brewdog11

Flew CX from HKG to North America over a week ago in First Class on the 777-300. Cabin was 2/6, with my companion and I being the only passengers in F on this long-haul route.

Very shortly after takeoff, the Inflight Service Manager (who never bothered to welcome us or do any of her other duties) began arranging her belongings in one of the empty F seats on the "A" side of the First cabin. It was clear that she was staking the territory as her own for the duration of the flight. Luckily, I happened to grab pictures.

Shortly after meal service, when the cabin was dark and it was clearly "rest time," another crew member came up from Business Class and had loud conversation with the ISM. It was disruptive, and it could be heard throughout the cabin. The noise continued for several hours, as the ISM and several crew members dined and chatted in the First cabin. This continued when it was clear that passengers in F were trying to go to sleep.

Aren't there galleys and other locations for crew members to sit, eat, and converse on the 77W? Mandated rest areas? I hardly believe that Cathay Pacific allows for crew to use the First cabin as a lounge. Sorry, but disruptive behavior like this isn't appropriate for a "high-class" First product like CX. This wasn't right. Should I write CX, and will I be compensated?

ashsong

This was definitely unusual. I flew F on LHR-HKG. And the service was just great. They managed to tuck me in and put on my seatbelt without having waken me up.

HarbourGent

Why on earth would you deserve compensation?

brewdog11

I don't get why on earth you felt the need to make a non-contributory comment, but...

I don't think I deserve compensation. However, this behavior is disruptive and should be reprimanded.

If someone was paying a premium for something you offered and the service was not as advertised, you'd offer some kind of goodwill gesture, no?

FlyPointyEnd

This happened to me once on a flight from HND to HKG. The ISM had all her stuff including make up on the seat...it was a mess. the whole seat look untidy with all her stuff strewn all over.

I really don't think you should.

FlyPointyEnd

If you want her behavior reprimanded or all the attention of the company feel free to write CX via their online feedback form. However please do not do it for any compensation or "goodwill gesture".

brewdog11

Fair enough on the compensation front. I'm not expecting anything.

However, I do think that such behavior is detrimental to the product CX has to offer and calls for serious re-training.

I've never seen "parties" in the premium cabins before, even on US airlines. IMHO, it's really bad form on a product like CX F.

brewdog11

Also note that I would not be as frustrated if the ISM occupied the seat quietly. However, she and the other crew members who came up to join her party were loud and disruptive.

percysmith

Good

CZ reprimanded FAs on lucky's infamous Duc De Paris flight for sleeping in suites, so why won't CX?

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...class-service/
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...private-suite/

watery

Comment form or email is fair enough should you feel disturbed; just asking, had you asked the crew to keep quiet for you during the flight?

QRC3288

You should definitely write CX. That type of behavior is unacceptable for the ISM and crew.

I agree the ISM and crew should be reprimanded.

However, an unfortunate corrolary is you didn't exactly deal with it correctly - the right thing, no matter how hard is to tell them to quiet down. I understand this isn't a "normal" thing to do and you shouldn't have to do it, and it's antithetical to American-style culture to do this, but it's fairly common elsewhere and acceptable to ask people to shutup if they're being out of line. Instead of just dwelling on it in your head all passive aggressive. I grew up in the US and somewhat understand the mental dynamics at work, and it's indeed unique to many other places in the world. Logically you should've just told them to shutup. They are totally acting out of line. I've experienced this before (see below), and asked them to please quiet down, and they were extremely embarrassed and it stopped. They were understanding!

Put it this way: it's a bad experience. I've flown too many CX F flights to count, and indeed on a select few of them in F I've heard galley "parties" in F. IME it has happened on a few occasions when cockpit crew are flirting with the cabin crew and it goes on and on and on. The cockpit rest area stairwell is immediately in front of seat 1A in the middle of the cabin. In maybe 50+ F flights, this has happened to me once or twice. Even the best service has slipups, bad eggs, or mistakes. You got unlucky.

I've also had to tell a group of CX cockpit + cabin crew to shutup on 77G (the 777-300ER without F), in the galley in the middle of the J cabin. A slew of them, maybe 5-8 total laughing and having a grand old time. They were having fun but it was highly unprofessional given pax were trying to sleep.

However, in a decade of flying CX, and well north of 100 long-haul flights (maybe in the neighborhood of 200 even, I'm not sure but it's a TON, much of it to N. America), these situations are definitely the exception not the norm.

brewdog11

I didn't. However, I think that it should be intuitive to the crew that the F environment should be kept conducive to resting. I shouldn't be put in the potentially awkward position of telling the crew to be quiet.

The crew has designated seating areas and rest areas on the 777. Why can't they use those for recreation?

brewdog11

Honestly, I entertained this thought but never would have acted upon it. You're correct that it's antithetical to the culture I was raised in. Also, as a US resident I have a heightened fear of getting on a flight crew's "bad side" by verbally challenging them. While extremely rare, federal warnings have been issued and diversions have been made by spiteful flight crews in the US.

What's worse is that it was in the F cabin. The lights and shades were dimmed, and my travel companion and I were both clearly tucked in and ready to rest. While loud and disruptive galley parties are inexcusable and out of line, the galley is crew space. It's even worse that this occurred in the passenger cabin.

watery

It isn't about flying in F or not, quite often a reminder is the quickest way to sort out problems and make you less stressed afterward. You may still write comment about the experience afterward (unless, to me, they rectified the issue in a satisfactory way).

Not knowing anything about resting protocol, but I think you're right that resting crews should at least cause minimal disturbance to any pax irrespective of where and how they rest. To me, if they don't affect me, it doesn't really matter if they sit across or far from me.


Fortunately I believe CX crews are not as "powerful" than US3 counterparts; they do worry about incoming complain forms post-flight. Besides, diverted flight after a CX F pax asks for quietness would make brilliant headlines on Oriental Daily.

HarbourGent

I didn't. My contribution was thus. The greedy, entitled, money-grabbing compensation culture infecting our society disgusts me. As a grown adult, in a situation like this you have the chance to make a complaint on the spot which I don't doubt would be responded to, and if it was not, to make another, or to write a complaint upon landing. Saying nothing and then hoping for compensation later is poor form.