An American Airlines pilot got so fed up with inconsiderate passengers that he took the time to lecture them.
In a viral video shared by comedian Anna Leah Maltezos last week, the unnamed pilot delivers an impassioned speech on proper manners to the “selfish and rude” passengers he says he encounters on “every single flight.”
“Be nice to each other, be respectful to each other. I shouldn’t have to say that,” the pilot could be heard saying on the flight intercom recorded in the Instagram clip that has garnered more than 5 million views in just days.
As passengers continued boarding the plane, the captain warned them to be courteous to the flight crew.
“You will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cockpit or in the cabin,” he said. “And my will is what matters.”
The captain then rattled off a list of unsavory acts that he commonly sees passengers commit on flights.
“Everybody paid for a space,” the captain added. “Don’t lean on other people. Don’t fall asleep on other people. Don’t drool on them, unless you’ve talked about it and they have a weather-resistant jacket.”
Giving the passengers a stern warning to “put their junk where it belongs,” he told them to keep it “out of everybody else’s way.”
Some passengers appeared shocked by the pilot’s lecture, with some asking “What is going on?” while another exclaimed: “Jesus!” in the background.
The pilot then turned his attention to the passengers who watch videos at full volume on their cellphones without using earphones.
“The social experiment on listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cellphone on speaker mode? That is over,” he declared. “Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video.”
“I know you think it’s super sweet, it probably is, but it’s your business, right? So keep it to yourself,” the pilot added.
Ending his rant with a dose of humor, he said: “Middle seaters, I know it stinks to be in the middle … . You own both armrests. That is my gift to you. Welcome on board our flight.”
Instagram users largely applauded the captain for his long-winded rant.
“People who are complaining about his speech are the people that need to hear it,” one person commented.
Another wrote, “He’s not wrong. For him to say this, that means he’s fed up with all these childish adults.”
“Ok do you know the pilots name? We need to send him a gift card,” one person joked.
Someone else added, “If you’re offended by this speech, congrats, you’re the problem lol.”
On the other hand, some commenters weren’t fond of the pilot’s words.
“This guy is angry af and needs a vacation. I agree with a lot of what he said but not his place,” someone wrote.
Another said of the pilot, “I would get off. That kid is not stable enough to have that kind of responsibility.”
“We are not paying extra money to get the same treatment as we treat them? Their job is customer SERVICE,” complained another.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to JS’s request for comment.
The debated moment comes nearly a year after a Southwest Airlines pilot went viral for hopping on the intercom to voice his frustration over unruly passengers AirDropping nudes on a flight.
“So here’s the deal: If this continues while we’re on the ground, I’m going to have to pull back to the gate, everybody’s going to have to get off, we’re going to have to get security involved, and [your] vacation is going to be ruined,” the captain says in the clip.
He added: “So you folks, whatever that AirDrop thing is, quit sending naked pictures and let’s get yourself to Cabo.”