Delayed awaiting flight attendants..who are at McDonalds!
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,891
Delayed awaiting flight attendants..who are at McDonalds!
I expect to be fussed at a bit here, but I recently had a DFW-SAT was delayed due to awaiting flight attendants. Evidently the inbound crew was so late AA found another crew and posted a short delay.
The gate agents kept announcing that the new flight attendants had landed at DFW and we were just waiting on them to get to the gate for boarding to start.
They made the announcements a couple of times.
Eventually one flight attendant showed up and went onboard.
The other two showed up shortly thereafter with bags of McDonalds.
Apparently they had stopped between flights to get food.
They gate agents eyed the bags and just shook their heads.
I know everyone is entitled to a break but it seems kind of crazy to delay a flight for the flight attendants to take a break at McDonalds but hey...at least they got it to go
In all seriousness, what is the AA policy here? Are they suppose to go directly from one gate to another when a whole planload of people is waiting to board.
Do the flight attendants feel show unappreciated by the company they really don't care enough not to stop and get on their new flight as quickly as possible?
If some inflight supervisor found out about this, could the crew be disciplined, or is it not worth messing with the union?
Also, their late arrival to the aircraft (increased by the food break) of course made the return flight back up to DFW that much later thus jeopardizing the return planeload's connecting passengers.
I also place a bit of blame on AA.
It seems short sided of them not to provide some kind of crew shuttle on the ramp at DFW. If the inbound crew arrives D30 and departs C19, isn't it cheaper to pay some guy $10/hour to drive around a van for "hot" crew connections rather than let them wander about the terminal having to use SkyTrain and then walk to the gate with certain detours like McDonalds?
It seems the reroutes and misconnects would be far more costly.
Also, isn't is cheaper to provide a sandwich or two on board for each crew rather than have to pay out for missed connections and other delay related costs rather than having the crew make a delay worse for a food stop?
The gate agents kept announcing that the new flight attendants had landed at DFW and we were just waiting on them to get to the gate for boarding to start.
They made the announcements a couple of times.
Eventually one flight attendant showed up and went onboard.
The other two showed up shortly thereafter with bags of McDonalds.
Apparently they had stopped between flights to get food.
They gate agents eyed the bags and just shook their heads.
I know everyone is entitled to a break but it seems kind of crazy to delay a flight for the flight attendants to take a break at McDonalds but hey...at least they got it to go
In all seriousness, what is the AA policy here? Are they suppose to go directly from one gate to another when a whole planload of people is waiting to board.
Do the flight attendants feel show unappreciated by the company they really don't care enough not to stop and get on their new flight as quickly as possible?
If some inflight supervisor found out about this, could the crew be disciplined, or is it not worth messing with the union?
Also, their late arrival to the aircraft (increased by the food break) of course made the return flight back up to DFW that much later thus jeopardizing the return planeload's connecting passengers.
I also place a bit of blame on AA.
It seems short sided of them not to provide some kind of crew shuttle on the ramp at DFW. If the inbound crew arrives D30 and departs C19, isn't it cheaper to pay some guy $10/hour to drive around a van for "hot" crew connections rather than let them wander about the terminal having to use SkyTrain and then walk to the gate with certain detours like McDonalds?
It seems the reroutes and misconnects would be far more costly.
Also, isn't is cheaper to provide a sandwich or two on board for each crew rather than have to pay out for missed connections and other delay related costs rather than having the crew make a delay worse for a food stop?
#2
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
Without knowing a lot more, it's hard to place a lot of blame on the FAs. The break might have been their only chance to get food at a reasonable time, and it's not necessarily their fault that they were suddenly assigned to another flight when they were otherwise expecting to eat lunch.
As you point out, it seems like the kind of problem that American could probably solve by having someone to get them from point A to point B and possibly providing lunch so they could start to get ready for the flight without waiting in line at McDonalds.
