Yesterday afternoon I flew from San Francisco to Kona on United and as my seatmate and I were getting settled in our seats, the purser walks by and places a sheet of paper down between us. He says nothing but is holding a manifest and a pen, usually indicative of taking meal orders.
We glance down at the sheet. It lists all sorts of details about the flight including a brief description of the two Trader Vic’s meal choices available on the flight. The purser looks at us, as if to say, "Well? Come on, hurry up!" but still says nothing.
I take the hint and say I would like the chicken. The purser nods. My seatmate also orders chicken. The purser grabs the sheet of paper and walks away, still silent.
That was a first for me. I complain about not being addressed by name, but at least in the past the pursers have always talked to me!
Oddly, the purser wasn’t a bad guy and did talk to me and the other passengers during the flight. I just found it a very odd and unprofessional way to take meal orders.
Wow! I would have sat there and stared at him
There are only two situations I could understand (not support because of his position, but at least understand) and this meets neither of them. Extremely unprofessional, and another embarrassment to United.
I would have asked him, “how are you today?”
Unbelievable………he must have had a real bad nite before todays flt. They have got to break those unions, and then, hire new FA’s with a possible limit of 5 yrs in the air. Something similar to what SQ does. They know upfront they will only have employm. for x number of years.
sounds like a good title for a Crew Lounge episode. Silent Pursers
The lead flight attendant in business class on my p.s. flight on Friday had an equally unprofessional & rude method of taking meal orders. She handed out the menus without saying a word & seemed annoyed at having to do it. When she came back to take my order, it was simply “chicken or beef”.
My return on Saturday was exactly the opposite. Friendly, engaging flight attendants with superb service skills.
I enjoy & appreciate being addressed by my name, at the beginning of the flt., during the flt., and at deboarding, as I am on Thai Air and SQ. It’s the only professional thing to do with loyal fliers.
@Darren: That’s sad to hear (about your outbound). People rave about p.s. crews and I have had some very good ones, but I’ve also had the some very bad ones as well. Sounds like you got a bad apple as well.
@Ken: I fully agree.
@Halothane: I thought about being nasty, but I didn’t see any point in that. Rather than blogging about it, I probably should have gently mentioned to the purser that his method of taking meal orders was not appreciated. Maybe he doesn’t even know he’s messing up.
Another odd thing he did, for a Hawaiian flight at least, was repeat all the announcements in Spanish. Keep in mind this was an aging gringo with a pretty poor Spanish accent.