Dallas49er

A Letter in the works.

There should be some expectation of sevice in FC, no matter whether you pay, use stickers, are EXP, or upgraded for some reason.

There was less than zero service for the whole flight, regardless of cabin. The entire crew should be ashamed of themselves. They did nothing more than was basicaly required to get a fully loaded MD-80 from DFW to IAH.

1. Pre departure-No service, other to hang coats (when shoved in their face). However, the FAs had plenty of time, 7-10 minutes prior to making the saftey announcements to laugh and giggle in the galley. The plane was being catered when FC boarded. (Sidebar-Why can Delta, Continental, United, and even U S Air do a FC pre-departure beverage service and AA just can't seem to get in gear? There is universally a lot of conversation going on in the galley without a lot of action.)

2. During Taxi-The Captain welcomed us on board and then said that due to due to unpredictable turbulence based on heat, he was going to ask the FAs to stay seated for the duration of the flight (34 minutes). Snorts, coughs, and one "Bu......" from FC.

3. During Flight-No attempt to provide any level of service. FC FA moved over so pax could not se her reading magazines. However, did get up 3 times to get water for herself, but made no eye contact with any pax.

4. No turbulence at all. Bad guess on the Captains part.

5. De-planing-No eye contact from FC FA as we filed off. Comments made to her included "Thanks for nothing." and "I guess the Captain gave you the last leg off."

6. Bulk of FC pax inRent a car bus- Many negative comments, universal disgust with entire flight crew. Starting with the Captain and the "phoney?" turbulence on down to the FAs who had no pride in thier job.

Based on the level of service recieved, which was none, may I suggest that those who used stickers to upgrade (not me) be given their sticker back, and some other compensation (miles?) be given to those who didn't use stickers.

The one of the many reasons I do not fly Southwest, is that I expect more from AA. Today I got nothing.

The entire crew of AA #1591 from DFWto IAH on August 14th failed to live up to any expectations beyond Greyhound. Shame on the Captain, and shame on the FAs.

(I am tired and going to bed now-feel free to flame away. I am going back to lurking)

CloudCoder

Ouch! Harsh letter, but you do make a good point. People expected FC service but did not receive it.

AA might compensate the entire FC cabin, which would make sense. Or they might take the easy way out by saying they can't control the weather (nor weather forecasts), which would also make sense. It will be interesting to find out what happens.

For sure you can't blame the FAs. They had no choice except to follow the captain's orders.

Looking on the bright side, be thankful it wasn't a longer flight.

mvoight

Not getting pre-departure drinks is not unusual.
I don't know why you are blaming the FAs for not providing service after the captain told them not to.

The comment about "phoney" turbulence seems a bit much. Are you saying the Captain lied about there being a good chance for turbulence? How do you know turbulence wasn't being reported on the route?

oneant

I'll hit these one at a time.

I agree, and AA is known for somewhat lesser service in F than others when flying domestic...especially short hop.
First and foremost, getting you from A to B is their job, above ALL ELSE.
Again, relatively typical, in my experience, with AA F and, usually, something you have a right to complain about. That said, keep some things in mind. DFW-IAH is a very short hop. It's probably on an MD-80, which means everyone boards through the same door. Since there are more passengers than just F on that flight, boarding everyone to dep on time is their ultimate goal. An FA or two clogging up the aisles so you could get a drink is counter-productive.
Texas is known for crappy weather, and this season has been more stormy than most. I live in Plano, so I've been here to experience it. The fight crew is here to make the flight as safe as possible. If turb was forecasted, they did their job to ensure the safety of the pax and FA's. This happens from time to time.
That FA is insured through the airline. That's why they can continue in-flight service during times where the crew has instructed the pax to remain seated. Also, she was working. You weren't doing anything other than sitting in your seat. Seems to me like she should be able to get some water if she needs it. You could have used the lav, or even gotten up to ask for water (or whatever). My guess is that you didn't.
This isn't just a random guess. It's based on PIREPs and the most current weather info at the time of departure, as well as PIREPs and weather info in flight. The crew may have tried their best to get to FL's that were less turbulent and succeeded, but it still doesn't remove the very real chance that the turb they were avoiding would have been unavoidable. Better to err on the side of caution, especially in commercial aviation.
The fact that anyone said it was "phony" just proves that they're ignorant. But, you know, I'm sure the crew did that just to give the FA's time off. Sure. Why not?
Ok, I'll grant you that you didn't receive even the crap service that is typical of AA short-hop domestic, but do you REALLY think you deserve compensation for something that you experienced due to the safety of, and in the best interest of, the pax and crew?
The key word here that you need to focus in on is "today." And I've already explained why that was.
You have it completely wrong. But who are the crew and FA's to contradict you? How dare they.

