As someone who has requested his fair share of leftover first class meals over the years on United Airlines, this incident strikes very close to home. A flight attendant rudely threatened a frequent flyer, even hinting he would be placed on United’s “no fly” list for consuming a leftover first class meal…that one of her colleagues served him. This out-of-control flight attendant requires discipline.
United Airlines 1k Frequent Flyer Requested Leftover First Class Meal, Receives One, Then Is Threatened With Flight Ban For Eating It
A 1K member, United’s top published loyalty tier, named Sam shared his story on Reddit:
- First, he flew on UA247 from Madison (MSN) to Denver (DEN) in first class
- Although the flight was over 800 miles, it was not catered and so he went without breakfast
- Onboard, Sam discovered that the same crew would be operating his connection from Denver to Seattle (SEA)
- His upgrade did not clear for his connecting flight: instead, he was sitting in the bulkhead of economy class, seat 7A
- As Sam exited the aircraft in Denver, he jokingly told a flight attendant named Susan how much he loved the manicotti (pictured above) and if there were any leftover on the connection to Seattle, he would love to have one
- She smiled and said that she would “see what I could do”
- Sam reboards in Denver and exchanges a greeting with Susan, reminding her (with a laugh), “Don’t forget our deal!”
- Susan responded, “I got you!”
- A flight attendant named Sheletha overhears the conversation and soon approaches Sam and “in the most condescending and unnecessarily confrontational way” tells him he cannot have a leftover first class meal.
- He replies, “Ok, that’s fine no worries.”
- Sheletha then tells Susan not to serve him a meal
- In-flight, after the meal service, Susan serves him a leftover pasta anyway (just the main course, no sides)
- Sheletha was reportedly watching this unfold from the first class galley
- After waiting for Sam to take a bite, she marched over to him and confronted him, warning him that she was “writing him up” for accepting a first class meal
- Sheletha claimed he should have known better than to accept the meal and it was his responsibility to do so
- She also warned, “This kind of violation can result in you being denied boarding and being put on United’s no-fly list
- Sheletha also claimed the captain was “upset” that he accepted the first class meal
- Sam asked for her name which she refused to provide, instead saying, “I’m a purser and that’s all you need to know” (another flight attendant provided him the info)
- After the flight, he speaks to the captain, who apologizes for Sheletha’s behavior
Confession. I don’t blog about it because I do not want to get any flight attendants in trouble, but there have been many, many instances over the years when I have sat in economy class and received a leftover meal from first class. Not only do gestures like this make me loyal to United, but it just makes sense: these meals will just be thrown away. On redeye flights, the first class cabin is fully catered but most just sleep. It’s a total win-win.
As an aside, I think United should adopt an approach like Air Canada and sell leftover premium cabin meals in economy class, but that’s another matter…
> Read More: Air Canada’s Genius Meal Service Concept
It sounds like “Sheletha” was totally unhinged. This is one of those gray areas in which there is no written policy for or against disposing of leftover first class meals, but I bet there will be now…and lovely and kind gestures like those of Susan will occur less and less.
Importantly, if Sheletha had any bone to pick, it was with Susan, not Sam. Waiting until he took a bite of the food and then confronting him was totally inappropriate.
CONCLUSION
It’s not wrong to request a leftover first class meal…at least it shouldn’t be. But a 1K shares of a horrible encounter on a flight from Denver to Seattle in which a power-tripping purser threatened him after her colleague served him a leftover first class meal.
We need more flight attendants like kind Susan and less like Sheletha. Susan should be lauded and Sam deserves an apology from United.
(H/T: View From The Wing)
Wow! Talk about power tripping and overreaching! Sheletha needs to check herself because this kind of attitude isn’t going to help advance her career…
@lars: You better check Sheletha’s gender identification above.
What an utterly asinine and irrelevant comment to this conversation.
@Aaron: did you miss your Metamucil this morning? The post says “he”, Lars called “she”. I just told him to check the post. Calm down dragonfly.
@Santastico, it says, “After waiting for Sam to take a bite, she marched over to him and confronted him, warning him that she was “writing him up” for accepting a first class meal.” Exactly what gender are you trying prove?
@Aaron: my mistake. I read the post the wrong way. I saw “Sheletha claimed he should have known better than to accept the meal and it was his responsibility to do so” I read it wrong. My mistake.
And you still didn’t apologize for being a belligerent ahole.
