The Flight from Hell:

As a former seaman, I have been on hundreds of flights. Most of them are forgotten after a day, and some are remembered for a long time.

The last “long flight” will be remembered for a long time, but for negative reasons.

The first thing one notices when we were more or less ready for departure was that the crew seemed quite stressed and irritable. The older ones looked angry and aggressive, while the younger ones looked extremely nervous. It made me think that maybe something tragic had happened to one of their colleagues? I have experienced that myself several times. But regardless, that must NOT affect the service to the customers.

During the meal service they forgot several passengers, including myself. I asked when they were almost finished, since I did not want to disturb them during the actual service far inside the aircraft from where I was sitting. I could hear them talking negatively about me. I understand the other Scandinavian languages! Another guy I saw woke up while they were serving. He also asked eventually. He got scolded because he had dozed off. I was given a vegan meal. Do I look like a vegan, as fat as I am? Was this on purpose or simply ignorance… eat what you get and shut up?

A few hours into the flight there was turbulence. The “driver” up front informed us that this would last a while, maybe 45 minutes. But he would ask the air planes ahead of us on the route. People started to get worried because the turbulence became very severe. The “driver” never came back to update us after that! Rule number one in the service industry when customers become impatient or stressed is regular updates, even if there are only small changes. That reassures people because they feel they are being looked after.

There were a lot of small children and infants on this flight, maybe 12–13 of them. They started to get restless, and soon many of them began vomiting. Not long after, several adults also started vomiting, including the parents of the children. It was an incredible experience, because it was complete pandemonium with screaming, vomiting, and an extreme stress level among them. Poor people. When I tried to offer my sick bag to the child’s mother next to me, I discovered that many passengers had not even been given these bags in front of them! What the hell?

Finally it started to calm down after 45–60 minutes, which without doubt must have felt like hours for those affected by the turbulence. There were lights on above many seats from people who wanted assistance. They needed new blankets (soiled with vomit), plastic bags for clothes that had been covered in vomit, etc.

What happened next was almost unbelievable. The flight attendants prioritized serving coffee and other drinks to many passengers instead of first taking care of those who had become sick. What do they learn during training, apart from CPR and opening doors? And when it was finally the families with children’s turn, the older flight attendants downplayed the whole situation, saying yes, it got a bit bumpy for a while, with a smile on their faces. To spread humor? Instead of sympathy and understanding? Where is the customer service?

On top of that, one would expect the crew to classify all the vomit as a biohazard, the same as blood and feces. One would expect them to come with their trolleys and large plastic bags to collect the blankets that had been soiled with vomit, as well as all the full plastic bags and sick bags that had been used. But no, the passengers had to sit there with their vomit for another 5–6 hours, even though there was still one meal left to be served.

Then the “driver” came on the loudspeakers again with information. And as if we had not already experienced the peak of amateurism, he also downplayed what many passengers had experienced as a guaranteed traumatic event. The “driver” (the captain) told us that this kind of turbulence was something we had to expect on such long flights.

Never in my 25 years as a professional in the travel and tourism industry have I experienced anything close to this unprofessional and amateurish behavior.

So the question arises: does SAS have no routines or procedures at all when situations like this occur?

Is it just a “this will probably be fine” attitude?

Absolutely a flight from Hell!