American Airlines Pilot Makes Passengers Sit Up and Pay Attention with Viral In-Flight Rant

The do's and don’ts of airline etiquette were spelled out to passengers aboard an American Airlines flight, and now the rest of the internet has been clued in as well.

Passenger Anna Leah Maltezos shared a video of the pilot of her July 26 flight on Instagram where it went viral– accruing 5.7 million views and nearly 500,000 likes.

In the video, the pilot– who is not seen, but rather heard over the PA system– lays down the rules for the flight, which mostly covers common courtesy.

“Remember, the flight attendants are here for your safety. After that, they’re here to make your flight more enjoyable," the pilot said in the video. "They’re going to take care of you guys but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cabin. And my will is what matters."

In addition to listening to and respecting the flight attendants, the pilot also urged passengers to treat each other with respect.

“Be nice to each other. Be respectful to each other,” he said. “I shouldn’t have to say that. You people should treat people the way you want to be treated, but I have to say it in every single flight because people don’t and they’re selfish and rude and we won’t have it, okay?”

Next, the pilot tackled personal space and told passengers to “put your junk where it belongs” and told passengers to avoid leaning on or falling asleep on their seatmates.

“Don’t pass out on other people or drool on them unless you’ve talked about it and they have a weather-assisted jacket,” the pilot said. 

The pilot also weighed in on people using speakerphone or blasting sounds from their phones.

"The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode, that is over,” he said. “Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video.”

He told passengers to use their headphones to watch videos, even if they think the sound isn’t bothering anyone.

“It’s just part of being in a respectful society,” the pilot said.

Lastly, the pilot granted all passengers doomed to middle seats a tiny sliver of justice: “You own both armrests. That is my gift to you.”

Maltezos captioned the viral video “Thank you for coming to his TED talk” and users flooded the comments with their thoughts about the pilot’s speech.

“The hero we deserve,” one user commented. 

“The people complaining about his speech are the people who need to hear it,” another wrote.