after booking a couple of reward upgrades and having them 'lost' and now 'unavailable' i blew up. speaking to anyone one at co who would pick up the phone and writing to the rest. you can guess the result.... willing to spend 20k and still in coach. i've decided to take a new tact. when i communicate with HELPFUL ticket agents, flight attendants, customer service personel, etc, i make a point to talk to their supervisor or send an email commending their effort. maybe the honey/vinegar thing will weed out the 'could care less' & 'customers are the problem' attitudes of some of co's empoyees.

It don't matter what approach you take, you gonna end up at the same place.

The problem is with management, not the front line employees.

I too will write a complimentary note now and then.

A few years ago DL gave every frequent flyer 6 post cards that one could give an employee that "went the extra mile" for you. You would write your FF number and a note about what the employee did. CO should try it too.

(I could see it now...employee gets a compliment card then gets in trouble for violating some derivation of the no favors/waivers rule.)

Snake's right however, it's upper management at CO that's causing the bulk of our headaches.

bingo. before you said it, i was already thinking it. they would pull up all transactions between this employee and the person that gives the accolade to look for a potential favor or waiver.

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited 11-10-2002).]

No good deed goes unpunished, huh?

More cynicism:

It's a sad commentary on the state of affairs when coming away satisfied from a transaction is an exception to the norm such that you feel you have to go out of your way to acknowledge someone's intervention.

What ever happened to doing something right just because it was the right thing to do?

Saintd, first off, I thank you for wanting to recognize exemplary service. It seems that today in our society, the only time we ever write or phone is when something went wrong. Sadly, the good things can go unnoticed.

Now, with that said, please allow me to give you my take on CO management's view. Bear in mind that I am no longer a CO F/A. I left my 20 year career recently (with CO and other airlines, by the way)when I was fed up with the way things seemed to be headed.

CO does not care if you have a file full of complimentary letters, because I did. All that matters is that a human being is occupying a jumpseat and therefore allowing the flight to depart with the required number of crewmembers. Case in point: As I said, I had a LOT of letters from both passengers and fellow crewmembers commending me on my work ethic, friendliness, my obvious love of my career, etc., etc. However, I seemed to go through a period of time where I was catching every cold and flu bug that came within 100 miles of me. I was, my entire career with CO, always on some step of discipline. Always on the verge of being terminated because of "unreliability".

Now, allow me to present Case Subject #2: A f/a in my last base who we shall call Jane. Jane was notorious for being rude to passengers and fellow crewmembers. She was lazy, apathetic, indifferent and we all swore if she smiled, her face would crack wide open. Jane had complaint letters in her file and was on a step of discipline as well. However, Jane never missed a day of work. She would show up coughing, hacking, sneezing and end up making the rest of us sick...but she was there. She even once had a supervisor (who acknowledged her disciplinary problems) meet the flight and fly her last two legs as CO's way of "thanking her for her reliability." And, at the end of the year, this miserable human being who boasted that she was only in the job for the passes got invited to the Perfect Attendance Banquet hosted by none other than Uncle Gordon, and she got her little trophy and her free first class upgrades and a $100 gift certificate.

Now you tell me...what is wrong with THIS picture?

And that,ladies and gentleman, is in part why I no longer fly for Continental Airlines.

(But, if y'all don't mind, I will toss in my two cents from time to time)

we very much appreciate it.

thank you.

Your posts are always very interesting to read, FAforCAL. Your perspective is quite enlightening. Here is my question for you. I am assuming you have FA friends with other airlines or know what others are doing in terms of employee recognition. Is CO management alone in their approach to what makes an excellent FA (namely attendance and attendance alone)? I've seen way too many Janes flying CO which is one reason (among many) I'm looking for CO alternatives. Is their management style the same as the other majors?

Analise, first of all, thanks for the compliment.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid the mentality of all airlines focuses on so-called "reliability". I was named Flight Attendant of the Quarter at a now-defunct airline; however, when I ended up with walking pneumonia because I was afraid to call in sick, etc., etc......all of a sudden, I went from being the golden child to what they viewed as a problematic one.

I'm sure in a perfect world all airlines would like to have happy, good, caring F/A's on their aircraft. But as you know, this is far from a perfect world. And no, this is not just a CO problem...it's industry wide. My friends at US, DL, AA, UA tell me that inflight management puts the fear of God in you that, no matter what, you don't call in sick.

I have a dear friend who is still flying for CO. She went 4 years without missing a day of work...she'd show up with the sniffles, but medicate herself on layovers. Well, she finally ended up quite ill and called in sick for a 4 day trip.

She was called the next day to talk about her "attendance problem".

I rest my case.

Wish I had more positive feedback to give you, but I believe in being honest....unlike my former CEO. (****! That felt good to say!)

Maybe a little off the original topic but in line with the whole "Good Jane, Bad Jane" discussion:

In general(although certainly not always the case), the sour pusses I encounter among the FA ranks tend to be women and the guys tend to be a little more laid back and friendly. For example, I was flying SNA-IAH one time (about 2:30 flight time) and the FA announced that there would be a movie. However, after selling the headsets(this actually occured when they still only rented them) they started showing Continental Vision and began serving the meals. When the FA got to my row I ever so politely inquired when the movie was to begin especially since the flight time was so short and I wanted to get to watch the end of the film. She snapped back, "When I start it! I'm in charge here!" Talk about weird power trip. Additionally, I find that the women tend to be most like a "sky-nazi" when asking you to bring your seat backs up or stowing your luggage while the guys tend to have a more friendly approach about it. What do you guys think? Guys or gals make better FAs?

By the way, before I get attacked, nine out of ten times I have a good flight/crew regardless of gender. However, once in a blue moon this has been my personal observation.

Sounds like a normal company to me. "You're only as good as your last screw up..."