shut up is probably one of the more rude things one can say to another person, IMO. The FA should never have spoken to a customer that way, but I have to imagine there's a lot more to the story then we're seeing here. None the less, the FA shouldn't have stooped to the customers level. Customers are completely out of control these days but FA's should be able to rise above most of the craziness.

Quoting uberflieger (Reply 2): I thought AA personal wears name tags?

I was on a MD80 in 2013 where a FA was wearing a name tage that said "Oh Miss"

Quoting travelin man (Reply 3): I believe "shut up" is AA's version of "hello".

Hahah and a crisp slap in the face right

[

Quoting Armodeen (Reply 49):

Some airline employees need to go find other jobs. The passenger asked why the 2nd row was served last. There are 4 rows in business, so the 2nd row should NOT have been served last, whether they began from the front or the back. It should have ben the 1st or the 4th row being served last.

The passenger was therefore entitled to ask his question, as there was no obvious method in the food service.

Then on top of it to be told to shut up, and threatened with the cops.

I don't know why people failed to notice, but the demeanor of this FA was more like some one swabbing tables at a McD. NOT a professional providing service in the premium class. His demeanor was sour and his conduct was sloppy.

Even the other FA was embarrassed, and apologized to the passenger, I guess shocked at this behavior on the part of her colleague.

Of course as usual there will be the relentless passenger bashing by some posters here. Every time there is an incident, they immediately bash the passenger. I will never forget when a passenger was mishandled because he was a swarthy man, with dark hair and writing a calculus formula. It was his fault, according to some posters.

those FA need to go back to school of etiquette and manner..... If you are working for a major airlines....respect, courtesay , manner and service are number 1

Quoting OB1504 (Reply 36): Then donate the meals to the gate agents meeting the flight.

I'm all in favor of that.

Not that I'm biased or anything...

Quoting guyanam (Reply 53): The passenger asked why the 2nd row was served last. There are 4 rows in business, so the 2nd row should NOT have been served last, whether they began from the front or the back. It should have ben the 1st or the 4th row being served last.

You've obviously missed the several posts explaining that AA now has a pre-order system for meals, so that passengers who are concerned about which meal they get can order the one they want from the menu on line in advance.
Without knowing AA's service standards in detail, most airlines deliver SPMLs before the main service, and it would be understandable if all pre-ordered meals were delivered in this way, that way the crew can be quite certain exactly how many of each type of meal they have left to deliver to passengers who have not pre-ordered.

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 6):

How about having enough catering so that they don't run out of food choices. It is ridiculous the crap airlines do that some of you airline folks find acceptable.

Quoting peanuts (Reply 1):

It is irrelevant whether it is a dump fare that was purchased or not. It is up to the airline to price its product at a fare acceptable to it. It is up to the customer to purchase or not said fare. Having established its price point and the customer having purchased its product, the company has the obligation to provide what was purchased. It did not. Cater enough so that every person has his or her choice!

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 57):

It's called controlling cost and preventing wastage. If they over catered every flight by 10 percent that's a hell of a lot of food wasted at a time millions are homeless on the streets and it's not like it can be used after a flight as it will be spoils and unsafe to consume.....and you know what? You could still find yourself running out of a choice!

Best system is what the likes of BA and a few others do (albeit only in premium cabins) where you can order your preferred meal from the menu online before your flight!

Quoting Mcmax (Reply 11):

Would you happen to know if this meal serving process applies to Delta as well? I have a flight in F from SFO to DCA at the end of the month and I have no patience for this sort of nonsense from airlines.

Quoting seabosdca (Reply 13):

I would not complain. I would just call my credit card company and chargeback the cost of my flight.

Quoting aloha73g (Reply 23):

When you are lucky enough to be seated in F? Well that clearly indicates to me that you did not pay to sit in F so your accepting what is left is appropriate coz beggars cannot be choosers. When you have paid for it however - a different situation altogether.

Quoting Andy33 (Reply 56): You've obviously missed the several posts explaining that AA now has a pre-order system for meals, so that passengers who are concerned about which meal they get can order the one they want from the menu on line in advance.

