My recent story entitled Flight Attendant Revolt Over New United Premium Transcontinental Service created a firestorm of controversy.
Many United FAs chimed in, condemning me for addressing the topic in the manner in which I did. Several FAs emailed me as well, arguing that my facts were incorrect. While I stand by my original piece and believe the comments verify what a contentious issue this is, I do want to clarify two things. First, I do not believe FAs (as a whole) are lazy. On the contrary, I believe most United FAs are hardworking and love their jobs. Two, I should have better articulated one FA concern: that people in the back of the plane will have to wait far longer than before to be served under the new premium service protocols. I still dismiss this concern because distributing a complimentary meal will take less time than the buy-on-board model of asking people what they want, finding it in the cart, then charging their credit card.
An FA Op-Ed: Matthew is Wrong
One email I received was so detailed and heartfelt that I want to include it for your review, unedited–
Your recent blog, “Flight Attendant Revolt Over New United Premium Transcontinental Service,” which suggests that Flight Attendants are lazy is insulting, and vastly incorrect. You have done a huge disservice to Flight Attendants- not just at United, by at every major U-S carrier.
You’ve influenced the minds of your readers to think that all we want to do is finish the service so we can hide in the galley and chit-chat. How would you feel if I publicly made uneducated assertions that you were a lazy writer who didn’t thoroughly research your subject?
Your use of information gained from accessing private Facebook groups is outrageous. Imagine the conversations that go on about any company, in any industry in these types of groups. Employees tend to vent to one another about the routine frustrations of any job. Your subsequent publishing of these conversations as gospel is at best misleading. At worst, it’s slanderous of an entire workgroup. We have a union, the Association of Flight Attendants, that has spokespeople available for media. In the future, I suggest you consult with them before publishing random thoughts from a Facebook group.
Flight Attendants are concerned that without proper staffing people sitting in the rear of the aircraft will have to wait too long to receive food and beverage. On a 737-900, it can take over 2 hours for people in the back row to get a measly 6 ounce beverage. Now, the company will be adding additional service, and it will take even longer. We are not concerned about “down time.” In fact, most Flight Attendants prefer to keep moving. It makes the time seem to pass quicker. Sitting around is mentally fatiguing.
In this post-911 world, we are also concerned about maintaining situational awareness of what’s happening in the cabin. It seems many people have forgotten about Richard Reid. We haven’t. (failed shoe bomber on American Airlines) With only 2 Flight Attendants serving a minimum of 138 people in economy, it’s difficult to know what’s going on at all times. Now, on a 737-900 with close to 160 in economy, it will be even more difficult to keep an eye out for any kind of troublemaker, including terrorists.
A writer with any kind of integrity would immediately correct the article in question and immediately publish an apology. Instead, for the benefit of your ego, you will do nothing and your misguided readers will continue to pile on. They will continue calling us lazy, overpaid, and unfriendly. Most importantly, we will lose their respect onboard the aircraft. This will result in another small chink that ultimately leads to air travel becoming less safe.
David
CONCLUSION
There are several things I take issue with in this letter, but kudos to David for taking the time and caring enough to write this. I respect that and now leave it to you to weigh the two sides, which are not necessarily in opposition, and emerge better informed about the nuances of FA concerns on United.
I think David may be rather upset you published his email. 😉
The one center bit from the FA was on point – the rest a rant!
I asked him for permission.
Thank you, David.
All due respect to the FAs, but Reid was spotted and subdued by passengers, not flight crew
I spit out my drink, reading this part.
“We have a union, the Association of Flight Attendants, that has spokespeople available for media.”
It would be funny if it wasn’t at the same time so sad.
Lol exactly. Couldn’t keep a serious face on after that.
Lol. The email is justifying the view that those FAs are lazy. The way they complained without understanding that the reader of your blog also a frequent traveller and read other travel blogs are amusing at best. The suggestion to contact the union before writing an article is ridiculous at best. Claiming that FA also responsible to watch passengers behaviour to prevent terrorist act somehow implies that FA can do better than TSA, security, CIA and other security agencies.
Maybe he forgot the news of Dr. Dao, stroller incident, terrorist of math and others. Lol. A very narrow and selfish point of view indeed….