Before you try to correct someone you better make sure you know what you’re talking about fool. You owe someone an apology.
What a small minded idiotic comment!
Hi, Sheletha is referred as ‘She’ not ‘he’. However, her behavior as FA needs significant improvement. Since the surplus first class meal was served by Susan, if Sheletha had any issues, it should be with fellow FA and not the passenger. It may be guessed that Sheletha was herself interested in this surplus meal.
A fair number of United employees, especially the older ones of which there are many are entitled and rude.
Yeah. What an idiot…
You’d have a bad attitude too if your parents named you Sheletha …
Hahaha! You are 100% correct, I’d hate my parents for that!
Oh jeez, haven’t flown UA for 23 years due to poor experiences with them – in International First. Due to timings and finding a deal (I pay) have booked a transcon domestic first in October. Stories like this do Not fill me w confidence that the experience won’t quickly go south too.
I live in Denver, UA’s main hub and still refuse to fly them. Anyone who’s recently flown into DIA can attest to how much of a mess it is to deal with, but UA has upped their game with insanity.
If you don’t get canceled, postponed or rebooked then you have the concern of being beaten senseless or threatened with the no fly list. Call me biased if it makes you feel better, but I’ll take Delta every time. They’re big enough that at least the connections will arrive, even if you arrive late.
Much as I’d love to support a local institution, I’d rather walk than book a flight ✈️ on United. Or probably hit the open road… with UAs recent behavior, it feels like you’d probably get there in the same amount of time, exhausted and discombobulated but with something to show for your efforts.
You’re right, Sheletha is a jerk, plain am simple. She obviously has issues that HR need to address. The passenger should be compensated with a couple upgrades for the embarrassment she inflicted.
The flight attendant was out of line she was also on a power trip to embarrass the passenger.
So, did anyone tag this to social media. That usually gets a response or fire off an email to all the customer service supports or even to the CEO. It is not cheap to fly, courtesy from the staff should be expected. I didn’t see anything rude or abnormal. I believe she was absolutely wrong. I don’t drive 800 miles without food, so I can’t ask for
Something? What have we come to??
On a United flight, Toronto to Chicago, I asked for a beer when my turn came. I was a 1k member. The flight attendant skipped me. I requested it again after she finished all other passengers. She said, “Is it me or do you hate all flight attendants?” I replied, “Until now, none but I will make an exception for you.”
“Dear Sheletha,
Thank you for placing me on the “no fly” list on UA over a leftover meal. I myself have attempted to never fly UA angain and not eat that sh..y meal you serve anyway but I never had the courage to do so. All I needed was some help so finally I found a great soul that did to me what I always did not have the courage to do myself. I am finally free.
Thank you my dear Sheletha.”
Ha! Lol!
Sheletha needs to be eating the rest of her meals out of a dumpster, as she should be summarily fired and not rehired any ay company. She has a few too many loose screws
Agreed. This lady sounds like a jerk!
Agreed. She went above and beyond to be a bitch. But she doesn’t care because has lifetime job security thanks to the j ion and being a member of a protected class
Seriously!!! That’s your comment? Because it is definitely been proven that rude FA on United come in all types. I think it’s more indicative of them hating their job or their company.
Oh boy, was wondering when this kind of ridiculous comment would pop up.
I totally agree
“he speaks to the captain, who apologizes for Sheletha’s behavior”
If anything, the captain should have had her apologize to the passenger, and reported her to UA for her attitude and actions.
The Captain has a lot of authority, but I don’t think it extends to disciplinary control. By complaining to the Captain the incident will be included as part of the Captain’s flight log.
As a Purser for UA on the int’l operation, the rare instance that someone wanted another meal, I’ve always given it to them. Not sure that the big deal was with this particular Purser. I sure hope they get called in for such behavior.
After all, it’s not like the Purser is paying for those meals, right? So who cares?? Give them whatever they want…
Great attitude. I commend you. This is what I am used to on UA.
To be clear, that’s not what happened here.
This was a COACH passenger asking for a leftover first class meal
Sorry – that’s classless and is a recipe for disaster. What happens when the guy sitting next to him says “hey – how come I didn’t get a meal?”
He was a 1k passenger. Read the fine print, we’re allowed to ask for meals when sitting in coach. Maybe if you had status ever you would know.
This was a captain of another major airline who is a 1k passenger (the top tier customer of United Airlines) asking for a leftover meal mind you
The Federal regulations are clear: “passengers must obey all crewmember instructions.”
