Due to a request to write this report here it is. It was a FRA-JFK-FRA roundtrip done back in November 2000. I was on my way to Boston for a school trip. Some of you already know what the flight was like. For the others, please be warned it is far less than a flattering Singapore Airlines report.

Singapore Airlines 026
Frankfurt-New York JFK
Boeing 747-400
Departure 8:30am
Arrival 10:40am

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Photo © Jerome Zbinden

Check In: As it was a Sunday the counters were packed with people at 6:15am. The flight looked like it was running full. Staff were helpful and managed to get me a window seat with two of my friends sitting next to me. Bags were checked in all the way through to Boston on TWA though boarding passes were not issued.

Boarding: We began boarding at 8:00 and I was assigned 39A so I was one of the last onboard. I was welcomed onboard by the IFS with a smile. The last smile I saw on the flight. Reached the seat and was a bit disappointed but it was alright. PTV's looked nice and certainly bigger than the UA 777 I had flown across the Atlantic with 2 weeks later. We pushed back exactly at 8:30.

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Photo © Frank Schaefer


The Flight: Hot towels were passed out followed by breakfast. I don't have the menu for this so all I can say is that they ran out of my choice and gave me the omelet which was the only thing left. It was ok, never really found the eggs served on planes to be good. The pocket TV was nice and kept me and my "non-aviation" friends busy. There were no walk around, crew did answer the call button when I asked for a coke. A light snack was served before arrival, no idea what, sorry! Like a mini heated quiche or something. Throughout the flight the crew had no smiles, just did their job, like it was an LH flight!

Arrival: We landed in the brand new terminal 1 and it was something really good. We collected our bags in no time and were off to the TWA terminal for our flight to Boston.



Singapore Airlines 025
Frankfurt-New York JFK
Boeing 747-400
Departure 9:15pm
Arrival 10:40am

Check In: We landed at 3:30 from Boston on TWA so we had plenty of time to check in. The counter just opened at 4:30 when we got there. We managed to get some good seats and were told that the flight was 100% full tonight. We went into the terminal and my friends started bombarding me with questions regarding planes and I answered willingly! Hey when else are you the "know it all?"

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Photo © Vasco Garcia

Boarding: Boarding started at roughly 8:45 and we were on first having seat 57A. My friends were seated next to me which was good. A steward welcomed us onboard and pointed to our seats. We backed away from the gate at 9:30, no reason given. Worse came when we sat on the side till 9:55. We eventually took off at 10:30, over an hour late. Not one announcement as to why we were late.

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Photo © Jason Milligan

The Flight: Hot towels were handed out first and menus were handed out after take off but not to all. As I was about to put my hand out to get mine, she walked away. As she went back down the isle a minute or two later I asked her for a menu and this was the response. "We are only serving menus to people who need them. I'm sure you'll want the vegetarian option anyway!" and walked away. At this point one of my American friends that were sitting next to me with a smirk on his faces said "So this is the Singapore Airlines warmth you talk about!" My other German friend that was between the two of us at this point, said something I had not noticed. "You know who the people who need menus are? They are all the 'Caucasians' on this flight!" I said "what?" As I looked around he was right. Every person that had a menu was American or German. In my group there was another Indian and a Turkish, neither of them had a menu either! Either way my freind gave me his menu and this is what it said.

DINNER

Hors d'Oeuvre

Braised Fillet of Fish in Black Bean Sauce
Seasoned Mixed Vegatbles, Steamed Rice

OR

Sauteed Chicken with Fresh Herb and Mushrooms
Vegetable Medley, Roast Sable Potatoes

Cheese and Crakers

Apple & Pecan Nut Pie

Coffee - Tea

BREAKFAST

Choice of Juices

Fresh Fruit Appetiser

Assorted Breakfast Rools
Butter - Fruit Preserve

Coffee - Tea

I tried to watch mt PTV but guess what? It was not working. I checked to see if my freinds TV's were working and they were. I waited for another memeber of the cabin crew to come round instead of you know who! When a male steward came round, he said "Wait till we reset the system." I said fine, but nothing ever happened. No audio, no video.

