I think that all the pax here are asking is that the FAs be a little more aware of what is going on around them. I'm not suggesting that your job is easy, but you are in the service industry, and great service is when "right" happens without prompting, not when "right" happens after being asked. In the case of a red-eye, this includes being as quiet as possible.

The arguement that you have to be engaged in a lively and animated conversation to remain awake is a tough one for us to swallow, even if you are on a different time schedule based on the strange shifts you picked up.

CorB, we may not be able to control the snoring seatmate or crying baby, but that doesn't mean it is OK for the FAs to be as loud as they want. That arguement is, quite frankly, ridiculous. If there is something that can't be changed, so be it. But if there is something that can be changed and shouldn't be a problem in the first place, well that is a completely different story. And no one asked for any kissing of any body parts, just some quiet so we can attempt to sleep on a 4.5 hour flight. It isn't much time, and many of us have to go to work the next morning, just like y'all are doing then, and we need to be awake and aware at our jobs, so saying that you need to talk to do your job and thereby preventing us from doing ours isn't really all that fair.

Again, consider this thread a (occasionally) friendly reminder that folks lie to sleep on redeyes. If they can't for some random reason, so be it. If they can't because of the FAs, that is bad service, and that drives customers away, and that is something the FAs should try to avoid, especially since you're the group that spends the most time actually interacting with the passengers.

christmas is calling have your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or husband get you one of those expensive Bose noise cancelling headsets.

You know the ones you can't seem to turn off for taxi, take off and landing and flight operations under 10,000 feet, even after the announcement that states "the use of portable devices at this time is not permitted" therefore making me walk to your seat and ask you to turn them off; then you start looking at me like I got three heads even though you are an "elite superstar" and have more miles on your account than your moms "two sizes too small for her a$$ disco pants", yeah those.

Kids, it's time to get out of the sandbox. :D

Flyers, ask Santa for those headsets.

FA's, remember that when the lights are dimmed you need to speak softly.

Wow.

Chicken or Beef, UncleBuck, and K.M.A seem to have quite the chips on their shoulder.

Thank you, sfogate, for being understanding.

I understand that you want some quiet time at sleppy time.

But you have to understand you are in a public place(airplane) not your bedroom.

All they are saying is to be proactive an anticipate the worst case scenario.

Just get some headsets, earplugs Or just let them know that they are being loud.

Just try relating to them a little for example;
It is just like when you and Billy Ray Bob(or whatever your friend name was) may get carried away talking about the WWF or when is the next monster truck rallie coming to Hootersville while working backstage @ a Barry Mannilow's concert.

another perfect example of someone not reading what i wrote- hint- RESERVES BEING ASSIGNED CRAP- NOT PICKING IT UP.

And noisy flight attendants should be a "worse case scenario"? I'm appalled at the unprofessional attitudes of the FAs posting on this thread. At least that's what is coming across in the above posts. I often have bad work schedules that I have no control over--I certainly would never have "picked" them--but because I am being paid, I suck it up and try to act like an adult. I'm curious if lead FAs ever takes a minute to brief--as in pep talk--the cabin crew about red-eyes. On CO I almost always have good experiences with the service. On those I don't, it is my sense that the lead is usually not setting expectations adequately.

Really? :rolleyes: Also, I'm curious. Did you happen to work last Saturday's flight from IAH to AUS? I was on a full fare ticket but would have received much more professional service on WN. The two FAs in FC didn't seem particularly concerned about passenger safety either. They were way to caught up with loud, mindless chitchat to have been aware of anything going on in the cabin.

This was in absolute contrast to the FAs who worked AUS/IAH three days earlier. When I see how hard most of CO's employees work to make travel as low on the stress scale as possible, I have all the more trouble understanding how some justify their contemptuous attitudes toward passengers.

I never said that noisy Fas would be "the worst case scenario"
It could be anything from a crying babie because of ear block or an adult crying because the Fas were too loud on his last red eye

ROTFLMAO
...did I just fly with you :D

They are noise cancelling. We can't hear you on the PA.:D

I've actually thought they are a safety hazard unless plugged into the IFE.