Doesn't justify being told to "shut up" when asking for an explanation. You don't know if the pax even did the purchase themselves, it could have been a secretary/admin, could have been a relative, could have used a (public or corporate) travel agent, etc. So "obviously" the FA should have shown better manners, regardless of any check box on a web page.

Quoting tonystan (Reply 59): It's called controlling cost and preventing wastage. If they over catered every flight by 10 percent that's a hell of a lot of food wasted at a time millions are homeless on the streets and it's not like it can be used after a flight as it will be spoils and unsafe to consume.....and you know what? You could still find yourself running out of a choice!

Ridiculous. Maybe people in East Germany are willing to listen to that. It all depends on the clientele I suppose. The more discerning ones are not sorry about "over-catering." It is a hospitality industry. Companies are free to exit the market.

Quoting Flighty (Reply 64):

It may shock you to hear this but there hasn't been an East Germany for many years now. Although many parts of the US are certainly resembling it nowadays!

Simple fact of the matter is even the finest restaurants run out of certain items on a menu. Happens all the time. Compounded more so on an aircraft where space is also a factor for catering and the fact that it is very much frowned upon (particularly at large companies) to waste items such as food.

But there will always be that class of person (and certainly not a high class of person) who feels entitled to complain and whinge.

[Edited 2016-06-10 04:41:41]

Quoting Revelation (Reply 63): Doesn't justify being told to "shut up" when asking for an explanation. You don't know if the pax even did the purchase themselves, it could have been a secretary/admin, could have been a relative, could have used a (public or corporate) travel agent, etc. So "obviously" the FA should have shown better manners, regardless of any check box on a web page.

There's never any excuse for rudeness to customers, whether the customer is being reasonable or unreasonable.

My comment was in answer to that saying passengers in row 2 should never be served last, and was pointing out that it is usual on airlines to serve people who have preordered meals before those who haven't. By the time people who have ordered special meals or have preordered normal meals have been given theirs, row 2 could perfectly well end up last, as the other rows had pre-orders or SPMLs.

I am not surprised if this happens onboard UA/AA or any other US airlines. If this happens on CX or SQ then for sure it can make it to headline

Quoting rbavfan (Reply 46): If your talking during the announcements they can tell you to shut up and you should

That's not the right approach. They can absolutely tell a person to be quiet, but it ought to be done in a professional but firm manner.

At any rate, seems like the guy filming and the FA deserve eachother.

What surprised me is: 1. that this slow day 'news' story got its own thread here so long after the event; and;
2. that despite assumed FA training, the passenger was told to "shut up!". That's professional, isn't it? I've seen SQ FA's almost kill passengers with politeness to get them to desist doing whatever is naughty. It would have been more professional and appropriate to firmly request to stop filming FAs on duty (if that is some kind of federal offense) and then take it from there officially if the passenger did not follow crew instructions.

I'm sorry to say that from past experience of too many instances of unfriendly, arrogant and unprofessional service from their cabin crew, I now avoid the US legacy airlines like the plague. I have usually tried to fly where possible with Jet Blue when flying domestically in the USA, but unfortunately even some of their flight attendants in recent years seem to be succumbing to the same malaise and I lately have had encountered a number of instances of rudeness and arrogance on that airline too. After flying domestically in the USA, it is always such a pleasure to step onto a Virgin Atlantic or BA flight back home to the UK and experience, more often than not, friendly, polite and professional cabin crew. Being pleasant and polite costs nothing but clearly is sorely lacking in the training of US cabin crew.

Quoting Andy33 (Reply 56):

I am very aware of this pre order facility. I am traveling in J class in a few weeks. On my flights they don't have a choice, Just one meal.

Still doesn't answer the question why the food service was haphazard. The issue isn't that they run out of pasta. They issue is that they didn't serve back to front, or front to back.

The passenger's issue is that he felt some how that his row was singled out.

If the pastas were pre ordered, and he didn't order it, and so priority was given to those who did, this could have been explained to him. Rather than a surly and unkempt looking FA screaming that he ought to shut up.

A screaming FA isn't what people in J class pay to get, whether they are the target of the FAs rage or not. There was no evidence that the passenger was creating a scene, or a security risk.