Interesting. What are you supposed to do when 2 crewmembers give you different instructions? One gives the meal, the other ones tells you should not have it.
Yep.
Only when it’s safety related. For example, the FA can’t instruct you to drop it and do 20 push-ups.
There is no such regulation. There are specific safett-related regulations associated with obeying crewmember instructions, but none of them that would be close to being applied in this instance.
Sorry but ahelwtha was the ignorant and out of control person here …and isn’t the queen bee she believes she is.
He did nothing wrong, was given one but another flight crew member who were both within their rights.
You don’t fly often, do you? It shows .
It’s definitely an overreach, but I’m also not a fan of giving meals away only to those that ask for them. If they want to advertise this as a benefit to status or offer to all, great . But don’t make it a benefit only for those who know to ask
Southwest gives you extra snacks, if asked.
I get what you are saying, but I think that to a certain extent an FA should be given some authority and latitude to make an on the spot decision to do something helpful for a customer based on a request.
As a 1k member he is already entitled to one free food item when flying in economy.
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/premier/inflight-economy-benefit.html
She knew he was in first on the connecting flight and that he didn’t get any breakfast on that flight, and that he’s in the top rung of the loyalty program. Giving him the manicotti instead of the rigatoni that he is entitled to on that flight as a 1k member based on his special request and circumstances seems like something that an FA should have the authority to do in this situation, in my opinion.
I have flown on a variety of airlines and quite honestly I try to avoid flying on US airlines where possible, because the likelihood of encountering aggressive and unpleasant cabin staff seems to be greater. For example I never meet people like this on Copa and on a recent flight on the new airline Norse, the staff were absolutely charming.
Seriously what T F
It’s a meal on a shitty flight that already serves less and charge more
Who cares
Unfortunately, I think Susan would also get in trouble. Sheletha was correct but addressed it in the completely wrong way. Susan was in the wrong even though she was the more pleasant Flight attendant with better customer service. Although is Susan got in trouble for this I’m sure the AFA would would fight for and she’d PROBABLY get a slap on the wrist.
Is there a written policy at United that says FAs must throw away premium cabin food that is leftover?
Susan may get in trouble not because she may have violated a compass policy, but because she didn’t follow direct instructions from her boss. If United have any wits about them, they’ll ignore this insubordination from Susan, and remind the Purser that being pleasant is beneficial to your job.
The domestic purser is in no way any other flight attendants “boss”.
Would like to point out, as a UA International Purser (IP), there is a big difference between international and domestic Purser positions. The IP are trained and the go through yearly retraining to maintain the IP position. The domestic purser is just whoever gets the lead position for a given flight. Usually the most junior person on the trip, because it requires extra work and responsibility for a whole $1.00 of extra pay.
Also, from internal chatter, the meal Susan gave the 1k passenger was HER crew meal that she didn’t want to eat. It wasn’t leftover from the first class meals.
That last point is quite interesting.
Matthew, Funkelee explained UAs purser status. When I was a flight attendant Inhad pursers and leads. But my boss was thousands of miles away, in an office. They were my coworkers with a little leadership ability. Not my boss. Sounds to me like two flight attendants that didn’t get along and a 1K member stuck in the middle.
How do you know sheletha is Susan’s boss?
Nowhere in the article does it say that.
The stupid things people say. ♂️
Sheletha was the purser onboard. I am actually not sure what that means in terms of power structures and chain of command on UA. I’d love to know.
I hope Susan doesn’t get in trouble. As a 1K he’s entitled to a food item on that flight when flying in economy. The policy online for 1k members does not specifically exclude items that are available in the first class cabin.
1K is entitled to food from the 1st class cabin. No such rule exist for eating, and passengers with such status do it all the time. I’m such the purse was written up for making such crazy rules which don’t exist. UA cares about how all passengers are treated, especially their 1K passengers. For God’s sake, it’s only a meal and not a violation of a FAA.
Sorry but nowhere is Sheletha appointed Captain or person in charge.
I know a United manager and Susan was absolutely within her right to do this as was that particular passenger.
I’ve had a Shaletha, but not on United. AA had Shaletah’s marching up and down the aisle on their planes during Covid. Any mask infraction was pointed out LOUDLY in front of all passengers. AA must have hired these FA’s from the unemployment line because they were NOT customer friendly at all.
Not the same issue at all, but rather a pretty crap comparison.