As you point out, it seems like the kind of problem that American could probably solve by having someone to get them from point A to point B and possibly providing lunch so they could start to get ready for the flight without waiting in line at McDonalds.
#3
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 1MM, DL Silver, SPG Lifetime Gold
Posts: 91
I expect to be fussed at a bit here, but I recently had a DFW-SAT was delayed due to awaiting flight attendants. Evidently the inbound crew was so late AA found another crew and posted a short delay.
The gate agents kept announcing that the new flight attendants had landed at DFW and we were just waiting on them to get to the gate for boarding to start.
They made the announcements a couple of times.
Eventually one flight attendant showed up and went onboard.
The other two showed up shortly thereafter with bags of McDonalds.
Apparently they had stopped between flights to get food.
They gate agents eyed the bags and just shook their heads.
I know everyone is entitled to a break but it seems kind of crazy to delay a flight for the flight attendants to take a break at McDonalds but hey...at least they got it to go
In all seriousness, what is the AA policy here? Are they suppose to go directly from one gate to another when a whole planload of people is waiting to board.
Do the flight attendants feel show unappreciated by the company they really don't care enough not to stop and get on their new flight as quickly as possible?
If some inflight supervisor found out about this, could the crew be disciplined, or is it not worth messing with the union?
Also, their late arrival to the aircraft (increased by the food break) of course made the return flight back up to DFW that much later thus jeopardizing the return planeload's connecting passengers.
I also place a bit of blame on AA.
It seems short sided of them not to provide some kind of crew shuttle on the ramp at DFW. If the inbound crew arrives D30 and departs C19, isn't it cheaper to pay some guy $10/hour to drive around a van for "hot" crew connections rather than let them wander about the terminal having to use SkyTrain and then walk to the gate with certain detours like McDonalds?
It seems the reroutes and misconnects would be far more costly.
Also, isn't is cheaper to provide a sandwich or two on board for each crew rather than have to pay out for missed connections and other delay related costs rather than having the crew make a delay worse for a food stop?
The gate agents kept announcing that the new flight attendants had landed at DFW and we were just waiting on them to get to the gate for boarding to start.
They made the announcements a couple of times.
Eventually one flight attendant showed up and went onboard.
The other two showed up shortly thereafter with bags of McDonalds.
Apparently they had stopped between flights to get food.
They gate agents eyed the bags and just shook their heads.
I know everyone is entitled to a break but it seems kind of crazy to delay a flight for the flight attendants to take a break at McDonalds but hey...at least they got it to go
In all seriousness, what is the AA policy here? Are they suppose to go directly from one gate to another when a whole planload of people is waiting to board.
Do the flight attendants feel show unappreciated by the company they really don't care enough not to stop and get on their new flight as quickly as possible?
If some inflight supervisor found out about this, could the crew be disciplined, or is it not worth messing with the union?
Also, their late arrival to the aircraft (increased by the food break) of course made the return flight back up to DFW that much later thus jeopardizing the return planeload's connecting passengers.
I also place a bit of blame on AA.
It seems short sided of them not to provide some kind of crew shuttle on the ramp at DFW. If the inbound crew arrives D30 and departs C19, isn't it cheaper to pay some guy $10/hour to drive around a van for "hot" crew connections rather than let them wander about the terminal having to use SkyTrain and then walk to the gate with certain detours like McDonalds?
It seems the reroutes and misconnects would be far more costly.
Also, isn't is cheaper to provide a sandwich or two on board for each crew rather than have to pay out for missed connections and other delay related costs rather than having the crew make a delay worse for a food stop?
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,891
True...but 5 minutes can cost AA a whole lot of $ on the return leg when you have 6 people in business class SAT-DFW-LGW (hypothetical) who misconnect with just these few minutes to spare and end up on BA or someone else.
I'm not saying they shouldn't eat but every minute counts in their business and it seems between the flight attendant union and the company could come up with some better solutions.
I'm not saying they shouldn't eat but every minute counts in their business and it seems between the flight attendant union and the company could come up with some better solutions.
