To push the flight attendant call button, or not to push the flight attendant call button, that is the question. I’ll share my take, and then I’m curious to hear how OMAAT readers feel.
In this post:
What is a flight attendant call button?
Every airplane seat has a flight attendant call button, typically in the overhead console, right by the reading light and individual air nozzle (if the plane has those). The flight attendant call button, is, as the name suggests, a way to call a flight attendant to your seat.
The flight attendant call button typically depicts a person with a tray, suggesting that the call button is intended for service. However, that’s not how all flight attendants interpret it, so I wanted to talk about that in a bit more detail.
Controversy around flight attendant call buttons
In most of the world, the flight attendant call button seems to work as intended. It’s a useful way to call over a flight attendant, whether you want a drink refill, or there’s some sort of an emergency.
However, in the United States I’ve heard several flight attendants over the years announce that the call button is in fact the “emergency flight attendant call button,” advising passengers to only use it if absolutely necessary. Suffice to say that this kind of announcement isn’t approved by any airline.
While people will often joke “well I’m happy you consider my drink request to be an emergency,” let’s talk about when it’s actually appropriate to use a flight attendant call button.
Using the flight attendant call button in first & business class
Broadly speaking, it’s always appropriate to use the flight attendant call button for service in first & business class, especially on international airlines. You’re paying a premium for more service, and having an extra request on a long haul flight isn’t unreasonable.
I’ll take it a step further — at top airlines, crews generally prefer that you push the call button rather than going to the galley with your request. Foreign carriers typically have thick curtains between the galley and the cabin, and you generally shouldn’t try to go into the flight attendant’s “space” without permission. They’d much rather come to you. They might be putting on some makeup or eating a meal, and don’t want to be caught off guard. So absolutely push the flight attendant call button — it’s the courteous thing to do.
I do want to mention just one caveat — try to be respectful of the overall service flow. For example, if a cabin has 50+ business class seats and the crew is doing service with a cart and is currently in the aisle, wait until they finish that round of service before pushing the call button again, unless there’s something you absolutely need.
When it comes to using the call button, you can’t beat Emirates first class, where you can voice or video call the crew with any requests, without them even having to come to your seat.
It’s also interesting to observe the cultural differences between airlines when it comes to service approaches. For example, in Singapore Airlines first class I generally don’t push the flight attendant call button, since even on a long haul flight a crew member seems to pass through the cabin every 10-15 minutes throughout the flight. The service is just so proactive that I don’t find it necessary.
Cathay Pacific first class is exactly the opposite — the crews are spectacularly reactive. That might sound sarcastic, but it’s not. On Cathay Pacific you (hopefully) won’t see a flight attendant once between meal services without calling them, and that’s so that your privacy is maximized. But if you push the call button a flight attendant will cheerily appear within seconds.
Of course those are both airlines known for great service. You have all kinds of other airlines where flight attendants make a habit of not passing through the cabin, and when they do they almost seem to look down, to avoid making eye contact.
Using the flight attendant call button in economy
Using the flight attendant call button in economy is trickier. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but the staffing ratio in economy is different than in first & business class, and in many cases flight attendants have to walk a lot further to your seat. Also keep in mind that on long haul flights the crew has rest periods, reducing the staffing ratio even further.
Personally I think there’s nothing wrong with using the call button in economy:
- Try to use it sparingly in general
- You should totally use it if you have mobility issues
- It’s fair to use if you’re in a middle or window seat and can’t get out, because the person next to you is sleeping
That being said, in economy I also think it’s more reasonable to stretch your legs and go to the galley yourself. Generally there’s a small setup with snacks and drinks, at least on long haul flights, so you can help yourself to that. Furthermore, in my experience flight attendants are typically “sitting in the open” more in economy than in business or first class, given that the volume of requests is greater.
Are the “rules” any different on US airlines?