Then the meal came with the "wonderful" stewardess. I was about to say chicken. Before anything came out of my mouth a tray with a vegetarian dish was slapped in front of me. "Ma'am I would like the chicken, not this please." "We have to save the non-vegetarian for the people that need it!" At this point I lost it. "Look lady, I did not order a vegetarian meal and I certainly am not vegetarian. I can see that you have enough Beef and chicken in the cart. Why won't you give me my choice?" "Because I need to conserve the dishes for the ones that need it!" At this point both my friends were like "just take my chicken, don't give her the satisfaction!" I said no and started an argument. She just walked away as I started off on her.

It looked like some sort of Spinache with green pasta. I found it dry, leathery and tasteless. As she came to collect the try, she snipped at me, "Are you done or not?" "yes" "Then hurry up and give it to me!"

After the meal was cleared, my freind said he wanted to go to sleep, and said I could use his entertainment system. I plugged my headphones in his armrest and watched a quick movie and then put the music channel on.Throughout the flight, the other stewardesses were polite if not robotic as usual but the "wonderful" stewardess was so rude to the non-caucasian passengers it was unbelievable. When this paticular stewardess came round to serve drinks she automatically skipped my row every single time. In the end I jumped over my freinds to go to the galley to get a small bottle of water. Thankfully I managed to get another stewardess and she smiled and gave me a bottle and asked if I would like anything else? I told her that my PTV was not working and that I was using my freinds. "I am so sorry about that." She then handed me a pen in a black case. "Please accept this as an apology from me." I said thank you. I looked at the pen and it was what Raffles Class passengers get, having flown RC often I know this. This is the legendary SQ that I have been used to for years!

Breakfast was served and it consisted of a crossaint, butter and jam. Bread was offered twice. I ordered tea and the "stewaredess" runs out of teawith a snipe "Just wait for it!"During breakfast an Italian woman asked for tea and at last minute changed her mind to coffee. "Look, I don't have time to play these games, you want tea or coffee, make up your damn mind!" Wow, so she was mean to everyone! I saw quite a few passengers giving her dirty looks now. We began our decent and touched down at 11:15, over 30 minutes late.

Arrival: During disembarkation I got halted at the galley and she was there with a frown on her face. As the line moved forward I said the following. "I will never fly Singapore Airlines again after receiving service from you. You are a bi*ch and I hope some day someone will write you up on your 'service skills'! At this point the entire section started applauding! I then walked off and I my freind smaked me on the back and said, "Man you were too lienent on her!" Immigration was a breeze and bags were out when I got there. I have never been so happy to get off an airplane and into freezing Germany.

I wrote the letter within 2 days of arrival and sent it to the SQ office in FRA. Not a single word came back. I even talked to a freind that works for SQ in BOM. She had no idea why they would not reply me. She insisted I write another letter and this time to SIN. It was too late. I had thrown everything out as it had been over a year and had moved from Germnay to the US. I had no idea what her name was anymore and so on. It was SQ's decision not to answer me!

Singapore Airlines is not an airline I am every going to fly if I can help it. Service has been going down for years and this was the last straw. 1 excellent stewardess compared to the others isn't enough! If SR, CX, KL etc can have great cabin crew in numbers, why can't SQ? I know this is not what most of you SQ people like to hear but I think you have to face reality, SQ is changing and it is not for the better. I have heard countless times of people switching to CX, EK and even UA because of the service on SQ. I'll only fly SQ when every other airline is booked, including NW & DL!!!

Congratulations Singapore Airlines, you have managed to lose a loyal customer who has been flying SQ for over 15 years, a customer who has flown over 3 Oceans and 4 Continents with you in First, Raffles and Economy. A customer who once upon a time said he would never fly anything but the airline with the Singapore Girl!

SR 103

SR103: Please choose another airline in the future. I have noted down your flight number.

Umm it was in 2000. Got a date?

Your trip report was most informing.

I am speechless after I have read your trip report. I never thought that SQ offers their passengers that bad service. Good to know, when I am flying to Asia I choose an other airline.

Patrick

Did you try complaining to the inflight supervisor?

SR103 That was very good

Singapore_Air: what do you mean about 'Please choose another airline in future'. What, can't you handle a bit of criticism about your beloved SQ? The FA was a complete and utter bitch lets' face it and SR103 had every right to say what he said. I take my hat off to him. I wonder if she eventually got the sack...lets all hope so

Brent

My my ... I felt offended just reading it. It does not reflect well on Singaporeans at all. I hope that it was just her that was like that on that flight. At least someone was nice enough to pass you a pen from Raffles.