Carfield

I do understand that weather predictions differ sometimes between pre-takeoff and reality. However, I agree that most F/As would or should offer a pre-takeoff beverage especially in anticipations of turbulence during the flight and F/As have to be seated... at least F pax have a beverage, especially they have 7 to 10 minutes before door was closed.

I also wonder really... if US Airways can manage a pre-takeoff beverage with a twenty minutes turn... AA has no excuse not doing it.

Carfield

FTW

I've actually had great service on short hops in F, including pre-departure bevvies. I haven't flown short-hop on other airlines in F, so I can't make a comparison, but I wouldn't bash AA based on the service I've gotten in F on every route from 250 miles to 6700 miles.

As a fellow Texan, I'm surprised that you would say this. While the period late December 2006 to early August 2007 is arguably the most problematic in the last 110 years, Texas weather is typically quite benign. There is little in the DFW climate record back to 1898 that would have done more damage to present-day aviation interests than what we've seen during the last several months. In fact, the worst two days for weather diversions in AA history occurred during the time frame I mention earlier in this paragraph.

Winter weather here is paralyzing but infrequent. Thunderstorms can ruin a mileage run but usually affect the terminal complex for only a short period of time. Insurmountable crosswinds and/or duststorms (a la February 24, 2007) are quite rare. It is virtually impossible for tropical weather to close the airport for the day; it's never happened and likely never will. Texas heat can create deep turbulence and cause lift issues for heavy planes, but 3 consecutive days of 104 degrees is very uncommon. Excessive heat at DFW's elevation rarely causes any issues for departures or arrivals.

All things considered for a typical calendar year, where else could an airport with DFW's traffic fare better?

Surface mixing above 10,000 feet is unusual, but can lead to some turbulence. This is especially critical for a shorthaul, which may spend most of the flight within the boundary layer. However, I saw no PIREPs about turbulence, no were there any AIRMET TANGOs. This isn't to say the pilot intentionally misled to assure the OP remained thirsty, but it was likely excessively cautious.

freeupgrade

The FA probably could have done the predepartures if she really wanted to.

mvoight

Often they don't do pre-departure drinks.
It's nothing unusual.
The rant of this story seemed to be about the FA's not providing inflight service after the pilot stated this from the beginning.

ricktoronto

Dallas to Houston - how long can that possibly be? OK, 224 miles. Though my monthly COPA flight MGA to SAL (214 miles) is 25 minutes and they do serve a mixed drink and nuts during the 15 minutes we are at altitude.

AEpilot76

[QUOTE=Dallas49er;8233646]The entire crew of AA #1591 from DFWto IAH on August 14th failed to live up to any expectations beyond Greyhound. Shame on the Captain, and shame on the FAs.

/QUOTE]

Yeah shame on the captain for keeping his crew safe.

We have a turbulence index on our dispatch release which predicts turbulence along our route of flight. Usually it's fairly accurate based on our cruise altitude. Maybe they cruised at an altitude lower or higher than what was on their release. Being an IAH-DFW commuter for 3+ years I can tell you they usually cruise lower. Maybe by time they realized it was going to be smooth, they were already in a descent. This is just one possibility

The flight was 34 min long, if it was longer I'm sure the captain would have told them it would be ok for a service. If you can't go more than 34 minutes without a drink, then maybe you should be taking your business else where. Rarely, and I mean rarely have I seen the fa's on this route NOT bust their butts to get a service done.

