Originally Posted by
Cathay Boy
I just flew back in J HKG-JFK via YVR. I have to say the crew's attitude difference is very significant. There are already a number of reports that complains about the US-based crews, and my guess is the YVR-JFK part is manned by US-based crews.
Anyway, from HKG-YVR the crews are amazing. Always smiling, polite to a fault, and go above and beyond to make sure you get everything you wanted, if not more. One even apologize why she couldn't serve coffee to me with the fasten seat-belt light on and she literally talked for 2-3 minutes in her apologies. I was taken aback by that. I asked them are they HK-based crew and they say yes.
Then the YVR-JFK flight. Immediately I notice an attitude shift. No smiles, indifferent business-like tone and service. To be fair it's not like they are bad or horrific, but compared to HKG-YVR it is just the gulf of experience is so wide that it's worth mentioning.
...and the best crew I've ever had on CX was based out of YYZ, to counter the implicit conclusion here that HKG crews are better than North American ones. I've also had stunning service from a SFO-based crew, as well as a dreadful one. In HKG, like everyone else I've had amazing crews based in HKG ones, and terrible ones as well. I'm sure everyone has different experiences. There are people who post on this forum who I think fly SFO round trip a few times monthly, and they probably have a more fair representation of US-based crews than the rest of us. I fly SFO 5-6x per year (the only one I'm sure in the US where CX bases cabin crews), and I'm not even sure that's a fair sample size. I don't know half the time where they're even based, and it seems pretty much like the standard inconsistent CX service to me. Sometimes superb, sometimes underperforming.
Btw, does CX even base cabin crews at JFK? I thought they didn't....in which case you would've had a YVR-based crew, which is splitting hairs here but isn't part of the US.