Offensive Passenger Feedback Causes Upset Among BA Crew
Jackie Reddy December 06, 2017
British Airways cabin crew.
Far from constructive, the passenger comments received by cabin crew are hurtful, mean-spirited and abusive.
Members of British Airways‘ cabin crew say that the feedback that they have received from passengers via its digital platform is “hurtful” and “unfair,” reports the Daily Mail. These negative comments, made by travelers who were surveyed after flying long-haul with the carrier, have apparently been passed directly back to flight crew as part of their review process, reports The Sun.
Some of the spiteful comments appeared to be of a personal nature, calling various members of staff old, racist and fat. One unnamed member of cabin crew indicated that she and her colleagues had been subjected to abusive language and ageism via this passenger feedback. Speaking of the current feedback process, she said, “It’s offensive, insulting and completely unacceptable that we are being subjected to this, let alone being judged on it,” she said.
Both the Daily Mail and The Sun report that members of BA’s crew have contacted their union representatives on the back of the comments that they have been subjected to as part of the carrier’s review process.
‘Dan Air,’ of the website Confessions of a Trolley Dolly, offered his honest view on the situation.
He was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying “I think it’s absolutely disgusting to be honest. These people, like all cabin crew, are just doing their jobs at the end of the day and the last thing we should be subjected to is personal attacks about our appearance or attitude. That said we do work in the public domain and therefore leave ourselves open to scrutiny, I guess, but still this kind of offensive feedback is neither useful or acceptable.”
A spokesperson for the carrier offered an official statement, saying “We ask customers for feedback and it’s important we share this, to ensure we continue to improve our customer service. We’ve fixed an issue with our filtration system which meant a small number of inappropriate comments weren’t screened out.”
The spokesperson also clarified that “Comments made by customers do not contribute towards bonus schemes.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
Strange, after many flights on BA this year I have made the opposite experience. The older and more experienced BA-flight attendants were way more pleasant than the 20something staffers. The latter reminded me more than once of the dreadful "Gordie Shore", uneducated, impolite and often snotty . I prefer FA´s in their late 40´s and 50´s any day over the young ones ( who do earn way too little which may explain the low standards) with their fake tans and dyed hair.
The job of any manager I should filter useful customer feedback from the ridiculous, or in this case, insulting.
really sad.... i have never had a flight crew that was rude or unprofessional. the traveling public can be anonymous now... and can bully... i had a seatmate not too long ago that was absolutely irate because our flight was 5 minutes late due to a lightning storm at the airport..... said he was never going to fly the airline again....just an example of the frame of mind some of these comments come from... i'm sure a crew member can be having a bad day at work...just like the rest of us. but my experience with flight crews has been very positive over all...
Solution seems simple; screen out the unsubstantiated abuse before sharing the customer feedback with the crew member.
Many may suggest the old adage of ‘The truth hurts’ comes into play here.