Top 5: 2013 Edition

Last year Top 5 Passenger Awards goes to

1) Japanese: welcome aboard every time everyday to every destination. This Nationality has constantly outstand not only for their impeccable cultural background but also by their natural solidarity and education. Always polite, respectful and simple they reflect why Japan it’s the number 1 country in so many ways. During check in, security and boarding they seem to know exactly what to do and they don’t lose time doing so, why? They understand the precious art of time and they try to respect it and nourish it. Not only they are extremely clean and quiet but they also try to help others in need even so there is a communication barrier (language). During flight not only they are clean in their personal habitat but they also tend to be very fast when it comes to hygiene leaving the toilets almost impeccable. Definitely if it says “Made in Japan” I’ll sure trust.

2) South Koreans: have you ever seen a Korean Airlines stewards? From my point of view they are the epitome of elegance, citizens are a pure reflection. With simple movements accompanied by a simple line of elegance this Nationality leaves the door open for education. With a huge eager in learning new things they travel the world with an exact weight precision. Not too much carry on or cargo items. Sometimes they might be duty free maniacs but nevertheless their obsession for perfumes and creams outstand the rectitude for hygiene. With a constant smile and a natural virtue of happiness this passengers are the least problematic in extra long haul flights. They simply seat and sleep. Also the fact that they tend to follow rules without making any fuzz about it makes every journey a little bit easier for everybody.

3) Swedish: a square is a square a circle a circle and a triangle a triangle, Swedish don’t like to make things complicated; they are simpler than simplicity itself. As someone said not very long time ago “they are all about timing”, almost never late for boarding they are on time for check in and during the flight they are almost on time for everything. These passengers almost never go to the toilet while f/b (food and beverage) service and they naturally put the seat in the upright position when meals are served (so they don’t disturb the fellow passenger seated in the back). They are not demanding and as they tend to keep things simple, in any situation as for example lack of a meal or beverage (that almost never happen) they manage to become please with a “no” or the option B. Now I understand why the best clocks are Swedish.

4) Norwegian: this blond almost Viking creatures are a mixture of coldness and super friendly (limited) people. A particular feature that has called my attention is the fact of how strict they may be towards rules, which is why they naturally ask to switch seats if they find that the responsibility in being in an emergency exit seat is too big for them. Even so you might thing that they are cold heartless creatures they are totally the opposite. Being in a constant state of natural solidarity they help other passenger to lift their bags to the overhead compartments or even switch seats so that their fellow passenger may enjoy the view while takeoff or landing.

5) Canadians: grey zone. The good and the bad. A virtue of this Nationality is that they are friendly during the flights and make constant jokes about almost everything that it’s on their way. With a Canadian flag always stamped somewhere in their luggage or coat this Nationality when it comes to punctuality they might not be the best, why? They get easily distracted by almost everything (sometimes you might feel that there is a general sense of ADD). Nevertheless if they are not drunk or with an ADD rush they are calm and smooth passengers to travel with. 

(I don´t own the above picture)

Bottom 5: 2013 Edition

Last year Bottom 5 Passenger Awards goes to

1) Indians: the irony of what is to travel. How to make things sound nicer? No, I can’t.  The fact is that almost no passengers want to travel with this Nationality. Why? (Cancel your appointments cause this list is long). To start with they have no sense no value no idea of what is personal hygiene and I have seen it all. Indians whipping their bottoms with the in-flight blanket, others spitting in the floor, others cleaning their menstruation stain with the hot towel and even close down toilets. Yes, from my experience the passengers that literally may kill an aircraft bathroom are the Indians. The second point is rudeness. Most of Indians consider themselves to be “proud” and Ghandi this and Ghandi that but the truth is that many don’t know what the word peace actually means. With a constant competition about everything they tend to treat crew as if they were cattle – very rude and even aggressive (man and woman). Giving constant orders and trying not to obey in-flight safety rules they tend to think that as they are proud they are superior. The head-bobbing issue is another drama. They make you feel that they don’t understand what you are trying to say when they actually understand (perfectly) what you are communicating. Fasten seat belts during turbulence? Never. If you wake them up in their sleep so they buckle up, they shout and through an arm to your face. When you start meal service the toilet area is cramped with Indian passengers. During boarding they are constantly late and sometimes they even seat in the first seat that they find. When you explain to them that they seat in the wrong place they just head-bob and that is it. We tend to say the same joke: an Indian in the plane asks a Crew, where is the green line for the toilet? Yes, they are proud

2) Chinese: actually Chinese could be also in the first place, why it’s not? Because of the Cantonese - they are not as bad as the rest. The Chinese are as filthy as dirt and they don’t care much about it. With an awful body smell glued into their pores they travel in the most uncomfortable / unhuman conditions. To start with, generally, they travel with overweight (everywhere they go). During boarding they dispatch to cargo packages and packages of boxes and during in-flight they over carry their carry on items with an incredible amount of weight (ground staff must control more this issue). When boarding starts they enter the plane as if it were to be a rally bumping their huge supermarket bags among other passengers head and they seem not to care much about it (at all). During flight not also they go to the toilet during f/b (food and beverage) service but also they tend to leave the bathroom in a complete mess. Poo in the ground, over the toilet and even sometimes on the walls. I always have the same story in which an economy class passenger let her son (toddler) to pee inside a puke bag (toilets were all free). If you travel with Chinese you should have a strong stomach.

3) Nigerians: they like to be aggressive and ignorant in their aggression.  The problem with this Nationality is the fact on how aggressive they might be towards crew when we make (or try to make) them understand the importance about safety in-flight rules. Not only they might give you the scary look (that I personally felt that I could be killed with that look) but also they seem to feel in power when they do it. Even so I’m currently working in Economy my Business Class fellow co-workers explained that this passengers sometimes tend to be very impulsive, how? They might grab you by your wrist and demand more champagne or demand that you say “yes” to a personal invitation.

4) Pakistan: men tend to discriminate and they are very use to it, how? For example women are inferior and they don’t care. With awful rude and drop lined response Pakistani passengers treat not only crew but also fellow passengers as a practical joke (many times) just because they are bored. Not only they take their time for everything, not caring about others, but also they dislike organization and rules.   

5) Spanish: grey zone. This Nationality might be bad but not as bad as you think, why? The sense of humour and joy that they might carry is a good one but sometimes it might be too much joy in a small space at 35.000 feet up in the sky. The fact is that they are Latin’s: sporadic change of mood in which it’s very difficult to determine if the client (passenger) is pleased or not with the service. Many Spanish don’t speak a single word in English and it’s very difficult (and even funny sometimes) when they try to order or understand what is in the menu. Even so I speak perfectly fluent Spanish, as it’s my mother language, many of my fellow Crew don’t. When this happens they tend to become hyper and over reactive with their hands mimicking what they are trying to say. If you treat a Spanish and don’t know how to speak Spanish I highly recommend a good 12 hours previous beauty sleep – sometimes very demanding.  

(I don´t own the above picture)

Betun Magazine

My little brother just published his first article in the “Travel Section” in Betun Magazine from Mexico. His surname it’s not “Sanguinetti” he is using an alias / nick. He also had the participation from mayor Hotel and Airline in his work. You may download it in App-Store: Revista Betun (only in Spanish). He writes about destinations, journeys and worldwide events. If you wish to contact him let me know that I’ll put you in touch.