The above are my general thoughts, though is the story any different on airlines in the United States? This accounts for the fact that:
- Airlines in the United States don’t have “real” curtains between the cabin and the galley, but rather have “nets,” if anything at all
- Some flight attendants at US airlines seem opposed to using the call button for service, because, you know, they’re there for your safety
On US airlines I’m generally a little more hesitant to use the call button. I see what kind of a vibe the crew gives me. In general I don’t mind pushing the call button in international first & business class on a US airline, while I avoid it on domestic flights. If I get the sense that the crew takes issue with use of the call button, I of course won’t use it.
Bottom line
All airplane seats have individual flight attendant call buttons, though customs around using them seem to differ. In the United States, some flight attendants seem to think these buttons are just for emergencies, while outside the United States there are consistently no issues with using them for service.
Where do you stand on using the flight attendant call button, and what has your experience been?
I use the call button no matter what class I ride in and I don’t care. Sometimes the flight attendants are a bit rude. Generationally it might be an issue. I’m older and we used to use the call button all of the time. That’s their issue if they don’t like it. I’m a nurse and we all have to respond to wishes. It’s a labor job and service job.
I use the call button no matter what class I ride in and I don’t care. Sometimes the flight attendants are a bit rude. Generationally it might be an issue. I’m older and we used to use the call button all of the time. That’s their issue if they don’t like it. I’m a nurse and we all have to respond to wishes. It’s a labor job and service job.
I agreed to a lot of your comments, but I vehemently disagree on not using on domestic carriers in the USA. The FAs are flat lazy especially the seniors and they are protected by union contracts that are poorly negotiated by airline management. Use of call button is not an issue on non USA carriers.
I use rhe call button in economy when in a window seat to get a drink rather than disturbing...
I agreed to a lot of your comments, but I vehemently disagree on not using on domestic carriers in the USA. The FAs are flat lazy especially the seniors and they are protected by union contracts that are poorly negotiated by airline management. Use of call button is not an issue on non USA carriers.
I use rhe call button in economy when in a window seat to get a drink rather than disturbing passengers to get out my seat and get back into my seat without spilling my drink.
With all the technology out there, why can't there be an in-flight app to request refreshment or other assistance when it is inconvenient to get to the aisle. Virginia America had this and it was very convenient to order snacks and drinks. Made the service down the aisle much faster. Pls don't kowtow to lazy FAs who refine their job duties.
Just do not use it for alcoholic drinks refill. That’s an easy way to cut you off. Us airline.
In economy, I far prefer to just take care of myself. For domestic, I bring my own snacks, have my own water bottle, and this makes everything easier. For international -- Y or C -- going to the self-serve area is a great excuse to stretch. And when needed, I've never had any issues just asking an FA, "sorry to bother you, but could I possibly have some hot water for my tea?"
I’ve never travelled in the US, but have travelled to more than 60 countries, and I never hesitate to use the call button for service, and not have I ever had a problem with staff due to using it. I always respect the service flow, however.
I don't travel in the US but here in Europe I often use the button when I want a other drink since it seems to be standard on legacy carriers to only do one round with the trolley, even on 3+ hours flight - only low cost FA seem to be interested in selling more stuff, for obvious reasons. I've never had a problem, it's always brought with a smile. Obviously I won't use it...
I don't travel in the US but here in Europe I often use the button when I want a other drink since it seems to be standard on legacy carriers to only do one round with the trolley, even on 3+ hours flight - only low cost FA seem to be interested in selling more stuff, for obvious reasons. I've never had a problem, it's always brought with a smile. Obviously I won't use it while the crew is engaged in some other activity, or close to landing, etc. But I'd argue that as long as you have a legitimate request (buying one more drink is such a request), it's appropriate to use the call button.
I'm on a 3,5 hours LIS-VIE flight today. I expect to be using the button twice during the trip (three drinks seem appropriate on of a flight of this length :)).
This seems like a common sense thing. Use the call button when appropriate -- I think being non-aisle or premium cabin is always appropriate, even in the US. Don't overuse it, don't abuse it. If they're busy, don't use it, if the flight attendant is obviously overworked, use discretion. Don't be a jerk, always be nice.
But I don't think that using the call button inherently means you're not nice. If you can't keep yourself...
