[crystalclear]

On 3/27/09, I had a 7:25 flight from Kansas City, MO to Cleveland, OH. This flight was scheduled to leave at 7:25 AM but when I got to the airport, I saw that the flight was delayed to 7:55 AM due to the flight crew getting in late the previous night. At 7:35 AM the two pilots came through security and got on the plane. At this point, the ticket agent said that she was just waiting for the flight attendant to arrive. At 7:45 AM, the flight attendant arrived talking on his cell phone in an argumentative tone. His name was Dante. He looked very mad and was very abrupt to the person he was speaking to on his cell phone. After Dante got on board the plane, the ticket agent said that we would be boarding shortly and started tagging some of the carry on baggage since we would be boarding a small plane and the tagged bags would not be able to fit into the overhead bins. She came over to me and stated that my bag would fit into the overhead bin so there was no need to tag it. I knew my bag would fit because it flt in the overhead compartment on the same size plane from Cleveland, OH to St. Louis, MO a couple of days prior.

At 7:55 AM, the flight agent advised all of us waiting at the gate that we could start boarding the plane. When I got up to the plane door. Dante barked at me and stated that I could not bring on my carry-on luggage because it was too big to fit in the overhead bin. I stated that the ticket agent advised that it would fit. At this point, Dante became very angry and shouted he was the flight attendant and that he was in charge and I had to do what he said. I asked him if I could try and fit my bag in the overhead bin and if it didn't fit, I would leave it outside of the aircraft where it could be stowed. I advised him that this same bag did fit on the same size plane I took a couple of days prior. He screamed at me and stated that he already told me he was the one in charge and I had to follow his orders and not to question him again.


I have never been spoken to in this way in all my years of travel. I did not appreciate being spoken to in this manner and if the ticket agent advises you to bring your bag on board, the flight attendant should have some common sense to know that there was a reason why the ticket agent made the decision she did. Previously, Dante was on his cell phone and looked very agitated. This does not give him any reason to take his frustration out on a passenger. I'm an intelligent person who has to travel on business and expect to be treated with a certain amount of respect.

I left my bag outside the door of the plane and took my seat. Dante glared at me during the flight every time he walked by my seat. The plane landed and got to the gate in Cleveland, OH at 10:55 AM. I had a connecting flight to RI that I had to catch at 11:15 AM but need to wait for my bag. I made the connection with two minutes to spare but I have to tell you, I exerted a lot of enerty to make it to my next flight.

If Dante made it to the gate at 10:35 AM like the two pilots did, we wold have been boarded sooner. Also, if I didn't have to leave my bag outside the door of the plane, I would have been able to just grab it and make it to my next flight with time to spare.

If a store clerk is surly, you just avoid them and 30 minutes later, you've left the store, the experience forgotten. Get a bad flight attendant, you're stuck with them for hours and cannot exerciise meaningful choice, e.g. leave. Moreover, in other consumer oriented positions, the agent does not have authority over you. However, you must obey a flight attendant's commands, making it difficult to complain about a bad one. These three elemtns create a perfect storm which magnifies the unpleasantness a surly flight attendant can inflect as opposed to regular workers.