Page 8 | AIBU to still feel shaken after drunk men made vile comments on Wizz Air flight?

EscapeTheCastle · 03/09/2026 15:58

notimagain · 03/09/2026 12:09

@EscapeTheCastle

The police dont need Inspector Morse to work this out do they? Bloody Hell they are useless, they just need to speak to the airline and then to all three drunks booked in those three seats

From the OPs OP..if you see what I mean, with reference to the three "very drunk men"

They'd moved seats during the flight

So any original manifest/Passenger Info List for the flight is close to useless.

I can understand why the OP did what she did but by not directly involving the Cabin Crew it's made it hard to close to impossible to resolve this.

Doesn't matter whether the crew look 18 or 80 they will have been trained to deal with this sort of crap.

I made an assumption they moved seats amoungst themselves and not to a completely free row behind the OP.

madaboutpurple · 03/09/2026 17:02

From what I see companies usually answer negative comments on SM. If they have a face book page you could leave your comment. The airlines no doubt make a lot of money from alcohol sales and staff could be on commission so I doubt they will act upon it. It might be worth finding who the top people at the company are and ask for their comments .If you add that you will make sure that a lot of women refuse to travel with them after hearing about this they might just do something.

notimagain · 03/09/2026 17:49

The airlines no doubt make a lot of money from alcohol sales

Nwver used Wizz, probably never will.but have just had a quick look at their website.

Any airline that is offering Stansted-Sofia return (6 hours total flying) in just two months time for about £60 total basic fare is going to have to maximise earnings from ancillary sales in order to survive, especially with fuel prices as they are ATM.

That doesn't excuse what went on with the OP, but the reality is that's one of the reasons why there is pressure on crew to sell , especially with the low fare operators...

EvieBB · 04/09/2026 04:35

Greyhound98 · 02/09/2026 13:57

I wouldn’t be ‘moving on’ I’d be making it my mission to have this cunt identified and made to justify his actions. I’d want his mother, his girlfriend and his employers to know what a vile piece of shit he was.
Its all very well people saying they would have made a scene, but if your kid is there and you don’t want to escalate the threat of violence from a drunk piece of shit, you might well bite your tongue.

Totally agree

novocaine4thesoul · 04/09/2026 23:19

augustuss · 02/09/2026 15:20

I’m sure steward/ stewardess were aware of behaviour and language without op having to have a discreet word with them. I imagine if the staff were young, as op says, they were themselves intimidated.

I hope enough people complain about and escalate similar situations so alcohol stops being served on flights altogether and drunken people are not allowed on.

Edited

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Could not agree more with this. Just one airline (Ryanair) has to divert, actually divert ! 300 planes a year due to drunk or disorderly passengers (and before anyone comes on to say "that's what you get if you fly Ryanair", they are at least honest in their reporting. Nobody wants to censor people who would like a pre-holiday cocktail or a glass of wine, but good god, we need a bit of a better control on this. At the gate, and on the flight. @morello1 I feel for you, I have had similar (not the rape comment) but unpleasant behaviour in front of my children (mainly lewd swearing and one man pissed himself in his seat). You can't say much at the time because you are worried about exacerbating the situation, you are in a contained space, and your children pick up if you are stressed. You won't get much recourse, and for that, you may have to lay it aside (for your own sanity) but I think you are right to "sing like a canary", as we ALL should every time this sort of shit happens. It is absolutely not acceptable. I fly a lot (mainly painless) but this is a hill I could die on. I am sorry you have had to go through this. xx

FettleOfKish · 04/09/2026 23:28

I work in travel and a lot of what I hear people complaining about is first world bullshit, but in this case if WizzAir haven’t even dignified you with a response (even if there’s little they can really do at this stage, which they likely can’t) I’d agree with a PP and get up in every social media post they ever post with your experience of people they continued to serve alcohol to. A client of mine had an issue with a similar airline that I couldn’t meaningfully help with, she commented on their socials consistently for weeks and ended up getting a result.

comeoncolleen · 04/09/2026 23:37

Revolting and so shocking.
I believe the police took it seriously but they can't identify the offender so cannot pursue it.
The airline sounds clueless. Have you complained about them serving drunk people beer?

ComedyGuns · 05/09/2026 00:01

I’m so sorry you experienced this, but I would have reacted on the spot, and asked him loudly to repeat himself, and then dealt with the consequences. What awful people.

LesTaupesMerveilleuses · 05/09/2026 00:10

I’m so sorry you’ve faced this awful situation. You have done everything you can; great mum. I hope those disgusting men have terrible karma coming their way and let’s all boycott these stupid cheapo airlines if they don’t even know when to stop serving alcohol. Let us hope these despicable men never contribute to the gene pool.

2kidswelshmum · 05/09/2026 00:12

morello1 · 02/09/2026 13:41

I think I need a bit of a mum hug, because I keep wanting to cry about something that happened on a flight recently.

I was with my DD9 and there were three very drunk men I'd say early 30s sitting behind her. They'd moved seats during the flight and had been drinking heavily, getting louder and more obnoxious as the flight went on - really vile stuff. She had head phones on so I thought don't start a scene just ignore and get off.

