If you want to know what flight attendants really think of you, listen up. An industry insider has spilled the beans on codewords cabin crew use to talk about passengers behind their backs.
Sometimes, their secret nicknames can be positive. But in other instances, they want to vent about irritating passengers without being detected.
Apparently, some flyers are called ‘Philip’. Popular TikTok travel account The Points Guy revealed this acronym can describe customers that are getting on their nerves. During a recent video, he warned: “If someone refers to you as a ‘Philip’ – watch out. It’s short for ‘people I’d like to punch’.”
It’s not all bad though – as there is a kinder nickname for those who catch cabin crews’ eyes for the right reasons. If a staff member calls you ‘Bob’, they’re probably compimenting you for being “best on board”. How sweet!
Since the video was uploaded on TikTok, it’s garnered 127,000 likes and plenty of comments too. While some agreed with the assessment of in-flight lingo, others questioned it.
One travel industry insider claimed: “I’ve been a flight attendant for 29 years and I’ve never heard any of these terms.” Another agreed, commenting: “This video made me doubt if I’m really a flight attendant.” And a third added: “Been flying for 16 years. Never heard any of these terms.”
Some did back The Points Guy up, though. Previously, a flight attendant explained: “If you’re labelled a ‘Philip’ then you’ve done something wrong and should probably expect to get bad service for the rest of the flight. That name originated from the term PILP – Passenger I’d Like to Punch – but has changed over time to become slightly more subtle.”