Quoting tonystan (Reply 59):

You control cost at the detriment of the customer??? What the hell sort of business do some of you people run? Every time I read this nonsense I am so freaking glad I no longer work for an airline nor hopefully frequent the businesses where some of you work.

Wastage has nothing to do with the customer. It is the responsibility of the airline to price its products at a point that generates the level of revenue that it desires to cover wastage. It is the responsibility of the pax to determine whether that product is value for his or her money and purchase the product that the airline sells at the price point set by the airline. It then becomes the responsibility of the airline to deliver that product that was sold as is or better, but certainly not less.

Quoting rbavfan (Reply 46): If your talking during the announcements they can tell you to shut up and you should. Your comment shows all here what entitlement attitude is. So you were talking during a time when your not supposed to and were told to shut up, then quit fling UA over it. I'll bet UA is glad you left.

You don't even know what you're talking about. I turned to my friend who was next to me and asked a question. The flight attendant was completely out of line and if United is 'glad' they lost a customer that spends $20,000 a year that might explain why they have lagged their competitors in financial performance for so many years.

Lots of things to answer, too many to quote. So here goes:

It is not penny-pinching to board the correct number of meals. In the last 100 days DL operated over 877,000 flights (without ONE mainline cancellation!). The cost of an airline meal is not just the food but the kitchen staff that prepares it, the guys who load it on the trucks and onto the aircraft and then the crew that serves it. That drives the meal costs skyward quickly. Just overboarding by one meal per flight would be a loss in the tens of millions of dollars on that many flights.

Food is donated to shelters but directly from the caterers. Once it is on the airplane it cannot be reused--health department issues and concern about contamination. On international flights all trash and left over food must be incinerated. We had these great big orange stickers that said "international trash" and we got great delight by slipping one of those onto a colleague's back unnoticed inflight and seeing how long it took before someone told them. But then you have to guard against the "payback."

Fact is that domestically most people in the forward cabin are on upgrades. Very few actually pay the high tariff. This is why many carriers are switching their frequent flyer systems to a dollar base rather than a mileage base.

Ground agents cannot eat aircraft food on pain of termination. I am not saying that it does not occur after I get off the jet (I see lots of chubby mechanics and cabin cleaners) but at most airlines that is a definite no-no. We will offer the agents a cup of hot coffee or a cold drink, time permitting. On bitterly cold winter days in MSP we try to send some cups of hot coffee down to the rampers to show our appreciation for their work. I am standing in a warm cabin while they are slinging bags in -60F.

As far as telling passengers to shut up during the demo, we have practiced a million ways around that. Usually all it takes is for me to catch their eye and raise an eyebrow--maybe it is that old Catholic school upbringing (not that I look like a nun!). If all else fails I will lean over and quietly ask for their attention for just a few seconds longer--99% of the time that works. Even if they are not paying attention most people are just silent...unless you are flying with my beloved spouse sitting next to you who, as a retired teacher of forty years will not hesitate to say "Excuse me, but we cannot hear the announcements." I know that tone and have been on the receiving end of it more than once and they stop dead.

And yes...unfortunately there is a small percentage of people that work for an airline that are unhappy. Not just with that day, the job or their company. They just are miserable in their lives and take it out on others which is totally wrong. The simplest solutions are always the best on the airplane.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 57): How about having enough catering so that they don't run out of food choices. It is ridiculous the crap airlines do that some of you airline folks find acceptable.

For reasons that are obvious to everyone except you apparently, it's impossible for an airline to cater meals in a way that guarantees every passenger their first choice. The amount of food waste would be astronomical, and then people would complain that fares are more expensive and we'd be back to square one.

It's one meal. If getting what you want is that important to you, AA has a pre-ordering system that is extremely uncomplicated. That's the happy medium here.

Quoting stratocruiser (Reply 70):

I totally agree with you, 100%!

I've tried 5 US carriers and their service is horrendous! I stopped complaining about brazilian airlines ever since...

It is normal expectation for people in premium cabins to get their preferred meals,

Regarding the waste, airlines need to prepare crew meals for their crews, especially on long haul flights,
instead of preparing meals specifically for crews,
why not do doubt catering for F & J so that at lease everyone sitting in premium cabins get their first or second choice.
Whichever left can be used as crew meals, and I believes most meals in F&J will be better then crew meals
and crews will be happy with such arrangement.