I shall not say anymore. SQ Sucks... period. I am not a fan, now you all know why?

Maybe I am taking this way too seriously... but I kept putting myself in your shoes and the I felt way I felt during my similar treatment on my SYD-SIN flight, kept playing again and again in my mind. I would have brought the matter up to the In-flight Supervisor because knowing SQ (face saving and all...) something would have been done about it immediately.

It is one thing to receive mediocre service, but another to be treated with disrespect. It brings service to a whole new unchallenged low. In fact, I am so troubled by this post that I cannot even concentrate on my work!

So much for surfing during working hours!

SR103: I hope her colleagues overheard your comments.

Ryanair: You do realise that we will be in deep trouble from Singapore_Air!!!!. Unfortunately I will be travelling with SQ in Sep. Dam, I wish I could have gone NZ!!!!!!!!

Bad expereicne you've got SR103, and to bw honest if that F.A really had that altitude i'm gonna kick her ass and I'd swear that I'm gonna make charges on her and on SQ! UNACCEPTABLE altitude. I belive it seems that she's the one that had such a bad altitude, and because of her passengers would think that "What Kind Of Airline and service is that".

Thank god I have no yet had one moment of bad experience on them for the time being after hundreds of flights with them. I hope I won't have such a bad experience or so as I'm flying SQ again on Sat! Looking forward for my trip though!

Best Regards

SR103, you know, it is not just passengers who realise that SQ's inflight service has gone down the drain. Whenever I meet my ex-colleagues who are still with the company, they also agree with me that these Singapore Girls nowadays are just interested in flying to some fashion capital to buy their Prada bags so that they can show it off to whoever.

There are also plenty of service procedures that many crew do not adhere to. On my recent flight to ORD, I brought this up my friend, who works in SQ, and he just shook his head and said that if the cabin crew division doesn't pull up its socks, there is nothing anyone else can do.

All that said and done, I will still fly SQ. Not for the inflight service that others talk about, but for the fact that it is still a reliable airline, and I know that SQ's station manager will take care of his passengers should there be a major flight disruption. I have heard horror stories of horrific ground service on some airlines where passengers were left to their own devices during delays.

Ohh, those SQ reports don't sound very good lately. I'm going to fly SQ this summer for the first time and I guess after having read some reports now that CX would have been a lot better.
Mh, we'll see.

SR103: Please supply me with the dates of your flights. Thank you.

Hey all... let me sum it all up. SQ, at the end of the day, is still not that bad of an airline. It has its bad days, like SR103's, and mine, but it is still far superior compared to major competitors similar routes. Agreed?

Think of what the people in the US have to endure when they fly... SQ does not seem that bad, does it?

Singapore_Air,

The flight was in the first week of November 2000. Thats all I can tell you since I have thrown all the information away. I flew to the US 3 times that month so the dates are a blur. Something like the 5th to the 8th. Sorry no exact information. And believe me I am am choosing another airline!

Jaysit: You know there are times when you think back and say, "I wish I had done..." This is one of them. I guess you could call me chicken in way as I did not want to start anything with the crew. Plus why should I be the only one to complain? The entire back section felt the same way as me. I only lost it towards the end of the flight.

Ryanair: I agree that SQ is an ok airline. I know what you mean by US airlines but the two trips to the US that same month were on a combination of LH & UA and I can tell you that UA was really good. I have no problem saying UA is a better airline for me to fly with. Once upon a time I did HKG-SFO-HKG when I lived in Hong Kong and one flight was with UA and the other with SQ. The situation was the opposite back then!

To everyone else who is flying SQ, don't worry. SQ is ok, but I would give CX a harder look next time. They are an airline I have been flying for over 15 years as well and all I can say is the service has remainded the same, EXCELLENT!!!

SR 103

Great trip report.
Talk about a bitchy f/a, I've never even received service like this from a U.S. airline .
Chepos

I'm always amazed to read reports about flight attendants who behave this way, and even more surprised that no one hauls off and clocks them into next week. I'm certain if I had been treated the way SR 103 was, I would have raised hell with the lead flight attendant and gotten that nasty bitch fired.

I have read many reports about Singapore Airlines, and it seems they have taken a decidedly different tone in the past several months. Too bad service is going down the tubes all over the world.  

