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I've recently run into issues with things like outlets not providing any power, seats not reclining even when they definitely should, etc. Obviously they can't fix it during the flight, so it seems like pointless whining to bring it up. I would like their maintenance crew to know it's broken, so they can fix it the next time they get a chance, but I'm not sure the best way to inform them. Maybe they do regular inspections for that sort of thing, and they wouldn't be able to fix it sooner regardless of what I do. I'm hesitant to inform the flight attendants, because I don't want them to think I'm obnoxious, and I have no idea if this is part of their responsibilities or not.

If there is a non-urgent problem with the plane that cannot be addressed in-flight, who should I notify, if anyone?

Kat
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5 Answers5

38

I'm hesitant to inform the flight attendants

Don't overthink, inform cabin crew politely and that's it. They will generally know how to handle and will definitely know if, how and where to escalate the matter further.

Flight attendants or cabin crew (also known as stewards/stewardesses, air hosts/hostesses, cabin attendants) are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.

These issues fall under the comfort category. It would be very considerate to request assistance about these when they are not very busy.

In addition, sometimes they can make the seat recline even after 10 fruitless tries by the passenger.

Community
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Hanky Panky
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During a time between services, say something like:

This power outlet isn't working in case you want to write it up.

They will not inform the Captain or call base or anything so dramatic, but the Flight Attendants do have a log for such things.

DTRT
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Tell a flight attendant. They actually can do things like reset the power system, which at least once in my experience actually worked.

If they can't resolve the issue, though, you can also send feedback to the airline. This ensures that the issue gets reported to maintenance, and may also net you some frequent flyer points or coupons as an apology. Also note that the feedback forms almost always ask "Did you raise this issue with cabin crew?", so you should still do this first.

lambshaanxy
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This is actually a huge opportunity - to get reward miles. Wait until the flight is done, log into the frequent flier account and use an online complaint function to write a note to the airline. Be specific about what flight and exactly where in the aircraft the problem was. Ask for some free reward miles as compensation for the inconvenience.

For example, my arm rest on a flight from Seattle to Detroit would not stay up - it would fall down each time I put it up. It is obvious the flight attendant can't fix it. So I just waited until the flight was done, logged into my Delta Skymiles frequent flier account, and filed a complaint. They sent me an email saying "sorry, here's several thousand miles, we'll fix the arm rest."

It is a sort of win-win scenario. The learn about a maintenance issue, with a strong paper trail, and you'll get reward mile.

Astor Florida
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It's always possible that whatever you want to do actually works, but you are simply doing it wrong. Maybe you are pulling the wrong lever of your seat into the wrong direction or you are not pushing the plug deep enough into the socket. So you should ask the flight attendant:

Excuse me, I can't get my [thing] to [perform intended function]. Can you help me?

This is far more polite than just complaining about something being broken, especially when it turns out it is not.

If it turns out it's not you and the [thing] is actually broken, the flight attendant will report it to the maintenance crew so it can get fixed.

Philipp
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