TAKE THIS COAT AND HANG IT; TAKE THIS JOB AND...

Most of the time I have had my coat taken; and almost all of the time, I have had it returned--generally during the taxi into the gate, but on a couple of 777 domestic flights, I had to wait until a lot of Y pax had gone by before I could get attention of an FA to ask where my coat had been stored--turned out it was on other side of plane. Oops.

The inconsistencies of F boarding now are consistent--pre-departure water or juice? I'd say 70%; offer of coat hanging? About 50%; and the balance of the time, getting the coat taken care of by walking up to the front? almost always. Shortage of hangers on flights? Mostly on 737s and 320/19s.

Sometimes, the absence of service reflects a delayed inbound and quick turn-around; othertimes (esp. lately on 757s) it reflects a UA decision to do it with a crew of 4 not 5 FAs. That is always a treat, especially on longer flights. But some FAs simply do their job more effectively than others.

Incidentally on a recent trans-Pac flight, I was told by a veteran FA that she had been told (yes, third hand info) that UA had hired a big bunch of new FAs based at LAX and that within a year, more than a third of them had quit. The work was too hard; too demanding, or whatever. Can any UA folks on FT confirm or contradict?

Flyer 420
in Boulder