mdsimants

It's a length of flight thing, right?

TWAL10114Ever

I agree in the sense that I have been in F a few times over the past year when the service was very average at best, but for the most part the service has been very good. Just yesterday I flew DFW-RNO on the 757 and the two F/A's serving the F cabin were nothing short of EXCELLENT! Not once did I ever have to ask for a refill. They even stopped to chat briefly with many of the passengers and had a smile the entire flight. Not 15 minutes went by without one of the F/A's present in the cabin. That is one of the major qualities I base the service on, are the F/A's checking on the passengers. Nothing "chaps my hide" more than a F/A who sits on the jumpseat for 30-45 minutes at a time because he/she doesn't feel like checking on the passengers. Sure the "lunch" (and I use that term loosely) was very poor, but the quality in the service provided more than made up for the sub-standard meal. When I got to my hotel last night I made sure to email customer relations praising the service of the F class F/A's. Too often we as passengers only write with a complaint, but I'm always very quick to email when I have received excellent service.

oklAAhoma

Yes, that's my understanding.

fly co to see the yanks

i wholeheartedly agree with all points listed above...particularly the point about bringing your own food on boAArd.

fly co to see the yanks

haven't they had enough of those?

Gandhi90s

Really?

JDiver

Apparently, they just don't learn.

Most of the legacies were unable to conceive and plan for the deregulated environment, had poor leadership and... now they are plagued with uneconomical aircraft (I think I remember the Convair 880 and 990 being failures at least in part because they seated 5 across, but Boeing redesigned the fuselage cross section from the -20 and KC-135 to hold 6 across, and used the section diameter and tooling for 707, 727, 737, 757... hmm, the MD-80 holds 5 across and no opportunity for re-engine designs, unlike the pod hangers...)

Add 9/11, a huge fuel price increase, demoralized employees, a continuing leadership gap, various union "leaders" playing saboteurs (how many passengers AA flying to the Olympics, did you say?) and "tough guy," managers who rationalize bonuses when there is nothing to be proud about, and we're surprised there's inconsistency?

aspex

Service in F is going down hill. My last flight the FA managed only one drink service on a two hour flight.

Though I think writing to AA to complain is not a good thing to do. If the information trickles down and they get your AAdvantage number they can form a group to keep their eye out for you and really make you miserable.

sluggoaafa

The OP was complaining about the pre-departure stuff, however, the majority of the OPs complaint was in-flight after the initial beverages being 'thrown down'.

so you're suggesting walk-through more often. I've done that, you know how awkward it is when people give you that look to "leave me alone..."

Granted, the OPs problem the FAs didn't do anything during the flight....

I've run into nasty off-duty: Credit Suisse First Boston employee's, Johnson & Johnson employee's, Omnicom Group employee's, Pfizer employee's, McKinsey & Company employee's, Lehman Brothers employee's (great, funny guys by the way), Disney Group employee's...etc...the list goes on.

Should all of these plus many more business' rethink their customer services? Many of the employee's that fly on us that are listed above (plus tons more that I didn't list) are the face of their company's/corporations. Some are in the customer service, some are more private...however they are still the face of their employer.

I understand what the OP and everyone else is saying, can it be that some pax are to blame as well? How they berate some FAs on things they have no control over? i.e. wx delays, ATC delays, change of gates, mechanicals, run out of food option, run out of drinks...

I'll be honest for a second. Last month I did a LGA-DFW-LGA trip. It was Lunch going down, we had a 3hr sit, then a full dinner coming back. (it was a reserve trip so not my normal route by any means)

I don't like to run the carts...it's just not me. I hand run.
At the end of the flight, I never had so much praise/compliments than I had on this flight. I didn't do anything out of my normal duties....I just did my job.

Same thing on the return for dinner. I didn't do carts, I hand ran everything, and even hand ran the desserts. I just did my normal duties, and again, received the most praise on a single flight than I ever have.

I asked one of the pax what made this such a great flight, and he basically stated what you did above. Visibility (walk-throughs) Smile (I always...generally smile), Beverage refills (I don't like my glass empty when I'm flying)

but letters are to inform AA that something isn't working/happening. It's something to help them learn what needs to change, and where we are lacking.

Sure, there are surveys that go out, and I will say, LGA is in dead last for the above mentioned items (use of names, PDBs, Coats, Thank Yous) Letters help inform AA.

sluggoaafa

Employee's don't get any information except for Flight # and Date that a particular complaint came from.

abk

for the critics i will add that it is not the same economic environment it used to be. dfw mex friday was an even numbered flight and 1a and 1b grabbed all the glenlivet ( they were regulars and once they found out there were four bottles on the flight they asked for doubles) didn't bother us as we are wine drinkers but i could see how the scotch drinkers behind us would complain but this has nothing to do with the fa and everything to do with the economy.

TWAL10114Ever

SLUGGO, why can't I have you on my flights? I tend to think that the carts being towed out for meal service are kind of tacky. If it is a relatively short flight (say 1 hour 45 mins or so), I can understand the F/A wanting to do the cart thing, but for longer flights of 3 hour or so they have plenty of time to do the service without dragging out the carts. I don't know, just a pet peeve of mine since I used to do the F/A thing and I would never use the cart for meal service in F.

aceflyer2

I agree with another poster...I'd love to be on your flight. My job involves the public as well...there are days on my job that I'd rather being doing something else, but I try do the very best job I can. I don't always want to or feel like it. It's easy to forget the impact that we may have on someone else.

phillykp

Most times I have asked for a Glenlivet, I have been advised that there's only 'two' on board, and furthermore, most of the time the FA him/herself will ask me that since there's only a limited quantity, would I like a double/both?

sj-flyer

Travelling in Y and sometimes J and F I have experienced a wide range of service from the flight attendants. Most of the time it doesn't bother me as I am usually busy during the flight trying to catch up with work projects.

But on the rare occasions that I notice a flight attendant going above and beyond the regular service levels I always try to post a note on AA.com