Interesting report, nonetheless. And also sad that the airline never responded to your letter.

Well, Ilyushin96M, it will take more than raising hell to get that FA fired.

Again, I must admit that inflight service on my national carrier has been sliding in recent years. It is largely the attitude of the cabin crew, and perhaps how the company puts them on tight schedules, with less than the recommended crew complement on each flight. They have become a disgruntled lot nowadays.

Anyway, I used to work for the airline, and had the opportunity to see how the crew behaved once all passengers had disembarked. The number of 4 lettered words those dainty sarong kebaya clad Singapore Girls used in their conversations were simply MIND BLOWING! I went through the army, but my vocabulary of vulgarities was no where close to theirs!

There was once I overhead a conversation between 2 FAs about another foreign crew who was obviously in a good mood and greeting every ground staff and incoming crew she met) just as they were about to handover their duties to the incoming crew. It went something like this:

FSS1: I don't understand why the F*#K she should be in such a good mood. What's there to be happy about, she never flies anywhere else but this route... she's such a bitch!

FSS2: Yeah... I really feel like giving her a tight slap, then see whether she can still smile or not.

You can say that I was shocked beyond words to hear something like this being uttered by the two junior crew... crew who cannot tolerate another crew who might be nicer than them, crew who are bent on spreading their lousy attitude to the rest of the team....

Well, anyway, I took note of their names and sent a really nasty letter to the cabin crew division. I doubt anything could be done, as the crew concerned would probably have denied everything.

You're right, she was a b*tch! I for one am lucky as I have no plans with flying Singapore Airlines as Cathay Pacific is in Oneworld and I can use/accrue mileage with them.

This FA's behavior is considered way out of line and unacceptable even by US standards! Never have I seen this behavior on a flight in the United States.

blink

Haha...quite sadly, that's what's happening to some of the local girls here. Even some of those who are not SQ stewardesses seem to have a very bad attitude problem.

All I can say is that it had better improve before they lose more customers!

Eh, SQ772, you only heard the f-word. I heard the "CB" word from one of those pretty things once. Too many lians!!! Bet none of them went to your sister schools! Or to mine either, for that matter! haha!

Because now very few locals actually want to go and be a stewardess. The idea is that a stewardess is basically a high-class waitress in the sky so most people are discouraged by this idea. That leaves us with basically "lians".

Well, looks like the main pillars in SQ are the Lians.
I have heard more than the F word from the sweet thing's mouth. I just didn't write it down. Besides, their language was so colorful and creative... I didn't know they could do so many things with their Mother (bu) and Fathers (lao peh).... Awesome! Their language would have put my RSM to shame!

I hear that coming from the girls in my school all the time so it's really nothing very fantastic haha! Anyway, not all the lians are bad. Some of them are really quite nice people!

when I travelled from LAX to SIN via TPE on SQ 029, I stayed onboard the aircraft though everyone was asked to deboard the plane, namely because I was at the time with a friend of mine who worked for SQ. Actually, the ground staff at Taipei treated me as an SQ staff as well.

Out of what I gathered of seing the crew for the first time after all the pax had left, was that they were all nice and smiling, helping the cleaning crews and checkng if everything had been cleared from the plane (hand luggage), and then greeting the incoming crew and leaving the plane, with each crew who served us waving good bye to us...but then again, that set of crew were the best I had ever eperienced on any airline...they were so nice throughout the flight...amazingly, all of them were really nice...first and last time that has happened on any flight so far for me...I was really impressed with that batch of crew...

But rather the ground staff at TPE are total jackasses...they were very rude and when I asked if I could leave the plane 20 mins into the 1:10 hrs stop over to have water (they turn off the watering systems of the plane when its on the ground) they scoffed and made a big deal of it...and mockingly said yes...god....and just their overall attitude was all off...so wasnt too pleased with them...

Despite the crew of that SQ 029, when I flew from NRT to LAX on SQ 012, most of the crew were really bitchy, specially this one LSS who skipped my row for drinks and menus, and hot towels...and only came back later with a fake apology and a frown...she was pretty, but VERY bitchy...its FAs like her that you feel like bitching out...anyway...she and other FAs were making fun off pax by stating their seat numbers in the galley....very smart seing that SQ 012 is a night flight and the cabin was mostly quiet and pax sitting near them and pax going to the toilet could hear them making fun of (meaning basically bitching about) those pax and other pax...

but, overall, SQ has been a good airline to fly for me, as Ive had many more good experinces with them than I have had bad, and they continue to be my favoured airline to fly, but then again, I havent had the ghastly experience SR 103 has had...in which case Id make it a point not to fly SQ again...

