Originally Posted by
estate
Those two statements seem fairly contradictory to me. Like others, I was brought up to call strangers (and people older than me) by their surname unless invited to do so.
I'm frequently addressed as "sir" at a coffee shop, let alone when flying anything other than Y. The next step would be Mr. Estate, and finally by my first name. ...
Exactly. I'm as apple-pie american as they come, and I resent the service industry's slouch towards familiarity. It comes across as fake-folksy at best and lazy at worst. Whether in Y, C, or F, I expect Mr. followed by an attempt at my last name. Any attempt will do.
And to steer back towards relevance, I would add that UA sounds like they do a beter job at this than AA.