I guess the next generation AVOD's ought to have an IPod Dock so the PA interrupts the tunes.

Oh yea, I'm adding "your mother wears disco pants" to my repertoire of comebacks.

I've actually thought they are a safety hazard unless plugged into the IFE.

I guess the next generation AVOD's ought to have an IPod Dock so the PA interrupts the tunes.

Oh yea, I'm adding "your mother wears disco pants" to my repertoire of comebacks.[/QUOTE]

I agree

No, I do not have a chip on my shoulder, however, it is not my job to BE QUIET. Our job does call for customer service skills, however we are there mainly for the safety of the passengers. I wanted to make that clear to anyone who thought otherwise. Believe me, it is not a glamorous job. Do not generalize either. I am sure that you find the majority of your FAs to be polite and respectful toward your needs. You happened to stumble upon a loud crew. Do not expect all crews to be that way.


And no, many of us do not choose to work red-eye flights. We are given an assignment two hours prior and expected to work; there is no such thing as refusing it, unless you want to lose your job. For many of us, it is difficult to sleep during the daytime because of background noise at the hotel, but we do use ear plugs, eye shades, etc. to make it more comfortable. I am sure hotel staff know that some people are trying to sleep during the day, however, sometimes they can get "carried away" too. So, as you can see, I did not choose to work the red-eye, but was forced, and to prepare for it, I brought my own supplies.

I am sure that the majority of your crews have been "more than polite" and respectful to you and the other passengers. Unfortunately, you were unlucky in this situation. Next time ask politely for them to turn it down, we don't mind if you ask nicely. But as you can see, once in a while we are working those flights on 2 hours of sleep, and we didn't start on the west coast either. Usually we start in IAH and pick you up on the way to EWR. Talking is what we do to stay awake...to cater ourselves. I do not agree with people talking loud enough to wake passengers, however, sometimes FAs do not realize how loud they are. (UncleBuck mentioned this already) We are required to stay awake for the entire flight in case there is an emergency and, of course, to serve passengers as needed.

Just try to understand our job a little bit too. We are not out to piss you off and make you have a lousy time; we want you to have a good experience and continue to fly with us. Like I said, most crews that you will find will not be loud because we understand the purpose of a red-eye flight. But also be prepared for the worst case scenario, that will make you happier in the long run as well. ;)

I am sorry you had an unpleasant experience on your IAH-AUS leg, and no, it wasn't me as I haven't worked that leg in months, though I do find it appalling that on a flight which is sometimes only 23 minutes from takeoff to touchdown FAs still managed to piss someone off. I find this as unacceptable as you. I have no contemptuous attitude towards anyone, it is just frustrating when people refuse to hear (or read) another person's argument and at least make an attempt at understanding. I believe myself and the other FAs on this thread made a genuine effort to hear out the people on their dissatisfaction with Chatty Cathys, offered our apologies, explanations, and suggestions. Instead of the same respect and courtesy, what we received in return was a mixture of "that's not good enough", "it doesn't matter", and other comments from people who in several instances ignored many things that we said. Customer or Server, Passenger or Crew Member, respect is a two way street and is owed equally from both ends, regardless of who is paying and who is being paid. Any contemptuous attitude exhibited by myself or any other crew member on this board does not come from a lack of customer service skills, as I genuinely strive every time to make each passenger's experience an enjoyable one, as I am sure most of my co-workers do; but rather out of frustration and a feeling of being treated as "hired help", even on this thread. I hope you continue to receive great service as you did on your AUS-IAH leg (even though it was just a beverage and MAYBE peanuts depending on the number of passengers and weather), regardless of what you pay.

It seems as though a lot of CO FAs or just FAs in general have joined the boards.

Now every thread that has a valid complaint will have 20 replies that look something like, "Well you should be a better passenger instead of thinking you're better than everyone else".

yippee.