Obnoxious crew on redeye flight
 

Last Tuesday, my wife, 20-mo-old son, and I took CO's HNL-LAX flight, which left HNL at 9:50 pm and arrived in LAX at 5:00 am. (Now if that's not a redeye flight, I don't know what is!!)

We'd requested the bulkhead seating with the bassinet, which put us in row 16, right behind the galley. I've never encountered such a rude crew, not to mention such a bizarre food service. They served drinks, then some sort of dinner/snack, then more drinks. The lights weren't turned down in the cabin until 1-1/2 hours after takeoff! This, of course, made getting out little guy to sleep even more difficult.

Even after "lights down," the crew continued to talk and laugh and bang pop cans around in their carts, etc. We heard about how Britany Spears was on one of the flights, how this one attendant met his wife, who should turn in the money for the headsets, etc. We had to "shoosh" a couple of them after they loudly asked a question to someone next to us or behind us. They looked at us like we were stupid when we did that.

Three different times, our son got to sleep and was woken by the crew banging around or talking. Each time, he awoke VERY distraught and twice cried himself into such a rage that he almost vomited. My wife and I were, of course, very concerned for the little guy, but could hardly do a thing to calm him down...it was so long past his bedtime, and he was just frustrated at not being able to sleep.

At one point, after he was settled down from one of the episodes, the one attendant walked by and commented sweetly, "Oh, did he wake up?" I felt like slugging her and saying, "Yes, you ditz! Didn't you just hear him freaking out? The rest of the plane sure did! It was because of you all BS-ing loudly that he's upset!" Of course I didn't do that, as she walked away briskly, and I really don't like confrontations.

Anyway, this has been bugging me all week. Should I have gone into the galley and asked them to quiet down or mentioned how uncourteous they were? (My wife didn't want me to.) Is it normal for them to spend so much time serving food and drink on a late night flight? I can't remember another redeye like that. Should I bother to write a letter to CO, or will it be a waste of time?

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Anytime I worked a redeye, I went out of my way to try to keep things as quiet as possible and to keep the lights off or at least have them dimmed.

As for as the service guidelines, you can thank Gordon for that. That was his idea. Serve, serve, serve. Do a beverage service, pick up, do a meal service, pick up, do a beverage service, pick up.

While I do not condone the behavior and loud voices of the crew, you must understand that it is next to impossible to restock beverage carts, ice bins, etc. without making noise. I'm sorry that it kept your son awake. As to whether or not you should have said something, I believe you should have. I think if you had walked up to the galley and POLITELY said "Guys, could you keep it down just a bit. We're trying to sleep", well perhaps that would have quieted them down. Maybe not.

I worked with plenty of big mouth crews that ran their mouths the whole flight and insisted on leaving lights on, and there's really no excuse for that. I'm sorry that this happened to you, I really am. But again...in their defense....it's impossible to work in that galley without noise.

And yes, I would definately write a letter.

Sorry, but why do a plane full of adult passengers and crew have to be inconvienced by your "little guy"? Not everyone chooses to sleep in the dark on a red-eye. I personally like to be served drinks and I like to read with the lights on. I guess I've been on too many flights where the needs of "little people" (who often scream during the entire flight) take priority over adult passengers.

great first post! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif welcome aboard.

I agree, and they did ask for the seat nearest the galley, no?

The F/A's are not allowed to sleep and sometimes it's quite an effort to stay awake and alert. Talking is often the only thing you can do to keep their eyes open. Reading just makes you more tired. As for the service, there are others on the plane that might have liked a snack and a soft drink before their nap. If the noise was that intrusive it seems like someone else might have said something, but it doesn't appear that anyone did. I think that you're complaint is unreasonable.

I can't say I can argue with tightwalker either. They asked for those seats; any reasonable person would expect these to be one of the loudest areas on a plane. As much as I would rather have a quiet kids on planes; I sure can't blame the FA's on this one

Paul19, I can tell you I sympathize with your situation cause I've been there, done that, with children. However, as we grow (parents)we tend to lose that sympathy. We tend to not think of being quiet simply because of the couple sitting in the chair next to us with the sleeping baby. A lot of us have grown beyond that time in our lives. Which could be just four or five years! Someday you'll know exactly what I mean, I swear! As a passenger, I don't believe the FA's were noisy to intentionally wake your baby. They just didn't think about it. At this time in their life, why should they? After all, they are dealing mostly with adults, right?

1. You should not have asked for bulk head seats. Yes, they have the bassinet; however, they are always noisy if the wall is against the galley.
2. You should have said something to the crew, politely. They may not have realized how loud they were being.
3. I am sure everyone in the cabin was just as unhappy that your baby kept waking up screaming as you were.

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Friends don't let friends fly RJ's
I am not real smart, but I can lift heavy things.

Although I am not a dad, I do take care of my friend's one-year old fairly often so I can empathize with how frustrating it can be to get a baby to calm down and go to sleep. I honestly do not envy your job as a parent!

However, with that said, I do take exception to your approach to this particular issue. Regardless of how loud the crew may have been it was certainly more impolite and inappropriate on your part to literally "shoosh" the attendants which is down-right degrading. They may also be someone's mom or dad and they merit the same amount of respect that you are demanding for yourself and your family.

