First, the good news. I’ve earned over 965,000 lifetime flight miles on United Airlines and what happened on my redeye flight last night has never happened before. For that, I consider myself fortunate. Now onto the story.
Last night I stepped aboard my 737-800 aircraft that would take me to Philadelphia and my eyes immediately brightened. The aircraft was new and had Boeing’s Sky Interior, DirecTV installed (many new aircraft have no IFE yet), and featured first class seats similar to legacy United. The aircraft was originally slated to have the Koito seats we find on many ex-Continental aircraft, but after it was found that Koito falsified seat test records for certification United/Continental had to find a replacement and went with BE Aerospace.
image courtesy Boeing
Anyway, I like these seats and I appreciated that IFE is now appearing on these new aircraft. It was only my third flight on United with a Sky Interior and the mood lighting and enormous overhead bins were great (no gate checked bags on a full flight).
The crew was surprisingly young. In recent years Continental hired new crew members while United did not, so ex-Continental crews tend to be younger. On this particular flight, there was one that looked very young–early 20s I suspect–and her behavior reflected an even younger level of maturity.
Redeyes are for sleeping–especially for first class passengers. A transcon flight is only 4.5 hours and after takeoff I like to immediately recline my seat and go to sleep. Last night, though, sleep became elusive.
Two crewmembers loudly gabbed during takeoff, drowning out the background noise of engines with laughter and clapping. I am glad they were friends, glad they were having a good time, and figured it would stop as soon as the seat belt light went off.
With the noise from the front galley, I was still awake and accepted the meal service by the purser, a very friendly guy who delievered polished service. I quickly downed the deli plate and fruit cup and reclined my seat to go to bed.
The cabin was quiet for a few minutes, then things just got loud…
The FAs in the back must have completed the beverage service and everyone decided to come up to the front of the aircraft for a conversation. For the next two hours, the crew hung out in the front galley loudly chatting and laughing.
The young FA I mentioned was the leading culprit, loudly cackling and talking. I was exasperated. Other passengers were exasperated. Yet I said nothing. And for that I have only myself to blame.
But after writing earlier in the day about a family thrown off a United flight for complaining about the movie, can you blame me for keeping silent? “Self-entitled” kid walks into galley and tells FAs (and even the captain joined in at one point) to be quiet? That would go over well…
So I bit my tongue and did not sleep last night until the last hour of the flight.
I awoke just in time to hear the same young FA loudly ask the purser if she could take some water home with her, then open the closet and stuff a 2L bottle of water into her purse.
You notice I keep going back to this young FA. I was just flabbergasted that the new hire was so poorly trained. Becoming a FA is not easy. Open positions are few and far between and demand is high. Delta recently hired FAs, selecting only 1 out of every 110 applicants. Do you mean to tell me that Continental could find no one better than this FA?
And do these FAs not learn at “basic training” such simple courtesies as keeping their voices down particularly during redeye flights? Or not to steal bottles of water?
I was just incredibly disappointed that not one member of the crew had the tact to realize how loud the conversation had become and that few in the front cabin slept because of it.
Again, I emphasize this has never happened to me before so I believe it is more an aberration than anything else, but it really ruined what could have been a great flight.
You should write to UA and complain…though I’m guessing (and hoping) that they see this post. This type of behavior (both the theft and lack of courtesy, and, frankly, professionalism) should not be tolerated.
Because flying is no better than taking a Bus these days.
Common courtesy on flights has been gone for years.
The non-IFE planes are not due to certification issues AFAIK. It is more about fleet utilization and getting them into the rotation upon delivery or not. There were some certification issues at one point but I believe they’ve all been resolved.
Also, the B/E Aerospace seats are the long-term solution to the Koito debacle. There was an interim step where Weber seats were installed.
I hate to criticize you with the obvious, Matt, but I’m sure earplugs were included in the FC kit. Or did you try them and that still was insufficient to drown them out?
Another option, and I know this one is risky considering your history… is when they really got loud, ask them for a beverage/drink and while they were over if they had noise cancelling headphones and see if they took the hint. But as a former young person, I rarely took hints.
This is one of the many reasons I hate domestic red-eyes. It’s a common problem I’ve experienced, too. And with that, #firstworldproblems 😉
@Seth: Thanks for your input. I really like the BE seat and glad they are here to stay. I don’t like that the 757s with 24 seats are being swapped out for 738/9s with 16-20 seats, but I still managed a CPU on this flight…
@PK: I should have noted that I had my Bose headphones with me and tried them. Those just shut out ambient noise–the engines here–which actually magnify the conversation, making it even easier to understand. Plus I was trying my best to sleep and I cannot sleep with the headphones on.
