I think it's an inconvenience having to wait longer because someone wants to be awkward and make a scene (happens sometimes, not a reference to OP). It's an inconvenience to then have staff hurry through a service because they feel it is 'eating' into their break time otherwise. It's an inconvenience when the staff look irritated, frustrated and downtrodden and can't offer you the same attention to detail because they're in a foul mood having answered every question under the sun and instead they just slam your food down missing your outstretched hand..... sorry this is the norm on BA flights but I can see how this could dissipate to other airlines. And while you can question how these can relate to one another in terms of cause and effect, I've seen staff get more and more flustered and annoyed as people take advantage and want what the previous person had got and more, and so on, where the first person had got a little bit more than they should have but staff were too polite to say no.

The issue isn't about the FA becoming quicker, but about the FA getting slower because of all these additional requirements.

This is such BS. I HATE tomatoes and thus I NEED to know if the pasta has a white or tomato sauce. I prefer the pasta to the chicken but if I take the pasta blindly and it turns out to be red sauce I cannot eat it and it can not be given to anyone else; nor am I likely to get the chicken instead after I took the pasta.
Is asking what kind of pasta it is really that picky and that time consuming? It would take the FA about 2 seconds (if that) to say - "It's tomato sauce, Sir". Then I would know for sure what to choose. Period.
For you to argue just for the sake of arguing is silly at best. Your opinion is outnumbered by a 100:2.

Good thing that has nothing to do with the OP's very legitimate question to the FA, or the FA's unprofessional and rude response.

That's BS. That's like saying if you check into a hotel, you shouldn't ask the front desk where the elevator is or what time breakfast is because it may slow down the front desk clerk from getting to the next customer. The FA has a job to do, and part of that is answering simple questions from customers. Let's not forget, each person on the plane is a customer that is paying for the travel and service on the plane (as limited as that service may be). If you really have a problem with someone asking a question of the proper representative of a business that takes all of 2 seconds to answer, I think the problem may be on your end.

Well said.

Yeah. I'm clearly the silly one here. :rolleyes:

Yeah - we finally agree.You clearly are :D

Jesus I can't believe there certain flyers in this thread seriously arguing that people shouldn't ask what they are being served on an airplane. And people wonder why there is a general dissatisfaction with US-based airlines. :rolleyes:

Deflecting the issue to someone else really isn't addressing your challenge here. I'm not bothered either way. My point is simple - I can see that staff have things to get on with and that answering multiple questions one-by-one repeatedly impacts service levels to the majority. For those that do make these requests, then these service levels will be improved. The question really is about whether the fussiness of others should be questioned. "How long has the meal been heated?", "How do I know it's coooked just right?", "Is it alright if you bring it back to me in five minutes?", "Do you know whether it has less than 400 calories?", "How fresh is the meat in this?", "do you know where this product was sourced from?", "why haven't we eaten already?", "what time is it in japan?", "are you sure it's 630 there?", "could you heat this bottle up for me"... yeah the customer service should be great when faced with these kinds of random stupid questions...:confused: People make the assumption that these things are answered on the spot. Ever noticed a FA disappear for half an hour based on one person's request? You can be sure this annoyed all the other FA and made their jobs more challenging.

Why is this a 'good thing'?
This relates to the difficulty FA have in providing a service because they are constantly interrupted, something which I would prefer not to happen on a flight. Of course, where people have legitimate dietary needs, it is completely understandable, but where people are just being awkward and enjoying having staff waiting on them like they're in a michelin restaurant.. well, I think staff deserve much better treatment. It's a difficult job as it is without people trouble making.

I suspect the majority of the plane do not ask either.. :D

About as inapposite a comparison as I can imagine.

So you're OK if you are served a dinner described as "meat" in a container with an opaque foil cover on it, yes? You don't need or want to know anything more about it? :rolleyes:

Did you actually hear and personally witness all these questions or are you just being extremely creative in making them up?
If they are indeed true and happened all on the same flight rather than individual requests over many years of your flying experience, then I agree that they would be annoying but this has no relation to OP's very simple and not annoying question. Also, there is no evidence that OP's simple question was preceded by all these silly requests and thus justifying FA's annoyance and rudeness.

The measure of a truly good customer service is how it handles difficult customers. In this case the bar is much lower. OP asked a very simple question which can be answered quickly if the FA had any clue. Instead OP got a nasty sarcastic response.


I can't imagine if the same FA was on my flight back from SFO this last weekend. It was in a transcon J cabin. My seatmate asked a series of detailed and rather difficult to answer questions about the beef filet that they were serving. The FA handled it perfectly with clear and concise answers to each of the questions. When she didn't know the answer, she simply said I am not sure but I can check for you. Now that's the type of customer service that we should be getting consistently.

Yes chit chat or bantering when there is a line behind you is a big NO-NO.
Slightly OT- Suburban New York Bagel shop in Detroit area, line up every Sunday for hot bagels around 8 AM. At least ten minute line. We would all shuffle our feet waiting our turn...one guy would reach his turn and then studies the menu board of varieties ab=nd starts " I don't know...give me two X, two Y and then ummm , maybe 4 salt and all of a sudden How many did I get ! All in line get visibly irritated !
Next Sunday the same guy, same deal. Third Sunday a repeat...I could not hold myself, when he reached the order taker I yelled out " Give him a dozen assorted " ! Everyone cheered but the guy kept his routine ...I changed my schedule.

It would be much quicker to show the customer the pasta, and let them choose!