It sounds to me as your "obnoxious" crew was actually a very friendly and hard-working bunch(wow, I've never heard anyone complain about too much service on a flight before). As for their "BS", they were probably just trying to stay awake during the long late-night flight and would have probably toned it down a bit had they realized that their sound was carrying over into the cabin. At least they weren't up there whining and complaining about their jobs and about the passengers; something I am sure anyone who has ever been seated in the vicinity of a galley has overheard at some point or another.

With all due respect, you may want to work on your tact and on instilling these same values in your "little one" as he grows up. Wanting to slug "the ditz" after she actually took at least a little time in empathizing with your plight shows a little bit of arrogance and egocentricm on your part.

I apologize if this post comes off a bit too direct and please do not be insulted by it. While I am sure the incident was frustrating you may be making much ado about nothing. While a certain ambiance is expected on an airplane, it still is not a hotel room; turbulence will occur, announcements will be made, etc. all which might upset a baby. To avoid additional heartache may I suggest that next time you take a day-time flight...or better yet, leave the tyke at home with grandma and relax and enjoy your vacation. It sounds like you might need one.



[This message has been edited by FloridaBoy (edited 11-10-2002).]

Welcome to FT tightwalker, I could not agree with you more. I think that "little ones" should be banned on most flights or at least they should be given some diamatap or some other form of sedative safe for babies so they sleep. At the very least airlines should offer flights where babies are allowed and ones where they are not allowed so that I can make an informed choice when I buy a ticket. I am sure he was on a "free" ticket and he managed the keep the whole cabin of paying customers disturbed. I don't think it is just people out of the child raising age that get unaclimated to being quite. I have been on flights where the parents did nothing to quite there screaming children for hours on end.

The flight attendants may have been noisy, it is an airplane not a library. They have things they must do while enroute. I am sure the way they get treated there might be some that would purposely want to irritate a passenger, but the great majority of them are professionals and try to give good service. It could just as easily have been the people behind you talking that kept him awake.

No one is guaranteed sleep on a plane. You are unhappy your kid was awakened, half the plane was probably unhappy your kid was even on the plane. That is the price you pay in public transportation. No ones wants or needs are ever entirely met.

Thanks to those of you who recognized the difficulty in the f/a's staying awake on redeyes.

Even after 20 years, it was still difficult. My body clock is not programmed to work a flight to the west coast, go to my room, turn off the lights, try to sleep with vacuum cleaners going in the next room and people checking in and out, doors, slamming...only to have to get up at 7PM, grab something to eat, stumble out to the crew van, get to the airport....preflight the plane, welcome everyone onboard, do our services.....and then NOT struggle to stay awake. It is next to impossible. My job, though, WAS to be awake to monitor the cabin. To hopefully be alert to notice any problems, etc. One poster was right...reading will knock you right out. And I have been known to carry on a quiet conversation in the back...I'm sorry that it inconvenienced people, but I honestly did try to keep it to a "low murmur" as much as I could.

And, in retrospect, I think the letter should only have been written if the crew was POLITELY asked to keep their voices down and they didn't comply.

Let's make sure we get this straight. The adults on a plane shouldn't change their behavior to avoid keeping a baby awake, but babies should be drugged to make sure they don't disturb the adults (you)? That has to be the most self-centered thinking that I have read on this board.

I don't expect you, the FAs, or the couple behind me to be quiet just so that I or some baby in the next row can sleep. I don't particularly enjoy hearing an unhappy child on a plane or adults who are acting like unhappy children. However, as you said, it's an airplane and not a library. It's a shame you don't show the same respect for other's needs as your own.

BTW, if YOU take a tranquilizer before your next flight, you wouldn't be awake to hear the potentially screaming child.

Surprised noone addressed this yet:

How would you like to have been told there was only one drink/meal service DTW to FRA so as not to disturb sleeping children:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum35/HTML/002801.html

or that CO Currency was worthless on long haul flights because "they only come around once....so as not to disturb anyone's little guy":

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum20/HTML/004986.html

Sorry folks, I'll stand by wldtrvlr on this one...to some extent. My mother used to give us Dramamine on long car rides (i.e., CT to Montreal or New Brunswick)as my brother and I would have probably drawn blood in the backseat before we hit the NYS Thruway. I see nothing wrong with OCCASIONALLY giving a child something like Dramamine for a LONG flight. It's no different than someone taking a Halcion going to Australia. Plus, you don't have to worry about the FA using coffee grounds to soak up the puddle of vomit b/c the little guy got airsick.



[This message has been edited by Duhey2 (edited 11-10-2002).]

Sheesh, I can't believe some of the things being said here. Some of the FTers seem to be traveling so much to the point of being completely anti-social with a serious lack of empathy for anything other than the zit on their own nose.

I have never had a child and believe children should not be allowed into overnight flights http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif But I can't have everything I want. And confining children to daytime flights only is not an option. So despite my wishes about it, I prepare myself with earplugs, am willing to have the lights go off early (whether this is for children or other passengers, doesn't matter), willing to move my seats if it makes the situation better for someone traveling with a child, etc. Compared to the stress the parents have to go through, my discomfort seems trivial most of the time. This to me is what is being part of a society is about. It amazes me to think that we, as a society, expect people in other countries and cultures to take our good intentions for others at face value when we show such a lack of courtesy and tolerance for the plight of others within our own society.

At worst, there may have been a lack of communication between the flight crew and the parent in this case. I wasn't there to say whether the FAs could have been accommodating or not.

All I hope is that the child doesn't grow up to be one of the self-absorbed, self-indulgent people posting in this thread for all our sakes.