Thank you my son, Aaron Fauci
How about you stop policing other people’s comments bro?
Goodness the flight Attendant Mask NAZIs were the worst. Masks slip down naturally
, especially on men because the whiskers pull on the mask only in the down direction. So it happens..
For me on a Southwest flight I got yelled at and threatened “if I don’t it one more tome …”
I think certain attendants too much glee in the power they had. That FAA rule needs to be modified, regarding always listening to the flight attendant needs to be modified.
As for me, I stopped flying Southwest.
Are you kidding me? N95 masks do NOT slip down. Only crap cloth masks slip down that don’t work in the first place. This example has nothing to do with the F.A. in the article. In one situation, she’s a jerk power tripper that doesn’t deserve the job. In another, flight attendants had to deal with jerks who refused to keep the people on board safe and flight attendants had it absolutely the worst. Not only were they at risk for disease everyday, but they had to deal with people like you who to this day don’t understand the seriousness of Covid.
Mask Nazi? People died of Covid and others developed long Covid. Flight attendants were in the worst position because they were constantly flying for their jobs thus constantly at risk of both virus and out of control passengers. They were trying to keep the rest of the passengers safe. They were doing their jobs and some passengers made it much harder. They wore masks all day/night, but a passenger can’t wear one for one flight?! Masks do NOT at all slip down when wearing an N95, KN95, KF94 etc…Cloth masks not only slip down, but don’t work in the first place. You’re inaccurately equating keeping us safe with this power tripper over a little meal that was about to be thrown away anyway.
Masks suck but you know what sucks more than them? People who act like they are some combination of safety blanket and talisman. I bet you were on of the people flying the day the masks became optional who glared at the cheering FAs.
Btw anyone with proper medical training knows surgical masks don’t filter viruses as small as COVID and even N95’s aren’t good if not fit tested. Also, I’m pretty sure COVID doesn’t know when it’s meal time.
Imagine Sara Nelson getting her way and arming this bitch with a taser.
Sheletha huh.
Figures.
Yep I thought the same thing when I saw the name ..if you know you know
Would you like to share your knowledge of the flight attendants “status”? Seems to me that the term “dog whistle” might apply to your comment. Care to elaborate? Please include your full name so we can speculate about what you may be getting at.
Isn’t it obvious? If you want ppl to stop being hateful? it’s easy! Ask the other group to start behaving better, stop causing trouble and redusce their crime rate. Only then the hate and racism will stop.
Yup
Tell me you’re a racist without saying it out loud. Do hetter.
On this blog, unfortunately, they don’t even veil it.
This is exactly why a nationwide no fly list based on being on an airline list and not a national security list, proposed a few months ago, is a bad idea.
FAs time and time again fail to show professionalism . Shalalala, the purser, should be subject to disciplinary action or even psychiatric treatment. She is a danger to public safety in the confined environment of the aircraft in flight.
This passenger was a hair from being arrested. All it would take is the pilot taking sides with the psycho FA. Don’t laugh. It happens. Just ask Matthew, who was kicked off a plane for taking a photo of his seat where the captain would not stand up to the Putin-like FA.
The three S’s. Susan, Shaletha & Sam! Oh my!
I looked up this flight. This was Sheletha [REDACTED].
She is an ex-Con based in Houston, not a real United flight attendant. It’s no surprise. These people from IAH are the worst, even a decade later. Miserable Continental mindset of poor customer service.
I am proud to serve my guests extra meals on request, especially 1Ks. Why not? They are not recycled for goodness sakes!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks for your comment, but doxxing is not allowed. -Matthew
Glad to see we still have the CO/UA war going on…
Just curious what’s her seniority? Flight number and date??
I was going to say this about United’s current FA base, but I’ll also say this about the subset that UA got from CO. Not all flight attendants in this group are bad.
No surprise being an ex-Con
The FA was out of control, but I also think the answer to this question should be “no” everytime. That not a benefit of status and if I’m a hungry customer sitting next to you, I’d be annoyed by it. I’m a lowly UA Silver soon to be Gold and I have absolutely no problem with the defined benefits and higher service quality Platinum and 1K members receive, but it’s not right to feel entitled to additional undefined benefits. So I don’t necessarily fault you for asking, but I disagree that accommodating that request is good policy for United, unless they add access to leftover premium meals as a defined benefit.
