The Last Passenger

A New Airline Experience

There have been many news items recently about passenger’s behavior on airplanes or about airline treatment of their passengers.  These incidents remind me of a passenger’s behavior on one of my trips back in the early 1990’s

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I was travelling from Minneapolis, MN to some location on the East Coast that I have long forgotten.  I was seated in an aisle seat near the middle of the airplane.  The airplane was apparently full.  The only empty seat I noticed was across the aisle one row in front of me.

All the passengers appeared to be seated, and the plane was ready to leave the gate.  The pilot announced that the main door had been closed and we would be pushed back from the gate as soon as the aircraft pusher was hooked up.  In fact, we felt the aircraft begin to move when it suddenly stopped.

The pilot again came on the PA system and announced it would be another 5 minutes since we had a late passenger that was going to board.  We heard the main door being opened and then almost immediately closed again.  About 10 seconds later a single last passenger came down the aisle carrying a briefcase.  He quickly and easily found room in the overhead bin to store his case and his sports jacket that he had quickly removed.  He sat down in the empty seat in front and bucked his seat belt as the flight attendant watched.  I noticed the man was middle aged and quite large.  He was not necessarily overweight; he was just big.

The pilot announced that we were departing the gate, and the plane began its backup movement.  We were on the runway for takeoff about 20 minutes later.  We soon found ourselves in the air and on our way to altitude.

About 15 minutes after takeoff, I noticed the flight attendant pushing a beverage cart toward the back of the airplane from front galley.  The flight attendants were getting ready for the initial beverage service for the passengers.

The service cart suddenly stopped about 2 rows in front of me.  The flight attendant looked to the left of the cart to see what had caused the cart to stop.  Nothing was apparent.  She then looked to the right side of the cart and saw, just as I did, that she had hit the right foot of the last passenger, who had extended his right leg into the aisle.

She noticed the man was slumped in his seat and was sound asleep.  She rather loudly asked that he pull his leg out of the aisle.  He did not respond.  After two or three more verbal requests, with not response, she pulled the cart back to a spot near the first-class divider where she could get around the service cart.  She then walked back down the aisle to the sleeping passenger.  She touched his shoulder and again asked him to remove his leg from the aisle.  No response again.  She shook the man’s shoulder asking him to wake up.  He didn’t budge.  Then she bent down in the aisle and tried to lift the man’s leg.  She could not get it to move.  He slept on.  There was a look of alarm on her face as she stood up.  She was thinking, ‘Was the man dead?’

The flight attendant then went and brought another attendant down the aisle.  Neither of them were able to wake the man or lift his leg from the aisle.  They discussed their problem and decided to go to the top for assistance.  About 5 minutes later the lead flight attendant and the aircraft Captain came down the aisle and stopped at the sleeping man’s seat.  They tried to wake him, without success, and again tried to lift and bend his straightened right leg, again without success.

They then asked the two passengers in the seats behind the sleeping passenger to stand in the aisle.  After un-buckling the sleeping passenger’s seat belt, the Captain and the lead flight attendant then stood behind the sleeper and together they each lifted the man by his armpits while the original attendant raised and bent his leg.  She was then able to put his right foot in front of his seat.  The lead flight attendant then re-closed his seat belt.  Both his knees were against the seat in front of him.  The ‘last passenger’ did not wake up.  The two passengers behind his seat were re-seated and the Captain returned to the front of the aircraft.

The flight attendants were able to complete their initial beverage service for the flight, plus the food service and a later beverage service.  The sleeping last passenger in the seat across the aisle continued to do just that.  The rest of the flight continued without incident.

About 3 hours after we left Minneapolis, the Captain announced our descent into our destination location.  He asked all passengers to return to their seats and buckle their seat belts in preparation for landing.

About 7 minutes later, the aircraft landing gear came in contact with the runway with the usual thud sound and bumpy runway roll.  This seemed to be some kind of signal to the last passenger as he immediately woke up and sat up.  He seemed rather alert and somewhat relieved to be where he was.

As I was leaving the airplane, I stopped at the cockpit to thank the crew.  The pilot recognized me and said ‘thank you’ for my offer to help with the last passenger.  He said it was a new experience for him and the crew.  He then added that he was impressed with what hypnosis can do for a person who is afraid to fly.  Who knew????