This seems like a common sense thing. Use the call button when appropriate -- I think being non-aisle or premium cabin is always appropriate, even in the US. Don't overuse it, don't abuse it. If they're busy, don't use it, if the flight attendant is obviously overworked, use discretion. Don't be a jerk, always be nice.
But I don't think that using the call button inherently means you're not nice. If you can't keep yourself from projecting a lot of entitlement when the FA shows up, well, keep it to yourself. The pax-FA relationship is, like nearly every other, one of mutual respect. Hopefully.
I've never had a flight attendant give me anything like bad attitude because I had a request.
If I heard an announcement that the buttons were for "emergency" only, I'd submit a customer complaint form. I wouldn't even wait until I landed.
NB I almost always fly United domestically so I can't speak for what happens elsewhere.
What great timing for this article! Traveling throughout Asia now and I see how common it is for pax to hit the call button. FAs don’t seem to mind it at all. Was wondering why we don’t use it much in the US. Your article was spot on on some of the facts. US airlines should replace the call button with SOS. This thing about FAs are for your safety is a lot of BS...
What great timing for this article! Traveling throughout Asia now and I see how common it is for pax to hit the call button. FAs don’t seem to mind it at all. Was wondering why we don’t use it much in the US. Your article was spot on on some of the facts. US airlines should replace the call button with SOS. This thing about FAs are for your safety is a lot of BS and has really gone too far
On a recent UA flight my wife and waited patiently for an FA to appear mid flight to ask if she needed anything. This was after the fact that they saw that we had woken up after 6 hrs of sleep. In the end she had to hit the button to grab their attention:
I think using the call button is always fine. One just has to have reasonable expectations on how long it will take to get an answer in economy. (15 minutes or more sometimes, which *sigh* is up to US carrier standards for better or worse and not the flight attendants fault at all.)
I will happily get passive-aggressive with a US flight attendant who tries to make me feel bad for doing it. ("Oh, did...
I think using the call button is always fine. One just has to have reasonable expectations on how long it will take to get an answer in economy. (15 minutes or more sometimes, which *sigh* is up to US carrier standards for better or worse and not the flight attendants fault at all.)
I will happily get passive-aggressive with a US flight attendant who tries to make me feel bad for doing it. ("Oh, did United change its policy? It worked the way I expected on the connecting flight before this one. I'll have to submit a 1K voice to ask them to change it back. What was your name?"
Or "Really?! This little button with a picture of a person carrying a drink on it isn't for ordering drinks?" -- that's my favorite on a plane old enough to have the old picture on the buttons still.)
That said, often when the FAs bring out the "emergencies only" line, it's to deal with an absolute jerk who's treating them like personal servants. I was on a flight where the woman behind me had a request latterly once every 5 minutes while they were trying to prepare for landing. Fair game in that case, I think.
@Peter
That’s an incoherent remark. Why bother ?
I flew AA, HKG to DFW in J five years ago, my first ever long-haul flight on a US carrier. Whilst the lights were off, the passenger in front of me pressed the call button with a request. The crew member who attended his seat then loudly chewed him out for using the button and said that if he wanted something, he should go to the galley, all while waking up some passengers who were...
I flew AA, HKG to DFW in J five years ago, my first ever long-haul flight on a US carrier. Whilst the lights were off, the passenger in front of me pressed the call button with a request. The crew member who attended his seat then loudly chewed him out for using the button and said that if he wanted something, he should go to the galley, all while waking up some passengers who were sleeping nearby. In line with her excellent service mentality, when I went to the galley to ask for a drink, looking up from her magazine, she gestured with her head towards the galley for me to pour my drink without saying a word and then went back to reading the magazine.
That poor man's experience taught me never to press that call bell on AA or any US carrier. Saying that, I wouldn't do that in a European carrier except in F.
I would have immediately asked to see the Purser. That is not acceptable behaviour.
