BearX220

Then again, as they used to say about Asian cars in their heyday, when you make a good product, you don't have to pay people to buy it.

mduell

I'm not referring to the union contracts, but rather the individual employee terms. The RLA leads to high unionization rates, and the unionization leads to jobs for life instead of ~5 year contracts seen in other countries.

davidsfo

Putting aside the length of the contract, is it plausible that UA could negotiate with the unions an agreement that partially does away with the completely seniority based FA assignments. Perhaps they could assign 1/2 to 1/3 of the slots on a particular flight to seniority and assign the remainder to reserve, that would infuse some of the most junior FA's along with the old timers?

mduell

I don't think it's plausible; the unions are really militant about seniority based preferences.

fastair

As was CS and res prior to becoming unionized. No change has occured pre or post union in terms of bidding by seniority.

restlessinRNO

This would be an excellent idea, but sadly I don't think it will ever happen.

SFO777

Another Chapter 11 could solve the problem.

elitetraveler

Of course it was poor service. What a bellboy at the Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons say something like that while he/she had hands full? Of course not.

It's always funny here to see some folks try to defend what is clearly just bad service.

fastair

I would like my bellmen/women to start pouring me some drinks instead of just carting my bags! "Mr Fastair, I will take these bags up to your room, but before I go, let me pour you a cuba libre just the way you like it./ Mr. Fastair, here is your cab, and I have poured you one for the road as NYC cab rides often require libations to go with them." That would truly add to the checkin/out experience

uwr

I certainly don't think that the OP deserved to be treated rudely or sarcastically. There's no excuse for that. In my experience, the FAs have usually been polite and pleasant.

When I travel in F, I just sit down with my coat on my lap, and a FA always asks if I want it to be hung up. I'm not sure that they usually need reminding, but if they do, it is probably best to do it when they are free and can offer optimal service.

There are usually curtains between the cabins. Since 9/11 the curtains have NOT (edited to add "NOT") been solid so that passengers can see into the forward cabins. This is a safety issue: on 9/11, the terrorists took over the forward cabins and closed the curtains, and the passengers and FAs could not see what was going on up front. They might not have had a curtain on that plane or might have forgotten to close it, but I think that is a trivial complaint.

elitetraveler

My point was about the 'tude a number of your colleagues have, particularly those serving premium cabins with high dollar customers. I wouldn't find it so funny if it were my company.

FlyingNone

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That's not my perception at all. Of course the OP didn't expect the FA to immediately drop the tray full of drinks, no one would - bad analogy.
Who said anything about an interruption ?? ......This is a case of someone not knowing how to "word" things....the awkwardness could have been avoided by just using proper manners like...... "Excuse me, when you get a chance, could you please hang up my coat?"....
Also I don't get your last sentence - directed to me personally ? - I won't have the OP interrupting me anymore ? Of course not, I wouldn't know the OP if I tripped over him.
As usual, some passengers can be extremely rude and by virtue of buying an airline ticket, feel it doesn't matter how they treat or talk to airline staff. No surprise that rude people don't even know they're being rude - evident by their approach (no "excuse me", no "thank you", no "please" and certainly no apology. Unfortunately, if they didn't learn it decades earlier - usually by parents, it's too late.

====================
But we don't know the timing of this scenario.....

Did he come on board at the same time she was starting to go around with the drink tray? Maybe she was busy in the galley setting up that tray - with her back turned - when he got to his seat and she didn't see him come on or start to settle in his seat ?. You can't expect the FA to see or know what 6 or 8 or 12 people are doing all at once while they are settling in.

SFO777

On every LH flight the curtain (always solid) between F & J and is drawn immediately after take-off. And in the new LH First, this is now an even more private solid rigid sliding pocket curtain/door between the F and J.

mikew99

About this, we agree, except that it is the FA who needs to know how to word things so as not to appear patronizing and rude to passengers.

fastair

I understand your point, and think it is a good one. The humor (which I add to almost every situation) was twofold in the fact that a) I would call that some great service, and b) a bellman's job doesn't have near as many requirements as a flight attendants. When one's job requires multi-tasking, one runs into problems where a client wants one thing, when you are doing something else. That isn't an excuse to be rude, I grant you, but even at the Ritz, A bellman has less on the job variations than a comercial airline flight attendant. The flight attendat was doing one thing, she could harly be expected to do another at that time. She could have said things differently, but I wasn't there, so the tone of her voice is not fairly represented here. I asked the OP some clarifying questions a few pages back about how long they waited for the coat, what the flight attendant was doing, were there other flight attendants assiting or free, how was the rest of the service, but the OP has failed to respond to those question. Context is everything when hearing a 1 sided discussion. Without being able to frame the context, one can harly be expected to crucify a person for their action, when only the prosecution has testified to their story.

If the question is "Is poor service considered acceptable?" than the answer is "no". But as I stated when asking the OP clarifying question, there are airlines, bars and restaurants where witty comebacks are considered "good service". WN gets great reviews and is known for them. WIthout knowing the attitude of the flight attendant and the other contextual variables I asked, we don't know if this was poor sevice, an unreasonable request given the circumstances, or a wiity reparte.

If a person can't laugh at themself or their employeer, I think it sad. You would be surprised at how many upset people can be "turned around" by an appropriate level of humor. And accorning to many surveys, women find it sexier than money (I can testify to that fact 'cause I got one and not the other.) This board isn't a $10,000 flight. It is an internet forum. Noone wears their "hats" here, noone is a representative of their emploeer. We post on our own time as ourselves and me personally, I find a bit of humor always makes these forums enjoyable.