English skills for FA's
As alluded to in a couple of prior posts, I think an area for targeted improvement of the OZ FA's would be English skills.
I've flown them in C now transpac several times (most recently last week) and have learned that almost any sort of non-standard request will lead to language challenges. As an example on the most recent flight I requested a cognac after dinner, and a Coke was produced. Politely at this point I pointed to the item on the menu/wine list and after a few back and forths it was understood and acknowledged. I've learned this "point at the menu and clarify trick" with OZ FA's and it seems to be the fail-safe for most requests. This can be challenging though as they don't want you to hold on to the menus or wine-lists and aggressively collect them after you order - I've learned to squirrel mine away.
Whilst on a intra-asia flight I'm not shocked if English skills aren't up to snuff I am surprised that there isn't more focus on it for C/F cabins ex-USA flights. Clearly OZ has an exceptional training program for their FA's but this could be improved.
I love the service from OZ - but in this communication arena they do seem to lag SQ and CX in my experience.
Grunion