FA eating BE meal in Economy
 

I took a flight last week from SEA to NRT, seated right at the front of Economy Comfort by the exit. A short time after the first meal service finished & had been cleared away, one of the FA's sat down on the jump seat right in front of me & ate a Business Elite meal.

Has anyone else experienced this, and found it distasteful? Seems like it is saying "Economy Class food is good enough for you peons in the back of the bus, but not good enough for the crew".

If they eat it behind the curtain in the galley that's one thing, but in full view of "valued" Economy passengers?

Comments?

Really? No comment...

You must have this confused with another airline.

Sorry .... it must be the jet lag. Not sure what I was thinking. I meant to say just "Economy passengers". Not sure how that word "valued" crept in.

I once flew Northwest in first class from DTW-PBI and declined the first class meal. The NW flight attendant offered me his steak dinner. I refused because I did not want to eat his meal. He said he was not going to eat it so if I wanted it I should take it. He also wrapped up a bottle of the Sebastiani for me to take home. Oh those NW flight attendants.

A few months ago I flew CO from SFO-IAH on the red-eye in first class. We got peanuts and could not get a second drink. The FA's started cooking some really aromatic meals.

Are you bothered by the fact that the crew ate a leftover BE meal or the fact that they did so while seated like a normal person in an empty economy seat?

Are you also bothered that the cockpit crew is eating BE meals but while seated in the cockpit?

Would you rather that the crew be restricted to thin gruel and dry, day old bread?

Do you think that the safety and service on Delta flights would become better by steadily treating the crew worse?

Flame me if you will, but the FAs probably do that flight (or other long hauls) all the time. The food gets boring for us, but can you imagine knowing what you will be eating 2-4x per week for each meal? As far as I'm concerned, they should have their pick of catering.

Seeing as we are all trapped in a metal tube though, I really wouldn't have given it too much thought. Its not like they have tables set aside for them for a relaxing evening. Tough job.

Coming from the perspective that delta wants to compete with other asian carriers?

Yes, it is something that is not done on most high end asian airlines.

Coming from the perspective that delta is an american airline?

No, it is something that is the norm of american airlines

I don't want to speak for the OP....but for myself...

The FA's eating the leftover/extra BE meals is not an issue... If it is going to be wasted anyways they might as well enjoy...

HOWEVER eating it in plain sight of a pax is just not...I'm not sure what the right word for it...just seems like poor taste.

I've been chatted with FAs in the galley while they were eating and that is one thing...but to sit in the jump seat facing pax just seems kinda unrefined...

It is the little things that really separate DL and the likes of SQ, MH, CX, EK, etc... on the TPAC and Asia routes...

In almost all service providing companies, it is the norm that staff members do not eat when seen by guests. This is reflected by most airlines having instated a policy that flight crews eat in the galley. It is a shame that Delta apparently does not have or maintain this guideline.

Personally, I have no issues with flight attendants eating business class meals. It would be a shame to have them go to waste. And their job surely isn't easy.

Overall this is a yet another "stupidest, least substantive thing one can complain about" type thread but I agree with Burj... to me it's fine for flight attendants to eat whatever's remaining in the un-selected Business Elite catering choices (since it'd otherwise go to waste) but it's really poor form to do it in front of coach PAX.

On a separate but related note, I'm not sure how they could do it, but FA's should be a little more discreet when they take a tray full of first class or B.E. meals to the back of the plane.

As part of labor negotiations it may be written into the FA's contract that on flights over a certain distance the FA receives a BusinessElite meal. The bigger question is why the FA had to eat it right in front of paying pax, but it could very well be that there are insufficent jump seats that are cordened off and another crew member refused to give up a seat so the FA could eat (I am not saying that that was what happned just that it was a possibility)

I have seen this and have absolutely no problem with this at all. I've never given it a second thought until now. If they, who are making low wages and are forced to eat the same thing over and over again, are treated to a slightly better meal, good for them, if they were eating it in a tasteful manner. If they were inhaling their food and looking like disgusting slobs in the process, then I might have a problem with it, but that could happen with snack peanuts.

Who cares

+1

Lighten up. People gotta eat.