You Won’t Believe How Odd This Passenger Was on My American Airlines Flight

Yesterday, I flew from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on American Airlines and sat next to one of the oddest people I have ever flown in the millions of miles that I have spent on aircraft. This woman was on another level. Her behavior ranged from confusion around boarding, to wanting a “signature cocktail list,” and then arguing with her seatmate who only requested that she not watch videos without headphones.

The odd behavior started at the gate. She walked up to the podium and asked where she would board the plane. They told her that she was at the right gate. She then proceeded to try to walk on (boarding had not even started yet). They stopped her and she stepped back. As soon as First Class was called, she ran forward and again tried to board without scanning a boarding pass. The gate agent told her that she needed to scan her boarding pass and she seemed confused. Once this was resolved, she got on the plane.

As soon as she sat down, she began watching videos on her phone. She was seated in 1E. The woman in 1F politely asked her to use headphones. She snapped back “it’s not loud.” She asked again and the odd woman replied “you’re grumpy. I’m always seated next to grumpy people. Just enjoy the sounds.” The other passenger replied, “don’t talk to me.” The flight attendant came over and told her to use headphones. She replied, “I write textbooks for colleges. I’ll be quietly writing soon.” She then went back to watching her video even though she had also announced “it’s in airplane mode, I’ll show you.” Before takeoff, she argued that her purse, brown paper bag with lunch, and backpack did not need to go into the overhead bins because those are her personal belongings and the flight attendants on her last flight let her keep them at her feet. The flight attendant was not having it and found space for her three items.

The flight attendant came around asking for pre-departure beverage choices and the odd woman asked if there was a “signature cocktail list.” She then told the flight attendant (when that was denied) to make her something “yummy with alcohol.” He made her a drink and she was quiet for a bit. Throughout the flight she pounded white wine. When we were close to landing, she ordered another and then cancelled the glass as she said she needed to drive her Hertz rental car soon.

Throughout the flight, she told the flight attendants no less than a dozen times that she wrote college textbooks and that she was quiet. I could not figure out exactly what was going on. She did not seem intoxicated, but was just so odd and had no self awareness. I thought maybe she had not flown much, but she talked to the flight attendant about all of the flights she had taken around the world and how trains in Europe were so much nicer.

Anthony’s Take: In the end, we arrived without any impact to the flight. I just found all of her behavior bizarre. There are plenty of stories on Reddit and FlyerTalk, but it’s something else to see passengers behaving badly in person. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but don’t bother other passengers.