I don’t envy the jobs of airline gate agents. They’re not paid very well, they’re under constant time pressure, and they are often a punching bag for passengers, even though most of the factors are outside their control. Their jobs have only gotten worse since the introduction of basic economy, where they’re the ones who have to enforce the horrible policies.
We’ve seen videos of flight attendants making funny announcements onboard, though I’ve never seen a gate agent with quite this much personality before. Check out this video of United gate agent Kevin in Atlanta giving an epic pre-flight speech/rant about the nearby bagel place, in hopes of everyone making the flight. He finishes off the announcement with:
“See this door to my left? It’s closed. That’s how it’s going to look at 5:40. 5:45. What side of the door are you going to be on?”
LOL!
What an awesome guy. I’ve heard some gate agents lecture passengers about making sure they don’t miss their flight, but most of time I’ve heard such an announcement it came across as condescending or passive aggressive. Kudos to Kevin for making an announcement in a nice way that’s effective and funny.
Here’s the video, which is a must see:
Outstanding speech this morning by United guy Kevin in Atlanta. His “What side of the door will you be on?” line sounds like a coach’s pregame speech. pic.twitter.com/eKuSqsG2QL
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 12, 2018
Well done, Kevin!
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
@Anthony - Sorry, but a good bagel beats some French croissant that's 70% air any day of the week.
That said, I can't imagine a bagel at ATL being a good bagel.
No doubt a nice and well-intentioned chap. However my strong preference is for the door to be slammed in the faces of the bagel-munching or -carrying latecomers. They show a measure of contempt for their fellow passengers and the airlines are too lenient. Put them on the Greyhound Bus.
There was a security lady at Pearson yyz a few days ago yelling at everyone. -no body listens, yell yell yell...
Getting paid little is not an excuse for being rude and forgetting that there's another human being on the other side.
In Asia no one yells, and they're not making a fortune either, I'm always treated like a human being.
Bagels are probably the most overrated bread in the world. They're tough, make for terrible sandwiches (i.e. the ingredients slide out), and full of calories. Wish the U.S. could trade all its bagel shops for artisan French boulangeries...in other words, don't miss a flight for a bagel!
Thank god for passengers that show up to the gate at 12:28pm for a 12:30pm departure and ask the gate agent if they can wait because their friend is closing out the tab at the bar. I was lucky to get out of New York last week after the nor’easter using a buddy pass.
Best announcement I've heard was on a BA flight London-Paris. We were late taking off because there was no bus available to take us to the plane (last minute move from an air bridge apparently). The pilot came on and with a very droll sense of humour announced, "Sorry about the delay folks. Ground crew today doesn't seem to know their arse from their elbow"... took the sting right out of the slow start to the day.
The best in--flight announcement I ever heard was on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Brisbane (or 'Brissey' as the nice check-in lady called it.
We took off late. Just after the take-off roll, the Captain came on the speaker .... in a very thick (but delightful) Aussie accent ...
"Hi there, it's Petey and Dave up her in the cockpit ... sorry we took off a late ... we had to wait for some...
The best in--flight announcement I ever heard was on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Brisbane (or 'Brissey' as the nice check-in lady called it.
We took off late. Just after the take-off roll, the Captain came on the speaker .... in a very thick (but delightful) Aussie accent ...
"Hi there, it's Petey and Dave up her in the cockpit ... sorry we took off a late ... we had to wait for some baggage. However, don't worry ... we are going to be doing our best to get our foot down and make up the time in the air. You see, I promised my wife that I would be back in time to take her to dinner ... and we all know that Happy Wife, Means Happy Life" !!!!
Priceless.
If it's a United flight, the answer to "What side of the door will you be on?" would be "the one that doesn't lead to the plane."
Maybe he'll start warning passengers with dogs in a friendly way that if they board the plane their dogs are at risk of being killed by flight attendants?
On a recent AA flight, the pilot made announcement similar to a train conductor, even using a horn sound LOL
Seems to be in the line of "For those of you who have not been in a car since 1965, here is how safety belts should be used...", "Passengers caught smoking in the toilets shall be shot", and "We have chicken and beef. Do not worry if you do not get your choice, our chef has made sure that they taste exactly the same". Some humor can go a long way...