I've avoided the topic so far, but I have a question for the board.

How many of you have ever had to prepare for an evacuation? (I know there are at least a few of you - some have even evacuated)

Of that group, how many of you now pay careful attention now to the pre-flight briefing?

Sure, the FA's going to do the briefing again prior to evacuation - if there's time (there won't be if you have a problem on the take-off roll). It's amazing how, during a pre-evacuation briefing, even the seasoned 1K's grip the laminated safety card because they (in the excitement and fear) have forgotten exactly where the exits are.

What is so important to read/discuss in the two minutes of the safety briefing that makes you willing to shoot the dice and gamble that the 763 you're on board is exactly like every other 763 you've been on and has two overwing window exits, instead of a door fore and aft of the wing, and you blow it during a possible evacuation. People do, in fact, die because of things like this.

Sure, the chances are infinitesimally small that your flight will be the one that week that has to evacuate, but where does the reward come that makes the risk/reward calculus come down on the side of ignoring the FA's.

I will admit, when the First Flight Attendant snidely says: "We are here primarily for your safety. . ." it cheeses me off. The fact is, though, that the months of initial training and weeks of recurring training every year make them dramatically more than cocktail waitresses.

It's most unfortunate that EA/AA/FA is leaving the boards, because, while I'm not an AA traveler, her posts have always been enlightening. I hope she will reconsider.

My condolences to her and all of her fellow FA's for the loss of her friend and colleague. A number of reports indicate that a failure of the pressurization system of the A300 caused the release valve on the aircraft to fail closed, and he died struggling to open a door to evacuate his passengers, because his was the first door to open, suddenly releasing the pressure inside the fuselage.
http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief.asp?e...12X22314&key=1

[/pontificating]

Greg

I'm sorry we offended an FA who has reason to feel offended. But for every one of those wonderful FA's who treat their customers like human beings, there are a hundred who treat us like cattle. I think there are far more nice passengers than there are nice FA's.

The sad thing is that the few passengers that are really jerks turn a nice hopeful FA into a bitter person no longer interested in treating the rest of the passengers like humans. If the FA's could get some real sensitivity training on this subject and learn to treat everyone nice no matter how much of a jerk they are, we wouldn't have the inciteful situations like the one that prompted this thread.

I know this for a fact since I was once (long ago) a doorman at a bar. I would not let people in who were overserved. This was for the safety of the rest of the people in the crowded bar. The people I didn't let in would yell, curse, spit and threaten to hit me. I remained polite and steadfast in my refusal until they went away. That way nobody gets hurt.

The majority of today's FA's think they are better than their passengers and will not tolerate such behavior and that is the problem. Today's FA's don't take backtalk and may have you jailed for it. Yes there are many FA's that do know how to behave and don't take passenger insults personally. But few of them seem to work for U.S. airlines these days. Personally, I blame the unions and the airlines for giving in to the unions.

"...Due to the tone of this board, you won't see me post here any longer..."

PLEASE reconsider! Kindly do NOT deprive interested FT's and even for that matter, yourself, from the useful give and take of these boards!

Absolutely no one has been more offended by the general "tone" or "tenor" of this board sometimes, and too often of late, than I! Just check out the threads to view the attacks! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

At least think about it, please, rather than speak/act too hastily! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

With apologies to you on behalf of ALL those on the boards who have empathy for their fellow human beings! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

-Mark

I disagree Stimpy. I find most FAs wonderful or simply good. There are some bad ones but they are the exception.

This incident is awful of course. This FA should be disciplined or fired, this FA is burned out on the job obviously, and that happens.

I have read many cases of air crashes and air disasters, I have a whole library of such books and accounts. In many of them, the FAs were instrumental in saving lives, even heroic.

I think this passenger was very rude and stupid but shouldn't have been arrested for it.

Remember -- WE do not have all the facts and are only hearing about this through a very narrow channel. The FA could very well have been overzealous but, then again, the passenger may have done several things leading up to this incident that cumulatively led to his expulsion.

I HATE listening to the safety briefing, especially when I have been on four flights already that day. Air Canada's have to be the longest on the planet.

I do try to pay attention (or look like I am paying attention http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif) for the few minutes it takes. I even occasionally read the safety briefing card.

As PremEx said and letiole submitted, this guy should have been arrested for stupidity . . . and he was.

Enough of "stewardesses with PMS" how about FTers with PMS.

These are the passengers on the plane that you really must watch out for. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Of course I am ALWAYS quiet and pleasant. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I feel better about FA's after today's flight. I was on AA and the crew was great. They did their usual pre-flight safety annoucement but they were casual about it. I was in the 1st row with a colleague and we were chatting quietly during the annoucement, but the FA's didn't care and were joking along with us since no one in 1st class was paying attention anyway.

So during the flight I related my story about the HP FA. The AA FA's were surprised that she did what she did. They said they were never do such a thing. We agreed that if the FA's are curteous, these problems tend not to happen.

BlondBomber has it right that this whole story is coming from my fingers and I may not be describing it well enough. But I didn't think the guy was rude to start with, I think he became rude when confronted with a rude FA. Hopefully today's experience will be more normal for me since I'm going to fly AA more often. Perhaps I've become jaded about FA's from flying UA too much. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

. . . not that we don't trust you stimpy. After all, you do a little bit of flying http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

You just never know if this guy pinched her on the way in or whether the FA just got her 2 weeks' notice or the gate agent said to watch out for this guy . . .