I just saw the video.... The flight attendant threatened to call the police because he was asked his name? Completely overboard!

http://www.mileaholic.com/home/2016/...tory-american-airlines-flight-2468

This is his side of the story. Looks like he did pre-order his meal on the flight out to Punta Cana but preferred the main option. He chose not to pre-order on the return flight.

Quoting Mcmax (Reply 4): On flights that involve a time zone change, the meal orders for westbound flights are taken from the rear of business/first class to the front. Thus, if the passenger was seated in the second row of business/first class--and assuming it was a 737-800 with four rows of business/first class--then at least 8 of the 16 passengers would have ordered before him.

Okay . . .

I've been on domestic flights on which the FA hopped all over the cabin servicing passengers according the number of stars beside their names on the purser's printout (works for me since I'm a million-miler   ).

I've also been on flights on which a dozing passenger was left undisturbed by the FA at meal time - yet when awaked insisted on a full range of entrée choices. When I dozed off on a PDX-DEN flight a couple weeks ago - I apologized to the FA on our 319 - and asked to be served whatever was left unselected (a hot chicken and swiss with arugula on an Italian roll with mixed greens salad and fruit compote - *delicious*.

The FA actually thanked me for being flexible.

Quoting mattnrsa (Reply 79): This is his side of the story. Looks like he did pre-order his meal on the flight out to Punta Cana but preferred the main option. He chose not to pre-order on the return flight.

If we haven't actually heard the story, we've already understood the story as presented by the passenger by way of the video that he put on Twitter. What we haven't heard, and what we probably will never hear, is the FA's side of the story. What I noticed in the video the passenger posted is his seatmate imploring him to stop to which he answers, "I just want to get his name" and then he keeps on going. Why would you even need his name? Why is this important. You can write a letter of complaint with all the juicy details and the airline will figure out who it is. Does he not think that AA knows who's working on their planes at any given moment? I still say there's more to this story that the passenger isn't sharing.

Cannot believe the number of people justifying the FA's rude behavior. There is no excuse to say shut up to your passengers. If you are that allergic of people go work in some other industry.

It also does not matter whether the fare in J is cheap or not. Its is offered at that price by the airline.

Quoting hongkongflyer (Reply 77): Regarding the waste, airlines need to prepare crew meals for their crews, especially on long haul flights, instead of preparing meals specifically for crews, why not do doubt catering for F & J so that at lease everyone sitting in premium cabins get their first or second choice. Whichever left can be used as crew meals, and I believes most meals in F&J will be better then crew meals and crews will be happy with such arrangement.

Actually, at many airlines, this is already practice. There is a difference between cockpit and cabin crew meals. Both pilots cannot have either the same entrée or setup in case of food poisoning. Cabin crew are, I guess, it is less important. We are boarded a J class entrée on a Y class setup. Of course we get dibs on the desserts and fruit/cheese that is left over. I usually pick at a salad or some fruit and cannot honestly recall the last entrée I ate.

Quoting ogre727 (Reply 78): I just saw the video.... The flight attendant threatened to call the police because he was asked his name? Completely overboard! I know this is going to sound strange, but we are not required to give our names out. We come into contact with hundreds of thousands of people a year--not all of whom are nice. All you need is the flight number, date and the to and from cities and any airline can instantly figure out who displeased you. To be honest, passenger complaints come with the job (for some reason people do not like being told "no"). The carriers know this and unless it is something particularly unusual all that will happen is you MIGHT get called in and asked about it but any major airline gets literally thousands of complaints and each one cannot be tracked, especially now with easy online access to vent. And we will never, ever give out another crew member's name. It is a violation of their privacy and safety. I now of three flight attendants that were raped and murdered by passengers who stalked them. We have families and will not put them at risk because I ran out of chicken the row in front of you. Some people just get enraged over the subject of one meal. Never have understood that. Preordering is the way to go. Perhaps it is all part of the "Me, me, me, it's all about ME" idea that (thankfully) a few people have. Most times I just get creative and a little humorous and invariably they understand I cannot pull over and buy more pasta. What makes me laugh is when they start screaming that they are "allergic" to chicken (or beef, pasta or whatever). I just say "Well, I certainly do not want you to risk your health so we'll just skip you for the meal." You'd be surprised how many miraculous healings I cause.

