Bofredrik From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 10792 times:
Many people have complaints over cabin crew that just do what they should but nothing more. After serving the meal is they sitting in the galley the rest of the flight... Is it true & your experience?
"Welcome onboard this 8 hour flight between Stockholm and New York. Very short after takeoff will we serve you all the meals and drinks you need. We will then come back just before landing... Have a nice.... Zzzzzzzz..."
Ps. I must tell you of a Olympic Airways flight between Larnaca and Athens. All passengers who wanted wine to the lunch got 1 full bottle (75 cl) each!
Then did the cabin crew go to the galley and smoked the rest of the flight... Ds.
UALFAson From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 590 posts, RR: 4 Reply 1, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 10714 times:
Yes, yes, there are some times when the FAs disappear rather than continue to offer service, but there is a legitimate logistical reason too.
Keep in mind many U.S.-Europe flights are 6.5-8 overnight hours in the air. If you figure it takes 1-1.5 hours for dinner and then another hour or so for breakfast, that leaves about 4-6 hours in between for passengers to actually sleep, which is what almost everyone tries to do. So the FAs turn off the cabin lights and draw the galley curtains to keep out light and some noise from the pax seated around the galleys.
On UA (and I'm sure other airlines), FAs are supposed to come around hourly at least offering water, if not coffee and lemonade as well. Otherwise, with 98 percent of the cabin asleep, I'm not sure what other services people expect FAs to be doing.
"We hope you've enjoyed flying with us as much as we've enjoyed taking you for a ride."
Lincoln From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 3887 posts, RR: 8 Reply 2, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 10714 times:
Quoting Bofredrik (Thread starter): Many people have complaints over cabin crew that just do what they should but nothing more. After serving the meal is they sitting in the galley the rest of the flight... Is it true & your experience?
I've only done domestic transcons, but I don't really see what the problem would be. FAs in the main cabin do the drink service, do the meal service (and on CO do another drink service, followed by another drink service), and sit or stand in the galley in between unless someone rings their call button (an event that I personally feel should be reserved for near death experiences, but I digress).
This is much preferable to me than, say, having a stream of flight attendants run up and down the asiles every 5 minutes asking if "everything's ok"-- if it wasn't beleive me, you'd be the first to know!
Remember FAs are there primarially to ensure your safety, anyways.
Lincoln
CO Is My Airline of Choice || Baggage Claim is an airline's last chance to disappoint a customer || Next flts in profile
Orion737 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 10647 times:
Yes, thats why those long haul flights are so popular. They offer the perfect opportunity to hide behind the galley curtain, playing cards, gossiping, slagging their airline off etc etc.
Not all do, of course but I have been on transatlantic flights with US carriers and they are only present in the cabin 50% of the flight, at the most!
AA767400 From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 2271 posts, RR: 25 Reply 4, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 10612 times:
Quoting Orion737 (Reply 3): Not all do, of course but I have been on transatlantic flights with US carriers and they are only present in the cabin 50% of the flight, at the most!
Here is the real question, What do you think Flight attendants should be doing after the meal service? The Crew does a walk every 15 minutes in the cabin. That is all there is to be done. The call button should be for situations that warrant it. For instance, if you are a passenger that is stuck in the middle and can't get out without waking up others.
People seem to find that Crew members are "hiding" in the galley, when in reality that is the only place for them to go. Where would they go? Stand over you in the aisle for hours on end. Closing the curtain keeps from disturbing others near by.
Tango-Bravo From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 3728 posts, RR: 31 Reply 5, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 10493 times:
From my perspective as a passenger, I very much appreciate flight attendants who are, like an airline ad from the 1950s put it, "attentive yet unobtrusive." As other replies have already well-stated, it seems most pax (myself included), apart from meal/snack/beverage services, prefer to be left to read or snooze or watch/listen to IFE or whatever during the cruise portion of a flight, regardless of time of day but especially during nightime hours. In the interest of honoring the preference of virtually all (if not all) pax for "peace and quiet," what else for flight attendants to do when not serving food/beverages or making mandatory safety announcements/demos? For requests at other times there's always the call button.
FrequentFlyKid From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 1201 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 10476 times:
Not to be smart, but probably the same reason we all occasionally try to avoid doing work while on the job...(not that it's right or anything)
Bwaflyer From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 676 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 10429 times:
An to be honest, you'd get far more complaints from passengers if we were constantly up and down the aisles, especially on night flights. If crew are ignoring call bells, leaving the toilets to get in a mess, or missing water runs, then that is a legitimate complaint, and should be brought to the attention of the airline concerned.
FXramper From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 7048 posts, RR: 92 Reply 9, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 10316 times:
I agree with above statements, I don't want a flight attendant pushing a cart up and down the eisle on a 8 hr leg to Europe, while I'm trying to sleep. Dinner, and breakfast service is fine with me. If yor absolutely need something, just get up and ask, I've always had great responses from cabin crews when I've asked. Often times, being given two or three bottles of liquor, wine, crackers and cheese, fruit plates, etc.
