## Noisy Qatar Airways Traveler Called Out, Turns Aggressive
An OMAAT reader who wished to stay anonymous recounted a troubling encounter with a boisterous group seated near him in Qatar Airways business class, who refused to quiet down and even became (in my view) quite verbally abusive:
> After boarding my Qsuites flight to Jakarta, I got comfortable in the back cabin. I was greeted by an exceptional crew, which was evident right away. Then six Saudis arrived, occupying the middle seats in rows 8, 9, and 10 (center section). They were conversing so loudly that a flight attendant had to approach them to ask them to lower their voices (keep in mind it’s 2AM by this point). A minute later, they persisted, and I politely interjected, “I say this with respect, but it’s 2AM, would you kindly refrain from shouting, thank you.” They responded with “no problem.”
> All good, right? Wrong. As we commenced pushback, these individuals were wandering the aisles shouting again. I was exhausted. They eventually sat down, but as we began to taxi, they got back up and I signaled the flight attendant. The attendant instructed them to return to their seats. Two minutes later, he was back up, hovering around my Qsuite, and I politely remarked, “the plane is moving, could you please sit down and respect my personal space?” This is where it escalated.
> His reply: “shut your f**king mouth, you’re not the captain. Shut up now.” At this moment he stood maybe a foot away from me, yelling this into my face. He continued his tirade until the cabin crew intervened and instructed him to sit down.
> I fly 150-160 times per year to war zones for work, but this was the first time in my life on an aircraft that I felt genuinely scared. I spoke to the purser about possibly returning to the gate because with a full flight, and being seated across from him, I felt unsafe. Even though they were eager to assist, I ultimately decided against it to avoid delaying the 351 people on board, though I still felt uneasy in that seat.
> The cabin crew were fantastic. Truly. The purser kept returning to apologize profusely for their behavior, despite my reassurances of “it’s not your guys’ fault,” but she reiterated that unless there is physical altercation, she couldn’t do anything.
> So, I’m curious, how on earth is any of this tolerated? It’s certainly not the fault of the Qatar crew, but if someone verbally threatens you, shouldn’t they be removed?
> The purser has documented it, the flight attendant witnessed it, and my only regret is not returning to the gate. Experiencing a volatile individual yelling at me to “shut my f**king mouth” next to me is beyond comprehension. This isn’t a critique of the crew; rather, these matters should receive greater seriousness at Qatar Airways.
This incident occurred on an extremely early morning flight.
## What Can Be Made of This Distressing Interaction?
Wow, this seems like a disconcerting experience. I’d like to approach this more from a practical perspective of the current state of affairs rather than how things ought to be:
– Personally, I never confront fellow passengers directly if I encounter an issue, always opting to go through the crew, precisely for this reason; it shouldn’t be this way, but you never know how unpredictably people may react, and a confined metal tube with someone seated just feet away is not the right setting to test that.
– While the service can be outstanding on Qatar Airways, there is undeniably a prevailing culture of fear surrounding the enforcement of rules, and the possible fallout if passengers complain; this is one of those scenarios where you might wish you were on a U.S. airline with a more straightforward crew.
– Although the claim is that the passengers involved were Saudi and this occurred on Qatar Airways, there’s no denying that “local” (or in this instance, regional) passengers typically receive more deference from the crew, or at least command more apprehension.
– I must admit — Qatar is a location where I would be reluctant to return to the gate and risk having law enforcement embroiled in a disagreement, considering all the reports of that not going well for foreigners, non-Arabic speakers, and so forth.
So this passenger did nothing wrong, and without a doubt, he was the victim here. While I wouldn’t have voiced that comment directly to the passenger initially (not because it was unreasonable, but due to the fear of this exact outcome), I would have managed the situation similarly, and would not have pursued a return to the gate. I completely understand his discomfort, and it’s unfortunate that there was no possibility for reseating or any other solutions.