Odd (not offensive) Statement Made by a Flight Attendant
Oct 13, 2015, 1:01 pm
#61
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Roswell, GA
Posts: 646
I use to work in the World Club for a short time. When travelers from like Japan or any place faraway and they had traveled all night. I did try to help a bit more. Boss didn't like me to ever pamper as then customer would complain next time. Also when that plane came in late, everyone seemed so happy to lock up a bit early. Felt sorry for the the traveler. Decided to go back to reservations.
Oct 13, 2015, 1:18 pm
#62
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
We were helped by an enormous act of kindness by a United employee who also did not want to be recognized, probably because he went against company policy and waived excess baggage weight fees for our 5-member family when we had to re-check 10 bags in Dulles on a U.S. connecting flight on arrival from Europe. The weight limit out of Dulles was lower than out of most U.S. airports for some reason, and all our bags had passed weight limit check on check-in in Europe. The guy efficiently and discreetly checked us in and saved us more than a thousand dollars in excess charges and saved our vacation. I wanted to slip him a small gratuity, but he refused, and it was clear he wanted us to be discreet, but we owe the unsung hero a big debt of gratitude.
Btw, I've never heard of different checked baggage weight limits at different airports. Maybe they enforce the limits more strictly at IAD than other airports, but the weight limits are standard across airports.
Oct 18, 2015, 7:51 pm
#63
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: san francisco
Programs: No airline status whatsoever, Chase URs, HHonors Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 567
I fly United up front consistently, sometimes mileage upgrade, sometimes cash. I am always chatting with flight attendants on my frequent walks. United flight attendants are not happy campers; they are very careful not to say anything terrible, but it's perfectly obvious that morale is low. Those truly excellent FAs I've encountered have a certain something that translates into a very enjoyable flight experience. I can see their point about not being recognized formally ... they don't need it. Since FAs are the face of the airline, it's beyond me why United doesn't take better care of them.
Oct 18, 2015, 9:36 pm
#64
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
This type of situation is quite common at dysfunctional companies. The bad employees (who are the majority) try to get rid of the good ones, in order to avoid making themselves look bad.
Case in point: I had a friend who worked in a restaurant. He worked hard, got excellent reviews from customers (and excellent tips!), and was liked by management. The other staff were lazy and just did the minimum needed to get by. Eventually, they ganged up on him, started making his life difficult, and complained about him to the manager. The manager had to fire him for "not fitting in" with the team.
The fact that a UA employee is concerned about this says a lot about the company. This is not easy to solve. The entire mindset has to change.
Case in point: I had a friend who worked in a restaurant. He worked hard, got excellent reviews from customers (and excellent tips!), and was liked by management. The other staff were lazy and just did the minimum needed to get by. Eventually, they ganged up on him, started making his life difficult, and complained about him to the manager. The manager had to fire him for "not fitting in" with the team.
The fact that a UA employee is concerned about this says a lot about the company. This is not easy to solve. The entire mindset has to change.
Oct 19, 2015, 8:10 am
#65
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,092
It also could be what happened to my wife once: She was fired for doing too good a job. Even management admitted as much--the problem was the clients greatly preferred her, cutting the income of everyone else. The boss was faced with firing or having everyone else leave.