mvoight

Agreed. I had pleasant and attentive service throughout my flight from SFO-HKG last Tuesday. It was the best long distance flight I have ever had

fastair

Airlines tend to introduce new service that they haven't contracted for, and in so doing they put themselves in trouble. The UA "summer of love" began not by UA or it's pilots, but by DL. DL bought a fleet of 777 without having a contract negotiatied to include them in pilot's work. They let the planes sit unused for a bit before concedeing to a new contract that included the 77, and redefined a pay scale (they settled quickly at a high rate as the cost of the unused 777 was huge.) UA pilots had a promise for an "industry leading" and "seamless" contract right after that. So UA had to, by their promises, be at least equal, if not more than, DL's payscale. They also had to do it "on time" (prior to the previous contract's ammendment date.) WHen this wasn't being done, the SoL came.

The lesson that airlines should learn from this, is that if wok (new) is not included in a contract, or ciolates any provision of that contract, it should be negotiated for, prior to a) announcing it to the public as a service that is/will be offered, b) implementing it, and c) spending big $$ on it. Make sure your ducks are in line.


But alas, AA and the AFA are (and have been for years) in negotiations for a new contract. It isn't moveing quickly (in fact, I think they have recently moved to "expeditied mediation.") This is something that could be covered in the contract, but unless AA can offer terms that are acceptable to the AFA, they aren't going to get a new contract, and as such, won't be able to add new work that is not covered under the old contract.

entropy

I don't understand these stupid unions. Their workers should want to improve service for passengers to allow them to better compete for premium passengers.

The only thing they're cutting into is about a minute per "bed" turndown ... those magazines and galley talk must really be high priority for those FAs. Its not like its a 2 hour flight where they gotta get everything done, served and collected. They provide a service and then relax for 5 hours while everyone's asleep.

mvoight

The number of pax "asking" for the service? I am confused. Are you saying the FA's aren't asking the passengers if the service is wanted? I don't recall needing to ask the CX FA to provide this service. I was asked if I wanted it.

mvoight

Not only that, but we are talking about First Class. If there are any passengers that should feel entitled to service, these are the ones. After all, this is why they are paying more.

freeupgrade

I generally like the FAs, and most try very hard to do a good job.

However. this "grievance" is really a joke. How hard would this really be to do?

Give me a break.

Yesterday on AUS-DFW, the F FA (busy reading her book on jumpseat during taxi to runway) could barely be bothered to collect PDB cups as we took the runway for takeoff. I had to literally wave her down.

I could certainly see how her workload was "dramatically increased" by having to put her book down for a minute.

She has probably filed a grievance with the union over having to collect PDB cups.

emma dog

Sluggo and other AA employees, sorry but your union is way off base from a customer service perspective. While I'm sure a flight attendant who is focused on customer satisfaction works hard throughout a flight for passenger satisfaction, it only takes a few bad apples to ruin the reputation for all. After my bad F experience from PEK-ORD in January, I swore off F on AA... the changes management are trying to make actually increased my interest in flying international F again on AA.

Yeah, no doubt. It's ironic, but this news really ticks me off and makes me far less likely to buy a ticket on AA.


Rev are people paying for tickets, including the use of upgrades and FF miles. Non-rev are airline employees and other people whose tickets are comped by AA for whatever reason.

Presumably, a non-rev should not expect the same level of service.

mreed911

So were I AA, I'd send out a memo that no more non-rev in F.

There's NO difference in an FA performing this service on a 100% rev F cabbin vs. a 50% rev / 50% non-rev F cabin - it's the same number of people.

Yet another attempt to excuse being lazy.

2millionquest

What really gets my goat about the survey is how hard it tries to couch everything in terms of "safety." I simply cannot imagine how making up 16 beds (at most) is going to have any kind of impact on "safety."

What? An FA is going to fill out the form and say "Ohhhh, I broke a nail while I was making up 2J! I had to drop everything, rush to the galley, spend precious seconds digging out my nail file, and fix it pronto. It was a real safety crisis. I could have put somebody's eye out with that thing!"

And the bit about pax queueing up for the lav to change into their PJs? Really? It looks to me like the union wants to try to do away with the jammies by claiming that providing them to pax encourages long lines for the lavs, thus creating a potential "safety hazard." I can't see any other reason why that question is even on the survey. Next thing you know, they'll be lobbying to limit drinks services so people won't have to go to the lav so often whilst in flight!

The survey itself is just laughable -- and a really transparent attempt to manipulate data to support a shaky claim. It's just a way of turning "I didn't take this job to be a hotel maid!" into "Oh, my goodness gracious, we're really concerned that this new service compromises passenger safety."

It seems like the union should be doing all they can to get pax on their side. Publicly stomping their feet and whining just further reinforces the image (rightly or wrongly) that most FAs are prima donnas who would rather not do anything they perceive as demeaning or beneath them (such as serving food and drink, wiping out a lav sink mid long-haul flight, or dealing with used napkins and dirty dishes). I don't understand why the union reps can't see that this kind of stunt does far more harm than good.

Fail.

JumboD

Well then do I ever have a solution for them! The new TD service has been "enhanced" and now offers the pax the opportunity to request a bedtime story, read to them by a FA, read from whatever tabloids they picked up at the airport newsstand. Everybody wins. Well, except the other 15 pax who have to listen to said bedtime story...

FWAAA

There has been no factual finding that this work violates any portion of the AA FA contract. Under the AA contract, AA sets the service standards. Only if this additional duty results in an unreasonable workload will the AA FAs prevail.

The AA FAs are not represented by the AFA. The AA FAs have been represented by their own union, the APFA, for almost 50 years.

Gamecock

It will decrease the amount of time they can hide in the galley and read People magazine.

Honestly, I would think a FA would like this. If pax sleep more because of the new service they will have more time to read People.

HKG_Flyer1

This whole thing really contributes to the sense of "uncomfortableness" I often have when flying AA in international F class. I know that there is a certain level of service that AA is supposed to provide in F class (and even when actually fully delivered, it is far inferior to its international competitors), yet I often have the sense that the FAs are "put out," that they don't really feel like providing the service, and I don't exactly relish being placed in the role of the stern parent: "come on, now... you know you're supposed to actually provide that other food course," etc., etc.

Oftentimes, even when paying an ungodly amount of money for my ticket, I find myself just choosing to accept sloppy, incomplete service on AA in international F class rather than to provoke a confrontation with a potentially surly and unpredictable employee with whom I'm sharing close quarters.

The background behind this survey (as well as the questions) is entirely consistent with the sometimes "edgy" feeling I get from AA FAs working F class on these international flights---- they are reluctant soldiers, knocking out the last few years until they get their pensions.

tkelvin69

It's a bilateral agreement between labor/management and this is THEIR process. It's a two way street. Assumptions are often poorly made when all the information is lacking.

I should have clarified "entitlement". It was meant in the nature of those who think any request should be honored -there are many examples here on FT.

sukn

Clearly AA feels they are not in violation of any bilateral agreement with the FAs and have decided to proceed with these enhancements. Most of us here on FT seem to be in agreement with AA, and our opinions aren't completely invalid since many of us have flown AA 777 international First multiple times on various routes and are familiar with the "burdening" workload of the FAs in that cabin. That's all.