I'd rather piss a few FC passengers off by keeping my FA's safe than have my crew injured.

Deltahater

I somewhat agree with the OP. AA lately seems to take the easy way out when it comes to potential turbulences. I fly SAT-DFW often, and about 10% of the time there is complete cabin lock down for 42 mins because there might be turbulences somewhere along the route. I know 42 mins is nothing, but it is the thought process behind it.

AA needs to do a better job balancing customer service with safety. But as long as we have caring pilots like AEpilot76, it seems that AA will avoid customer service where possible.

A good pilot would have told the FA at least in FC about the potential turbulences so she could have cheerfully provided pre-departure drinks, just in case. But from the OP's description it seemed like she was more interested in her magazine than her pax.

PUCCI GALORE

If, as you say, they had time to stand and chat, they had time to get drinks out on the ground.

If the Captain instructed that crew were to remain seated during the flight, the FA had no business getting up unless there was a problem with one of the passengers. Whether she was thirsty or not, her passengers probaly were thirsty and she should have thought of that.

All that said, Capts have been known to leave seat belt signs on for strategic rather than actual reasons (although there is no reason why this would have happened here) to keep people in their seats - often to let the service get out and cleared without people blocking aisles.

I suspect that DFW-IAH has zero seniority for bidding and that the crew were not particularly very experienced. I would not go as far as to condemn AA but I think that a letter is in order as this is not First anythin let alone class.

swag

If AA's domestic F service were usually stellar, and this was just a one-off incident on a short hop due to a faulty weather prediction, I'm not sure we'd be discussing it.

But it's not. AA's F service is below other Domestic airlines, and well below what it was less than a decade ago. Many of us get frustrated at the lack of pre-departure drinks, at the single-tray dinner service, and the all too common disappearance of the FA's once the initial basic service is completed.

So in that light, the OP reads as the final straw. Service that seems to have diminished to a bare minumum, now has fallen even further into non-existence. And whether the blame goes to the Captain or the FA's, seeng the FA get up several times to serve themselves, while offering F pax nothing, well, I'd be pretty annoyed myself.

Teacher49

I used to fly Swiss Air between Basel and Zurich. 100 kilometers. Time in the air, about 20 minutes from taxi to landing. In that time, two complete passes for service and two complete passes for clean up were made. Coffee and croissant or small sandwich and CHOCOLATE!

Small plane. 40 seats? But all pax served, which means larger number than an AA FC cabin.

Crew always professional, polite, efficient.

So it's possible.

No comment on the possibility of flight crew over reacting or cheating pax by having FAs remain seated.

Bostom

BA served cocktails and dinner with wine AMS-LHR the last time we took that 40 minute, 230 mile flight in Business class.

There's no excuse for failing to provide pre-flight drinks. A bit of work to stand out of the aisle as the coach pax pass, but hardly work worthy of Houdini. It is work, though, to which to many crews seem allergic.

The "safety of the crew" flag is raised far too often, so much so that lots of AA passengers are like Chicken Little's audience: no longer believing that the sky is falling because we - see - hear - feel - realize - otherwise, despite what the Captain says. A state of affairs that will one day return to bite AA in the patooty when orders from the cockpit are followed less willingly and (God forbid in some instances) not at all.

Credibility counts. Incidents like this (described by the OP) have happened to all of us. We read here they also happen to others. Patterns emerge. Attitudes, right or even sometimes wrong, get formed. Bad attitudes...

Write. There's no excuse for the scenario as described, particularly as it could have been defused by an FA doing a bit of thinking along the lines of "Uh, lemme see, the pax in FC probably won't like this. Let me see what I can do to mollify 'em." Instead, the unspoken message conveyed seems to have been "Eff 'em. They're cattle. If I'm thirsty, I'll get up for a drink of water x 3. Not them."

It's still a service business, despite what the apologists say.