1Ks are entitled to a “free food item” when flying in economy. It is specified that all choice menu items are included, but it is not specified that items from the first class menu are excluded.
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/premier/inflight-economy-benefit.html
If someone wants to give up a crew meal, that is their right.
Isn’t it time that the FAA and US government permit foreign airlines to serve US domestic routes? I live overseas and I am treated like royalty when I fly on any Asian carrier, and that includes small carriers like Laos Airlines, Cambodia Ankor Airlines, and Myanmar Airlines.
Just a hunch but Sheletha was probably wanting that meal for herself and was pissed that Susan have it away.
I agree with your assessment. I worked for an airline for 40 years in different positions (retired now). I’m sure there were no crew meals loaded for the MSN-DEN-SEA legs and sure Sheleatha wanted the manicotti for her. Thus, her watching it all so carefully.
As an international purser ( but still fly domestically) I am certain the galley person asked the other crew members, including the purser if they wanted the extra meal.
Most domestic crew bring their own food or buy something to take on the flight. Most are tired of eating the same extra first class meal for months at a time.
This was an issue about power where the purser felt her words were not followed by the galley person nor the 1k. I feel a majority of any fa from any airline would be okay with pleasing a customer. At least myself and my wife (also an fa) feel that way.
What most people have miss about this incident is that the real conflict was between the two flight attendants and that is what motivated sheletha’s bad behavior. She did not like the other flight attendant.
I’m a 3MM guy on United, have been 1k or GS something like 22 out of the last 25 years and I’ve never seen that happen and never even considered it a possibility
Never seen/considered what? Being offered a 1st class entree, or being chastised over it?
Do these people’s parents pull their names out of a Scrabble bag?
Lol! Apparently so
I see United is trying to be as lousy as AA. I agree there are so many entitled passengers that once you give one something, they all want it, but selling it is a good idea.
Air France sells specialty meals as an upgrade and I always purchase them.
Reading this story all I thought was this guy craved airplane manicotti? For some who flies enough to make 1K he doesn’t get out much.
Some people love McDonald’s. Some people love Trader Joe’s gyoza. Some people love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. If he likes the “manicotti,” he likes it. My ex wife loved airplane cheesy pasta and always chose it.
Now there’s no excuse for the pursers extremely rude behavior. But let’s look at this another way. I don’t know if there issues policy about giving out first class meals to economy customers.
There was a story on this blog recently about a flight attendant who bentover backwards to accommodate a customer and that came back to bite him in the ass. That was the unhinged lady who caused a diversion.
The crew gives this customer the meal in economy. There’s another customer be there a Global, another 1K or a customer without any status. They run out or the crew says no and the customer denied free food puts up a stink.
Personally no food in first goes to the back. Like I said I don’t know if United has any kind of policy regarding this.
While the immediate idiocy was due to the FA, the buck needs to stop at the top where the policies and tone for the entire company are set. Unfortunately, Scott Kirby is highly adept at running away when it’s time for blame to be apportioned. He’s the one who’s constantly pushing for savings at almost any cost and the FA was just following his lead. For once, just once, he needs to man up and accept that he’s pushed customer-unfriendly policies too far and that United needs to return to actually trying to make passengers happy.
Amen, Christian…
Is it Sheletha [REDACTED]?
Editor’s Note: No doxxing. Thank you. -MK
I know that this fast becoming a United centred blog, but the funniest part is someone going to all that trouble for a United meal. Lol.
Come on, who wouldn’t want to have a “quite edible” Kirby special?
Ms Tulip UAFA.
Not a pleasant comment. I hope as an ExCon, I never have this misfortune to fly or associate with you
He doesn’t deserve sh!t. He wasn’t first class and isn’t entitled to anything. Sheletha was protecting the company’s bottom line. Peace out.
Sheletha was protecting nothing by insisting that extra food be thrown away instead of given to a passenger.
Extra food can be offered to pilots perhaps? Rather than passengers in economy where it might cause an uproar
It should not cause an uproar!
The pilots get meals per contract, just like the FAs here.
Just hear me out…..I would make the argument that she was protecting the consistency of the 1K experience. Was her delivery over the top and dramatic? Sure. But here is the other issue; say your a 1K sitting 3 rows back and you see the guy in 7A served a meal from F…..so the cart reaches row 10 and FA asks would you like to purchase a snack and then indicate “oh I’m a 1K, I’d like a leftover meal from First Class” to which the FA then answers “sorry we don’t have any more meals 7A got the last one.” Well now the guy in 10A is pissed and writing about how the FA was so rude and denied him free food as a 1K……And Matthew as well as everyone else knows the policy for 1Ks is as stated on united.com “one free alcoholic beverage and one free CHOICE MENU food item when traveling in United Economy on any United- or United Express®-operated flight system-wide, subject to availability on your flight.”
