My sleep was shattered on a recent American Airlines redeye flight thanks to flight attendants who loudly gabbed in the galley, making rest impossible. Why would this happen in the first place and why does this seem to be a unique AA issue?
My Redeye Slumber On American Airlines Interrupted By Chatty Flight Attendants
I was flying from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS) in business class and warmly greeted upon boarding by a gregarious purser. She welcomed me onboard with a big smile and Boston accent.
Finding my seat in the bulkhead row of business class on the A321T (which has extra room for your feet), I settled in for the 5.5 hour transcontinental flight. It was very late, but I was hungry so I waited for dinner after takeoff and enjoyed another centennial meal (I’ll do a Meal of the Week post on it), including an ice cream sundae.
It was around 1:00 am PDT, with 4.5 hours left in the flight, when I finally reclined my seat and went to sleep.
About two hours before landing…right in the middle of my deep sleep…I was awoken by loud gabbing in the galley, which was at a volume-level that was simply unacceptable.
They were talking about healthcare (all their aches and pains and surgeries), which I know is what “mature” people do, but come on…not on a redeye in the galley between first and business class. The conversation later pivoted to their upcoming flying schedules, with most being able to hold plum lines after so many years with AA.
I could not fall asleep and that not only messed me up for the day ahead, but made me very upset…I pay a big premium to fly business class over economy class on an overnight flight for the sleep!
Is it just me, or does this seem to be a problem that is most often experienced on American Airlines? The other day One Mile At A Time complained about flight attendants rarely greeting him and I’ve seen this too (not on this flight, though). I’ve also seen flight attendants routinely complain about their company and its aircraft like you just don’t see on other carriers:
I wrote about it here as well (different flight attendants complaining about the same aircraft).
> Read More: American Airlines Flight Attendants Tell Me Why They’ve Lost Faith In Leadership…And Why They Hate The A321XLR
To be sure, this is a fundamentally a management issue, but there is a culture problem at American Airlines that seems so deeply ingrained that I’m not sure even new leadership at AA would be able to overcome it.
Heather Poole, who I highlighted above, is a great flight attendant and I know she provides excellent service to the passengers she serves. That makes it all the more glaring that she is so emboldened to dress down AA. That’s the sort of candid feedback I would welcome privately…but not on social media, yet AA apparently does not even ask their FAs about cabin configurations before debuting new seats and planes.
It’s a culture problem deep within the airline and my redeye flight was just another example of it. These are decent people who know how to provide good service…they just didn’t on this flight.
CONCLUSION
My AA flight attendants were very nice…they were warm and friendly…but big talkers too and that really disturbed my rest. These days, I don’t expect much on any flight, but I do expect flight attendants to keep their voices down when passengers are trying to sleep. Was I asking too much?
Agree that they should be more mindful of passengers on an overnight flight like that.
Separately, I’ve worked for several airlines and been involved in LOPA decisions… and never once has flight attendant input been sought or expected from anybody. Not sure why you think not incorporating flight attendant thoughts on how a cabin is designed is something unique to American? It’s literally not a thing in the industry.
But totally agree they and everybody should be respectful of passengers and their sleep, especially in a premium cabin on a redeye.
Your point is fair, but I’ve never heard UA or DL FAs complain about aircraft (other than understaffing on UA, which is different) but AA FAs constantly gripe about the planes themselves.
They may complain, and those on DL/UA may not, but that doesnt mean that DL/UA flight attendants had any say in the LOPA on their planes. But yes, it does sound like their cabins are particularly bad. Alas.
DL and UA haven’t had new aircraft with new config so that’s why they’re not complaining.
In a recent red-eye, I asked the FA’s in the galley on front of First Class to please lower their voices so I can sleep. They glared at me and said that’s what ear plugs are for ! Seriously ?
I would take to social media and use hashtags and if a premium elite passenger – notify the airline using the flight number and date. Shame on them !
I also flew on Turkish business and the same thing happened so I went up and asked. They immediately stopped talking and apologized profusely .
Sleep deprived Matthew. Cry me a river. Headphones maybe?
What’s your base, Doug?
The service culture for American based airline is “For your safety”. Your sleep or rest is none of their concern. If you want sleep, that’s what ear plugs and eye masks are for.
AA has the worst FAs in the industry.
Terrible, considering the massive raise they just got.
I donno. I’ve traveled extensively on AA, B6, DL, and UA as well as foreign carriers, and it’s hit and miss as far as who is best or worst; most try to do a decent job, but, no, I don’t think any particular carrier is being loud out of spite during redeyes. Kind of a silly post, Matt… *wink*
Why? For the same reason the couple leaving their hotel room at 6 am needs to talk not just at normal levels, but shout down the hallway. BTW, the proper approach is not to let the door slam and then not talk at all unless necessary, and then just a whisper.
Weren’t you supplied noise canceling headphones? As a seasoned traveler, I’m surprised you didn’t have some of your own.
I have my own and had the Bang & Olufsen ones provided by AA, but I can’t sleep with those on. And why should I? Why should these FAs feel entitled to gab so loudly?
That’s not how active noise cancellation works, Carrie. Matthew makes a good point – when the majority of pax are trying to sleep, why do obnoxiously selfish cabin crew feel entitled to yap their heads off about mundanities all night? Nobody cares about their arthritic hip or their prolapsed hemorrhoids.
So inconsiderate.
You should have retaliated and also be inconsiderate. Hijack the plane to Cuba and ruin their day. (The drawback is there would be prison time)
It’s definitely inconsiderate, but at the same time, why do you not have earplugs? Even disposable ones?
For around $100 you can get custom earplugs meant for sleep too and they last forever/
The point is that nobody should have to do that to exclude crew chatter.