Singapore777, there is nothing wrong with cursing and swearing vulgarities (I do that all the time). However, I do feel that there should always be a place and time to for such things. Swearing while a crew is officially still on duty (even though no pax are around) is definitely a no no.

I know those SQ girls aren't exactly angels, trust me, I have heard they way they talk whenever I joined them for meals during layover. But they should at least behave themselves while in uniform.

Young school girls swearing? Which school are you from? I assume you are talking about secondary school? I went to an all boys school from Pri 1 to Sec 4, even then, I hardly heard any vulgarities coming from the guys. Times have changed...

I'm now studying for a diploma. Previously I was also in an all-boys school and trust me the amount of swearing coming out is enough to drown you!

At the end of the day, as I have said in my previous post in another thread, it depends on the team. Some teams have IFSs that can motivate the crew to go beyond their call of duty, while some others, its simply do-what-you-want. So you get a myriad of working styles from different teams even though at the end of the day, they have their regimental and robotic SOPs to fall back on.

Additionally, it is also up to an individual, as a person, how you want to portray yourself. Do you take pride in the organisation you work for? That has a lot to do with it too! As we all know, SQ is a customer oriented company, not a very employee oriented one. Thus, leading to a lot of disatisfied cabin crew walking down the aisle, forced to smile. maybe this is the cause for the alleged "robotism" that has been brought to light in the last few threads?

Even though SQ is an excellent company, in terms of being constantly profitable, they have a zillion-trillion tons of rules for the employee to abide by - somewhat like the Singapore Armed Forces. During an audit, while this may be cause for ISO 9000s, cabin service excellence and numerous awards, the rules become somewhat of an information overload and it is only a matter of time before someone says "Oh fuck it!".

In the heyday of the 70s and 80s, SIA was the innovator in many ways and her regimental arm of governing their SIA Girls were no secret. Hence, the results from those days are the current batch of excellent IFS and LSS. However, many are probably staring to question why the need for such regiment when other airlines are winning awards as well without such silly rules??

Look at MAS, perceived as sloppy and second or third world. Winning the best cabin service award for the last 3 years sure shut some sceptics up! Look at Cathay Pacific, always the rival of SQ. Their esprit de corp among the cabin crew is commendable (looking at the amount of strikes they have had in the last decade - and still able to maintain the #1 position in terms of excellent service).

It is probably time for SIA to re-look into the training of an SIA Girl, or Guy. What has worked in the past, might not work now. Instilling robotic MacDonald's-like greetings to plastic demeanour just shows how fearful the trainees are to flout the rules (Or maybe they themselves as individuals are better off as robots - that is another story), what happen to the natural charm like MAS? The flowing professionalism like Cathay Pacific? And the welcoming hospitality like Thai? All these used to be the stronghold of SIA's in-flight service which is sorely lacking nowsadays - I mean nowadays!

Man... I have rambled on long enough. Comments anyone?

Cheers
Ryan

Just one comment. QUALITY.

Although I agree there are rules, but rules are there for a certain reason. The biggest problem with our crew is quality and calibre. A person with certain qualities will have no problems managing and surviving the myriad of rules. Trust me, there is no information overload (unless the crew has brains the size of a pea) for crew. Information overload for AOs or ground staff, yes, for crew, NO.

A no-brainer would be drown by the rules because he/she lacks creativity, initiative or brains to make the rule work for him/her. Let's face it, the various trip reports have shown that some of our Y class crew "lack helicopter vision" (haha no where close), "have difficulty answering simple questions" and "just don't give a fucking damn".

Or maybe they simply cannot say "hot towel"?

It's nice to see that I not the only one who has received less than stellar service from "the World's most arrogant airline!"

Ok, why is everyone always ripping on LH?

Throughout the flight the crew had no smiles, just did their job, like it was an LH flight!

What are you talking about, LH has excellent service. I have noted over my past few experiences with LH, they have far better attitudes, and and very kind. Whenever I go to Europe, I always make sure to take LH.

