IAH-OIL-TRASH

I flew LAS-SFO-OGG yesterday and ran into a variety of customer-facing attitudes. United's current and future situation is definitely front and center of their conversations. I overheard discussions by crew and staff members about contract terms, scheduling, potential layoffs, buyouts everywhere - check-in counters, gate areas, in-flight crews, staff walking through concourses. Almost 100% concerned about the future and totally understandable.

My first interaction was with an agent at the LAS airport bag check where an an agent thanked me for flying during these times and it was one of the rare very sincere "thanks". I really did feel appreciated. The gate agents at both LAS and SFO rushed through the pre-boarding groups, which was fine with me, but a DYKWIA 1K who had to certainly could have boarded before a GS (and maybe there were no GSs). The SFO-OGG crew was on the plane - I saw them pass out a round of drinks after take off and hold a tapas box in front of everyone's face without explaining what it was (I knew what it was, but I'm sure other were wondering what it was). I could hear them up front talking about current and future situation, along with a NRSA who hindered access to the lav for about an hour (I guess the "do not loiter in the galley area" does not apply to out-of-uniform employees). Disclosure - I did sleep in back for almost 3 hours, but when I came back, they didn't offer me another drink.

It struck me that the lady at LAS who went out of her way to be nice may be cut and the FAs to Maui may continue to be employed due to the seniority systems. The way FA crews run, it's really hard for UA to identify the good ones and the not-so-good ones.

I usually am ambivalent about service (I expect the worst and enjoy a surprise otherwise), but it seems the seniority system will leave United with a net "worse" customer facing staff. There are definitely some gems (or at least better ones) in the senior ranks that will not retire or take a buy out, but it seems United customers will see less customer-friendly service at end of year than beginning of year.

Probably not exclusive to UA...

Aussienarelle

Oh I so feel you!

At SAN most people I encounter are wonderful, and similar to you at the check-in counter at LAS. But SFO and IAH? Not so much.

The best FAs are generally those I encounter on the commuter jets - they have a tougher job as small space and little support but great attitudes. They seem to be newer to the flying world. And then you get on the long haul flights, now generally the purser is a gem, but the FAs? Generalizations but if you ask them for something it is like you are taking them away from their work which for the most part seems to be on their phone or talking with a colleague - now if they are dealing with an emergency I get it but this rarely seems to be the case on my flights.

With the union I guess it will be the more senior folks that will be on the planes although you do get concerned for their health and safety with COVID.

It will be interesting to see when I get back to flying regularly what does happen to the attitudes of the FAs. Hopefully they will be happy because they still have jobs and recognize it is only the pax that keep the FAs flying the friendly skies. (Most of the pilots have been very friendly, but they will be flying cargo as well as passengers.)

tcdtcd

I’ve only flown 2 RTs post-covid (airports ORD/PHX/EWR), and I’ve found ground and flight staff extra appreciative, friendly, and service-oriented without exception. There seems to be an unspoken understanding between pax/staff of the uncharted situation we’re in.
Granted, a very limited sample.

garykung

Don't blame UA, blame AFA (as well as other unions).

eng3

What does this sentence mean? You observed a 1K board before a GS? How do you know who is 1K and who is GS? Sometimes when an GA is rushing, he'll call GS and 1K at the same time (skipping families). Also, when a GA rushes, it tends to make the passengers rush too. If someone calls my spot in line and moves on to the next group, in my mind I might think "oh, I better hurry up" thinking that I'll somehow "miss" my assigned spot in line.

Overall, I would have found the flight annoying if I were trying to sleep and had to listen to chatter in the galley. Though this was a pre-COVID issue.

My flights have mostly been 2-4hrs long but I have not noticed any big differences in the behavior of FAs or GAs. Some seemed great, some not so much. Same as before. Other than perhaps age, it is hard for me to know where they rank on the seniority list. However, I have always assumed that newer staff members haven't been jaded yet and likely will be willing to work harder to make you happy and have a better attitude. People will still fly regardless of how good the staff is. Perhaps this can affect loyalty, but those of us who are high up enough are probably locked into to one airline anyways. Whatever the case, it seems that making loyal (or any) passengers happy is at the bottom of UA's priorities these days.

Dublin_rfk

I really haven't observed a change in overall FA to customer interaction or ground staff to customer EXCEPT at EWR. Most of my ground staff interactions have been at best curt. I have singled out one GA for being bad mannered and confrontational. But I won't let one interaction taint my travels.

PTahCha

That's SOP at EWR - nothing new.

BearX220

Surely you could have written this sentence about UA employee comportment and frontline morale amid any UA business emergency since about 1985. The culture is bigger than any one crisis. All this stuff was going on during Allegis, anti-Wolf rage, the SFH / United Rising, post-9/11 BK, etc., etc.

DENviaLAX

Blame? The airline industry would fall apart without unions.

Aussienarelle

Why?

I seriously do not understand your comment.

I have worked in a number of industries that are unionized, and as one of my former CEOs commented, unions protect those who do not want to work and punish those that want to work hard.

So how does the Union help United give excellent customer service?

[Full disclosure: I currently work in a job where the union protects me with seniority. I do not think it is necessarily effecient but works for me as an individual. 😁]

garykung

Absolutely not going to happen. At the minimum, the survival of a labor union depends on the employer, not the another way around.

So union without the airline industry would fall apart, but not the airline industry without unions.

For example - DL's FA are not unionized.

NewYork1K

Flew UA yesterday [route redacted, but it was a short A320 trip] with a relatively junior inflight crew and found the service to be standard and friendly. But during the deplaning process, the young purser lost her spot on the staggered dismissal (which imho is a bit silly on narrowbodies but works well on widebodies) and said “I don’t know what row I’m at so just deplane.” And as we were deplaning, the woman in front of us was wearing an Andrew Yang pin and she said, "I love your pin! Yang Gang 2020!” I always thought political comments while on duty were a no-no.

While it was refreshing to see an FA be a bit more "human," I have to imagine she would be a bit more professional if she wasn't about to get furloughed. Whole thing makes me sad!

LordTentacle

Flew SYD->SFO last week and had a PM-UA crew that were all very senior,
I brought them Chocolate (Lindt and Timtam's as I always do) and every single member of the crew stopped by at one point or another to thank me
Could not fault the service in any way, if anything one of the best flights I have had in the last 5 years
Ground staff were fantastic from check-in to the Gate

fly747first

Very kind of you to bring the crew chocolates!

757FO

Thank you, this is so appreciated by the crew, but don't forget the pilots, we like chocolate, too!

Seriously, very nice gesture, I'm glad you had a great flight!