Since I haven't flown Northworst for some time, maybe my flight was an exception. Does First Class get served pre-flight drinks like most of the big air carriers?

Yes, I have gotten them up in first on NW.

It may have been when you were flying. During late-May/early-June I flew FC on three domestic flights, and on all three the flight attendants (literally) just stood around chewing gum and chatting amongst themselves during the pre-pushback period. I think this was during their contract negotiations, and they were showing what they can and don't have to do. On some flights later in June, the normal pre-pushback service seemed to have been restored.

It depends....I've been on flights were nothing was served prior to take off because the FA's were busy with others boarding, and no room to maneuver. But on most flights they do serve beverages in First. Sometimes it is in the regulation plastic cups, while others we were served in glasses. At other times they have not collected them until we were up & flying.

In my experience, I would say drinks are served prior to takeoff in 1st probably 80% of the time.

As mentioned, seems to depend mostly on how busy the FAs are in helping getting people thru to coach...

jexjex

------------------

Based on trip reports I've read here, this is definitely one area where DL wins among domestic carriers hands down. On DL I can't remember a single flight where I was not offered a drink before take off in FC (although there was probably one or two, but it is definitely the rare exception). Even last week on a flight that was running late I expected the FA's to not serve drinks because they wouldn't want to slow down boarding, but sure enough, they still did, squeezing between boarding coach passengers to take our orders and serve our drinks!

Isn't this thread just a little embarassing for NW? Surely you are suppose to- but for special/extraordinary circumstances! Can anyone imagine reading this in an SQ thread? On the bright side 80% is a B-! Is an A grade forthcoming? In the near future? I hope so!

I got to say, Doc you hit a nerve! I am amazed and disapointed at NW in general. I had to take a quick one day trip from TVC to DSM (via DTW) this week. Since the only fare available was the "screw the business pasenger" fare, I flew what NW calls "First".

My amazment is that they are still in business. Storms on the east coast basically shut them down in DTW. Not a cloud in the sky for 200 miles! It was almost comical watching agents try to figure out what to do. Most of them had their ears stuck to phones trying to get information from MSP on what to do! They had planes, pilots, and crews, but no one with the authority to decide what flight went where! Instead of some people flying, no one did!

Luckilly, my flight eventually went because the pilot came to the agent and informed her that "HE" was going to DSM and she had 35 minutes to get the plane boarded or he and his crew would be over flight time maximums!

Customer Service, don't make me laugh!! I do hope that NWA is monitoring this. I'de love to hear their side of the story, or offer to assist them in making their product better!

Hello DL Platinum.

I'm very sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with us
right out of the gate. Actually, the last 5 months have been
really good for NW in terms of on-time arrivals - we were
#1 in April and #2 in May (2 most recent months reported by
the DOT), so I believe what you experienced was not
the norm. Weather can be very tricky...bad weather in one
part of the country affects an airline's entire network. And
unfortunately, planes, pilots and crews are not interchangeable
in many cases. You describe a situation in Detroit, though, which
reflects poorly on NW. Could you tell me what day this was?
I'd like to pass along your comments to operations management
in Detroit. However, it would be expected that DTW ground staff
would be on the phone to MSP...it's the responsibility of
System Operations Control in MSP to maintain the integrity
of the entire network/schedule.

Back to your original reason for posting...the pre-flight
beverage in First Class is the norm. I hope we are doing better
than 80%! It may have been that the flight crew decided not to
do it in order to prevent a further delay. Perhaps they hoped
to make up some time and push back as soon as boarding was
done. I suppose it's pointless of me to speculate...I just feel
really badly that you did not have a pleasant experience.

Please pass along any further information you want to share
about your experience in DTW. I appreciate your
offer to assist us.

MJW

MJW writes:

...the pre-flight beverage in First
Class is the norm. I hope we are doing
better than 80%

Sorry to disagree with a genu-wine award
winner, but my experience suggests that 80%
is just about right.

-Pushpak

PS - Flew on Continental for the first time
following the alliance. WP Gold was not
good enough for an upgrade, either way.
Dang, that hurt On the other hand,
unlike on my favorite airline, the crew
seemed happy to be doing their job.

[This message has been edited by Pushpak (edited 07-08-1999).]

To MJW,

I'd be happy to give you the details and several suggestions for improvements, would you prefer them direct to you or via the BB?

Regards,

Should all NW Elites call CO and ask for an OA Match for CO Elite status? Why was the NW Gold "not good enough?"

Hi Kid -

As a Northwest Silver Elite I've actually had better luck upgrading on CO flights than NW flights. CO seems to be treating my NW elite status exactly as though I had the identical CO elite status.

I suspect that Pushpak's experience was that first class was simply full by the time he tried to upgrade. Part of the problem is that CO does not do an automatic upgrade for Platinum or Gold members (either CO or NW) the way NW does; in other words, you have to call in and request the upgrade (or do it at the airport). NW Platinum or Gold elite PAX who don't know this and therefore don't call in two days ahead of time sometimes can't get first class seats at the last minute.

TravelLover conjectures correctly - spoiled by Worldperk's automatic upgrade system, I didn't deign to call CO for the upgrade. (There's a reason Sloth is considered a Deadly Sin: there is no worse purgatory than Coach in a flight longer than 500 miles )

Anyhow, it's clear than calling in for upgrades puts too much of strain on my delicate constitution. So I'm abandoning my plan to begin using CO in preference to NW - getting marginally competent front cabin service on NW is preferable to being consigned to the back on the CO bus. Besides, my Land's End jacket label says that it absolutely positively has to be hung on a hanger

Yours in class solidarity,
Pushpak