NoLaGent

So this could almost be written as a trip report, but I'll try to phrase it as more of an experience with unique observations.

Last night on an Intra-California flight (specific details omitted to protect the innocent) I had the opportunity to fly with a pmAS FA crew that was on their 2nd leg of an Airbus trip for their very first time. I was in row 1, and had several lengthy chats with the lead FA who was in charge of our cabin.

Interestingly, he said they had just completed onboard training with this aircraft type within the last 2 weeks and he was explaining the differences in the galley set-ups to me between the Boeing and Airbus carts and how they're stocked. Our flight was double catered (I was on the 2nd leg), and an announcement was made upon reaching altitude that they would begin beverage service shortly, but due to the short length of the flight (1hr17m actual flying time, so that may be a clue as to the flight for those curious) there would only be water/soda and or beer/wine available for purchase, but no spirits.

It turns out that the FAs are claiming (no idea if it's fact) that due to the double catering, they can only offer spirits on the 1st leg, and revert to beer/wine only for purchase on the return leg. So that's interesting. Of course this only applies to the Y cabin, not F, but I had two colleagues in the back who wanted a cocktail after our long work day, and were denied that option.

What was more interesting to me is that mid-flight, the FA stopped by my seat and was in shock that I had extended the PTV from between the seat and was watching a documentary. He asked if those were in every seat as he'd never seen them before. I explained to him that they were only in F, but that all 8 seats had them and then we had a discussion about the Alaska Beyond vs. the former Red system, of which he was interested in since he'd never heard of it before.

So of course I then asked him if they'd briefed him on the other features of the aircraft we were on, like maybe the exit doors, since familiarity with the aircraft you're flying on would seem like an important thing to have covered before leaving the gate.

The amusing part of this story, at least to me, is that I had reclined in flight, and when we began descent, my seat wouldn't return to the upright position (Broken, of course). I told the FA that there is a manual lever that can be accessed between the seat where the PTV is stored, but I didn't know how to actually operate it. The other FAs didn't either, being their first trip on this aircraft type, but the Flight Officer was summoned from the cockpit and she was actually able to execute it. I probably would've rather landed while reclining than summoning 1 of 2 members from the flight deck for this while on descent, but I'm glad she was able to handle it.

So I guess the point of this post is that if you experience confusion with cross-fleeting crews, it's clearly due to a lack of comprehensive training and that we should all try to pitch in and offer them as much help as possible!