limey1K

I can''t stand the 737s with the old recliner seats. They are uncomfortable due to being worn out and they recline WAY back into the person behinds personal space.I have been on quite a few lately and my pet peeve is the guy in front of me racking it back as we head out on departure taxi and then never putting back up even after we land. It makes getting off the plane from the window seat a real PITA. I've had multiple instances where FAs "prepared the cabin for landing" and completely ignored the reclined seats to the point of where I've pointed at the seat back in my face and made eye contact until they ask the passenger to press the seat button.

Good news is that so many of these seats are broken that you can place it in the upright position it by pushing it forward from behind

uanj

I agree it is not generational, but it all started emerging during the pandemic. I don't think it has totally subsided yet.

Hopefully the FAs are as good and diligent as previously, its that last international flight to SFO that really shook me. Back to begging to get dirty cups and dinner trays picked up. No proactive refilling of drinks ever on a 14 hour flight. And I got to hear an hour long conversation about the changes to medical treatment for employees when overseas. Plus why young people leave GUM for LAX or LAS. The FAs were oblivious to how loud they were talking. They even talked over seat belt announcements. Just like the 90s.

lotemblizej

During two flights this week the crew said they would not do a final safety check (seatbelts, seats vertical, tray tables stowed, etc.) due to turbulence (which was not severe in either case). A big departure from past practice in place for decades where FAs seemed to come through for safety checks ALWAYS, even when I feared for their safety. That combined with the new procedure to tell pax to put their seats vertical, etc. much earlier (during initial descent rather than final descent) leads to more non-compliance with safety procedures on landing in my observation. Safety procedures on take off, on the other hand, seem to still be enforced like before.

Kacee

Experienced similar countless times over the years on UA, particularly with EWR crews. Some things never change -;

PTahCha

I honestly don't know what you mean by just like the 90s. Although, with the seniority of FAs these days on international flights, they might be the same FAs from the 90s.

Can't tell whether you are for or against FAs doing safety checks when there is known turbulence.

narvik

There's definitely something way off recently, and procedures prior to landing are all over the place, and unusually inconsistent ---> yes, even for United!

Despite what pilots keep saying on here, there is a huge disconnect somewhere between the flight deck and the FAs. Whether this is solely rooted in the new procedures I am not sure, but almost every landing nowadays has weird things going on; it's as if the cockpit and the FAs are working off a completely different rule book.

Latest landing into HND had the cockpit announce that passengers should start getting ready for the seat-belt sign to come on soon, and to visit the lavatory now if they needed to.
The FAs -on the other hand- were going around making sure all seat-belts & shoulder straps were secured, and seat-backs were upright and tray-tables stored...all while the seat-belt sign wasn't even turned on yet.

fumje

There's an inherent challenge to establishing whether rare events are a pattern or random coincidence, but I will say that I saw an FA walk past an open overhead on the final prep for landing and do nothing about it. We landed with the bin open. Luckily it was jammed full of oversized rollers and nothing budged. Yes, I did write in about that. It's not common, but also I don't think OP is making something of nothing.

1KChinito

Some months ago, I was on a domestic flight, after cabin preparation has taken place, aircraft was taxiing. An overhead bin was wide open, visible by anyone who was looking. None of FA noticed it. I kept pressing FA call button. After about a minute of repeated pressing, finally a FA came by. She asked me if I had a medical emergency. I pointed that open overhead bin to her. She thanked me then closed the overhead bin.

nnn

My last five or so UA flights over the last month, FA apathy struck me as being up as well.

lotemblizej

Excellent point. I am always for safety, but in this case I feel UA is giving me as a passenger a mixed message. While each flight begins with "while service is our passion, safety is our top priority," recently I have seen a major change towards laxness in safety procedures during landing that have led on my flights to supposed violations (seats not upright, pax standing and talking in the aisle after seatbelt sign is on for landing, seatbelts not fastened) that could pose a threat to me if we hit severe turbulence. FA behavior has also changed from no nonsense on landing procedures (prior to the recent change to getting the cabin ready for landing earlier there were usually multiple FAs coming through the aisle to check seatbelts, etc., now that doesn't happen) to fairly lackadaisical and nonchallant in many cases. This is akin in my mind to the issue of cell phone usage after the aircraft door has closed. Crew still make the announcement to put cell phones into airplane mode, but no longer enforce it, leading to everyone using their cell phone. As a passenger, I would prefer a clearer safety message and better enforcement of the true safety risks. I feel I am not getting that now.

LarryJ

This is happening more often because we have a lot more information on turbulence in the cockpit then we did only a few years ago. Turbulence, however, is often like potholes. They're bad when you hit them but nothing at all when you miss them. We now see the forecasts for moderate turbulence and actual reports of moderate turbulence on our route then fly through the area experiencing nothing more than light turbulence. We don't know ahead of time if we're going to hit it or not. When there is the possibility of moderate turbulence we are going to have the F/As seated. We then do whatever we can to mitigate the turbulence by slowing to turbulent air penetration speed and negotiating for deviations and altitudes less likely to miss the worst of it. If we succeed, the passengers may think that there never was any turbulence and the F/As are being lazy. The new measures have significantly reduced F/A injuries below 18,000' so they are working.

If anyone sees that again, stand up and close it. A heavy bag falling out of the overhead could cause serious injury.

ani90

What was wrong with the 90s? I would pick 90s or 2000s FAs and in-flight service any day over today.

So true. Other week we were complaining about lounge staff who were enforcing the rules appropriately denying access, and FAs who were strict about not having a bag of one's lunch in the lap during take-off cos in bulkhead and now we complaining about staff not enforcing rules.

On some occasions that happens it is because of a defective seat and cant stay upright. I have sat in a fixed reclined seat all flight and I am sure people were assuming, like you have, that I was just disregarding rules. Agree though likely uncommon.

Yeah that will sure get attention of the FA and get one shouted at. They won't notice the open bin but will certainly notice the guy standing to close it. They might even accuse him of standing up and opening the bin while plane is taxiing...

limey1K

I had a broken seat last week and I leaned forward during take off so it didn't recline and continually put the seat upright during flight. I also apologized to the guy behind me for the continuous back and forth between recline and upright.

fumje

Even leaving it open in flight is hazardous. Not on United, but I have seen a bag fall out of an open locker when we had some mild turbulence, and went right on top of someone's head, indeed hurting him quite badly.

It's not always easy to get up in that circumstance, but call button is a good idea. Somehow that didn't occur to me.

SPN Lifer

Safety is no accident. It is always best to do the right thing, and not worry about what others will think. Even flight attendants.