Matt… you didn’t get it. I said ASK them for noise cancelling headphones to try to guilt them into keeping it down. I suppose if you had them out though then the cat is out of the bag!
I’m reminded of when I foolishly decided to get an apartment overlooking the complex’s hot tub. Real stupid. I got to listen to the noise of drunk partiers night after night. Sometimes they even got naked. I regret not setting up a camera and filming and then going down and offering to sell them copies.
@PK: Ha! I get it now. 🙂
I’ve had this problem several times in the past year with legacy Continental flight crews in and out of EWR and IAH. I now pick seats toward the back of the cabin on redeyes. (And I would never complain directly to the flight crew, the chances of retaliation are just too high.)
@Matthew I’ve been reading your blogs and the continued mishaps you’ve had with UA. While you recognize yourself the fault lies with you, do two rogue crews (the photo and the movie) really scare you into asking the crew to quiet down on a transcon redeye? Come on- you could ask nicely once and see what the reaction is at least. I doubt that in it of itself would have caused a diversion.
@David: To be perfectly honest, I was looking forward to the hot scone before landing and didn’t want anything done to it. Seriously. I wish you could have seen some of these crew members…they seemed like vindictive types. I felt it was not worth it.
And the scones never came…
After your unpleasant photo incident, I’m not surprised that you wouldn’t complain!
United has got you where they want! A blogger who worries about speaking up for silence!
Witness the family tossed off the plane for requesting a violent in flight movie shut off– United has shown they tolerate no dissent! Sort of like a North Korean regieme.
I had that feeling like if I just tried to shut them out I would fall asleep, so it was not worth getting up. I felt sleep was right around the corner. Sadly, that went on and one for about three hours.
But does United really have me where they want me? I may have shut up onboard, but I have yet another complaint piece on them that many are reading…
Are you kidding me? First of all, your blog post should have ended after this sentence:
“And for that I have only myself to blame.”
Because that’s the only take away.
If your premise about training is correct (ie.e., it’s inadequate), then how the heck are the FAs supposed to learn what’s acceptable? You modeled the exact behavior that will encourage them to repeat and continue the very behavior you want them to stop.
Have you no common sense? The easiest way to get someone to do something is to ask them to do it. Politely. (You probably would have gone up with your blogger business card and said, “Excuse me, I’m not a terrorist, but I’m trying to sleep…”)
Look, this same thing has happened to me twice, that I can recall. Once on a UA flight, and once – many years ago – on Frontier, I think. A late night flight with lights dimmed and most people trying to sleep. Loud crew just joking about stuff and yakking up front.
All you have to do – as I did, with great success, and no ill effects to anyone – is walk up and say, “Hi, I can tell you guys are unwinding after a really long week…but I think most of us want to sleep, and it’s just not possible with the talking and laughing and stuff in the galley.” I got apologies and embarrassed downcast glances, and that was the end of it. No more noise, no more annoyance. Problem solved!
What’s so difficult about that? Do you lose all your common sense when you fly? “OMG! People are talking and I have NO WAY TO STOP THEM!!!” Uh, yeah you do. Use your inside voice, and be polite. You’ll be amazed.
I’m sorry, but you discount too hastily what has been going on lately at United. My reasons for not speaking up were carefully considered and it is not my job as a passenger to train FAs. Your venom should be directed at the FAs, not me.
I understand your point (really) about “what has been going on lately at United.” But your logic is flawed. It goes like this: “Because of systemic failures in customer service on this carrier, I can’t sleep on this flight!”
You could sleep, if you just asked them to please be quieter. I don’t see how you can deny that.
You’re confusing the downfall of the entire airline (which you and I have no real control over) with your interrupted slumber (the one thing you did actually have control over).
Thanks for posting my comments, either way.
“You could sleep, if you just asked them to please be quieter. I don’t see how you can deny that.”
Or he could find himself explaining to the FBI why the pilot diverted the flight to Chicago because of an unruly passenger.
“You could sleep, if you just asked them to please be quieter. I don’t see how you can deny that.”
I don’t know how long ago you had the experience you detailed, but the reality today is that it’s simply not realistic for passengers to make a request like that to a flight crew today. Whether you want to believe it or not, doing so could quite possibly get you: 1) a rude reception with an order barked to sit back down and mind your own business; 2) retaliatory behavior by the FA, such as getting skipped over for drink service or being intentionally bumped into with the drink cart, or 3) being met by the airport police or the FBI when you land for creating a “security threat”. No, not all FAs are that petty, but enough of them are that I wouldn’t risk speaking up in flight to any FA on a US-based airline.
STOP. FLYING. UA.