KLMCedric From Belgium, joined Dec 2003, 794 posts, RR: 24 Posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 3199 times:
Usually when I see that passengers are sleeping I don't wake them up,unless I
see they are just dozing off. Not even for the main meal service.
If they wake up later I provide them their meal.
The reason I do this is that, as a passenger, I don't appreciate it myself.
What is your opinion on this matter.
Also, fellow F/A's, how do you handle this.
I started this because this is a much discussed issue between us on board.
My general impression is that most pax prefere not to be woken up.
The only problems I've encountered with this , are passengers that have
been sleeping for a long time that still request their meal. Often at unhandy
times, e.g. when we are preparing the midnight snack service.
NWAFA From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1893 posts, RR: 17 Reply 1, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 3181 times:
For just a beverage NEVER. A meal is a totally different story. My experience has been that pax get upset when you don't try to give them their meals. More so in Coach. On international flights, when I work WorldBusiness class, after the completion of the 1st meal I walk around and ask each and everyone of them if they would like to be woken for the snack or 2nd meal before landing.
THANK YOU FOR FLYING NORTHWEST AIRLINES, WE TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!
Kevi747 From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 1055 posts, RR: 13 Reply 2, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 3135 times:
I usually just talk loudly to the person next to them and if that doesn't wake them then I leave them alone. People get really pissy when you wake them up.
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias." --Stephen Colbert
NWAFA From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1893 posts, RR: 17 Reply 3, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 3103 times:
That works sometimes talking a bit louder..a gentle touch on an arm works great too. One touch and one ask...if they wake, great if not, I do not push the issue. But more times than not if I did not attempt to wake up a PAX (esp in coach) they get more pissy!
THANK YOU FOR FLYING NORTHWEST AIRLINES, WE TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!
Sllevin From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 3376 posts, RR: 7 Reply 4, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2993 times:
On my SFO-AMS KL flights in WBC, they gave you menus for the breakfast meal before takeoff, so they don't have to wake you up any earlier than required. You also had the choice of not being woken up.
CHANGYOU From Singapore, joined Nov 2003, 262 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2943 times:
Usually I will not wake passengers up for snacks or refreshment service but for other main meal services e.g lunch/dinner/supper/breakfast I will gently tap on the passengers if they are sound asleep. And what we practice is that when a passenger declined to have his meal on the 1st service, we'll usually ask him if he wants to be awaken for the 2nd meal service. I think that is the most appropriate thing to do. But then again...Before any main service...A round of hot towels are given to passengers so by then some passengers should be awaken by the cabin lights or the sound.
Ezycrew From Spain, joined Oct 2001, 460 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2899 times:
I don't like waking pax up for the meal service, but sometimes they get very upset if you let them sleep through it. So I do like NWAFA... a gentle touch on the arm, and if they don't wake up, well, at least I tried. And I keep the meal handy in case they want to eat later.
And I never wake anyone up for the drink service. They can always ring me later if they need something (contrary to some other f/a's, I dont mind pax using the bell for a drink).
Thadocta From Australia, joined Aug 2001, 396 posts, RR: 2 Reply 7, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2849 times:
Not an issue on Qantas - the amenities pack has eye-shades, along with two stickers, one saying "Wake me for meals" the other saying "Do not disturb" (or something similiar).
The idea is that you pop the appropriate sticker on your eye-mask so that the cabin crew know whether or not to wake you for your meals.
Of course, this all depends on passengers using them, but the briefings on QF are normally pretty good about these sorts of things......
Adh214 From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 353 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2837 times:
I think SAS has the best solution to this problem. At the beginning of the flight they hand out stickers that you can place on your seat indicating if you would like to woken for meals or not. I am not sure if they do this in coach but I personally experienced it in business class.
NWAFA From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 1893 posts, RR: 17 Reply 9, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2789 times:
That is a great solution!
For the 1st serivce in WorldBusinessClass on the ground we normally take meal orders and at that time the PAX who want to sleep usually tell us then. That helps out. Thats why for 2nd service and snacks I ask them.
THANK YOU FOR FLYING NORTHWEST AIRLINES, WE TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!
Gigneil From United States of America, joined Nov 2002, 16215 posts, RR: 89 Reply 10, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2732 times:
UA also offers these stickers, but only in first and business class.
I'm assuming the question also applies to coach passengers. They do, after all, also require food to survive.
JetBluefan1 From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 2784 posts, RR: 15 Reply 11, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2709 times:
I've been woken up by a US Airways flight attendant on a red-eye from SAN-PIT. But that's perfectly understandable because we were landing and I needed to put my seat up.
On my flight on JetBlue yesterday, I noticed that the flight attendants would quietly note to themselves that a passenger is sleeping and not to offer them a drink or beverage and instead just let them sleep.
JetBluefan1
Most people on a.net hate JetBlue. Get used to it.
B777FA From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 246 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 2678 times:
Usually on our all-nighter flights there is a PA made saying to the effect that if passengers plan on going to sleep but would like to be woken up for the meal service indicate this by leaving your tray table down.
