Thread: Funny Pax surnames

Spending 2 years at the gate, I've had some interesting names. Some agents would get embarrassed saying some names, but I would always say them. The best is when you don't look at a name before making your announcement, and you look at the computer or boarding pass and try to figure out how to pronounce a name as you're saying it.

I had a flight boarded and ready to go, just missing one pax, so I made a terminal announcement asking Mr. Rush to please rush to the gate.

My favorite standby I've ever got to clear and call up was Mr. Jack Mayoff. Not kidding, I looked at his ID.

I also had an elderly woman come to check in, I looked at her ID, said "Thank you Daniel, enjoy your flight, Sir." 'Twas no elderly woman.

My supervisor was working the gate a few months before I started. When he had the flight almost fully boarded, the agents at the ticket counter added a fake name to the list. Moments later he is standing at the gate making a full terminal page for "Harry Baughs."

And I have to admit that just a couple times if I actually had everybody show up, and had a few minutes left, I would page for passenger Cox.

It was usually stressful, but some days we had fun at the gate.

No really memorable surnames but I have talked to James Bond, William Williams, someone with a child named Zephyr (a boy) and a few passengers whose names, if pronounced correctly, would be obscene. Those callers are all addressed as "sir" or "ma'am" so there is no possibility of an oops.

After working here this many years, I have come to the conclusion that some people shouldn't be allowed to name their own children!

Speaking of odd names, this reminds me of a story here where two people from The Chaser (a satirical show on a government run TV station) booked tickets on Virgin Blue under the names Terry Wrist and Al Kyder and waited for a final call to be made - see http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/al-...5407999231.html

For domestic travel in Aus if you have no bags and check in at the machines, you will never need to show an ID and can hence travel under any name you wish. Virgin was silly enough to make the final call with the names over the whole terminal.

The Chaser have a penchant for pushing the line, they were briefly taken off air last year after doing a skit about kids with cancer.

The funniest (and some may say only) thing about the whole prank was that as it is a government owned tv station, the taxpayers footed the bill for this prank