Boeingfanyyz From Canada, joined Jul 2005, 991 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 10132 times:
Quoting Tango-Bravo (Reply 5): From my perspective as a passenger, I very much appreciate flight attendants who are, like an airline ad from the 1950s put it, "attentive yet unobtrusive."
I agree. Most people, when talking about first class, will say how attentive and out-going they are. However, when you are on a 24-hour trip from YYZ-SYD, I'm sure the last thing you want is to have one of AC's old, ugly flight attendants getting up in your face asking if you are OK.
To conclude, flight attendant attentiveness is appreciated, but to a certain extent (unless of course you are flying with Virgin)!
Cheers,
Boeingfanyyz
"If it aint boeing, it aint going!", "Friends are like condoms...they protect you when things get hard!"
Cory6188 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 2686 posts, RR: 6 Reply 11, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 10099 times:
Quoting Lincoln (Reply 2): (and on CO do another drink service, followed by another drink service)
I've definitely noticed that - the F/A's do beverage services obsessively. I flew EWR-LAX last year and they did 4 (!) beverage cart runs during the flight. I think that the max that they were out of the aisles was about 45 minutes. Even on PBI-EWR on a 73G, they came around 3 times.
Brokenrecord From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 772 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 10091 times:
For the most part this is true. There is one flight worth mentioning though where this did not occur.
On a UA A320 from SAC-IAD last year, the FA made rounds through the F cabin every 30 minutes or so to check on drinks. I was pretty well soused by the completion of the flight, and the FA was kind enough to make sure that I was not going to be driving home from the airport. =)
Sabena332 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 10078 times:
Quoting Bofredrik (Thread starter): . I must tell you of a Olympic Airways flight between Larnaca and Athens. All passengers who wanted wine to the lunch got 1 full bottle (75 cl) each!
Then did the cabin crew go to the galley and smoked the rest of the flight...
That is what I am calling perfect service, I had drunk the bottle of wine and then I had joined the cabin crew for a smoke in the galley.
Letsgetwet From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 609 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 10020 times:
Quoting Sabena332 (Reply 13):
That is what I am calling perfect service, I had drunk the bottle of wine and then I had joined the cabin crew for a smoke in the galley.
MarshalN From Hong Kong, joined Sep 2005, 1521 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 9854 times:
On a transpac flight if the crew try to do anything more than coming around every hour with water the pax will get very annoyed. There's really not much to do for most of the 14 hours you're in the plane.
Aa757first From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 3338 posts, RR: 8 Reply 17, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 9522 times:
At TWA, flight attendants were (reasonably) expected to walk up and down the aisles and visit the lavatories once every fifteen minutes.
S5FA170 From United States of America, joined Sep 2005, 534 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 9402 times:
At my airline our service levels are dictated by mileage. Most of our flights only require one beverage/snack service. After that we offer a water service every 30 minutes, and every 10 minutes we do a cabin walk-through. Besides coming through to pick up trash in the cabin - what would you like me to be doing?
In the galley I may not always be doing what you think I'm doing. I don't sit down and chat or read until my galley is cleaned, it is organized, and I've made sure it is not over-stocked or under-stocked.
RDYNYC From United States of America, joined Sep 2005, 65 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 9375 times:
Do you ever get tired of passengers asking you "How much more time do we have?"
HBJZA From Switzerland, joined Jan 2006, 376 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 9271 times:
Quoting Bwaflyer (Reply 7): Not to be smart, but probably the same reason we all occasionally try to avoid doing work while on the job...(not that it's right or anything)
If you'd work in an office, the average working time is 8 hours. During this time you get the opportunity to go out for a break or even lunch. The life of an F/A is totally different. They are "stuck" all the duration of their working time with passengers watching them. An F/A hidden behind a curtain is probably taking a break or even eating (yes they are human).
In short they never have a single second where they can isolate or do whatever they want
KLMCedric From Belgium, joined Dec 2003, 800 posts, RR: 24 Reply 21, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 9123 times:
Bare in mind that on longhaul flights, after the main service the crew is
divided in two, and that one part goes on rest. That means that for the
next 4-6 hours after dinner service only half of the crew is present in the
cabin.
Eirjet From Ireland, joined Jul 2005, 330 posts, RR: 2 Reply 22, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 8142 times:
Quoting AA767400 (Reply 4): The call button should be for situations that warrant it. For instance, if you are a passenger that is stuck in the middle and can't get out without waking up others.
And you think that warrants the use of the call button, it would be quicker to gently interrupt the passengers beside you personally.
Aviation has a 100% record, we've never left one up there......
Tod From Denmark, joined Aug 2004, 1687 posts, RR: 3 Reply 23, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 7927 times:
Quoting Eirjet (Reply 22): warrants the use of the call button, it would be quicker to gently interrupt the passengers
Maybe this should be a seperate topic, but what is the proper etiquette.
Wake up the aisle guy or hit the call button?
Personally, I've never touched the call button, but if the FA doesn't mind, it might be handy sometimes.
So FA's, what do you think?
