milepig

I think at some point I'd declare the cart to be self-service - after all, it is just sitting out there - and begin to offer drinks to everyone. That might get their attention.

UAL4life

Report this crud seriously! This is horrible and is undermining the efforts of the occaisional good crews that I have encountered.

Mats

Please just send the photo to United with the flight number and dates. This would violate United's service standards (periodic cabin walk-through... I can't remember the interval, but it's perhaps every 15 or 20 minutes.)

That crew would absolutely get a message from their supervisor(s). Although it only stays in their employment records for one year, you will still be doing everyone a favor by reminding this crew that we notice if they're not working.

I don't mind when crews socialize; actually, it's creepier if they don't. Passengers (including me) get annoyed by loud galley gossip, and the crews get defensive about it. But this wasn't just chatter, this was failure to perform cabin duties.

You could stretch it and state that you felt unsafe because the crew were not monitoring the cabin for any safety and security issues. Maybe that's a stretch, but it would reinforce your claim that they were remiss in their responsibilities.

star_world

Keep in mind this wasn't a United aircraft or United employees so not all of the points above apply, but they are operating under the United brand and this definitely isn't acceptable. Very slim chance that anything will happen as a result of complaining but probably worth doing anyway.

fjfv19

I've had the pleasure of some great crews in F, the few times I've been able to get into F this year. However, there is always the exception. While I've never seen the galley blocked off from the rest of the cabin as shown in the OP (which is mind-boggling), there are crews that were so inattentive that I might have thought it were the case. This is an unfortunate reality.

FlytheTail

I've had as many or more bad/lazy FAs on regionals than I have had good/attentive FAs. On a recent flight in FC from DEN-SLC, there wasn't a single beverage service before or during the flight (and it wasn't because of turbulence). The bare-minimum culture seems to be infectious at UA.

MSPeconomist

When I saw the picture, my first thought was that the cart was blocking FC passengers from charging the cockpit while a pilot is using the lavatory. If it was in this position the entire flight, perhaps a pilot is too sick to fly? Also, I wouldn't feel safe to have the plane fly so far with only one pilot in the cockpit.

FlyWorld

Have you read anything about how viciously hostile this airline has become? Do you know they've already thrown one person off of the plane, under threat of imminent arrest, simply for photographing a chair? Do you know they did an emergency landing and forcibly removed an entire family for creating a "disturbance."

A stunt like the one you propose, in this environment, could end very badly for the passenger.

ColoBill1

I would recommend sending this photo and a narrative about it, not to UA, but to the headquarters of the airline that flew your flight.

Last year, when sitting in the domestic United Club in SFO, I observed some particularly attrocious baggage handling during the servicing of several Skywest EMB120s at the nearest gate outside the club. Not only did several bags fall off the converyor belt (up to five feet) onto the tarmac, others were being litteraly thrown eight feet into the carts. The bags were also being piled so high/unsteadily that I saw several fall off onto the tarmac, when the carts were being towed away. I wrote to Skywest in St. George, UT, providing details of my observations, and received a fairly prompt written reply in return.

Of course, several months later, I saw a bag retrieved from an Skywest aircraft, at the same gate, fall off a moving cart onto the tarmac, and lay there for almost ten minutes, after the oblivious ramp worker simply drove away.

Dan_E

I received a post-flight survey, I did mention this verbally but no chance to attach photo. It did not appear any sick front seaters, the FO took a LAV break partly through the flight and the female attendant went up front with PIC until FO returned.

planes&trains

I actually prefer this over having to watch the disdain on the FA's face when the FA occasionally looks away from the cellphone. Yes, cellphone. That is what happened on a recent flight out of ALB.

When I did ask for water, without ice, the FA took her own sweet time trying to reach for ice without disrupting her nails, so she could finally get me water, with ice.

mgcsinc

Side question: why is it so incredibly difficult to convince some FA's that you really don't want ice?

1P

Why don't you want ice?

mgcsinc

Non-acceptance of ice is the next frontier of ridiculous reasons for getting kicked off a plane

QSilver

I usually skip ice, too, and get it about half the time. I think it's just force of habit for the FAs because the vast majority of PAX want it.