I still agree with your views, Matthew. If FAs on Asian carriers can handle a full meal service on a 2 hour flight and with warmth and smiles, there is no reason why United FAs can’t handle it with long faces on a longer flight!
The section regarding obtaining information via a private facebook group is a bit naive, in my opinion – these days, everything said online is up for grabs by the public – whether it be said out in the open, or on a “private” forum. While the group be password protected or by invite only, at the end of the day, if you’re ranting and saying you work at XYZ company, you are still speaking as a representative of your company, and you should handle yourself accordingly. Otherwise, a blogger might start writing about what you have to say…
David
I have flown more than 1+ million butt-in-seat miles on UA so I’ve seen thing or two although my flying with United has been cut back to virtually noting since 2012 following a series of operation and customer service disasters. While I may not have a lot of recent experience on UA recently, judging from the Dr. Dao video, it looks like I haven’t missed out on any upside!
In April, CEO Oscar Munoz sent me a nice email regarding actions speaking louder than words. So far, there is no evidence that Mr. Munoz has been or will be able to turn the battleship around. My one flight on United this year was fiasco with unannounced delays, missing crew and surly gate agents. (I really had to be in Cleveland) It was a $600 55 minute regional jet flight that lasted 3+ hours. United still does not appear to know where their equipment and employees are.
I live in one of your hub cities. Many of my neighbors work for UA as either FA’s or pilots. They generally speak very poorly about the company. It seems there is indeed a toxic culture there but I don’t actually know since I’ve only been in Washington Dulles C/D terminal once this year. I honestly would like to be able to use United given their dominance at IAD and my busy flying schedule (52 flights in 2017 so far) but I still have not forgotten how poorly your company treated me in the recent past. In my letter to Jeff Smisek in 2012, I noted I was going to avoid UA in the future. Apparently, UA was fine with that since I never got a response from Mr. Smisek. My personal United boycott seems to have worked well for both of us.
As for lazy flight attendants, I’ve had wonderful flight attendants and lazy flight attendants on every airline. Maybe it just feels worse on United because of past history. Your argument that it will take too long to serve coach on transcons seems like a stretch at best. Take a flight on JetBlue. They seem to cover the entire cabin on every flight no matter the length. Its just never been an issue. (PS – If you have 160 seats in economy, then there will be three FA’s working coach, not two)
With respect to “overpaid, what can I say? Everybody thinks they are underpaid. Your new deal seems pretty fair to me – 85 hours a month, $60+ a hour plus benefits, vacation, holiday differentials, etc. Pretty good for a part-time job.
Here’s the agreement if anyone cares: https://ourcontract.org/upload/7-2-16-TA-SummaryFINAL.pdf
David, I know I’ll be on another United flight again someday. I hope you are working on it.
@zo: please, don’t add salt to the wound….. lol
“We have a union, the Association of Flight Attendants, that has spokespeople available for media. In the future, I suggest you consult with them before publishing random thoughts from a Facebook group.”
HAHAHAHA Good one. Like we are interested in what some Union rep/spokesperson had to say.
Will any of the routes with the newly added food service be serviced by a 739? I don’t think so. These routes don’t offer the flatbed seats which is part of the upgraded service. Additionally, I knew those blue cups were smaller! However, UA Insider on FT noted they were the same.
I find about 50% of US-based FAs are extremely lazy and do the bare minimum they can get away with. 25% are extremely pro-active and provide excellent CS. And 25% are just OK. Professional, but not excellent to international carriers’ standards.
Obviously those percentages are extremely rough.
Dear David:
Next time you’re at the gate or during quiet times in-flight engage in conversation a nurse, school teacher, social worker or customer service front line worker. Listen carefully at their struggles, lack of gratitude for going the extra mile for others, being evaluated by anonymous surveys of random clients, not knowing job security or ability to reach term for a minimal pension. Patiently invite them to share their coping skills. Offer a free drink and leftover meal as thanks. You’ll discover the real world in the ground to be a scary and abusive one. Thank God you don’t have to feed, dress, medicate and receive abuse without the possibility of having the police intervene to remove the offending party at will.
