Thai Airways steward praised for spoon-feeding elderly passenger

[khun custard]

In the photo, the flight attendant isn't wearing protective gloves.

Err...... Trolley Dollys and Wallys gowning and gloving up for a spontaneous act of kindness - did you work for Ansett or Qantas by any chance ?

Come to think of it, a much more pleasant task and happier landing than dealing with a passenger who had poor aim with a spew bag!

(Or having sitting next to one who did for 4 hours and being told by the AA Dolly, solly, I'm here for your safety not your comfort!!!)

Edited February 15, 2016 by khun custard

[JHolmesJr]

Nice try but not a patch on the KFC girl feeding the wheelchair guy who had a stroke.

[lkv]

To put it in a different way, as a white guy, if I saw an old lady falling on the street I would help, whether she was white, black, asian or whatever. And I would not expect tomorrow's headline in Bangkok Post to be: "Kind Farang helps old Thai lady on the street (in her own country)."

Or in my own country's newspaper if she happened to travel there.

Seriously.

Edited February 15, 2016 by lkv

[TheAppletons]

Flight attendants aren't expected to do this. It isn't their job to be caregivers for the elderly. As someone who has helped elderly people make arrangements to return to their home countries, I can assure you that when someone who is elderly and plans to travel alone makes a reservation requesting wheelchair service for airport transfers, they are often put thru the 3rd degree by the counter staff about whether they can make the transfer from the wheelchair to their seat unaided, feed themselves during the flight, get up to use the toilet during the flight unaided, etc, etc. It helps if they have a letter from their doctor stating they are Fit-to-Fly and just need the wheelchair because they find it difficult to walk long distances quickly when carrying hand luggage.

Once I was helping an elderly man who used a urinary catheter and there were concerns that the catheter bag would need to be emptied during the trans-Pacific flight that his family wanted him to take unaccompanied. They thought that the flight attendant should be willing to empty the catheter bag for their father. Nope -- flight attendants aren't nursing assistants and they shouldn't be expected to come into contact with passengers' bodily fluids this way. Frankly, IMO, that's goes for feeding someone, too. In the photo, the flight attendant isn't wearing protective gloves.

Yeah, this. ^^^

Good luck finding anything even approaching this on a Western based airline. The new mantra of "Flight attendants are on board primarily for your safety" = we provide zero service.

Good on the THAI flight attendant.

Is it news? In the world of 2016 airline service, it is.

[geriatrickid]

Wow, someone doing their job..

The world never ceases to amaze me.

Not his job. Far from it. FAs are not caregivers. Their primary role is for safety reasons.

I am surprised no one has asked the question as to why this passenger was allowed on the flight?

If the man was incapable of feeding himself, then he was most likely unable to care for himself properly. Was this passenger accompanied by a caregiver, or an attendant? If he wasn't, then he should not have been allowed on the aircraft without one.

Sorry to say, if not self sufficient and not accompanied by attendant, family, friend or otherwise, this is a major safety fail.

Nothing to praise, rather something to ask why the safety regulations were not followed if the man was incapable of caring for himself and without a caregiver. What happens if plane has to evacuate? Who will remove him, or is he just to be trampled and block the aisle potentially causing the death and injury of others? He's in an aisle D seat blocking egress for the pax in E and F seats.

Edit: Not nitpicking, just pointing out a very big issue that only Nancy has eloquently expressed

Edited February 15, 2016 by geriatrickid

[thedemon]

Wow, someone doing their job..

The world never ceases to amaze me.

Not his job. Far from it. FAs are not caregivers. Their primary role is for safety reasons.

I am surprised no one has asked the question as to why this passenger was allowed on the flight?

If the man was incapable of feeding himself, then he was most likely unable to care for himself properly. Was this passenger accompanied by a caregiver, or an attendant? If he wasn't, then he should not have been allowed on the aircraft without one.

Sorry to say, if not self sufficient and not accompanied by attendant, family, friend or otherwise, this is a major safety fail.

Nothing to praise, rather something to ask why the safety regulations were not followed if the man was incapable of caring for himself and without a caregiver. What happens if plane has to evacuate? Who will remove him, or is he just to be trampled and block the aisle potentially causing the death and injury of others? He's in an aisle D seat blocking egress for the pax in E and F seats.

Edit: Not nitpicking, just pointing out a very big issue that only Nancy has eloquently expressed

I can hardly free my fingers to type I am cringing so much.

[chickenslegs]

Nice try but not a patch on the KFC girl feeding the wheelchair guy who had a stroke.

If he had a stroke she should have slapped him.

[berybert]

Do they serve meals on flights as short as this ?

[Strangebrew]

OK my 2 cents worth What the hell is a passenger who can't feed himself doing on a plane anyway? What would happen if the guy had to take a dump? Going to wipe his butt too? Must been a person who might not know how to eat with fork and spoon. But then again could of been missing both arms. My grandpa was able to feed himself even at 105. But high 5 for the flight attendant.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Strangebrew

[goldfinger]

He's in an aisle D seat blocking egress for the pax in E and F seats.

passengers like you are blocking the aisle when Boarding, because you dont know where your correct seat is.

This passengers seat is never a D seat number.

Following your comment, all passenegers older 70 years should be banned from flying, because of the healthy risk.???

[gp2002]

Considering how narrow the seats are nowadays, all passengers should have their meals fed to them.