an aircraft where space is limited. Absolutely hat's off to this captain!

I would never hesitate to support my FAs over the PA system, if ever needed. And sometimes I had to come close to threatening dire consequences to anyone onboard who disrespected or tried to thwart the FAs in carrying out their duties. It worked.

Great!

Yay. It's about time someone did this.

If you don't like the rules to fly, go by wagon train next time. It's a little slower and certainly more dangerous, but the rules are more lax. See you at your destination in 5 month's. Happy trails to you!

Should be given for every flight!

Since we're all passengers on spaceship "Earth", we all need to behave well toward our fellow passengers. This captain is just laying out implementing the golden rule which has proven effective for peaceful co-existence.

It's a shame our schools no longer teach the golden rule and airline captains have to do it.

In very simple terms, it's nice to see when someone actually cares about others, their job, and is prepared to help in achieving some degree of calm. Sad that s/he had to go that far but good for them. Respect.

Too many flights have cockpit systems managers in the left seat. It sounds like this particular flight actually had a captain.

Congrats to the Pilot in Charge! One small step in countering the Pussification of American. Tell It Like It Is!

A tip of the hat to this AC for reminding those passengers, especially Gen Vapid how to act in pub-lic!

About time a pilot had some balls.

the pilot was right. he is incharge and i control of the freight

Great job speaking up for the flight attendants and for setting standards. In the cockpit, he is removed from the ignorant behavior that may be going on in the main cabins. And the person who commented that the person who complains is the person who needs to hear what the Captain said. But by definition, the offender has to be offensive. And of course the company management will always agree with the person paying the bills. I hope that those managers do not become offensive too and censure the pilot in any way. I can't do anything meaningful to stop such censure because I haven't flown on American Airlines for as long as I can remember.

I see how few people actually listen to announcements and that shocks me. (Not helped by so many announcements being garbled with terrible diction or just not enough volume.) But worst of all when disembarking at a destination and I see the chaos when passengers try exiting the plane - and most people do seek a fast exit - I imagine how AWFUL it would be in (Heaven Forbid!) a real emergency. Crew can train and practice as much as you like but passengers are a VERY different story. This is not helped by the modem trend to pack in as many sardines into the can as physically possible. Am I better off not thinking about it or simply NEVER fly as a commercial passenger again?

I agree with every single word the Captain said in his speech.
Well done !!

Agree with everything the Cap said but the golden rule works both ways. Have recently seen stories on FlightAware of FAs being tyrants too. Just sayin’

There are many times these passengers have been treated like crap by the airline up until they sit down on that plane. Delayed, cancelled , rebooked, no customer service to call, etc. The Pilot is right that people should behave, but his airline isn’t helping.

The Pilot is in command of EVERYONE on that aircraft, INCLUDING all PASSENGERS.

So many people face time in public while on their calls WHY? Even while driving .... Idiots

That is right. Pilot in command. The rules are clear and fair. US passengers need to learn manners and get some class.

When airlines brought down the price of a ticket so low to travel they also invited the BUMS,the UNRULy,and whole host of misfits into an enclosed area for hours at the same time putting decent traveller and crew members to deal with these misfits.Thank you Capt of AA,I hope other airlines do the same thing.

I'm seriously considering the latter choice. The idea of getting on a commercial airline today makes me shudder. The airports are madness, the behavior in the aircraft is horrific, and of course the airlines are complicit in the decline of the experience because of the adulation and adoration of the almighty dollar. I think I'd rather drive.

To avoid jealousy just tell the surrounding pax that he was on first class the previous flight and missed out on his dinner. Sheesh just some common sense and courtesy. Purser is not in the right line of work.

I had to have the aircraft tugged back to the gate at KLGA to remove a passenger, who was being disrespectful to the flight crew in the back. I made an announcement to that effect and the passengers applauded it, despite the delay.

I like the initiative and leadership the pilot has taken but the “my will” part is a bit much in my opinion.

Good news: this ugly business is trending down. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1192989392/airline-passenger-behavior-faa-fbi

The pilot said this?

Good on this captain! It's sad that he had to go into such depth about common courtesy, which is clearly in short supply among passengers. The only thing he didn't mention is that Americans are amongst the rudest people in the world. A good lesson for all those who believe they're entitled to think they are at home and can do what they want.