Man Argues With ‘Condescending’ Flight Attendant For Humiliating His Wife But Gets Thrown Off Plane

Jan 04, 2023

Traveling on an airplane can be exciting for a number of reasons, like getting a window seat where you can look outside at the beautiful landscapes. There are also some downsides with flights, as turbulence can be expected every now and then, and sometimes there are delays before the initial takeoff. 

While most of these can be expected from time to time, something unexpected happened for one family when they were on a flight going home to Australia from Indonesia. 

Flying with Qantas Airlines, Australian rugby player Zakir Slaimankhel was headed back to Sydney along with his wife and kids, but their trip was cut short by an unfriendly encounter with one of the flight attendants on their flight. 

The tense encounter was filmed by another passenger and was later uploaded and shared on TikTok by 9News Australia’s official account. In the video, Slaimankhel was engaged in an argument with two flight attendants after he accused them of being rude to his wife. 

The fiery moment between Slaimankhel and the Qantas flight attendants took place in October 2022. Elsewhere in the video, Slaimankhel was explaining to one of the flight attendants that his wife was mistreated. 

“They made her cry and she’s crying because they were being rude to her. With a newborn baby,” Slaimankhel said in the now-viral video. 

At the time it went viral, the details of the argument were hazy, with people curious about how Slaimankhel's wife had been mistreated by one of the flight attendants on board. 

Eventually, Slaimankhel and his family were escorted off the flight after the tense encounter. 

Weeks after the story blew up on social media, it seemed like many had sided with the flight attendants, as people pointed out that Slaimankhel was the one who instigated the argument towards the cabin crew. But more details soon emerged.

In a hefty and very detailed post that Slaimankhel posted on his Facebook page, he chronicled everything that happened leading up to the encounter that was filmed. 

It turned out that prior to boarding the aircraft, Slaimankhel's pram was left outside the aircraft, despite flight attendants assuring him that it would be brought in. Upon realizing that the pram hadn’t been brought in yet, he approached the front of the plane and found out that it was still outside. When he packed it up, he revealed that he was “sternly” answered by the crew, who did not even bother to assist him.

Moments later, it was announced that the flight had been delayed for a while because of mechanical issues. This delay then gave Slaimankhel's wife the time to go to the restroom to change their child’s nappy. While waiting for the restroom, a flight attendant condescendingly commanded them not to block the door, which they listened to. But as soon as his wife went in, the same flight attendant, again in a condescending tone, talked back to her. 

Just as Slaimankhel's wife was leaving, another attendant gazed upon her in a “patronising” manner, which prompted his wife to retort. After a few condescending exchanges from the crew, one of them told his wife that “it’s people like you with that head thingy,” referring to Slaimankhel's wife, who was wearing a Muslim hijab. 

“The behavior of the staff members made her feel extremely humiliated and distraught. She began crying and told them that they were very rude and condescending towards her,” Slaimankhel said of his wife. 

Upon realizing the other side of the story, people online sided with Slaimankhel's family, who were clearly berated by the flight crew on their flight way home.

What can you say about the whole encounter? Would you have reacted differently than the husband? Who do you think is in the wrong here? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other loved ones.