Thanks for your kind responses, but I have a bit of push back...

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74): It is not penny-pinching to board the correct number of meals. In the last 100 days DL operated over 877,000 flights (without ONE mainline cancellation!). The cost of an airline meal is not just the food but the kitchen staff that prepares it, the guys who load it on the trucks and onto the aircraft and then the crew that serves it. That drives the meal costs skyward quickly. Just overboarding by one meal per flight would be a loss in the tens of millions of dollars on that many flights.

To me you are making a few rationalizations here. You count every meal served whereas in many cases there is no choice. You are not factoring in the cost of the business lost when customers are dissatisfied and use another service. Yes, in many cases, customers do have choices...

I think the idea of selecting the meal in advance is a good one. Maybe the airline should send text/email a day or two in advance to those who did not select their meal and politely remind them that the best way to get what they want is to make a selection.

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74): Food is donated to shelters but directly from the caterers. Once it is on the airplane it cannot be reused--health department issues and concern about contamination.

Thanks for the clarification, it makes sense.

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74): Fact is that domestically most people in the forward cabin are on upgrades. Very few actually pay the high tariff. This is why many carriers are switching their frequent flyer systems to a dollar base rather than a mileage base.

The customer can do the upgrades because they are showing loyalty by buying tickets or using credit cards and many other avenues and all of this brings revenue to the carrier or they would not be offering it. Crew is supposed to provide service by category of service regardless of how the service is obtained.

And as you suggest, as programs are increasingly dollar based, you really can't say the customer didn't pay for the upgrade, they have paid for it via a loyalty formula constructed by the airline.

Quoting Revelation (Reply 84): The customer can do the upgrades because they are showing loyalty by buying tickets or using credit cards and many other avenues and all of this brings revenue to the carrier or they would not be offering it. Crew is supposed to provide service by category of service regardless of how the service is obtained. And as you suggest, as programs are increasingly dollar based, you really can't say the

Very accurate and succinct. We seriously try to look after our high value customers and I have always tried to thank each of them individually for their loyalty (and sometimes slipped them a few extra miles).

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 62): When you are lucky enough to be seated in F? Well that clearly indicates to me that you did not pay to sit in F so your accepting what is left is appropriate coz beggars cannot be choosers. When you have paid for it however - a different situation altogether.

I frequently pay to sit in F (paid F for HNL-SEA round trip on DL & AS last month). I don't consider myself a beggar--I prefer to say I am not a picky person as far as food is concerned.

-Aloha!

Quoting tonystan (Reply 59): Best system is what the likes of BA and a few others do (albeit only in premium cabins) where you can order your preferred meal from the menu online before your flight!

AA does that now as well.

Quoting aloha73g (Reply 86):

If has nothing to do with being picky. And BTW you are indeed picky- if you were not, you would purchase a ticket for Y.
A pax shells out a substantial amount of funds for F because of the advertised difference of experience between that class and less expensive classes. The airline is obligated to deliver that experience or do not charge the hefty price differential.

Quoting AA94 (Reply 75):

For reasons that is not obvious to you and to those others that you claim affiliation with - that BS has absolutely nothing to do with pax. Would the airline allow the pax to pay half the fare just in case the full experience of what he or she is paying for is not delivered?

For some bizarrely strange reason you seem to think that an airline is not obligated to deliver what it is charging the hefty price differential for... this is rather weird... Thank God for living in NYC and for AMTRAK!

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 89): Thank God for living in NYC and for AMTRAK!

So lucky to have that 26 hour option to Chicago.

Everyone is offended about a meal, like what you're really paying for is a five star dining experience. But think about the tremendous cost and effort it takes to keep aircraft airworthy and operate flights. You never step on an airplane wondering if you'll asphyxiate at 37,000 feet because something went wrong, and you never expect to mistakenly be taken to Atlanta when your destination is Boston. That's what your paying for. Rapid transportation and peace of mind. Not spaghetti

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 58): Having established its price point and the customer having purchased its product, the company has the obligation to provide what was purchased.

