FWIW, I've had two US/Europe flights on AA in J this year - DFW/MIA-CDG and PHL-BUD. The service on all four flights has been very good and as expected. It's not to the level of Qatar J but perfectly acceptable. Its definitely better than IB J.

Usually, I find the problems on LAX J, long haul, which can be a more mixed bag.

Union rules and seniority won't change. And, of course, survey data won't as a practical matter be used as discipline. But, peer pressure can be positive or negative and there really are a lot of great flight attendants out there. I have a nice note that a MIA based FA wrote to me on a 763 flight in J. A GF got a really nice note written on a napkin by a CLT based FA recently.

A fact based survey with responses distributed to FA's who worked a flight would create positive peer pressure and be free. Were you offered a PDB? Did the FA greet you by name? Did FA's provide you drinks and service throughout the flight? Did FA's smile? Ask those questions to J/F pax, circulate the responses to the crew, and we'll all see improvements.

Sure the grumpy ones will complain and the union will too. But ... even the grumpy ones don't want their co-workers on the flight to see they had poor scores.

Yes, of course. But perhaps usable for more general purposes.


A perpetual major source of deficiencies in service, IMO.

The issue is that you assume FTers are typical flyers. In today's screen obsessed society most people are clueless to the FAs. They are so engrossed in their screens the FA could come down the aisle with horns growing out of their head serving boiled pig and I'm not sure they'd notice. This is the new normal. Want another drink in J. Get used to hitting the call button or getting out of your seat to go get it. It's not like DL and UA are much better.

Complaining about it might make you feel good but that's about it. You can expect surveys (because they're cheap to send) but a mystery shopper or one of the FAs paid to be a supervisory it ain't gonna happen.

FA seniority reminds me of little league, not unlike a participation medal.

The contract pretty much enables an FA to hang out for a few decades and regardless of personal performance, be a winning route bidder. Best of all without a meaningful review process as long as you just show up (especially on the holidays), you're set!

Just another data point confirming the same....2 round trips DFW to Europe this Summer in J. 787 and 772 aircraft were perfectly nice but the FAs...average at best. Had to push the call button for anything beyond meal service. Average age of FA...50. Nobody was rude, but nobody provided J-level service either.

Here is another thought why it wont change....yes we all know union rules are anti-customer....but the US legacy carries probably don't care too much since there is no competition between north america and Europe anyways. European flagship carriers and US legacy airlines are equally unionized. Unless you let the Gulf or Asian carriers compete on those routes it will never change. The EU-US Open Skies agreements protect established/unionized/national carrier on all the lucrative routes. The discounters can't compete on hard product and scheduling. Non-EU/US carriers are forbidden to fly...so if you want a special in-flight experience, you need to vacation in Dubai or the Far East.

Changing the seniority bidding is a non starter for AA. Not to mention I've seen my share of lazy, surly and self important 20 something FAs while I've seen some grandmas and grandpas worked their butts off. Do you honestly think AA can simply can any FAs over the age of 35? Really what world do you all live in?

I would vote for avoiding ageism or stereotypes about people's commitment to, and enthusiasm for, their jobs based on age. I've had plenty of excellent FAs who were quite senior.

I agree...I simply used age as a proxy for seniority. Given the fact that FAs are unionized it is safe to assume that older people have the most seniority in the company. Simply underscoring the point that international FAs on AA are the most senior people. In hindsight I could have been clearer on that.

AF/LX/LH and even CX are unioned up. All provide better service in Y than AA could ever hope to in F. Not sure why ours are worse. I had a FA in AF La Premiere a few weeks ago in her 50s that provided professional, outstanding service. I have not paid to fly a US carrier in F or J in at least a decade, only reward tickets. Why? Terrible service, food, and a greyhound bus mentality. Treating passengers like cattle. The carriers need to change this if they ever want to attract paying customers.

You joke but my Air Koryo service was better than AA J from Europe.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...323b3fced8.png

I wonder how much of it is really having Unionized FA's being the problem vs. AA's current contract with FA's is just poor and allows them to get away with poor performance. I'd be curious if the other airlines mentioned have a method to coach and/or reprimand poor performing FA's more easily.

Completely irrelevant. Different countries, different unions, different laws, different contracts with the airline.

different work ethics, different social norms.

I agree. I live in France and fly AF J quite often and I have to say the FAs are pretty universally very professional. I speak French but I see them interact with non-French speakers and I never see them being anything less than professional. And this is the case in short-haul Y as well. I have gotten an occasional aloof FA but never do I get off the plane feeling like I was antagonized- which is how I felt on the AA CDG-JFK.

They too have unions but the social norms are very different.

There is a lot to say for company culture... in the case of AA it's pretty atrocious.

I take a couple of international trips in J every month, tomorrow I’m going to Rome. I never experience this bad FA stuff I read about here. One time an FA forgot to offer me a dinner roll but it didn’t ruin the trip for me. Sometimes the wine has turned and is awful and the entree ghastly but the crew isn’t the issue. I never get the drill sergeant treatment and frankly I prefer the crew to disappear after the meal when it’s “bedtime” in the cabin. They always know my name and are super friendly.

Does anyone notice a difference between the LUS and LAA crews? Most of my international travel is out of PHL with LUS crews - are they the nice ones?