So let’s be clear about this….. “It’s not wrong to request a leftover first class meal,” but that applies in CERTAIN SITUATIONS …..namely you are actually in F, or there was a downgrade at the last minute, or some sort of service recovery, otherwise its pretty tacky and degrades the whole First Class product. One would argue that “since they were going to be thrown away why waste them?” That’s kind of the same argument people have when they see empty seats in Business Class on international routes and can’t believe that they wouldn’t reward paying customers with the benefit of the upgrade…..until they do and people stop paying for Business Class in the hopes of scoring the upgrade.
And where do you draw the line as to who get’s them…..maybe the crew could have ate them, maybe employees could eat them, maybe the 80 year old woman who is hypoglycemic could have ate one? Ultimately someone is going to be upset and the easiest way to solve it is making it clear black and white: customers seated in First Class that have paid for the service.
Sam was in F on the MSNDEN flight not DENSEA. So is the strategy if you don’t get upgraded on the flight without meal service, request a leftover meal on the flight with meal service? Because once again someone will ultimately spoil it for everyone and we will see some blogger post “how I flew coach but got a First Class meal.” This isn’t Spirit where the product is unbundled and you pay as you go and select what you want.
This story is not something you witnessed first hand. You’re relying on hearsay to possibly get someone fired. The unusual name with the airline is plenty of info to find the attendant. If you have been lied to, you are the one who is causing this attendant’s loss of job. I hope you’re right, but if you’re wrong I hope you are sued for libel.
United and American have a bad attitude problems, stop using them and they will go away.
As someone who has managed workers in working with the public for 30 years, here’s a guess:
1) Purser knows the pitchforks and torches that will come out of all the whiny babies when one person gets the first class meal the rest around him are not eligible for. Unlike a glass of wine which is not visibly exclusive to first class, this is a great way to light a Wildfire of discontent.
2) FA, whether well intentioned or not, in this regard was short sighted in violating a results-oriented policy that would please one customer while risking problems with the rest.
3) Purser is functioning in fight or flight and their patience is persistently exhausted because since Covid most people are also. It’s a mass contagion of bad behavior.
Things are so bad out there, those of you who don’t work woth the public literally can not imagine. It’s not an excuse but we are all human and can only take so much. Be kind to those working in these positions and dont judge.
2 days ago, after 26 years of running a high traffic small business, a mob of jerk customers gone wild all at once thinking they were going to bully my staff put me in the ER on stroke and heart attack watch and I’ve now been diagnosed with an aneurysm. Another of my young healthy staff members collapsed. Society is imploding and no one is talking about it.
I’m very sorry for what happened to you and your staff, but there is absolutely NO comparison to this case in which a man politely asked for something that was going to be thrown away anyway. I feel you are biased due to having experienced a major incident with actual bad customers, and your perspective solely favors the merchant no matter the situation.
I wonder which ethnicity would choose such a name…
I wonder why Matthew allows this kind of comment.
That flight attendant needs some time off to reflect on her attitude. It definitely needs an adjustment!
Sheletha name being obvious of race sounds like a b.tch
Shaletha was a naughty girl.
“Sorry, this post has been removed by the moderators of r/unitedairlines.”
Unlike this blog, Reddit has rules regarding posts revealing people’s personal information.
I think they also have rules about blatant racism…
FOOD and FLYING should never go together. Too many issues; cold food, bad food, thewrong food and now this, favoritism and food. Go to a restaurant if you want Food. Or to mama’s home cooked meal.
I personally would feel EMBARRASSED at accepting some kind of FAVORITISM from a Flight Attendant and I probably wouldn’t accept it especially when it comes to FOOD.
That’s pretty ridiculous. That food is going to waste otherwise. There was nothing wrong with what he did, nor does he have any reason to feel embarassed. You’re basically favoring incredibly rude, unprofessional and even threatening service with your comment. To find fault with him and not her is pretty outlandish.
