Flight attendants are doing a lot more than just saying "hello" and offering a warm welcome when passengers board a plane.
A message overlaid on a viral post shared by TikTok user Miva (@mrsmiva), who is a flight attendant, according to videos shared on her profile, says: "Did you know that your flight attendant greets you not only out of politeness but also...to check whether you are too drunk or sick to fly?"
A caption shared with the video, which has received 12.3 million views since it was posted March 23, says: "Also to see who...could help us in an emergency."
Josephine Remo Finderup, a travel blogger who was a flight attendant for SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) for several years, according to her LinkedIn profile, told Newsweek: "Yes, flight attendants are trained to identify signs that passengers are unfit to fly. Signs include unsteady walking, slurred speech and not wanting to make eye contact."
Dan Bubb, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who is a historian and former airline pilot, told Newsweek that "it is the gate agent's responsibility" to prevent an "inebriated passenger" from boarding a plane.
"However, there are times when that does not happen," he said, and that's when the flight crew steps in. "Flight attendants are trained on ways to identify passengers that have had too much to drink. Some of the common indicators are slurred speech, irregular behavior and difficulty standing," he said.
As for screening for passengers who could be of help during an emergency, Remo Finderup said: "This is based on personal feelings about a person's character and body strength. You are looking for someone who you trust will keep calm in case of an emergency and follow instructions.
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"Also, you are looking for someone with a strong physique who can block the way if necessary from other passengers," she added.
The flight attendant profession was ranked 48th in this year's list of the annual "100 Best Jobs" from U.S. News & World Report. The job also ranked third among the highest-paying jobs without a degree and fifth among both the best civil service jobs and best jobs without a college degree.
Employment for flight attendants is projected to grow 11 percent from 2022 to 2032, "much faster than the average for all occupations," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
"About 16,600 openings for flight attendants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire," the BLS said.
What Happens When a Passenger Is Too Drunk or Ill to Fly?
Remo Finderup said that once it is established that a passenger is not fit to fly, the person is informed that "they should not fly in their condition."
Bubb said that if a passenger is denied boarding for being inebriated or ill, the gate agent will "quietly and discreetly explain why to the passenger to avoid alarming other passengers."
"If the discussion with the passenger escalates, then law enforcement will be paged. Gate agents are trained how to avoid escalating situations and when to page law enforcement," he added.
If a passenger is later found to be drunk midflight, "the first step is to stop serving them alcohol," Bubb said. Then the attendants make sure the person is not disruptive to other flyers and flight crew members.
Bubb said that if the passenger is "seriously ill," the lead flight attendant will notify the plane's captain, who will determine whether he or she "needs to declare an emergency and divert the airplane to an alternate airport."
If an ill passenger requires medical attention, after notifying the captain, flight attendants will notify the captain and "quietly and discreetly" ask around the plane if there are any medical experts among the passengers, while explaining the situation to them, Bubb said.
"The captain makes the decision to continue to the destination or divert the airplane to an alternate airport, depending on how critical the situation is," the former pilot said.
Newsweek has contacted the original poster of the viral video for comment via TikTok. This video had not been independently verified.
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