CPMaverick

Unfortunately there is a rule that you must adhere to the requests of FA's so you ignore them at your own risk.

BBFD

Totally agreed. I try my best to be friendly and respectful but sometimes walking on board you can tell no matter what you say or do it will not matter. On a side note, had a FA on a UX flight Saturday night offer the pax Hallloween treats because "she wanted to show her appreciation for us flying because it gives her a job." Now I thought that was class. ^^

indo79

Sorry but you are wrong, the FAs are there primarily for your safety and nothing else

kcblakely

Provide for safety, help the passengers, serve them when appropriate, project a good "customer service" attitude: that *is* kinda their job, after all...

Um...because it's a comment on United?

JNelson113

I am 100% with Idsant on this one. If you are being paid to do a job (and I would argue that a big part of the FA job is to be pleasant to customers and represent the airline well), you should do it to the best of your ability. I don't care if you hate the job or are unhappy with the pay--it is your moral responsibility once taking a job to do your best to do a good job. I don't see how allowing the FAs to take out their unhappiness by being unpleasant or rude to customers helps anyone. If anything, them CHOOSING to have a good attitude and be pleasant would likely increase their own happiness and job satisfaction.

kcblakely

Sorry but that's just silly, regardless of what the training manuals or FAA regs say. If that were true, they wouldn't be greeting us upon entry, saying "buhbye" or responding to off-service requests for coffee....

dsquared37

And in the past I've responded very nicely to the 'request' to close the window. And declined. And will continue to do so.

GoPUBoilers

Well put...I'm not exactly in love with my job but I certainly don't go around with a frown on my face all day.

Good attitudes by FAs go a long way with me, and I'm happy to say that I've had excellent service on virtually every segment I've flown this year on UA. If, however, that were to change over time I would absolutely start to look at alternatives.

buaya00

Sorry but you have been driniking too much of the kool aid. Yes their primary responsibility is safety but they do have secondary duties and its very much apart of their core responsibilities....customer service. That doesn't excuse behavior the OP mentioned.

Yoshi212

^^ I hope you sent in a positive statement about her. The more positive statements about the good ones will keep them around and weed out the ones who shouldn't be in the service industry.
Don't get me wrong FA jobs are 2 sided. To provide us with a safe environment and also to provide us with an enjoyable one. It is a service industry since we decide who we fly and they have to earn our business. Their job has gotten more demanding but I am getting sick of this "post 9/11" reasoning to make people follow what they decide is right.

Phil Level

I started another thread on the topic...

Maybe we have to change our expectations and just be grateful the FA's only bark, whereas they could mark their territory.

flyinbob

I think the big ol' smilie was there to show he was quoting the FAs in a sarcastic way.

dgcpaphd

Do you do this during daylight when the sun shines on other passengers or when other passengers are trying to sleep (assuming you are on a long flight)?
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seaflyguy

-1

I was on a UA flight recently, seated in F -- I believe it was ORD-SEA. As I always do, I prefaced every request with please, followed up every service with thank you, you name it. Not once did she use either word. After a while it became a game -- I noticed that she didn't speak politely to a single passenger within earshot. Not once. For four hours.

I think your advice is often true, but not always, to be sure.

I couldn't disagree with this more. Yes, FAs are there for our safety... but they also have the responsibility to make pax feel welcome and appreciated.

Any business that deals directly with consumers has a choice to make about how it treats its customers. Unfortunately, the situation we're in is that the legacy carriers are saddled with a) bad blood engendered by years of treating employees poorly and b) unionized workforces in which seniority counts for more than customer satisfaction. At least that's how it appears to me.

Explore

I'm definitely looking to the new CO management to send out mystery shoppers who will terminate customer service workers who don't provide customer service. The type of behavior described is not a feature of Continental Airlines.