Dear David:
Explain to me a few things: first, if this job is so hard and it is a challenge for you to serve a beverage to ~160 passengers during two hours long flight, why don’t you just quit. To put it in a bit of a perspective: I have recently flown Ryanair, from Poland to London. It was a full flight, about 180 people. About 2 hours long. The crew came down the aisle with the cart three times. Granted,not everybody bought something, but they did it three times.
Later on, I took a flight with Lufthansa. It was an even shorter one, 1.5 hours and on a A321 to boot. Everybody got their beverage and snack with plenty of time to spare. If it is possible in Europe, Asia, South America etc. why cannot you do that?
Also, the safety comment is ridiculous. It is not an FA job’s. FA’s job is to get me my drink and food on time. With a smile. Offer refills, Appear quickly whenever I push the call button (no, it is not an “emergency” call button) and be polite. Nothing more.
Regards,
Passenger
That’s your opinion. But seriously, flight attendants are aviations first responders and the eyes and ears for the pilots. So yes, we are expected to do a little more. That’s why we are annually certified and BLS, safety and security. So belittling the person who could potentially save your live is kind of ignorant. Also your example with varying sizes and flight lengths don’t really mean much. Most airlines staff depending on aircraft loads and flight length.
First of all, where did I belittle flight attendants? I just described your job. I actually work for a major Asian airline and I do know quite a bit about what FA job entails. Secondly – on the flights that I mentioned. Lufthansa: 4 crewmembers, 2 serving business class (it was quite large as it usually is on this route). Ryanair: 3 people. So it is kind of relevant. Also, you are expected to do a little more IF something happens. It does not mean you get to seat in your jumpseat (I admit, that might not be comfortable for any sort of flight, let alone a transcon) in case something happens.
Haha he actually has a point with your lazy writing style… but your rationale for not obsessively editing is a point well taken.
What a sad, sad, sad email from David. I really hope that Oscar Munoz reads this comment and this letter and seriously considers firing this man. Short of being racist or intruding privacy, Matthew has a right to post whatever he wants on his blog, and for David to write that email is cowardly. Its good to know this, because if I am on an airplane that he serves I will make sure to tell him what a coward he is. It bothers me to make arguments in favor of layoffs, but it is a guy like David that certainly lowers United morale and he would be a good candidate next time they want to cut costs.
“We are not concerned about “down time.” In fact, most Flight Attendants prefer to keep moving. It makes the time seem to pass quicker. Sitting around is mentally fatiguing.”
Hahahahahahaha! Best laugh I’ve had in a while. But sure must be a lot of mentally fatigued FA’s…
Two hours to serve 160 passengers a drink? Seriously? I’ve never been on a flight where it took that long to receive a drink, even on US carriers. That means it’s taking over 2 minutes to pour a drink per passenger! (120 min/(160 pass/3 FA’s))
First of all, service on a 737-900 does not take 2hrs nor will that aircraft be used for premium economy routes. Only 757 and 777. As a DC based flight attendant, I will never touch these routes. However, IMO, only time will tell if staffing at bare minimum will be appropriate. But honestly, having an additional flight attendant would only make service better for this. Passengers also get their food and drink at the same time, trash is picked up faster, and aisles are clear for passengers to use the bathroom faster. When I fly as a passenger I honestly don’t waste my time trying to evaluate whether the flight attendant on the 3rd leg of the day, on day 3 of a 4 day assignment is hard working enough, I just care about getting my drink before I fall asleep, not having to stare at it for the rest of the flight after I’m done, and having access to the lav without asking the flight attendant to push all the way to the back. But this article actually baffles me, I’ve never heard of a customer requesting less staff. I’ve been going to the grocery store at least twice a week since I was 20 but that doesn’t make me an expert on grocery store staffing. I’ve also never waited in line thinking, I bet they could close 2 lines and check people out at the same pace. Seriously, stick to writing about seat pitch and appetizers. No one, except crew, cares about staffing levels as long as they get what they want in a timely fashion.
Sarah, you’re one of the people that I hope never to fly with. Like I said earlier, he has a right to write about whatever he wants, and its not your place to tell him otherwise. Like I said before, thats a cowardly move.