When I was a F/A, I actually didnt mind the call button, in the sense that 1) I would prefer pax not coming to the galley. 2) We ARE there for service as well as your safety and 3) It gave me an opportunity to have a look see (main cabin) to make certain all was (reasonably well). But my dear " Financially Troubled" wonderful Blue Ball airline had different standards in a world that no longer, sadly, exists
"Broadly speaking, it’s always appropriate to use the flight attendant call button for service in first & business class, especially on international airlines. You’re paying a premium for more service, and having an extra request on a long haul flight isn’t unreasonable."
But passengers redeeming miles for J aren't paying a premium. In fact they're paying less than perhaps economy passengers. Does this mean that they don't have a right to use the call button?
This is silly. Being an FA is literally a service job. You should always be polite and considerate (if they’re mid-service, you can probably wait until they’re done), but if you need something and want to use the call button, do so.
I fly a lot, in business/first/economy. If an FA ever scolded me (or hell, anyone around me) for using the call button, I’d almost certainly complain to the airline. They should be...
This is silly. Being an FA is literally a service job. You should always be polite and considerate (if they’re mid-service, you can probably wait until they’re done), but if you need something and want to use the call button, do so.
I fly a lot, in business/first/economy. If an FA ever scolded me (or hell, anyone around me) for using the call button, I’d almost certainly complain to the airline. They should be treated respectfully, but if they just don’t want to provide service, they need a new line of work.
Totally agree. I'm VERY polite, but dislike the "don't use the call button" vibe many FAs put out.
Sorry to post an unrelated reply, but I am going crazy trying to use AA miles while they still have some value on Oneworld partners.
The J Class space on AA flights to Europe, Middle East, or Australia is crazy expensive using miles, not as bad as Delta but still crazy.
I can book BA each way for about 60k miles if I want to pay the equivalent of a coach class ticket in taxes,...
Sorry to post an unrelated reply, but I am going crazy trying to use AA miles while they still have some value on Oneworld partners.
The J Class space on AA flights to Europe, Middle East, or Australia is crazy expensive using miles, not as bad as Delta but still crazy.
I can book BA each way for about 60k miles if I want to pay the equivalent of a coach class ticket in taxes, which is not going to happen.
I see random availability through Finnair but they do not have a lot of connecting options to the Middle East outside Doha.
I can see intra-Europe availability on Iberia and inter-Australia availability on Qantas but no availability for the international segments to and from the USA and nothing on Qatar either. I have checked for almost a year.
I find it hard to believe all ward space is booked for a year except on AA BA and Finnair.
There is a partners link on the Aadvantage booking page but it gives no information on what is bookable online and what is not. I don't have set dates or destinations and I really wanted to browse until I found something good but so far I cannot do this except on AA BA and Finnair.
Do I have to call in to Aadvantage customer service to book Qatar, Iberia and Qantas internationally? That would take a lot of time. I tried calling in twice and asking what is bookable online and what is not and surprisingly the agents could not tell me either although they offered to help.
If AA wants everyone to book online then why are they not telling customers what is bookable online and what is not? They really should do this.
Does anyone know? Thank you @Lucky and fellow readers.
I’ve seen great redemptions on to Cadablanca with the transatlantic segments on Royal Air Maroc. Also great availability between LAX and CDG on Air Tahiti Nui.
Thank you rrapynot!
I've done it once on Int'l Economy, on DL. Granted I did it just to see the reaction.
FA came quickly, but was initially startled that I only wanted a can of Coke (between meal times), but she also said "good, I needed something to do to get up anyway."
Like others said, I've also used it on J, since it's less taboo, and on EK F it's pretty much strongly recommended to use it
Modern thinking seems to be that it's ok to use the call button on US carriers as long as you tip afterwards.
That's a joke, right?
@Bob W Clearly, and a great one at that.
Strikes me that hitting the button in economy to order a drink is reasonable since I am paying heftily for that drink, but I guess the attendants don’t get any of that. But then, they don’t get anything for serving free drinks in first class either, do they?
In economy I press it if something goes wrong or there is an incident of some kind
In business / first I will press it if I want some additional service although the good airline staff mean you never need to press it
Never had a problem from any staff member when I have pressed it on any airline in any class
Fully North American trained here. I have never touched the call button, even when one of my kids vomited in my lap. Just dealt with it myself.
