This past Saturday morning I was traveling EWR>TPA on the 9:15 am flight. I have long ago reached my 2008 status and took it as an opportunity to use some CO points and Business was all that was available. The FA announced that it was a beverage only flight in both cabins...I thought it was a little strange but oh well I wasn't there for the food. The FA did come through but I was working and choose to not have a drink. From 2C I could see the Male FA sitting in the jump seat reading Men's Health and listening to his iPod, I tried to get his attention but he didn't lift his head...I went up and asked for a coffee and was told "I'm out, sorry".....not a great experience but again, oh well.

Today on the way back....90 minute gate hold for EWR ATC, and then same deal beverage service only, when I asked for a drink I was told we are just about to push and I will have to wait to airborne, we sat in the bullpen for 30 minutes....when I am in the back my expectations are low, when I am upfront I expect a little more, what happened to "Meals at Mealtime" what time is that exactly?? CO has been my carrier of choice for 3 years but this trip made me feel like I was back on United!

PLease keep in mind this is CO first class but with a BF seat, assuming you were on a 752. However, this type of service is still bad.

While it sounds like you may have received some inexcusable drink service, the lack of meals does not surprise me. In my experience, many of the EWR-FL flights that meet the meal time requirements still do not serve meals (in F or Y). I think we can thank the LCCs for that...

Also, as noted EWR-TPA is not BusinessFirst service. While the seats may be BF seats (on the 752), the service will always be very far from real BF service.

It's a short flight - my best advice is to eat before/after if you are hungry and use the flight as time to take a quick nap!

FAs with an ipod on ...is it just me or does this seem like it could be a safety issue? Personally I prefer that FAs can hear what's going on in the cabin...as opposed to the latest tunes....as one never knows when a safety issue arises.

Scott, Does CO have a policy on working FAs wearing an mp3 player with headphones?

Some crews are great, some are lousy.

I just experienced back-to-back crews that were night and day.

Outbound: fanstastic F FA -- always on her feet, did everything by the book, constantly topping off drinks, pitched in in the back when she had spare time, kept a great attitude despite having to go back to get a few things she'd run out of, and even having to deal with whiny pilots who complained that the milk with the cereal was 2% not skim. She sat down for maybe 5 minutes, if that.

Return: 2 chatty F FAs -- did the service, but didn't come around that frequently after the meal, difficult to get their attention when refills were needed, closed up the liquor cabinet 1 hour out, and used plastic cups towards the end of the flight.

It is against company policy (if not an FAR) to use an Ipod or equivalent while on duty.

I had the same problem on my SAT-IAH flight this past Sunday. We had a male FA who had the headphones hanging over his sweater and then later put them on and starting soflty singing to himself.

Exactly! How the hell are they supposed to hear me calling them for a refill on my coffee!

On a sidenote, is it just me or does CO have the worst coffee?? I mean, it's consistently bad.

Maybe it's just me, but these kinds of threads seem to be getting more and more prevalent, both on the US and CO forums (and others, no doubt).

I suppose one could write it off to the "unionized shops," but how difficult would it be to: (1) assign supervisory oversight for the FAs, or (2) have "shoppers" fly the planes and do detailed QA reports?

It just seems very strange that something so important as customer service is left up to individual whims or work habits. Is it so difficult to hire and retain FAs that the airline has to look the other way?

What does that mean? Certainly that would explain the prevalence of mediocre to poor service on Delta.

I'm pretty sure CO (and other airlines as well) hire professional QA checkers to review everything from ground to air service in a variety of environments.

The problem is having a finite number of checkers to cover literally thousands of flights per day.

A few years ago, I requested CO consider setting up a QA program which Flyertalkers could join - after training us on service expectations, reporting procedures, etc., we would be given a standardized form to complete after our flights. To my knowledge, nothing came of that idea.

I'd be willing to do it for free...the end result is a better product experience for everyone.

I would forward your comments to the customer care department along with your flight specifics. This is the type of feedback they need to help weed out bad apples. We all have bad days at work, but the use of an iPod is unsafe.

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...r/default.aspx

CO Insider - please PM the original poster if you feel this is something that should be addressed from your office as well.

People, please use those comment cards!!! I always try to send written praise when a crew does a great job. I am much more hesitant to send poor comments, unless the situation is egregious. That said, our input can assist CO in providing additional training when needed and positive reinforcement when merited.

Not if you put Baileys in it! On my IAH-SAT RT had the same crew both flights. Asked for an "Irish coffee" (thinking that was Baileys and coffee) and the FA didn't know what that was. She asked the other FA who happened to be Irish! He said, "Well, it can be with whiskey or Baileys, but technically it's with whiskey." I had to say, "Well, I guess I want the non-technical Irish coffee." Had one pre-flight and one in the air both times - great way to start the day!

Sometimes poor and outstanding service is not even "crew" by crew, but by individual flight attendant.

There are times that I provide excellent service, but my coworkers on that particular trip are absolutely lousy. And sometimes I have bad days too. Stews such as myself understand the flyertalker perspective while flying, while many have no clue whatsoever. As an individual FA, I can only do so much.

So, when filling out your comment cards, before crucifying an entire crew, please be absolutely sure that it is the entire crew and/or specific FAs. Even the "lead" FA is not a supervisor and in regards to the crew is just there to coordinate and be a go to person.