Remember that in the AA fleet, the A321XLR is replacing the A321T on top-tier routes, offering 20 Flagship Suites, 12 Premium Economy, and 123 Main Cabin seats. AA has ordered 50 A321XLR aircraft, aimed at expanding long-haul narrowbody operations.
No, you weren’t asking too much, but as you well know “nobody is perfect,” but one can educate oneself in a positive way.
*Revised Comment*
No, of course you weren’t asking for too much, but as you know, “nobody is perfect,” yet one can educate oneself in a positive way.
A fantastic night photo showing off fantastic L.A. and the jetliner’s fantastic left IAE V2533-A5 turbofan engine!
This happened to me on a United flight. Sometime we lean so far into workers rights, we forget they’re still working. Crew should not be talking loudly on a redeye. This also reminds me of how crew are so quick to suspend meal service at the slightest hint of turbulence. Which makes no sense. If the plane goes down, we all die anyway, so at least let me go out with my wine and short rib.
Matthew, could you please write about the excessive announcements on United nowadays. I recently had a couple of international (less than 3 hours) flights, to and from the US, and it was annoying how many unnecessary announcements they gave, they didn´t even let you rest: offering credit cards, asking for us to please follow up with a survey, every 12 minutes a new one…. Would love to know your opinion and if you could share your knowledge about this matter. Thank you!
Entitled whining much?
Yes, entitlement on the part of the FAs.
No Matt, you were in business class, congrats! You had noise cancelling headphones. You have a button you can push to get a flight attendant to come to you, and you could, nicely explain the situation, and ask in a tactful way for them to keep it a bit quiet. Its not like you had to sit in the main cabin with “those people” in coach. Not every flyer gets the free privileges you get, flying in business class while working for this website. Maybe you need spend some time with the real people, that way, minor annoyances won’t get you in such a later. If this is the only thing causing you pain in your life, you got it pretty damned good.
I don’t deny that this was a minor annoyance, but I find it odd you seem to be excusing it. If you read this blog regularly, you will discover I fly in economy class a lot more than many of my colleagues…
Why do I suspect that the poster is the first to p!$$ and moan about a neighbour’s early Saturday mowing and calls police on the noisy party down the street? But, you suggest that employees of a company have a responsibility to delivery a quality product to you and your entitled. I think I have a whiff of a troll. At least no first world problem quote.
Nothing more annoying. Get up to complain and might as well stay awake ( that’s a me thing ).
It’s especially inconsiderate and inexcusable on redeyes but should really be unacceptable at any time. Many FAs (on all US airlines) treat the galleys like a loud office happy hour that is more annoying to listen to than the airport terminal’s repeating “special announcements” about security.
Re: loud FA in galley: don’t just kvetch about it, submit a compliant to UA, it’s a valid reason for a complaint, you might get some service recovery compensation, and perhaps UA will remind all crew of appropriate behavior.
While you’re at it, please remind UA that on many planes the PA system announcements are much too LOUD, contributing to permanent hearing loss.
Finally, you should be ashamed of the ice cream sundae in the picture. Everyone knows dessert should have no nutritional value whatsoever and should always include chocolate. While a small handful of nuts is generally considered to be healthy, nuts should be part of an appetizer or breakfast, not dessert. Granted the berry sauce could hardly qualify as nutritionally healthy, but it does have some degree of natural fruit and it’s marginally more healthy than chocolate sauce or caramel sauce. As such, the only proper way to order an ice cream sundae on an airplane is with chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream :-).
Re: loud FA in galley: don’t just kvetch about it, submit a compliant to UA, it’s a valid reason for a complaint, you might get some service recovery compensation, and perhaps UA will remind all crew of appropriate behavior.
While you’re at it, please remind UA that on many planes the PA system announcements are much too LOUD, contributing to permanent hearing loss.
Finally, you should be ashamed of the ice cream sundae in the picture. Everyone knows dessert should have no nutritional value whatsoever and should always include chocolate. While a small handful of nuts is generally considered to be healthy, nuts should be part of an appetizer or breakfast, not dessert. Granted the berry sauce could hardly qualify as nutritionally healthy, but it does have some degree of natural fruit and it’s marginally more healthy than chocolate sauce or caramel sauce. As such, the only proper way to order an ice cream sundae on an airplane is with chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream :-).
I get accused by people of having an eating disorder because I watch my diet closely, but those ice cream sundaes still have a sway over me!
LOL It’s American Airlines,it’s part of the culture.When I travel internationally I can always hear Americans before seeing them.Chill pill everyone,often Italians,Albanian,Latinos,and some others join us in the big mouth culture.
It’s not just AA … I was on a nonstop from SFO to SIN in the last row of the aircraft, and the FAs were talking so loudly that I could barely sleep. I heard about one of their cats, another one’s mom’s health issues, and many other topics. I assumed it was a problem with UA FAs, but I guess it’s a problem on American airlines. Huge contrast with SQ, which is the other airline flying that route.
Ugg. I feel for you Matt. There is no winning this other than learning to love this!:
3M™ E-A-Rsoft™ Yellow Neons™ Earplugs
They are soft. They work. I always toss a bunch in my backpack. They work.
AA’s management problem is that they allow their flight attendants to behave badly without firing them. The solution is obvious and it begins by firing flight attendants.
Galley noise to be kept to a minimum. It’s in their flight attendant manual.
This happens on almost every American flight I take. Day or night. Unfortunately, it’s another example of hiring people who are undisciplined and “doing only the basics.”
One time, I mentioned this. The FA threatened to write me up. Candidly, this is why American does not command a revenue premium…indifferent service standards.
This is exactly why I did not speak up.
FAs can suddenly become hostile and make up lies about you – I learned that the hard way (on United).