Aluminum tubing

I don't find anything wrong with this and I do the same. By asking the pax "May I get you ANYTHING to drink before take off " It allows them to request what they would like. It's no different as when I do the first bev service I take out a glass of water and hot nuts and and ask " Would you care for a beverage " . There's nothing "uncomfortable" for the pax to give their drink request .

I'm pretty sure you're going to see the pre pour trays on the wide bodies in C with the FA's asking " May I get you anything to drink before take off" until staffing levels change or UA fixes the boarding process and allow F & C board then wait about 10 mins before Y boards so that boarding /PD service can be done .

bocastephen

I see a lack of consistency emerging...on a couple recent CO flights, I was offered juice or water, which was never part of the CO product. Yesterday, the tray included juice, water AND the bag of nuts - so no nuts served with lunch. The FA got the beverage I wanted, but many customers just selected from what was on the tray without knowing they should ask for their preference.

It shouldn't be that hard to drive product consistency into the field.

Yes, I know a lot of FAs might be reading this thread and rolling their eyes because it's not a big deal - but many of us work for companies where we deliver products and services to customers, and such inconsistent product features would never be tolerated by our customers.

Would you buy a shirt from Nordstroms where the color was a random function of what the clerk brought from the back vs. what you selected from the rack? Or a copy of software that maybe had all of the features on the box, or might be missing some, or had other features that weren't even advertised?

Bonehead

Remember...the UA FA contract stipulates that passengers are not to be boarded until 30 minutes before scheduled departure. If the merged carrier throws that stipulation out then there could be plenty of time to serve us the beverage of our choice. I too am sick of this laziness...

channa

I'm not sure it's that easy -- those are contractual items that are negotiated based on the pay the crew receives.

When CO boards a 757 45 minutes out vs. 30 minutes out on UA, that's an extra 15 minutes per plane, and that is likely reflected in the CO staff's wages.

As much as I enjoy my pre-departure beverage, I can see how the UA FA group may feel slighted considering the additional requirement placed on them, despite not adding staffing and boarding time a la CO. If it means having to drink water instead of Diet Coke until they rectify this corporate wrong, I think it's a small price to pay.


This is very interesting. Perhaps it's a sign of solidarity across the two FA groups -- the CO FAs standing up for their UA FA counterparts who have had additional workload placed upon them without an increase of time, staff, or pay.

JerseyCityS

It doesnt' sound to me like anybody needs 10 more minutes of boarding for F and C, and it goes far beyond offering a tray. It sounds like employees who want to be difficult becuase they have to work just a little bit harder and they dont' want to.

In case you aren't aware, anybody in the US who wants to keep earning a decent salary has to work harder in this economy. Be grateful you have a job, and take some PRIDE in offering a great product, and stop trying to find a way to save a minute or two of work.

Where has pride in excellent work gone???? If I were a FA in first class on United, I would bend over backwards to make each customer welcome, and offer the best possible service.

rch4u

Exactly. ^ +1

I almost threw up when I read the previous post about "solidarity" and "additional workload."

commutair

On two flights this week (both on a 767) they offered water & OJ, however when I said "I'd prefer a glass of red wine", the request was immediately fulfilled.
So there definitely seems to be some 'reluctance' on the part of the FA's to get with the program and not doing the pre-poured crap. Having said that, I think it is easier for them to 'run' drinks from the galley on certain aircraft than others. On a 75, the FC cabin is isolated from general boarding, so there is far less aisle traffic, and on an AB, it's just a couple of steps from the galley. The 76 is a bit of a cluster with everyone boarding through the FC cabin, so I can see why it may be less obtrusive to pre-pour and then handle individual requests on an as needed basis.

Aluminum tubing

You're correct the WB are a bit of a cluster


There's is no rule against pre poured as long as we fill special requests

Bushdog

Yeah, this is being done very hit or miss. On Thursday just had SJC-DEN the FA ask me if I wanted anything pre-flight and at the same time he was holding a couple of waters ready to go. On DEN-PHL the FA put water down for me and my seatmate without asking, which seemed a little odd.

Dr_wanderlust

10 legs in F in September and I have yet to hear an FA offer anything but OJ and H2O with the exception of a 6 am departure where a coffee-like substance was also offered as an option.

Frankly I am fine with OJ or H2O but I am very well sick of the force-feeding of the inane Jeff videos.

Pat89339

We didn't even get the PDB of water or OJ on my ORD-SFO flight Saturday.

cogitate

Last Friday and Sunday I flew EWR-SFO round-trip in F nonstop each way. There was no pre-departure beverage service either way, not even the usual water or OJ. (Both were daytime flights, lunch outgoing, breakfast back). Is this a new policy or was I just unlucky with the flight crew? This has never happened to me before on both legs of a round-trip in my many years of flying in domestic F on either UA or CO. In both segments the meals themselves were excellent and the beverage service prior to the meals were just fine.

There was another issue with the SFO-EWR return flight which I think I should post separately since it is unrelated to the title of this thread.

BigBossman

I just flew this past Saturday from BWI to SAT and was offered drink of choice on both of my flights. You flight may have been an aberration.

rch4u

You should stand up for yourself and ask for a PDB.

The union line would be that the FAs were too busy tending to "safety." I bet you had a really safe flight!

Dudey

The OP did land safely to submit this post didn't he?. :-)