Towards the end though you have to put away devices and as we were standing to get off I pointed at my DD and gave them a pleading sort of look, just so they realised there was a child sitting in front of them. I didn't confront them just guestured.
One of them put his hand on my arm said, “You're right, it's not funny. sorry love”
The other then said grinning:
“It is funny if I rape the fucking kid.”
The first one immediately said he'd gone too far using the “R word”, and they all laughed.

I was completely stunned. I didn't know what to say. I just wanted to get my daughter away from them, so I got her off the plane as quickly as I could. I told the staff as I was leaving that I needed to make a complaint and I was crying at that point but the staff were kids and just looked at me blankly I wanted to get my DD as far away from them as poss as quickly as poss

back in england I've reported it to the police. They initially seemed to take it very seriously, particularly because these were three drunk men on a flight making an explicit comment about a child. I've got a crime reference number and the airport police have contacted Wizz Air.
It seems to be difficult to identify the men because they'd moved seats during the flight, and the police are having difficulty getting the booking/payment details relating to the seat changes. They haven't said it's closed, but I have a new officer who gives the impression they were trying to manage my expectations.

I've also complained to Wizz Air and, despite sending everything they've asked for and chasing them twice, they've basically not responded. ZERO.

And now I don't know whether I should just leave it.
I keep thinking I should have done something differently. Got the cabin crew details. Confronted them. Made more of a fuss. But honestly, I was shocked and my only thought was getting my DD away from them and fast.

I know I've reported it and I've done what I can. But I can't seem to stop replaying it.
How do you actually move on from something like this? Would you keep pursuing it, or would you draw a line under it and try to forget about it?
I think I just need some mums to tell me I'm not being ridiculous for still being really really upset about it.

I felt startled and sick even reading those words of you recounting that story. I’d have been beside myself with shock if that was said in front of my daughter, and I’m so sorry that happened. You did the right thing reporting it to the police. Who, other than an abomination of a human being, says something as horrific as that.

notimagain · 05/09/2026 05:51

@novocaine4thesoul

"Just one airline (Ryanair) has to divert, actually divert ! 300 planes a year due to drunk or disorderly passengers"

I've heard Michael O'Leary use that figure, or similar, as part of his ongoing campaign to limit airports (but interestingly not his airline) from selling too many drinks in the terminals.

It's almost impossible to independently verify.

If it is true then maybe MOL needs to start by looking at how his own operation is run...I mentioned upthread that this may be less of a problem at airlines that properly empower crew and groundstaff to deal with the issue on boarding.

Life gets difficult for them if they feel or have been told the only metric the airline really cares about is an on time departure.

cocochoola · 05/09/2026 08:04

Hi OP, so sorry this happened to you. I work for a UK based airline and frequently have to deal with disruptive passenger cases. If this were to happen where I work, it would have been taken extremely seriously. There are a couple of reasons why it is more complicated to act now.
I have seen it on a number of occasions where the accused has moved seats - we link seat numbers to booking reference which gives us the details we need on the individual. Given this wasn't addressed with the crew on board at the time, it's highly unlikely you can trace this passenger with certainty and therefore proceed.
Yes, the ideal scenario would be to have informed the crew of the incident so they could have addressed it at the time and called for authorities. I can't say for sure what Wizz policies are on this but given the destinations they fly to/from UK (hens/stags) they're well versed on managing disruptive passengers.
A number of ways to pursue communications with the airline as they should at minimum acknowledge your complaint - contact CEO or similar senior management (you can do this via linkedin) and ideally if you have a complaint customer number from the complaint on their website, include it.
I can't recall where the destination was of this weather UK or outside, but the CAA would be interested in knowing about this event (even if the aircraft is registered elsewhere, it is flying in and out of UK jurisdiction)

Onceadreamer · 05/09/2026 09:48

Honestly? I’d be putting it all over the airline’s social media. You can bet you’ll get a response fast then.

Original poster

morello1 · 07/09/2026 17:36

cocochoola · 05/09/2026 08:04

Hi OP, so sorry this happened to you. I work for a UK based airline and frequently have to deal with disruptive passenger cases. If this were to happen where I work, it would have been taken extremely seriously. There are a couple of reasons why it is more complicated to act now.
I have seen it on a number of occasions where the accused has moved seats - we link seat numbers to booking reference which gives us the details we need on the individual. Given this wasn't addressed with the crew on board at the time, it's highly unlikely you can trace this passenger with certainty and therefore proceed.
Yes, the ideal scenario would be to have informed the crew of the incident so they could have addressed it at the time and called for authorities. I can't say for sure what Wizz policies are on this but given the destinations they fly to/from UK (hens/stags) they're well versed on managing disruptive passengers.
A number of ways to pursue communications with the airline as they should at minimum acknowledge your complaint - contact CEO or similar senior management (you can do this via linkedin) and ideally if you have a complaint customer number from the complaint on their website, include it.
I can't recall where the destination was of this weather UK or outside, but the CAA would be interested in knowing about this event (even if the aircraft is registered elsewhere, it is flying in and out of UK jurisdiction)

Thank you for this

I will follow up as you suggest

OP posts: