Fellow FTs,

The AC forum has become pretty poisoned in the last couple of weeks with posters being outright rude if not worse to each other and vigorously cursing about AC, its management, unions, the government and everybody else in general.

I think we are losing sight of the fact that those who most suffer in this situation are the "normal" AC employees (FAs, ramp workers, GAs, CS etc.) who are squeezed by the pressure coming from all sides and are afraid about their jobs. So I suggest to just say a few friendly words the next time you deal with some of them and are treated friendly. This would be a tiny contribution to bringing back some normality to our travels. You could also post your experience with doing so. Here is mine (not spectacular at all, just a flight with good service and normal human interaction with a thank you at the end):

Flying LHR-YYZ (upgraded to J) a few days ago, on-time departure, FAs very friendly, offered to hang up my suit after I changed to casual stuff in the washroom first thing after boarding; pre-departure drink, newspapers, very quick meal service, frequent refills during the entire flight, friendly chat at the galley, early arrival (30 min) at YYZ.

All pretty normal and what you would expect, after all you are the paying customer, right? Well, money does not replace a friendly "Thanks for the good service!", or so you might think. But a customer is supposed to be disgruntled nowadays, and of course I can always find something to complain about, especially when in J: After all, they charge lots of $$ for J (the fact that I am an upgraged Y doesn't play a role -- it is a matter of principle!!). Let's begin with the pre-departure drink. "Sparkling wine". Can't they afford Champagne? (Never mind that I originate from a region in Europe where they produce excellent sparkling wine and nobody would ever consider buying Champagne.) Then the lamb. It is tender, but somewhat fatty on the one side; and it has this lamby taste. And actually, can't the FAs stop walking around topping up the drinks -- this disturbs my concentration on doing... actually nothing in particular.

To cut this short, it was a good flight with great service and the only inconvenience I experienced was to be forced to observe a fellow pax who had apparently decided to drive AC into bankruptcy all alone by drinking a whole bottle of Champagne, requesting a second one to be opened just to have a shot in his orange juice , and finally by asking for a second amenity kit which he put unopened and with a smug grin in his bag.

On deboading, I thanked the SD for the service and received a cheerful, albeit somewhat surprised "You are very welcome!".