Flight Attendant Reveals Real Reason Passengers Are Greeted on Plane

Have you ever considered just why cabin crew members welcome you onboard a flight? One woman has gone viral for giving the secret reason behind the common greeting many of us don’t think twice about.
Ioana Iachim, 26, works as a flight attendant in Europe, and recently went viral on TikTok as she explained the reason why you always see a crew member welcoming you on to the plane.
She told Newsweek she made the video as people usually have “no idea how we distribute our attention throughout the flight,” and wanted to give passengers insight into some of the work crew members do that might go unnoticed.
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A video shared to her account @ioanaiachim on July 22 showed Iachim standing by the doors in her Wizz Air uniform greeting passengers. Wizz Air has been contacted for comment on this story.
Words over the screen explained: “Did you know that your flight attendant greets you not only out of politeness, but also to check whether or not you are too drunk or sick to fly?”
Iachim, originally from Romania but now living in Cyprus for her job, told Newsweek that the main reason they usually do not allow drunken people onboard is because things “can easily escalate and can become dangerous.”
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And TikTok users responded in their droves, with Iachim’s video gaining over 182,000 likes and hundreds of comments, with one writing: “I knew I wasn’t crazy for thinking they looked at u a bit too much when they said hi.”
“I thought it was to check who would be good in an emergency,” another wrote, while one said: “All mine see is how stressed I am.”
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Others joked they “hadn’t been caught” getting on a plane after a few drinks, while more admitted they never greet the cabin crew back due to being shy or are feeing anxious.
But Iachim explained: “I saw many people commenting about how they boarded numerous flights while being tipsy. The problem is not the alcohol itself, but how people react to it.
“In the air you don’t have many options in case something happens, so we try to avoid aggressions, rudeness, medical problems or complications at any cost.”
She herself has never had to deny boarding to a drunk passenger, but sometimes “tipsy” people would be allowed to board, and while they could be “fun and friendly,” they sometimes began drinking their own alcohol at their seat, which is not allowed.
“You never know how someone’s behavior can change after some shots,” she said, adding that in this situation she may have to take their alcohol bottle away and return it at the end of the flight.
During the pandemic in 2020, air passenger traffic in Europe dropped by 70 percent compared to the year before, according to Statista.
Similarly in the United States, 2020 saw a 60 percent drop in air passenger volume — but 2023 saw a strong recovery, with over 856 million passengers traveling with American air carriers.
Iachim admitted she never expected her TikTok video to gain so much attention, but said she is “happy it did and gave people some insight.”
As for people who never greet the cabin crew back, Iachim said “maybe some of the people that saw [her video] will start doing so.”
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