BB: I gotta disagree. Stimpy is a terrible judge of FA's. He's completely spoiled from spending all that time in International First Class, both being catered to by and surrounded by UA employees!!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

EA/AA/FA,

I believe you took some off-handed comments too personally. I don't think anyone here thinks FA's are only on the airplane to keep us comfortable, and I am truly sorry for your loss. I believe the comment was directed at FA's that use "safety is our primary responsibility" as and excuse for their lack of professionalism (including customer service). It's obvious by the fact you do monitor these boards and have helped people here voluntarily that you do care about "your" customers and your company. I hope you change you mind and stay around. If not, I hope to see you in the air.

Sincerely,
Freefaller12k
aka Scott

At the risk of being flamed, let me suggest that everyone calm down and be reasonable. Flight attendants (if any are out there anymore!): Ask yourselves what percentage of time on your flights you spend thinking about safety. Don't give us a knee-jerk answer that safety is always on your minds. Tell the truth. Is it 10 percent? Five? One?

It seems to me that FAs spend the vast majority of their time serving drinks and meals and doing the other mundane things that they do. They aren't sitting around keeping us safe, except on those rare occasions when they actually use their training! Realistically, the people who should get the most credit for safe flying are the engineers at the aircraft manufacturers, who design and then produce basically safe planes. Think about how hard that job is! And let's not forget the pilots.

OK, I'm finished. Now everybody who is so inclined can jump on me!

Bruce

[This message has been edited by bdschobel (edited 01-12-2001).]

Bruce et. al.: The FAA mandates FAs on flights. The reason for that regulation is for safety. So, technically, the purpose of FA's is safety. In this sense any service they provide is an ad-on function (the Feds say the HAVE to be there, so they may as well be productive).

If the FAA did not have such a regulation, you can bet your booty that SWA would have few or no FA's in order to save $$$$. Just like Greyhound http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

OTOH, I appreciate (and like you have come to expect) the "ad-on" function that FAs bring to the table!!!!! And airlines DO have more FAs then are required just to meet those expectation.

I also agree that failure to meet my expectation of at least good service should not be "excused" based on the fact of the FA's primary purpose for being there in the first place.

But like many others, I find that a few FA are GREAT at service, most are GOOD at it and a few are AWFUL...same curve as any other service industry product!

[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 01-12-2001).]

As usual Koko summed it up perfectly.

Having prepped a cabin as Purser for a possible evacuation/crash landing, I can attest that the attention granted the flight attendants while going through the prep is much higher than the general safety announcement/video. Impending doom can be a motivator. Thankfully, there was to be no problem on that day....

There are certain procedures and actions that WILL give you a much higher chance of survival in an incident. I'm surprised by some of the comments on the board dismissing the benefits of having a bit of knowledge and awareness of your surroundings.

Sometimes, the conversations during the safety demo are loud enough that I can't follow the P.A. - literally. At that point I will ask you to please tone it down, out of courtesy, and to avoid looking like a fool while I demo the seat-belt when the P.A. is talking about the exits.... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

It sounds like this flight attendant at HP was at her wits end....I can only comment that if a passenger is intoxicated, blatantly abusive, threatening or appears too sick to travel, I don't want them on my airplane. There is no evidence at this point that indicates whether or not any of these factors was in place on that HP flight.

Kokonutz got it right on - most flight attendants do a good job, some great, some fair and a few are really horrendous. I can assure you from personal experience that 1 or 2 jerks out of a 777 crew of 12 can give a poor impression of everyone.

I'll never forget one flight attendant who I dreaded flying with - she was sooo over the top with the safety stuff it was embarrassing - she would literally shriek if a passenger got out of their seat while the seat-belt sign was on! At one point, after landing at JFK and being towed into the gate, an asian gentleman got up, not really understanding that we weren't "quite at the gate yet"....this gal proceeded to get on the P.A. and literally SCREAM "SIT DOWN! SIT DOWN NOW SIR! NOW! SIT DOWN! CAN'T SOMEONE MAKE HIM SIT DOWN!.....YOU - YOU - SIT DOWN!"
Of course, by the time she ended her tirade the plane was parked at the gate. It was pathetic, embarrassing and humourous at the same time. From that time forward she was nicknamed "Gestapo-Gail"....I'm sure the impression of all 9 flight attendants on the plane that day was gleamed from G-G and her behaviour.

Safety can be the biggest 'service' I provide to you, however unlikely. That said, I don't believe in dismissing courteous, attentive service with an excuse of "safety is my only role onboard the aircraft". Unfortunately, providing outstanding service isn't often valued and some F/A's feel a need to validate their workplace identities by going extreme on the safety issues.

There is a saying - courtesy is contagious. There are a few passengers and flight attendants who would be well to heed that...

On a final note, I'm really not big on political-correctness, but this is the year 2001. We are no longer 'stewardesses/stewards' and haven't been for 29 years or so.

(Hey, I'm entitled to a pet-peeve or two.. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif)

Thanks for the even-handed viewpoint from a purser. And I for the FA's I respect, I would never refer to them as a Steward(ess). But this one did not earn any respect.

This reminds me of the time a little boy flying on his own asked an FA for a drink. He said "Stewardess, can I please have a drink?". She asked him how old he was. He said "Six". She said "If you want to live to be seven, don't ever call me a Stewardess again".