That’s pretty ridiculous. That food is going to waste otherwise. There was nothing wrong with what he did, nor does he have any reason to feel embarrassed. You’re basically favoring incredibly rude, unprofessional and even threatening service with your comment. To find fault with him and not her is pretty outlandish.
Sheletha needs to be Fired! She should not be allowed to deal directly with the public. Shameful behavior. I certainly hope United steps up!!!!!!!
Guessing “Sheletha” is an angry black woman (which frankly I could tell just from the headline of this article.
And if she is? Your guess is also revealing of a bias that you seem to be proud of. You probably are unaware of how that bias is affecting decisions you make on a daily basis. Generalizing about large groups of people can cause you to be wrong about individuals. My guess is you don’t really care if you’re wrong. As long as you personally aren’t judged negatively based on a group you might not belong to, then it’s perfectly fine.
Wow, a blatantly racist comment that’s been left up for 5 days…
Sheletha and Susan both should be addressed with a disscusion on proper customer service and policy on left over meals. If the policy on food service was not clear, this was a Sheletha and Susan matter to clear. The customer should not have been approached after being given the meal. Until the policy is cleared the problem remains. Good work on the Captain’s part. The customer deserved an apology and clsrification of the policy, for the record.
Sounds like horrible customer service, I’ve seen power tripping FA’s on every airliner foreign and domestic. Things got bad after 911, and post covid has made flying almost unbearable. There is a more to this story, Being in the air 150+ times annually some people are just entitled, and forget your meal isn’t really guaranteed, I’ve had some horror stories over the last 44 years, but its usually from fellow passengers crying about petty issues.
It is truly amazing how many times everyone repeat this woman’s name yet could not find one other name related to what went on. I wonder what that’s about, I don’t recall seeing that on any of the threads.
hmm, this is an interesting ‘story’ from reddit
This FA should be written up. Absurd. 1k and higher fliers are what keep UA in business.
I didn’t read through all the comments, but it should be noted that Susan could be fired for giving a First Class meal to someone in another cabin. It IS a policy.
We used to give extra ice cream from First Class to kids in economy, but then the people around them would get upset and want ice cream too.
That doesn’t excuse the Purser’s behavior.
Where is the policy? Please show it to me or at least refer to me to article and letter.
For most major airlines it is policy not to serve first class food in the main cabin. I don’t know about United’s flight attendant current contract for pilot and flight attendant meals for flights under/over 800 miles and also it depends on what time of day it is. If they started out at 05:00 am they probably got a lesser quality of a meal. Most left over meals get divided up between the pilots or flight attendants if they are not required to receive crew meals on that leg of their day.
United is the worst. Flight from maui to Chicago with a drunk united stewardess as a passenger. We had a night flight from hell. We reported her and her atrocious behavior at the gate in Chicago and wrote a letter to united. A few Sundays later she called our home and said she didn’t think she did what we reported. She denied it all but offered us drink coupons. Never did and never will again. How did she get our info?
Manicotti’s a first class meal on United now? I remember when that was a cross-country coach option during the 90s! Oh how many trips I’ve had where the options were chicken or manicotti. Things are totally different now that Continental’s taken over. Ah the memories…but I’m a Hawaiian/Delta guy now.
Matthew F…is the “entitled” one here…those meals are not thrown out…they are eaten by the crew, whenever there are meals. All major carriers short-change the crews…because they can. Many FA’s work 12 hours, and given one meal, by the company…worse than you will ever have it…Mr. Entitled! Right is right, and You are not. But you are a whiner, and self important, are’nt you pal?…You are very very special!
Crews get their own meals catered
Matthew F…is the “entitled” one here…those meals are not thrown out…they are eaten by the crew, whenever there are meals. All major carriers short-change the crews…because they can. Many FA’s work 12 hours, and given one meal, by the company…worse than you will ever have it…Mr. Entitled! Right is right, and You are not. But you are a whiner, and self important, are’nt you pal?…You are very very special!
Just not true. Are you deliberately lying here? Whenever I make such a request I always ensure that the crew has had their pick. Even after, there are often meals leftover, especially on a redeye flight. Wrong is wrong and you are wrong.
Oh, You make sure the crew has their pick first…quite big of You! You need your own private charter. A passenger like You, who tells the whole world about your indignation, because you are a “writer”, is a flight attendants worst nightmare.
Nah. Frequent travelers (especially writers and video bloggers) tend to practice good etiquette. It’s part of being civilized and receiving a higher level of service. You don’t want to be banned or blacklisted from an airline or lounge when reporting makes up a good portion of your income. The occasional perks from being polite also make for good content.
