SchmutzigMSP

While I won't say that it's impossible that the FAs might not have chosen to do a service, I did fly a RT to ORD this weekend and noticed that part of the problem might have been catering.

On the way into ORD, in F, there was a full pre-flight drink service and a full drink service once airborne. There was also the traditional snack basket with pretzel crisps, Twix, bananas, etc. In Y, there was the standard drink service with peanuts or Biscoff.

On the return, in F, there was a full pre-flight drink service and a full drink service once airborne. But only peanuts as a snack. The FA said catering screwed up and there should have been a snack basket + snacks in F. I don't know what the Y service was like, but I know a FA grabbed a cart from FC and took it down the aisle.

So, part of it might be catering issues/inconsistencies with the recent changes...just FYI.

tjisnumbaone

Well who says that everyone uses these extra services? never checked more than 1 bag (last time was in 2007), never booked on phone, never done curbside, did one SDC once and paid it, never cancelled, CRJ's are nasty, don't like singing FA's.

tjisnumbaone

duplicate

DMIrishFlyer

Been asked before - never been answered......

Seriously Mike - its a good question. I'd love to know the answer (is it cause you get to hang out with the good folks on flyertalk? )

Beckles

Water would be "sufficient" and is not "necessary" for a three hour flight by some standards, so do you think airlines should not serve beverages on a 3 hour flight too?
It will still count as a DOT complaint against the airline, I don't think the DOT would throw it out.

This is not much more than a myth these days. For the cities WN serves, their airports are hardly "out of the way" in most cases, and in several cases they serve what are arguably more convenient airports (e.g., DAL, HOU, and MDW). In places like the SF Bay and Southern California they provide frequent service to a wide variety of airports, which is becoming less common on legacy carriers.

First quarter passenger loads are public record already (earnings coming over the next week). WN has not seen the double digit drop-off in passengers that the legacies have seen (see this post for my thoughts on this last week, DL and NW numbers were similar to the AA and CO numbers).

WN already pays it's people better than the legacies, so what other "legacy-type costs" are you referring to is it not already incurring that it will begin incurring in the near future? It already buys airplanes, buys fuel, buys supplies, rents gates, and pays landing fees like the legacies ... one cost it has that the legacies don't though is income tax.

javabytes

An update to my previous post...

Last Friday, DTW-ORD on NW metal, water only served in F before takeoff.
Today, ORD-DTW on NW metal, full drink service before takeoff and again in flight, as well as the snack basket. This in spite of the lead FA loudly complaining about everything Delta, from the length of the announcements to referring to the snacks as "old school" and "nasty a** sh*t".

Personally, I couldn't care one way or the other. I don't NEED drink service on a 90-minute flight (45 in the air) but sure, it would be nice, and I won't turn it down. Especially while I can still get Baileys with coffee before Delta toys with the menus. What I would expect, however, is consistency. If there's no beverage service, then there's no beverage service. But I'd rather not be left guessing whether or not I need to stop at the Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee before getting on.

johnincolumbus

+1

skchin

Supersonic Swinger

+1

MikeMpls

Right on the mark. And their moves this year into MSP (potential head-to-head competition w/ a major hub airline), LGA (congestion central) & BOS are an indication that they are evolving.

Bingo! Well defined product & consistent execution by employees with uniformly supurb attitudes.

SamuelS

PRECISELY! Consistency, knowing what to expect, no suprises (other than perhaps positive ones for the 'over and above'...)

If the carrier cannot have it's crews perform a full service on a given flight, then make a service standard for a reduced service. WestJet here in Canada offers a modified service on it's Edmonton - Calgary route (DTW-ORD equiv). You know you'll get coffee or water as a minimum. You know that if there is a light load, you may even get a full beverage service. But you know what the minimum is and can expect it every flight, every time.

Consistency is key, and DL/NW need to drill that into the inflight department in the training/coaching of cabin crews. Customers need to be able to find out in advance what the service will be, and expect it to be delivered.

It's not rocket science.

Robert Leach

I can't speak to NW, but my service on Delta through the years, including recently, has been consistently good, but it has never been totally consistent.

There is always some sort of variation along the way. Sometimes this enhances things, other times it diminishes the experience somewhat.

I will certainly agree that a beverage service is not an absolute requirement on a short hop flight. Having said that, I will argue that on many occasions it is a very welcome thing to have.

It all comes down to branding to me. If you are branding yourself as a "premier global airline" or something along that line, you have to act the part. This means looking for every opportunity to excel in the service end, regardless of the cabin or the fare paid. A large part of this is attitude and hospitality, but the hard product plays a role as well.

jcherney

I fly the DTW-MDW route a bit-probably less than most of those folks on this board. I rarely fly SW because I can't stand their boarding process. At least w/ DL or NW, I can get on board in advance and settle in (without paying a premium to do so). As for the drink service, it's such a short flight that I could care less what is served. It's not a restaurant.

asnovici

I fly ORD/MDW-DTW very frequently, and always in FC (very easy route to get upgraded on). I would say 3 times a month was an average. I have observed that beverage service was always performed in Y on these flights, and always in F, however the FC FA's can be extremely inconsistent. I had my fare share of lazy FA's. Nowadays, as it has been reported in this thread, they don't have to do any service on flights less then 250 miles. I do care about drinks in flight, and not afraid to admit Id like a couple of bloody marys on this flight while airborne, which makes me reconsider going through DTW (although I love that airport) and go through MSP or even ATL.

There should be no excuse not to provide beverage service on a 40 minutes flight, unless there is a severe turbulence the entire way (very rare on this route).

Beckles

If you were elite (i.e., A-List) on WN you'd get on early too. Comparing non-elite flying on any carrier to elite flying on another carrier is not a very reasonable comparison, of course flying on a carrier where you enjoy elite status is better than a carrier you don't have status on.