Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
I don't think that unions are
the reason that AA premium cabins aren't really competitive on international routes, but they, and the mentality that they engender, are certainly a contributing factor.
Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
True enough, but AA and QR do compete on TATL routes. And unless one is selecting an airline based on how it treats its employees, it's not really a factor.
Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
It's probably easier to have caviar in business class and an enhanced soft product when you can pay the workers less (because they are natives of some other country where you can take advantage of wage arbitrage and lopsided labor contracts advantaging the employer), and there isn't really anything going on beyond employer fiat on who works, when the work happens, how the work is performed. That and the whole "it's a state-owned enterprise" factor.
I don't get the connection at all. How does paying an employee less motivate that employee to give friendly service? Yet the QR cabin crew is almost always friendly and passenger-service oriented. Not 100% certainly, but a lot closer than AA cabin crews.