FlyingFinn

Was flying TXL-HEL in J the other day. It was like 29 degrees with no clouds in Berlin, and the Tegel air conditioning seemed to have given up (at least the BA lounge was nice and cool!) so it was really hot and stuffy inside the terminal. Add this to a non-working APU on our A320 and the fact that Tegel ground power is insufficient for running the aircon on a plane (that's what the captain told us) and a completely packed flight and it made for one sweaty experience waiting for the engines to be started and some sweet cold air.

Anyway like 15 minutes after take off we hit a particularly rough patch of turbulence which had the seatbelt signs on for more than 20 minutes so no service apart from the cold (!) towels J until like 45 minutes to the flight (I think they managed to run partway through Y with the drinks cart before the turbulence kicked in).

Now this got me thinking an old pet peeve of mine - as much as I like the AY European J service concept, there's something that's really annoying me: it can take a long time to get a drink after take off. Most crews do a drinks run before the meal service (not on this flight, however!) but even then it takes quite some time after take off since they're busy heating the meals and preparing the service carts. And if you're on a row 12 of the A350 to LHR (my favourite spot!) it'll again be a while... On a hot day like this particular one I was very thirsty by the time I was offered a drink (and being at 1A I was the first one to be served anyway!) - the fact that TXL has security at the gate makes this worse as you cannot even bring your own bottle of water through...

So would it really be too much to ask to have a PDB service in J? I know people will say "but it's so hard with the passengers boarding at the same time" - but the American carriers seem to manage this just fine so that's not really a valid excuse. If you don't want to serve booze, then don't - but a simple water/juice tray would do wonders. Or if that is too much, how about prestocking all the J seat pockets with bottles of water, like many carriers do on longhaul flights?

If there's a ground hold, most crews will serve you water while you wait, so just expand this concept a little bit and there you go. Wouldn't cost the airline too much.

nordic

ffay005

Just ask for a glass of water while on the ground. The times I've asked, I've gotten it with a smile. (A long time ago, AY used to offer PDB in Euro J).

I got a cold towel flying FCO-HEL on a hot day this summer. I thought it was a clever idea and complimented the FA on it.

TPJ

LO serves PDB in short haul C and Y+ - just water and OJ in plastic glasses - but it serves the purpose...

on22cz

I totally agree! Water / juice would do wonders. Passengers boarding are about the same (poor) excuse as flight time for limited-to-no service.
This absence of PDB (or "only care while in the air" approach) really damages the image of J experience. I have seen and experienced many times long waiting for push-back with FAs apparently not even considering any service, yet in-flight they were great. On some other occasions, I remember seeing PDB service.
It seems like Finnair leaves freedom to FAs in this matter, which many (most?) interpret as in-flight only service. While I'd say the F&B quality is really good, the whole service concept could get some little - and important - modifications.

To add to the list, A3 also offer PDB - and yes, they do have passengers boarding the plane, too.

FlyingFinn

Yeah, another good example was CPH-HEL last Saturday. Ended up being the only pax in J, with a three row cabin all to myself. There were plenty of opportunities to serve a PDB or even a cheeky post take off drink, but it went strictly by the book: hot (and this time it was the hottest towel I've ever had!) towel, followed by the meal tray and only then asked what I'd like to drink.

Hartsa

I have an example from May on a CDG-HEL flight.

The flight was a bit delayed on boarding and a little further delay was announced while boarding. After this announcement the FAs started PDB service because of all these delays (maybe 45mins altogether)! The offer was water, OJ or champagne. Very nice service on this flight!

nordic

florens

To be honest I don't see how this is related to experience. If I as a cabin crew saw only 1 pax in J, I'd be proactive...

FlyingFinn

Oh there definitely was a purser and quite a senior one at that too. Although I think she was a bit too senior - to the point of "Can't really be bothered to go the extra mile any more."

She was really nice and all when we had a short chat waiting for deboarding at HEL though.

haapalainen

I would argue that it is normal that FAs with less experience tend to go by the book. Only with experience they learn to notice that for example PDB could be well received by the passengers but as the SOP doesn't include that (?) it is easier for the FAs to just leave it. Additionally, it is likely that very few FAs have experienced flying in premium cabins before they are hired so things like PDB just doesn't come to their mind if AY doesn't teach them to do it. (No offence intended for any of the wonderful young FAs!)

FlyingFinn

Yes, some crews are good at showing initiative like that. Heck I've been asked if I wanted a glass of water "or something" during boarding on Norra too. I plead temporary insanity that I didn't try to push my limits just for the sake of research .

Once I switched seats on a FCO-HEL flight during boarding to let some party sit together. To purser said to me "Well, as a thank you gesture I'll offer you a drink while we wait for boarding to finish." - and had no issues with serving me a bottle of champagne while still on the ground (this can sometimes be an issue with tax and other local regulations).

florens

Ok, fair enough and I guess this makes sense.

lkrt

SPBanker

Biz cabin had PDB SPU-HEL July 25. We were maybe 10 minutes late, so it really wasn't that.