cricketer

Got quite the shock today on my flight from SFO-LAX. when we were disembarking from door 2L of the sCO 757-300, the flight attendants made it a point to hold the coach passengers until all the first class passengers had gone. I feel like I've seen this maybe once before in nearly twenty years of flying in this country!

A crew with their own ideas of how things should be done, or something else? Not that this is frankly a big deal, but it is the sort of thing that is a nice touch in soft product.

BankerManUSA

I've seen this numerous times and every time, I always send a letter in applauding the crew for delivering VALUE and exceptional SERVICE to their biggest revenue generating clients. Even on soft product, it is nice to show that there is something that differentiates the First Class experience vs Economy. Kudos to your SFO-based crew. SMI/J: take note...

LASUA1K

This is silly! I've been on both sides of this. When I'm in the exit row in coach it's silly that I need to "wait" for first class passengers to get there bags. The door is wide enought for 2 people to exit.

When I'm in first it just seems childish too make others wait, while me and my slow moving first class people get off first.

The door is wide enough, everyone should be able to get off at the same time.

rwinn

I find that this generally happens on 757s when door 2L is used. It helps speed the process for the F cabin and probably the entire plane.

More discussion: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ed-not-1l.html

escapefromphl

This was almost certainly not a SFO based crew, this was more common on former CO flights. IMO it hopefully doesn't become standard policy.

sfoboy85

I was just on a SFO-LAS flight and i was sitting at 1A. No joke but i was almost the last one who got off the plane because people on economy kept pushing each other out and i certainly didn't like that. Not that it mattered much but whenever i am on first class i like to feel that it is not just the comfy seat that differentiates me but the service as well.

maize&blue

Of course, I appreciate when they do this when I'm in F. And it's only a minor inconvenience (that I probably don't even notice most of the time) when I happen to be in coach when it happens.

I think any airline should do what it can to provide differentiated service for its higher-revenue customers.

ORD1Kguy

Seriously? You get to board first, or at the very least before the vast majority. And in the 757 you get the whole FC compartment to yourself. The VALUE is securing the storage space that is typically so coveted. The VALUE is in the prioritized service. The VALUE is in the comfort of extra legroom and larger seat. But after being enclosed in an aluminum tube for whatever duration you were, everyone wants off. And in a civilized community, even a micro-community as you have on that aircraft, everyone can exit the aircraft through 2L in an "every other" fashion, quickly and respectfully. Don't forget, you may have cleared your upgrade, good for you, few have paid full fare, fairly unlikely but not unheard of domestically. The vast majority standing at the precipice of exiting the plane in E+ are fellow "biggest revenue" elites that want VALUE for their status, to get off the plane to baggage claim where their Priority bags most assuredly await. Holding back anybody from exiting the plane is simply ridiculous, Northwest did this as a practice and I walked past them every time. You need to find something more substantial to applaud.

EsquireFlyer

If it were possible for everyone to get off at the same time, deplaning would not be a 15-20 minute ordeal.

I have rarely/never seen F/C be given priority on a US airline, but I have seen it on foreign carriers, and I appreciate it, especially if I have a tight connection. On a 747 for example, if you sit on the upper deck, on a foreign airline you can be down and out fast, but on UA typically it takes a long time to get out because of the "merging traffic" downstairs and pax from Y continuously pushing out and making it hard for the C to get down and out.

When other people are waiting to board/deboard however, I always move as quickly as possible (whether i am in F or Y), and take down my suitcase in advance, etc. I do not "make others wait, while me and my slow moving first class people get off first," although I recognize that other people sometimes do, and there is nothing I can do about that except wish that they did not.

planemechanic

I have had it happen on the 747's first class.

cosflyer

agreed, i have had this happen more so on BA and a few times on UA INTL from kwi/dxb to iad, the front section of J gets grandfathered in when they do this on UA

LASUA1K

While you dont make others wait, several people do. A domestic 757 has plenty of room for everyone to get off at the same time. My 1200.00 flight from ord-sfo probably cost more than 22 of the 24 people in first. I'm not a child getting off a school bus, I'm a last minute flyer with more spend a year than most 1K's.

I've been on bost sides, mostly the first class side and I find it silly to make others wait so my royal upgraded self got off the plane.

EsquireFlyer

This statement is directly contrary to my experience on this type of aircraft. When 2L rather than 1L is used for deplaning, it creates a traffic jam like merging lanes during rush hour. Most people do not take turns, move efficiently, or act considerately. Instead, overly aggressively people block traffic and cut people off, overly timid/polite people jam up the entire line behind them while letting too many people pass, rollaboards occasionally run over people's toes as their owners push toward the exit, and half the time the entire thing is just a huge mess.

mckerrow

My experiences were some NRT/HKG based crews did block in between C and Y on 747 to let C passengers deplane. Most time, it's like what you describe.

Giving priority to F/C passengers for deplaning has been the normal procedure for almost all major players in East Asia, and their FAs are very rigid to follow this procedure. Even sometimes there's no or very few passengers in F/C. Curtain will be on and FAs will block on ailses in between F and C & C and Y.

diburning

Sure, it may sound like they are elitists..... But then again, that's why they're called elites!