I generally always get up and go ask for something if I need it, and since there are usually FAs around the lavs I don't really feel like I'm interrupting them since they are still in a space where they would expect passengers to be. If I'm flying international first class I'll use the call button, but in business class I usually do not.
However on a recent Air Canada business class flight from YVR-SYD...
I generally always get up and go ask for something if I need it, and since there are usually FAs around the lavs I don't really feel like I'm interrupting them since they are still in a space where they would expect passengers to be. If I'm flying international first class I'll use the call button, but in business class I usually do not.
However on a recent Air Canada business class flight from YVR-SYD the crew proactively came around to every passenger during predeparture and told us to use the call button if we needed anything. That was really appreciated since the etiquette is a little murky these days. Great service in general on that flight too.
If US flight attendants are there for your safety, they should be paid ZERO and only if there is an emergency. That's how hospitals treat doctors. They put them on "on call" lists and have to cover the hospital emergency room if they are a super specialist, like ENT or ophthalmology. They don't get paid. Sort of slavery. If the patient has no insurance, they must treat them for free. Of course, they don't like...
If US flight attendants are there for your safety, they should be paid ZERO and only if there is an emergency. That's how hospitals treat doctors. They put them on "on call" lists and have to cover the hospital emergency room if they are a super specialist, like ENT or ophthalmology. They don't get paid. Sort of slavery. If the patient has no insurance, they must treat them for free. Of course, they don't like it but doctors are prohibited by federal law from forming unions except in narrow circumstances, such as if they are full time employees.
Fortunately we don’t life in your world. Doctors etc are also on a salary even if not working. It’s not a zero hours contract.
@derek…you are wrong. The Dr in my family gets paid whether or not they are working on a patient. So as far as flight attendants, they should get you loaded on board, do food/drink service in air, get you deplaned and get paid ZERO because there is no emergency? That’s nuts!
Most specialists get paid by the hospital to be on standby. Can be as much as a couple of grand per day without having to see a single patient or even leave the house.
Ive never used the call button as I prefer to go to the galley but imo its nonsense to try to create a distinction between pressing it in J and pressing it in Y.
The better airlines will have crew going around, the US and english ones theyll generally hide unless theyre forced to do a meal service.
In premium cabins, I feel that as I've paid for a service in addition to just getting me from A to B, that the crew are part of that service. Just like in a good hotel or restaurant, I expect the crew to be around somewhat periodically so that I can ask them for another drink.
While I agree that it's good to get up and go to the galley, I also don't want...
In premium cabins, I feel that as I've paid for a service in addition to just getting me from A to B, that the crew are part of that service. Just like in a good hotel or restaurant, I expect the crew to be around somewhat periodically so that I can ask them for another drink.
While I agree that it's good to get up and go to the galley, I also don't want to stop my great movie halfway through, untangle myself from the headphone cable, move my seat so I have space to put my feet down and turnaround, open my door and so on.
What I find, instead, is that unless you use the call button, the crew don't walk the aisle to see if there's anything someone needs. They just reactive (to the call button). On a 10 hr flight, I don't think it's too much to ask that the crew walk the aisle once an hour between meal services to see if people need anything, yet very few airlines/crew do that.
I rarely use it. The occasions I recall have been for IFE glitches and missed meal service items, like my drink request wasn’t filled during a meal. If I need anything else, I just walk to the galley. I have however seen plenty of call button overuse in J - if you want to p*ss off the FAs, treat them like servants. It works every time.
Cabin crew from Europe here - as long as you don't "abuse" the button, we are more than happy to answer your requests using attendant call button. We are also quite happy to see pax visit galley with their requests as well, especially after/between the services.
I somewhat prefer going to the galley actually, as it's an opportunity for me to stretch a bit. But that only applies until I'm stuck in a window seat :)
I very rarely use a call button - probably no more than twice a year (and fly a lot). I much prefer to go to the galley myself, as I both think it is more polite and use it as an opportunity to stretch my legs on a long-haul in particular.