If the purser doesnt make this announcement Ill just give them a touch on the arm once,if they dont wake up Ill save them something.
N757KW From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 425 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 2663 times:
KE uses the stickers to indicate if you want to be woken up for meals or not. But unless you are wearing the eye-shades, the crew turning up the cabin lights usually wakes up most people.
N757KW
"What we've got here, is failure to communicate." from Cool Hand Luke
Jwenting From Netherlands, joined Apr 2001, 10213 posts, RR: 21 Reply 15, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 2564 times:
I would not want to be woken up unless for flightsafety reasons or for arrival.
Get little enough sleep as it is and I've found that sleeping during the flight reduces jetlag.
FoxBravo From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 2801 posts, RR: 5 Reply 16, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 2517 times:
Please do NOT wake me up! I am a very light sleeper and have trouble sleeping on planes, even in first/business class. So, when I finally do manage to doze off, I absolutely hate it when I get woken up for any reason--especially for airplane food, since it's almost always mediocre anyway.
I might be mildly annoyed if I find out later that I missed the meal service, but I'll get over it quickly and will certainly not hold it against the F/A. Whereas if the F/A wakes me up for anything short of an emergency, I will be extremely grumpy and may very well bear a grudge for the rest of the flight.
SprxflySWA From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 597 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 2482 times:
A lot of people, myself too, have acted asleep just to avoid any contact w/ F/A. I would think that if they see someone who appears asleep, that they would just make it easier and faster for everyone else and move on.
I think the sticker system seems the best. Very easy and simple for everyone.
Amirs From Israel, joined Dec 2003, 1332 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 2377 times:
In Economy I always try to wake them up by giving a lit tap on the arm. Its usually a problem on late night flights, when most of the cabin doses off between the beverage and the meal service.
In Business Class, I as a rule do not wake up. But there it is much easier since we hand out the menus almost immediatley after take off, so those that are not interested in eating let us know. Furthermore, it is sometimes possible to tell, by the way a person is sleeping or the way he fell a sleep, if he is interested in being waken up. You get to learn how to see these things with the years.
Obviously in First, I make it a point to ask them.
HALFA From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 1324 posts, RR: 17 Reply 19, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 2320 times:
"A lot of people, myself too, have acted asleep just to avoid any contact w/ F/A.".............Bizarre!!
Why would anyone go out of there way to avoid contact with a flight attendant?
On my flights, if passengers are sleeping at start of the meal service, I wake them up and if they don't like it, I threaten them with arrest.
Just kidding
HNL-AKL Starts March 2013, HNL-SDJ starts June 2013, HNL-TPE Starts July 2013
UA777222 From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 3348 posts, RR: 13 Reply 20, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 2294 times:
I stock up and fall a sleep. With all my food spread all over the place I would be suprised if the F/A is willing to dive in and find me to wake me up for food. I only do this in business and first if I'm in coach (not too often) I cant sleep at all the seats suck and the only time i managed to fall asleep was in UA e+ for 45min when one of the F/A ran over my foot. Thats my fault too I dont like the leg room so i just spread out in the asile. I would rather be woken up for food than not at all b/c if I don't eat I get even madder b/c if you wait there's nothing. I do however like the snack bar in business and first on UA. It's just 3 baskets of snacks at the front of the cabin for all business and coach passangers to grab out of and I do see f/a steal something from time to time for the coach people.
Lfutia From Netherlands, joined Dec 2002, 3195 posts, RR: 31 Reply 22, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 2199 times:
When I flew from AMS-ORD I fell asleep just after takeoff like literally after take off and i woke up under the J in Reykjavik and my F.A> S.V Atzei had just finished the meals and i woke up and she asked if i would like a meal and i said yes.
Leo/ORD -- Groetjes uit de VS! -- Heeft u laatst nog met KLM gevlogen?
Iflewrepublic From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 537 posts, RR: 3 Reply 23, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 2127 times:
I don't know why anyone in their right mind would ever want to avoid contact with a flight attendant. Simply put, flight attendants kick a**!!!
Iflewrepublic.
Aviation is proof that, given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.
CPH-R From Denmark, joined May 2001, 5742 posts, RR: 4 Reply 24, posted (9 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 2089 times:
I once managed to sleep all the way to touchdown - made me a bit grumpled that I didn't get any breakfast or anything (nevermind that we arrived at 5PM local - I was hungry).
I thought they HAD to wake you up for landing (and takeoff for that matter)?
25 AA777MIA: When I would work meal flights, I would simply place my fingers on their shoulder (not tap), and say "breakfast", "dinner", whatever I was serving. So
26 TZFALAX: Our policy is to wake passengers for meal services (on the few meal flights we have left, which are mainly charter or Hawaii flights) but not necessar
27 SWAFA30: On longer flights where I know it will be a few minutes before we begin service, I always make an announcement just after we take off. I advise the pa
28 Jhooper: I have found that the morning meal service usually generates enough commotion in the cabin to wake most people up. I personally hate being awakened, u
29 Sllevin: I had forgotten about the stickers -- BR did that even in coach when I was flying them SFO-TPE. I still have a bunch lying around in a box somewhere t
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