Definitely sounds like “Sheletha” should be gone from United employment. Like yesterday, Reasonable accommodations to valued customers, that simultaneously prevent unnecessary waste, seem very reasonable, and to the airlines advantage.
Sheletha SUCKS.
By all means if you ask for leftover meals and they are available you should be given or sold one.
It doesn’t matter one bit what other passengers think or feel about it. It’s first come first serve and it’s not like there is a huge amount of them
Food wastage is a major issue, along with airlines catering junk as food.
BTW Sheletha should be terminated for bullying a passenger.
I can’t speak for United but American has a written policy in the inflight manual that no passenger or flight attendant may take a first class food, beverage, or service item out of first class into another cabin for a non-first class passenger. Even if the F/C passenger is taking something to a friend or family member, it is specifically prohibited in writing.
Just to clarify, an AA FA can take F/C food, etc. out of F/C for themselves or another FA to eat or use. The last thing we need is for pax to be writing in about that since it is allowed. What I am specifically saying here is that nothing may be brought from first class to any other *passenger* not seated in F/C, whether by a FA, friend, family member, or travel companion of anyone seated in a different cabin.
Having been a flight attendant for 27 years, I have found that reports to media channels such as this tend to be speculative, subjective, and oftentimes the basis of rumor. No one really knows what actually happened unless they were a party too, or witness to the incident. Even then there is the likelihood of this thing being reported from a less than objective viewpoint. However, what is quite clear are the racist micro aggressions and sexist undertones of the comments on this post that, unfortunately, flight attendants have to deal with everyday from the people who fly and then post comments such as the aforementioned. I find it very disrespectful, disappointing, and unfortunately not surprising.
I completely disagree with how it was handled but what do they do when all the other passengers in economy class also want s meal?
United has parted ways with the friendly skies a long time ago. I had jumped ship to another carrier years ago.
Having been a UA Purser for 27 years, I have found that reports to media channels such as this tend to be speculative, subjective, and oftentimes the basis of rumor. No one really knows what actually happened unless they were a party or witness to the incident, and even then there is the likelihood this thing being reported from a less than objective viewpoint. However, what is quite clear are the racist micro aggressions, sexist undertones of the comments on this post that, unfortunately, flight attendants have to deal with everyday from the people who fly and then post comments such as the aforementioned. It’s very disrespectful and disappointing.
I wouldn’t even call these micro. They’re pretty macro and not even thinly veiled.
This is something flight attendants deal with every day. We see 300 people a day and it’s the “premium passengers” that say these things act out the most. It’s hurtful and discouraging.
Having been a flight attendant for 27 years, I have found that reports to media channels such as this tend to be speculative, subjective, and oftentimes the basis of rumor. No one really knows what actually happened unless they were a party or witness to the incident, and even then there is the likelihood of this thing being reported from a less than objective viewpoint. However, what is quite clear are the racist micro aggressions, and sexist undertones of the comments on this post that, unfortunately, flight attendants have to deal with everyday from the people who fly and then post comments such as the aforementioned. It’s very disrespectful and disappointing.
As a 1K member of United’s FF program, and probably verging on Global, if I were to witness this it would be my last flight.
Can anyone truly say that they’ve had a meal that was so delicious on a (domestic) flight it was worth discussing? The 1k member stated that he had missed breakfast and was hungry.Apparently didn’t have time in between flights to grab food. He asked for an extra meal. Susan obliged. Sheletha should’ve never said anything negative to the passenger and taken the issue up with Susan later.(unprofessional) Most meals get picked over or passed up. I’ve always passed up a meal or offered it to person next to me.
There are some FA that are so off key they will never be in tune.
It’s all hearsay. Geez us. Who knows what actually transpired. Be glad your not in Maui. Focus on the positive. Retired Purser, UAL 29 years. Jim.
Maybe she forgets who is actually paying her salary, fire her
It figures with a name like sheletha
Nuff said
What figures?
Lol UNITED IS TRASH anyway! You’re lucky if they only deny you food instead of just beating the shit out of you! Why did you even write this??? Loyal customer??? Hahahaha are you ok?
This story sounds like something that adolescents used to send in to the Playboy Advisor: BOGUS. All the names begin with S and one of them is race bait. A real sicko; Reddit was wise to delete it.
This is not fake – sorry, it really happened.