Originally Posted by BadgerBoi (Post 16893413)

Ahhh but why not? In another thread I'm reading someone was talking about airline staff "sucking the pleasure" out of a trip with their attitude. Your comment might be fair in Russia back in the Soviet era, but not today in the western world.

Originally Posted by CX HK (Post 16893444)

Service and attitude goes a long way, look at the attitudes between the top airlines in the world and those of the US... sure, technically you are still doing your job, and you aren't doing anything wrong, but there is a reason why so many people dread flying on US airlines, why they are getting absolutely hammered in competition and why so many people prefer to fly with foreign airlines. Little things can affect your mood, and ultimately your business/ consumer decisions.

Originally Posted by N965VJ (Post 16893173)

Also, retirement payouts can be connected to the average time flown in the final years of service, so a senior mama that cruised along doing the minimum of 40 hours a month would be compelled to do something like 105/115 hours a month to maximize the payout.

Originally Posted by CMK10 (Post 16897834)

I work in a service industry (I run a rental car office) and I try not to hate my customers, I really do, but some of them make it so difficult. It's changed my perspective on how I seek compensation when something goes wrong, I will tell you that. I hope FAs don't hate me, but I can understand if they at the very least, hate the idea of me.

Originally Posted by element7 (Post 16893276)

Wow. I think that's way over top. I realize that FA have bad days and such and may not like all passenger but kissing their arse just because of that (or getting 1 comped drink) isnt worth it to me and would never do.

Originally Posted by BearX220 (Post 16890349)

She works a ten-hour day, 30 weeks a year? How terrible for her. Perhaps she would prefer to work a twelve-hour day 49 weeks a year, like a lot of the rest of us.

Does she have to go out and drum up her own students / customers? Does her pay go down if her students do poorly on tests? Does she face any performance reviews at all that could affect her career? Does she have to work Christmas morning or the Fourth of July? Does she have to make strategic decisions, hire and fire personnel, meet quotas, or face having her job outsourced to India?

No?

Comparatively sweet deal. I wonder if she'd like to be put on commission: $200 a week, plus $100 every time a student aces the SAT. If the kids don't learn, she doesn't eat. I doubt she'd take that bet because her current arrangement insulates her from risk almost completely.

That cozy situation is one FAs and teachers alike are loath to give up. I will always remember the ill-fated employee buyout of United Airlines, years ago. Of all the worker groups, only the FAs wanted no part of it, even though the upside of the deal would have been dramatic. They wanted minimum risk and responsibility, even though it meant lower compensation. And they never stopped complaining.

With stratospheric unemployment, though, complaining ought to be going out of style. As this country goes over the falls, we ought to learn to start counting our blessings.

Originally Posted by Darbs (Post 16902521)

Really? I'm not out to get anything for free. I don't drink alcohol on planes normally and refuse to use the headphones, but I've noticed that being polite and nice to the FAs results in them being polite and nice to me. Like I said previously, I'm not a frequent flyer by any means, but every experience I've had with an FA has been a good one. I just wonder how many bad experiences people have start out with the pax being snotty, rude, or short to the FA based on their previous bad experience. We are all guilty of it. You have a rough go-round with a GA so the next time you have to deal with one, you "gear up" for it, thinking this time it will be the same. I just think people would be surprised at what a little common courtesy will get them.Too many years in the service industry make me sympathize with anyone else in the business I guess.

Originally Posted by Darbs (Post 16902521)

I just wonder how many bad experiences people have start out with the pax being snotty, rude, or short to the FA based on their previous bad experience. We are all guilty of it...

Originally Posted by BadgerBoi (Post 16905906)

My last long-haul flight had two FAs who couldn't have been more different towards myself and my companion. One was cheerful and friendly. My companion and I happened to order identical meals and drinks and she said "I love passengers like you, you make my job so easy!" We joked back and said that we felt it was our job to be good passengers.

Her colleague on the other hand...was coming around to clear up during meal service (between entrees and mains) and tried to take my plate away from me while there was still food on it and I had my cutlery in my hand. When I looked at her and smilingly protested that I was still eating she looked at me as though I had stabbed her with my fork and flounced off in a huff. She ignored us for the rest of the flight, walking past us as she was offering other pax drinks.

I realise now that she was from the first-class cabin, which was nearly empty, and I was in business, so she may have been resentful that she'd been called upon to serve the plebs. If that's the case, then god help anyone she might have served if she'd wandered further down the back of the plane.

Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro (Post 16907409)

Perhaps the grouchy FA was disgruntled because she had to help out in Y.. She must have felt like it was beneath herself or something..

Originally Posted by BadgerBoi (Post 16907468)

Well, I don't think she actually went back to Y, I know she was basically in F and come down to J - most of the other FAs weren't in F at all, just in J.

There were other things about her that were just not right. It was Air France, my French is fluent and I only spoke to the FAs in French. Each time this one would respond to me in English - trust me, her English was good but my French was at least as good as her English. I was actually quite glad when she started to ignore us!

All the other FAs spoke to us initially in English but when we responded in French only ever spoke to us again in French. They judged my mood properly, I don't get the chance to use my foreign language skills at home as much as I'd like.

And people complain that you get treated badly on Air France if you can't speak the language! Go figure...

Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro (Post 16907493)

Ok.. I thought it was an NA flight.. now that its clearly an international flight it makes sense..

To clarify, business class is just front of Y, but with higher service.. or was it completely seperate cabin divided?

Originally Posted by BadgerBoi (Post 16907770)

It was proper business class, separate cabin, big fat seats etc. Not just in front of Y, from memory we entered the plane and turned left while Y pax turned right. not the sort of aircraft where Y pax could wander in "by mistake" to the J cabin in order to use the loo.

The flight was CDG to HKG (maybe 11 or 12 hours?) so if you're stuck with someone with an attitude you are stuck for a long, long time.

To be honest, the FA who we liked more than made up for the witch. The nice one was older and less glamorous and seemed to be enjoying her job.

My companion spotted the witch before we even took off. We were delayed on the ground for 2 hours, and my companion said "why does that one keep walking up and down smirking like that, she looks like she's enjoying the inconvenience." I didn't care - that is, until she tried to snatch my half-finished foie gras from me!