No... when you purchase an airline seat, the airline promises to get you from point "A" to point "B". They do not promise you a particular dinner entree... or a private backrub...or a foot massage. The promise you transport They may offer additional amenities based on your class of service, but that is not what you are buying.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 61): I would not complain. I would just call my credit card company and chargeback the cost of my flight.

And that would be a fraudulent complaint.

Quoting tonystan (Reply 65): Simple fact of the matter is even the finest restaurants run out of certain items on a menu. Happens all the time. Compounded more so on an aircraft where space is also a factor for catering and the fact that it is very much frowned upon (particularly at large companies) to waste items such as food. But there will always be that class of person (and certainly not a high class of person) who feels entitled to complain and whine

  

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74): It is not penny-pinching to board the correct number of meals. In the last 100 days DL operated over 877,000 flights (without ONE mainline cancellation!). The cost of an airline meal is not just the food but the kitchen staff that prepares it, the guys who load it on the trucks and onto the aircraft and then the crew that serves it. That drives the meal costs skyward quickly. Just overboarding by one meal per flight would be a loss in the tens of millions of dollars on that many flights. Food is donated to shelters but directly from the caterers. Once it is on the airplane it cannot be reused--health department issues and concern about contamination. On international flights all trash and left over food must be incinerated. We had these great big orange stickers that said "international trash" and we got great delight by slipping one of those onto a colleague's back unnoticed inflight and seeing how long it took before someone told them. But then you have to guard against the "payback." Fact is that domestically most people in the forward cabin are on upgrades. Very few actually pay the high tariff. This is why many carriers are switching their frequent flyer systems to a dollar base rather than a mileage base. Ground agents cannot eat aircraft food on pain of termination. I am not saying that it does not occur after I get off the jet (I see lots of chubby mechanics and cabin cleaners) but at most airlines that is a definite no-no. We will offer the agents a cup of hot coffee or a cold drink, time permitting. On bitterly cold winter days in MSP we try to send some cups of hot coffee down to the rampers to show our appreciation for their work. I am standing in a warm cabin while they are slinging bags in -60F. As far as telling passengers to shut up during the demo, we have practiced a million ways around that. Usually all it takes is for me to catch their eye and raise an eyebrow--maybe it is that old Catholic school upbringing (not that I look like a nun!). If all else fails I will lean over and quietly ask for their attention for just a few seconds longer--99% of the time that works. Even if they are not paying attention most people are just silent...unless you are flying with my beloved spouse sitting next to you who, as a retired teacher of forty years will not hesitate to say "Excuse me, but we cannot hear the announcements." I know that tone and have been on the receiving end of it more than once and they stop dead. And yes...unfortunately there is a small percentage of people that work for an airline that are unhappy. Not just with that day, the job or their company. They just are miserable in their lives and take it out on others which is totally wrong. The simplest solutions are always the best on the airplane.

     

The same people who complain about the airline not stocking an over-abundance of food in a particular flight would be screaming about all the food the airlines waste if they were doubling-up on items... some days, you just can't win.

This is a bit unrelated to the passenger at issue who apparently pre-ordered and wanted to change. Apparently, AA has adopted the old US method of taking food orders, the F/As do not like it and the traditional AA passengers are not used to it (at least this is what has been explained to me by some F/As).

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74): Fact is that domestically most people in the forward cabin are on upgrades. Very few actually pay the high tariff. This is why many carriers are switching their frequent flyer systems to a dollar base rather than a mileage base.

Quoting Revelation (Reply 84): The customer can do the upgrades because they are showing loyalty by buying tickets or using credit cards and many other avenues and all of this brings revenue to the carrier or they would not be offering it. Crew is supposed to provide service by category of service regardless of how the service is obtained.

I remember the day when a majority culture passenger out of BWI told me "You don't *belong* in F class" and asked to be reseated. I get really pissed when folks in boarding Line #2 start making snide remarks about passengers in Line #1 as though someone had done *the casting couch* to get there.

Last year I paid for 170,000 miles worth of tickets - mostly out of my own pocket, and mostly on E+ fares.

