danielflyer

I flew JFK -> LHR on Saturday and booked the 12:15am flight in WT+ in hopes of getting some shut eye. The meal service did not begin until more than an hour after take-off, at which point the FA in my section had a long chat with two women at the front of the cabin. After five minutes of chatting she said, “Let me get these trays out and I will come back.” — making it clear of course that other passengers were not a priority.

The FA then continued to have an on-and-off conversation that kept most of the cabin awake. An FA from business eventually came and asked this FA to quiet down.

I was frustrated that I could not sleep and thought the FA knew she should not be keeping the cabin awake at 3am with endless chitchat. Is this standard procedure at BA or something worth reporting? I feel bad reporting someone for socializing, but at the same time this was an overnight flight and she could have asked the passengers to join her in the galley instead of standing at the front of WT+.

HIDDY

My missus likes her sleep so she would almost certainly have told her to shut up!!

VictorSierra

Complaints about specific crew members rarely get back to them, so feel free to complain and enjoy your 10,000 Avios.

golfmad

These situations are best handled on board contemporaneously and it would have been better if you had mentioned this yourself to a member of cabin crew as it was clearly bothering you and keeping you awake.

Dave Noble

Indeed not saying anything at the time and just complating afterwards on social media vs raising the matter at the time doesn't seem to lead to be worthy of a complaint

I am not aware of any rule that says that members of staff are not to engage in a conversatoon with passemgers; if there is, then I have seen a lot of staff breaking the rules

Based on comment of being in premium economy, would it have been ok then if the conversation was in economy?

VictorSierra

I believe the OP is mentioning booking WT+ in the hope of sleeping. In nearly every post on this forum people mention which cabin they’re flying - it just helps understand the situation. It would be a shame if posters became afraid of including said detail due to this type of retort.

“There were no flowers in the F washroom”

“Are you saying you’re in F because no flowers in economy is okay?”

orbitmic

I join those who think that the best thing to do in those cases is to either have a quiet word with the FA or go and see another FA in the galley and ask them either to intervene or if you could speak to the senior cabin crew member on the flight.

I personally think that the qualification of "improper behaviour" may be a little excessive here (in terms of my own threshold) based on the situation described. I don't suppose the crew member felt that they were doing anything wrong and were certainly not trying to be inappropriate in any way, but I fully accept the op's account that it created noise and distraction and prevented them from sleeping so I think it is perfectly find to talk to another crew member so that they can ask the crew member to stop or if they want to continue the conversation to invite the passengers to go to the galley with them.

Dave Noble

There may be relevance of flowers in a 1st toilet vs economy since it may be a feature of that cabin - but as far as sleeping goes, what would make someone in premium economy more entitled to people nearby not talking than in economy?

golfmad

It’s more a matter of practicality than entitlement.

LoungeLizardHugo

A "Posting Legend" of 42,000 posts and this is what you have to contribute?

Are you aware seats are typically more comfortable and suitable for sleeping in WT+? But yes, make it about entitlement. And make multiple posts to cement your point.

Rock bottom.

Duck1981

I was once woken up in WT+ on a flight from Abu Dhabi to LHR as the FA chatted with the guy in front of me for quite a while. I lifted my sleep mask and gave her a bad stare and the job was done.

South London Bon Viveur

I sympathise with the OP and if it was a loud conversation then I would have expected better from an FA, but if it was a relatively quiet conversation, whilst even that can be distracting, I don't think it would have been inappropriate. I doubt the FA would have been talking for more than 10-15 minutes. I'm afraid air travel is mass travel and not everyone is going to sleep on an overnight flight so you just can't count on it. I've had something similar in all cabins. Sometimes you roll the dice on these things.

Grace B

Just drink yourself into oblivion. Usually works..

noFODplease

I don't think anyone has taken this angle but you.

atcer28

Personally I think the FA was completely the wrong. They dim the lights in the cabin so that people can sleep, therefore showing it’s an expectation that people want to sleep on a night flight.

if it had been two passengers then there would be no cause for complaint. But if a staff member who is supposed to be working is socialising (probably with someone they know) and disturbing the cabin then it’s not acceptable. As you said they could have moved to the galley.

As others have said it would have been best to complain onboard. If you don’t like confrontation you could easily speak to another crew member. I think it’s difficult to complain now as you didn’t say anything at the time.