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
flight AAttendAAnts (FAAs) work very hard for little pAAy. one of the many contract renegotiations since 9/11 could have been the loss of meAAls. if this was their only opportunity to grAAb grub, would you rather they go hungry? and, yes, they did get the food to go. (i also doubt the gAAte AAgents would shAAke their heAAds. the GAAs also receive sub-stAAndAArd wAAges.)
this seems a bit petty, no?
this seems a bit petty, no?
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,891
Maybe more petty for AA not to provide basic meals and transfers at DFW.
I'm not just blaming the flight attendants.
I'm not just blaming the flight attendants.
#7
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 200
let me play Devil's Advocate. Assume they jumped off their flight, were driven over to your flight immediately without a break. Would you have posted about grouchy flight attendants on this flight?
Personally, I'd rather have a happy, rested crew anytime, even if I had to wait for one.
Personally, I'd rather have a happy, rested crew anytime, even if I had to wait for one.
#8
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,916
True...but 5 minutes can cost AA a whole lot of $ on the return leg when you have 6 people in business class SAT-DFW-LGW (hypothetical) who misconnect with just these few minutes to spare and end up on BA or someone else.
I'm not saying they shouldn't eat but every minute counts in their business and it seems between the flight attendant union and the company could come up with some better solutions.
I'm not saying they shouldn't eat but every minute counts in their business and it seems between the flight attendant union and the company could come up with some better solutions.
#9
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Programs: My opinions are not those of AA or any affiliates of AMR Corp.
Posts: 2,095
One of the things that were taken away from FAs was Contracted food provided by AA. Even though you see FAs eating food, it's usually because people in F/C decided not to eat, so it's left over food....YIPPIE, FAs get to eat! or, the FA actually brought food with them from home.
When there is a 13hr duty day, there is usually one leg that is schedule long enough for the crew to stop somewhere to grab some food at the airport. However, when there are delays, sometimes crews don't get to eat at all. Believe it or not, there are some FAs who WILL NOT eat the airplane food even if it's the last food on earth.
When there are schedule changes, and crews must haul to the next aircraft, this is sometimes their only chance to actually get some half-way decent food at the airports...ie...McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway, Wendy's, Chili's (since we're talking DFW here).
I remember about two years ago, we had an extremely long day with no chance of getting something to eat. We had to change gates due to a gate change and this gave us an opportunity to grab some grub. All three of us instantly got a second wind because we finally had some energized food.
There is nothing that AA can do about it until they give back food for FAs onboard.
When there is a 13hr duty day, there is usually one leg that is schedule long enough for the crew to stop somewhere to grab some food at the airport. However, when there are delays, sometimes crews don't get to eat at all. Believe it or not, there are some FAs who WILL NOT eat the airplane food even if it's the last food on earth.
When there are schedule changes, and crews must haul to the next aircraft, this is sometimes their only chance to actually get some half-way decent food at the airports...ie...McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway, Wendy's, Chili's (since we're talking DFW here).
I remember about two years ago, we had an extremely long day with no chance of getting something to eat. We had to change gates due to a gate change and this gave us an opportunity to grab some grub. All three of us instantly got a second wind because we finally had some energized food.
There is nothing that AA can do about it until they give back food for FAs onboard.
#11
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New York City/NY22
Programs: AA Platinum 2.3MM (Lifetime PLT)
Posts: 5,285
Could we please all agree to stop spelling common English words with two As when the dictionary has only one?
Even American Airlines, with its plethora of registered trademarks like AAdvantage does not go as "crazy" as some folks here.
Even American Airlines, with its plethora of registered trademarks like AAdvantage does not go as "crazy" as some folks here.
#15
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,229
I`d would be interesting to see what the marketing department would think of FA`s boarding a flight that might service first class food and has no (not too sure) relations to the named fast food brand.
"Their food better than our`s?"
"Their food better than our`s?"