longtimeflyin

I'm by no means a super FF when it comes to flying CX but my son and I have noted that on our various flights across the pond that CX business class service has been a bit more cold and indifferent lately. This was not the case as of 5 or so years ago when I last flew them.

(Canada to Asia flights). Did we just happen to end up having colder than usual service or is this something others have noticed?

CX HK

Were you flying out of YVR? Opinions seem to vary regarding YVR-crew, though in my experience they are indeed colder than HKG-based crew.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...-cx-839-a.html

longtimeflyin

Fly out of YYZ primarily.

kaka

Reading on facebook crew do not like anything beyond whats black and white. Perhaps smiles and warmth arent part of it.

Dr. HFH

The thread title does not refer specifically to J, so....

In the past week, I flew HKG-BOS-HKG on 812 and 811, both in F. I noticed ZERO decline in the cabin service or attitude/demeanor of cabin crew. On 811, the gentleman taking care of my section (I was in 1A for both flights) provided possibly the best service I have ever experienced in LH CX F, which I started flying in 2006. Positive can-do attitude, nothing was too much trouble. Was always smiling when interacting with me, and it wasn't one of those fake, pasted-on smiles, either.

Thank you, Michael, for taking such good care of me. I only wish that you were on all of my flights!!

CX30616

Was on CX659 HKG-SIN in J, on my birthday as SL, was looking forward to receiving some congra or gifts, but the FA was really, really cold to me.

It was a red-eye flight which CX offers dinner inflight, I just asked an apple juice instead of food, but the juice came nearly 20 minutes, almost the end of dinner and they didn't have any apologies or other words, just put it and walk away. After that, I tried to ask for one more blanket, but they just replied 'No we don't have'.

After 2 hours of sleeping, they didn't offer water when I woke up, which I had many time before.

Lastly, when I walked out the cabin, the FA just ignore me, without even a smile.

I was really disappointed a bit as I expected a good service onboard, at least in J. Probably because I came from mainland China?

MKE-MR

I've seen the opposite on my segments this year in Y. As a oneworld Emerald I've consistently gotten at least one and sometimes 2-3 greetings from cabin staff, on one occasion I was served first when meals were delayed (which caused confusion from my seatmate who didn't get his food for ~15 minutes after). And an op-up to PEY. Sample size only about 6-8 segments all intra-Asia. It is a noticeable improvement for me.

Cathay Dragon 666

As someone that flies regularly at least 4 segments a week, I can say if you are comparing to 5 years ago, you will be disappointed. The new generation of crews simply are mechanical, and I don't think they buy into the management's mentality of service = client loyalty. I don't read the Cathay crew Facebook page but apparently some posters here do regularly, and the impression I get is the crews do not appreciate both management, and passengers, expecting services that they are not specifically compensated for. So unless Cathay starting to pay the crew by the smiles, you can expect the service to be methodical, but cold.

Having said that, there are still pearls in the pond. From time to time I do get great service that is truly "above and beyond". Unfortunately, 5 years ago that used to be the norm, now it is an exception.

G-CIVC

CX crew actually earn less and less year by year because mgmt keep on cutting their outport allowance and layover patterns. (Heck, a 10+% cut recently for LAX) How will you feel when your salary decreases every year, and it's not like inflation doesn't exist? I have nothing but sympathy for CX crew and they are still the very best especially the locals ^

Cathay Dragon 666

That is not a problem between passengers and them, but them and management. Having an attitude towards the passengers make the problems worse, not better. Getting pay less is not a good reason to take out their frustrations on clients. Just like I don't take out my frustrations on my clients. Direct your anger to the person (management) that causes the anger.

Coming back to the problem: so they treat the passengers badly, passengers leave, Cathay makes less money, lost profits, and then to cut costs they further cut crew salary and benefits. Great strategy.

KrazyTrain18

I don't think declining is the right word but inconsistent is a valid point. Generally CX crews are excellent and I always have great things to say however there have been a few flights recently where I found them to be disinterested or going through the motions which is fine as everybody is human however I'm sure others can vouch this seems to be occurring more and more often specifically with outport crews.

TravelwhileyouEat

I had the opposite experience with a recent NRT-HKG segment in J where the ISM greeted me even when I didn't have my FF# on my reservation since I forgot to put it in. On the second flight HKG-MNL, I was the only passenger seated in the rear J cabin so the service was more personal as well.

The only thing I did notice is that the Chinese crew seem more impersonal than the Japanese or Filipino ones but that could be a language barrier thing.

longtimeflyin

Any crew that takes this out on passengers should be reprimanded or terminated.

brunos

It is not true, as FAs salaries have more than kept track with high HK inflation; hence a very nice raise of real USD salaries (as inflation in US has been lower than in HK while HKD is pegged to USD).
Outport allowances are supposed to cover costs, not be part of salary.

kaka

I do feel the hk based crew being more indifferent across the board (or almost across the board)
And filipino crew picks who to be personal to.