If the FA had answered civilly in the first place, it would have taken no time at all. Inferring a bunch of subsequent questions is unsupported.
Further, why are the same people who are saying airline meals are so bad that it barely matters what's in them complaining about a slight delay in the delivery of that very same unpalatable trash?

1. If it's difficult for a flight attendant to answer a simple question about what kind of sauce is on the pasta (the very simple question that the OP asked), then maybe they shouldn't be a flight attendant.

2. I repeat, your made-up scenarios about treating airline meals like a Michelin experience have NOTHING to do with the OP's situation.

You really like straw men, don't you?

Or not!

"could you heat this bottle up for me".. one assumes you are referring to a bottle of milk / formula for a baby ? If not you have never traveled with an infant ?

Are you saying even the babies are picky about their in flight meals? :D

I've experienced this multiple times on AA, unfortunately.

*me, sitting with my NC headphones on*
FA: chicken or beef
Me: removes headphones, "excuse me?"
FA: chicken or beef
me: can you please be a little more descriptive?
FA: HUGE SIGH, pulls out a meal, shows it to me, slams in back into the cart, etc.


AA really needs to send its employees to finishing school.

Yes, unless that poster was quoting an adult with no baby in sight !

It would make it a lot easier if the FA announced the start of the meal service on the intercom and described both dishes up front (doesn't need to be a Michelin star description, just something with a bit more detail e.g. tonight your choices are either chicken and rice with mixed vegetables or a cheese lasagna). Then a valid question would be 'chicken or pasta' to each individual person.
AA are giving me a choice about what to eat - just give me more information about my choices, that's all I ask.

Not everybody is going to be listening to these announcements; they would only divert nasty attitudes from uncouth FAs from "I didn't stick my finger in it" to "Why weren't you listening" :rolleyes:

Meals can be ordered on seatback TVs (a la Virgin America) where photos and nutrition facts can be provided as well.

Or, if that's too hard, just eliminate meal choices, give everybody a salad.

I was downgraded from Business to Economy CLT-FRA, so I got to experience the Economy meal offerings and the process whereby the Flight Attedant at least on my flight offered the two meal options.

She stopped by each row and said, tonight we have two choice, an Asian Style Chicken with Rice or a Pasta with Tomato Sauce.

That answered any question that I might have had and at least from my row did not necessitate any further questions.

Reason ANA and JAL has those laminated picture of meal choices is because especially on international flights not all passengers’ native language is English (or Japanese in case of ANA and JAL).

I highly doubt on international flights FA announcing meal choices on PA in English or FA verbally describing meal choices to each passengers in English will work for all passengers.

What if he answered like this:

Chicken-fowl, has beak, 2 legs, 2 wings, is able to both walk and fly short distances.

Beef-from the bovine family. 4 legs, no wings, can walk, definitely can't fly.

It's more descriptive.....

That is all that is needed and that is how it should be. How difficult is it really - it takes maybe 3 more seconds to say that rather than saying "chicken or pasta" and it avoids most if not all questions.

Some AA attendants are really, well......ticked off. They don't like the company, they don't like the customers, they don't like the ......uniforms. Sadly this collection of people sticks around, continually letting out long audible sigh's or wheeze's, and shows a complete lack of any acceptable customer service.

I asked one middle aged guy on a DFW-NRT flight if I could have a drink when he walked past me, he actually told me that he was primarily there for my safety! Well Mrs. Smallest State hears **** like that and it's waving a red flag at a bull. She announced quite rudely that we were safe and she'd like a screwdriver in addition to my drink.

I told her not to do that as I'm worried about some disgruntled person messing with my food or drink and she replied that you have to treat some people like they treat you.

I've had some great AA FA's over the years, but you will run into these types too, luckily AA has nothing on Air Canada. That company has some downright hostile FA's, man they'll put anyone off of flying.

Good thing I can just pile on rather than start a new thread about my recent flight from BCN-ORD in J. I was on the left side of the plane and the Spanish FA man made me feel like I was there to serve him. When it was meal time, he came around and knocked on people's tray table openings. I sat there waiting for him to open it but realized that he meant that as a sign that I should open it and take it out myself. He brought me the wrong meal and I told him I had asked for the other option and he barks out 'for who?' and for a moment I wasn't sure how to answer. Also, was too lazy to ever clean up the tray afterwards. I had to press the call button and someone else came by to clean up the tray.

AA needs to set up an accountability system. UA has (or maybe had) a rule where any GA/FA accruing 2 complaints from top status flyers is terminated.

An unpleasant FA is undiscriminating in unpleasantness. What AA might do is, whenever it receives a complaint about unpleasant FA behavior, send an email to everyone else in the same cabin on the same flight: "We've received a report that a [visual description] flight attendant provided unsatisfactory service on your flight. Please click here to confirm."

None of these questions are the same as "what kind of a sauce is the pasta cooked in". There are no parallels in your argument with the OP's experience.

Did you read that in the Internet, thus making it true, or did you get that gem rom your neighbors, brother who used to romp with this gal whose sister in law, twice removed told them that?

112 posts so far, anyone want to bet you've all wasted your time over a Y class meal? Epic this should be a "Sticky"

Again, no parallel. At a Michelin restaurant a member of the waitstaff will most probably describe the dish before you order it.

People asking legit questions about dietary needs are NOT trouble makers.

dupe


filler

Delete

Color me skeptical. Let a union rep come here and say 'Yes, that's how it works.'