Continental

I think if Flight crews want to cuss, feel free to, but only when it is appropriate. Everybody has their right of speech(in the USA at least). However, there are times when cussing is inappropriate, and such times is when you are on paid duty, in uniform, and in front of a whole bunch of passengers. I think it is a fair bet that at least a few passengers heard the crew cussing.

Regarding that Singapore is a customer driven airline. Right there is the problem. If it were an employee driven airline, the flight crews may be smiling not because they are forced to, but because they want to. Happy employees normally mean happy customers.

blink

Actually, I personally feel SQ service has been improving.
I fly them every few months or so between SIN-LHR and recently their inflight entertainment in economy has got better!

They now offer wisemen to economy. This means I can choose whatever I want to watch, whatever time I want. I can even pause and rewind it.

I recall on one flight, the PTV did break down..a steward kindly found an empty seat somewhere else and offered it to me.
Yes, occasionally the choice of meal does run out...what i have noticed is that the crew try to be fair to passengers by alternating between serving the front first, or the back first.

I am sorry u had such a bad encounter, although I find it very hard to believe me based on what I have experienced on SQ. Definitely will be booking my next flight with them!

Did I complain about LH's service? I have noticed you defend Lufthansa quite a bit. Just remember not everyone has the same opinion as you.

I have lived in Germany and have had many flights with Lufthansa, long and short haul. I find some of thier crew ot freindly and helpful, while most are just ok. They just do their job, no smile, attend to pax when they ask for something, not going out of thier way to make the flight anything special.

Which airlines besides LH have you flown across the Atlantic? IMHO I have had better crew on SR(LX), VS, KL, BA, and dare I even say it, LT! I find the crew on LH miss the small touches that these crews provide.

Just remember that their are people that don't have the same opinion as you, no need to take it personally. I think LH is a good airline and is much better than most airlines out there.

SR 103

The quality of SQ's staff does seem to vary wildly. I recently had to spend a day in Delhi and had the same crew going out there as coming back. They were absolutely brilliant and made the flight a very pleasant experience. However, I had so many bad experiences on flights to LHR that I now only fly BA (in addition, BA's business class product is far better than SQ's). Maybe the SQ staff do not like the longer-haul flights! Mmm... my wife knows the daughter of the head of crew training at SQ as well as the son of the chief pilot (Singapore is a very very small place!!), so maybe I should get her to ask them!

Yes, Businessflyer is right - the quality of SQ's staff (not just crew - all staff) varies widely. This problem isn't confined to SQ, though... I have had some very inconsistent service on other carriers, most notably UA and BA.

SQ has a serious attrition problem, and it has trouble attracting and (especially) retaining the best and the brightest. Having said this, SQ does have a corp of frontline staff - both in the air and on the ground - who give 100%, and these are the folks who continue to surprise and delight many customers today.

Kanninabu cheebai nabei you all! I guess my command of vulgar language is more than them, as I use THEM everyday!  

Honestly, it's their choice. But at least they know how not to cuss in front of pax, instead of like shouting "f*ck you, go get the drink yourself" etc. The thing is, NOONE can stop them from cussing if they don't want to..

Blink182, so what if they curse? They do it IN PRIVATE. Do not believe anything ex-SQ staff tend to say(guess who I'm aiming at hehehe ). Surprised Singapore_Air isn't here to defend his FLAWLESS Singapore cheoh bu.

9V-SVA

So happy to have this come out in the open. SQ Refuses
to take the STAR ALLIANCE surveys onboard it's flights
and now I know why.

Not that they are bad, on the contrary I think they are
a great airline, but humans will be humans in any
country or culture including Asian beauties.

Your story sounds like my experience early last year
on a trip I took from EZE to JFK on United Airlines.

It was so bad and comical that I felt I was watching a
movie.

They had 2 typical FLO's (from the TV series, the waitress)
with the hair do's and long nails. One with a southern
accent and another with a NY accent.

Both working Business Class and both straight out of
a cheap dinner.

The sophisticated Argentineans were appalled to be called
"Honeys" and "Sweeties" when talked too.

Very comical. One F/A of Filipino descent (I asked) was
so rude that a couple of passengers starting fighting with
her. This in business class.

The bottom line is that we are, and can be difficult no matter where we are from.