Don’t get angry when flight attendants won’t lift your bag for you

Hannah Sampson

THE WASHINGTON POST – You’re struggling with your carry-on bag – maybe it's extra heavy, maybe yesterday was arm day at the gym, maybe the overhead bin is out of reach – so you ask the flight attendant if they can pick it up it for you.

That's part of their job, right? Wrong.

During the boarding process – a time when flight attendants don't even receive hourly pay on most airlines – their role includes making sure passengers find their seats and stow their bags, keeping an eye out for potential unruly behaviour and keeping the parade of travellers moving. Lifting suitcases is not in the job description, although there may be exceptions for passengers in need.

Deanna Castro, who has been a flight attendant for 17 years and created the site Future Flight Attendant, said in an email that it is a "daily challenge" when passengers expect cabin crew to handle their bags for them. She said injuries caused by lifting luggage – and time off that results from it – might not be covered by the airline; each case is different.

Major United States (US) airlines confirmed to The Washington Post that flight attendants are not expected to lift bags, though the wording of their policies varies.

At Southwest, flight attendants "may assist customers with luggage", though "there is no expectation that they do so", spokesman Chris Perry said in an email. He added the caveat that flight attendants must help passengers with disabilities with their carry-on items.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wetzel said in an email that flight attendants can help travellers find overhead space and stow items, "as appropriate", or may help to check a bag if it's too heavy to put overhead.

"Safety is always our top priority, and we trust our flight attendants to use their best judgement on whether a carry-on item is too heavy for them to assist in lifting or if it's better to seek additional help," he wrote.

Flight attendants working at United are neither required to physically help with bags nor prohibited from helping, spokesman Charles Hobart said. Part of their responsibility is to "proactively assist and direct passengers with the stowage of baggage", he said, but the question of who provides help is not spelled out.

Hobart said help could include verbal instructions or asking another passenger or flight attendant to lend a hand.

"Anecdotally, I don't think I’ve ever seen an instance where a customer has been having some degree of difficulty where either a flight attendant or another customer hasn't been there within moments to help assist," he said.

Delta Air Lines even addresses the issue on its website, reminding travellers that when they pack, they should remember that flight attendants "are unable to proactively assist customers placing carry-on baggage into overhead bins", with exceptions. Those exceptions include helping passengers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors or older travelers.

"In addition to keeping customers and crew members safe and healthy, this change also protects flight attendants by decreasing the likelihood of injury caused by repetitive lifting," the website says.

In response to a pregnant passenger's social media complaint that a flight attendant didn't help her store a bag overhead, Delta apologised for the experience but not the decision.

"While some flight attendants assist with baggage on board as a courtesy, it's not a requirement as doing so may result in potential injury," the airline wrote on Twitter in 2019.

Spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Taylor Garland said in an email that cabin crew are trained never to lift bags because of the potential for injury. In addition to the economic and health risks for a flight attendant, an injury could force the delay or cancellation of a flight, she said.

"We assist passengers when able, although minimum staffing makes that harder than ever," she said. Assisting could include telling passengers to open up space in the bin, giving advice on the best way to position the bag, asking other travellers to rearrange their bags to use the space better and helping to stow "without being the primary person lifting the bag", she said.

The positioning of bags is key as many airlines have added bigger bins that require bags to be placed on their sides.

She added that flight attendants will "make every effort" to help passengers with disabilities, which may include coordinating efforts from other passengers who want to pitch in.

Flight attendant Rich Henderson, who runs the Two Guys on a Plane blog and social media accounts with his husband, Andrew Kothlow, said in a direct message that passengers should expect their flight attendants to assist them.

"But you may not like what we define as assistance," he said. "We will help you stow your luggage, but we typically will not do the lifting part for you." He said there are exceptions for older passengers or those with disabilities.

"But if your suitcase is too heavy then we will have to check it at the gate," he said.