But if someone offers me a free meal every once in a while, I'm going to accept it unapologetically.

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 74):

Thanks for the very clear and to the point post!

Douches will be found everywhere when intolerance and entitlement has a surplus...

TRB

Quoting TheRedBaron (Reply 94): Thanks for the very clear and to the point post! Douches will be found everywhere when intolerance and entitlement has a surplus... TRB

Much appreciated, Baron. Always enjoy your posts.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 61): I would just call my credit card company and chargeback the cost of my flight.

And the airline's lawyers would eat you alive.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 72): You control cost at the detriment of the customer???

What country have you been living in? Our current economic system THRIVES on controlling costs at the detriment of everyone that's not an executive or major stockholder for the company.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 89): For some bizarrely strange reason you seem to think that an airline is not obligated to deliver what it is charging the hefty price differential for...

The airline has sold you a ticket promising to get you from point A to Point B, possibly via Point C or D, within a reasonable timeframe of the booked time (the definition of reasonable varies, which is why most airlines will allow you to refund a nonfrefundable ticket in cases of major delay).

If you've paid extra for first they've promised you a nicer seat, earlier boarding, and a meal. Not specifically the exact meal you want, but a meal. as long as they've offered you food they have fulfilled that obligation.

Quoting AEROFAN (Reply 62): When you are lucky enough to be seated in F? Well that clearly indicates to me that you did not pay to sit in F so your accepting what is left is appropriate coz beggars cannot be choosers. When you have paid for it however - a different situation altogether.

Flying YYC-DEN back on May 9th, there were only three of us in the front. Most of the remaining seats were back-filled by uniformed crew being repositioned.

One of the non-revving FAs didn't like the looks of the evening meal served on our E175. She picked her chicken wrap apart, and ate only the filling.

God bless her, but I thought it was hysterical.

Quoting rbavfan (Reply 47): Nope. The union won't allow that.

I would be shocked if the union even tries to protect his job, or even takes a grievance to the table. I am pretty sure we all agree, the FA should have never even told him to shut up. I also am pretty sure if I had ever told a passenger to shut up working the ticket counter. In fact, I would have handed my employee badge over afterwards.

Quoting Revelation (Reply 84): To me you are making a few rationalizations here. You count every meal served whereas in many cases there is no choice. You are not factoring in the cost of the business lost when customers are dissatisfied and use another service. Yes, in many cases, customers do have choices...

One of the problems of american first class services is that it is more of an upgrade cabin than a paid cabin. With that comes a real penny pinching attitude to service levels as airlines minimise costs to max the minimised revenues.

Alas, it has become a downward spiral. As service levels decline, so does the % of paid F seats.
Airlines are quite good at predicting choice of pax meal preferences, especially in a large Y cabin. In a smaller F cabin, it's more difficult. The more pre-orders, the less flexibility there is for the pax that are left and the higher probability your entree choice won't be available.

DL were quite good in the past in ensuring their status Y pax got meal choice through allowing them to choose before cabin service. They also ensured that pax who missed first meal choice got the second one.

Two examples of great service by crew.

On one ATL LGW, there were too many pax for breakfasts (delayed flight so more people hungry), so this elite + in the second from last row (me as a misconnect from an MSY cancelled flight) ended up with a Muslim breakfast. The wonderful FA came up to me post meal service and said "MR xxxx, here is the dietary breakfast you ordered, with a big wink! ". Heck it was only a Banana and a yoghurt from memory, but service like that is repaid with loyalty.

Another example of great service more recently was when I got an earlier MNL HKG service on CX. Last seat standby. last row middle seat. The hot 'meal' that CX serve on these sectors is very hit and miss (the turkey and egg wrap is vile) so I choose the AVML which is a curry samosa. As I was on an earlier flight my meal didn't follow obviously, and the cabin crew noticed. I declined the Turkey egg, and the FA came back a few minutes later from the galley. Without me even prompting, she offered her crew meal sandwiches as my AVML wasn't available.

Why two wonderful FA service? Because I was nice to them when they couldn't deliver to me. Other pax who were rude or ignorant got nothing. FA's don't make the food choices, and they don't (usually!!) have a vendetta against the passenger, so they deserve to be treated with respect.