Timology From Netherlands, joined Jan 2006, 216 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 7862 times:
Quoting Lincoln (Reply 2): someone rings their call button (an event that I personally feel should be reserved for near death experiences, but I digress).
I really agree with you on that. I see people ringing just for a drink or just to talk to someone when their companion's asleep..
"Arm in arm we are the harmless sociopaths"
25 DrDeke: What would be the point of using the call button in this case? I don't understand what a flight attendant could do to help this situation. Yeah, that
27 SlamClick: Define irony: A bunch of guys at work, posting on a company computer their complaints about flight attendants not doing their job. Roughly one third o
28 Remymartin11: I can understand the "galley hiding" in coach. But in premium cabins, the staff should come out at least every 30 minutes after formal meal service is
29 LAX2IADandORD: As most of the comments have indicated, just what else are the FA's supposed to do? I can't think of many jobs where there is constant interaction wit
30 FoxDelta: Anyway, where do you expect them to stay during the flight? Other than crew rest areas... Cheers
31 FlyGuyClt: While I respect everyone's opinions. Here are some more reasons why they are not "in your face" 24/7. -They actually get a break on most flights over
32 SRT75: I can only share an story. I was on a NW LAX-MKE flight in F. (A319) Only a three hour flight, but it leaves at 5 p.m. Pacific (which is 7 in Wisconsi
33 StanstedFlyer: Wow! How much water does a FA have to drink to go to the lav every 15 minutes? I thought the job was all glamour, now I know the ugly truth!!
34 777jaah: I've flown a few times AV routes to EZE, RIO and JFK, which are 5-6 hours flights, and all them departing 22:00. As you can imagine, dinner is served
35 ClassicLover: It's really easy - be really nice to the F/As and they're really nice to you back. It works a charm for me! I go to the galley, they usually ask if I
36 LTBEWR: Don't forget that the cabin crew behind the curtain may be busy with other parts of their job. That can include processing paperwork, cleaning up from
37 777STL: End of thread. So what are they supposed to be doing on a 15 hour flight to Sydney or a 10 hour flight to London, hovering over you constantly? I don
38 FlyGuyClt: [quote=SRT75,reply=32] can only share an story. I was on a NW LAX-MKE flight in F. (A319) Only a three hour flight, but it leaves at 5 p.m. Pacific (w
39 777jaah: It's faster to serve ice and scotch in the galley that ringing the call button, wake up the FA's and wait aprox 10 min for m drink. 45 min later I'll
40 KaiGywer: If somebody woke me up because they didn't want to ring the bell, I'd be pissed. I mean, don't ring the button when they're busy, but if there are no
41 Lincoln: I think many times, they'd even settle for "Civil" or "Nice" if you don't feel like going for "Very Nice" -- but this is very true. On Thanksgiving D
42 Jetjack74: This can be very true, and it does fall on the shoulders of the crew to be visible in the cabin throughout the flight. At NW, we're supposed to do wa
43 IRelayer: LOL. You hit it right on the head. You must be from the midwest! :P For me, I couldn't care less what the FA's are doing. If I want something, I will
44 Letsgetwet: My wife and I get to non-rev a lot because our daughter is a FA. I appreciate how hard the life of a FA is because I witnessed my daughter suffering t
45 777jaah: Agree 100%. Remember FAs are there to serve, not to put up with all the crap pax sometimes give. This usually happens in flights from USA to many Sou
46 Jetjack74: Actually, South Africa by-way of the UK, but close.
47 HAWK21M: If anything additional is required.The Call button is provided. regds MEL
48 Ikramerica: No, it's rude. We are customers, and that person deserves the chance to sleep if he/she needs it. You are employees, and if we need something, we hav
49 AA767400: No it would not. I am trying to say that instead of waking someone up for a drink,pillow, etc...it is better to ring the call light and not bother ot
50 Jwenting: I've always considered it a courtesy that they're not intrusively present yet available when needed. Gives people sitting in seatrows opposite flight
51 Speedbirdcrew: It sometimes amazes me what some people think we do.. Sometimes I will go and sit in the galley next to the toilets to eat my dinner, if while I'm doi
52 Englandair: GRRRR!! As long haul cabin crew, allow me to tell you what I'm actually doing when you think I'm busy with my cup of tea behind the curtain! A typical
53 S5FA170: About the Call Button: Twice in the last two weeks, I have had passengers yell at me up the aisle. One was to tell me that the cabin was too hot. The
54 Ardian: Wow Lincoln and letsgetwet! Really nice what you did for the crew Englandair: I guess you're not 20 anymore for those longhaul-flights according to yo
55 Babybus: They don't always hide in the galley. On Saudi Arabian Airlines long hauls, the male FA's go to sleep on the 5 abreast seats across the middle of the
56 Englandair: Actually Ardian, I am! Depends who you fly for! (and I've been flying for 2 years now!).
58 Eirjet: So, you would be p*ssed with a passenger waking you up, but not an F/A. That makes REAL sense
59 Letsgetwet: fA's in the US are not allowed to sit in passenger seats (unless they are passengers or are in seats designated for crew rest on super long-haul rout
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