On a recent ORD-IAH flight, the purser made the following announcement which got me thinking... "We are here for your SAFETY at United, so if there is an EMERGENCY, please ring the EMERGENCY call button located above your seat." (CAPS = clear voice emphasis)

When I heard the announcement, I looked up at the call button and swear I saw a picture of a FA holding a tray with a drink not a picture of a panicked passenger on the verge of some life-threatening emergency. Anyway, the message seemed to be: bother us if it's an emergency but not otherwise. I wonder if this attitude is what separates UA and other US carriers from their Asian and sometimes their EU world class peers (e.g., CX, SQ, EK). Since FAs believe that they are there for safety and not really customer service, *some* tend to feel more entitled, are more bothered by pax requests (e.g., refills, pillows, help with luggage, etc.), and give more attitude. While I completely agree safety is most important, it doesn't preclude customer service being a very close #2, does it?

(I will note that service on the flight was above average actually -- PDB in F, drinks refilled relatively soon, etc., so I have no tangible complaints. It's more a question of overall UA culture.)

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