Originally Posted by
davetravels
I've been to 61 countries and 49 states, and had tons of fabulous FAs! That said, every now n' then, there seems to be a decades long veteran FA who, somewhere along the way, has lost sight of basic, good, friendly customer service. I'm not sure how this happens! I don't want to quite go so far as to say that it's a culture issue between former airlines, but sometimes it may seem that way.
That said, what do you do with these 30/40 year employees who have, somehow, strayed from norms of basic humanity, to some kind of controlling personality or a borderline power trip? Retrain them? Maybe.
Drop DL a note, so they can check the employee's records for any past complaints, and let them decide how to fix it for the future, and possibly pacify you!
I am not quite up there yet as far as the number of countries, but have been fortunate to visit 25+, and many with the kids too (to the critics of splitting up the family, I am not a naive family traveler). I have encountered many fabulous FAs too, but I have seen a steady decline during the last 2-3 of years. I don't think there is a culture issue between different airlines, but I have witnessed very resentful behavior by ex-NW people. I think there are lingering issues; fortunately, we are shielded from them most of the time.
I don't know what you do with some of the veterans either. Teaching an old dog new tricks may be difficult.
I have written a complaint once or twice in all the years, I think. Don't like doing that, plus not sure whether it has any effect whatsoever. I guess, formally speaking, the purser's actions can be justified as simply "following the company's policy." Power trips fall outside of the personnel manual ...