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Home  >  United Airlines  >  In The Echo Chamber, United Flight Attendants Vent Their Frustration…
United Airlines

In The Echo Chamber, United Flight Attendants Vent Their Frustration…

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 9, 2022August 9, 2022 15 Comments

The first Flight Attendant Promoter Score (FPS) is out and the results are not pretty for United Airlines. But the echo chamber in which these frustrations are vented is really not helping the airline or flight attendants.

At United Airlines, The Comically Bad “Flight Attendant Promoter Score” Will Not Be Taken Seriously

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) union has come up with a new system in which flight attendants will rate management each week, using a new tool it hopes will hold United accountable in addressing flight attendant concerns.

United heavily relies upon a Net Promoter Score (NPS) to track customer feedback…we’ve detailed that here. In the same vein, the Flight Attendant Promoter Score is determined by asking flight attendants to offer feedback on numerical basis on a number of issues. Those include:

  1. I feel my contributions to our airline are valued
  2. I am able to trade my pairings/reserve days with open time/pool
  3. I feel supported by management
  4. My contact with crew scheduling is timely and my issues are resolved
  5. Management is responsive to my needs during irregular operations

Each week, flight attendants are invited to assess those five statements on a scale from 1-10.

Flight Attendants who rate 9-10 are seen as promoters, those who rate 7-8 are seen as neutral or passive, and those who rate 0-6 are seen as detractors.

The first results have been released and it is not pretty…for United. The score is -95%. That means for every 2.5 flight attendants who are promoters (rating United a 9-10),  97.5 are detractors (rating United 0-6). Those “neutral” flight attendants who rate United between 7-8 are not factored in nor do we know how many (perhaps even the majority) rated United neutrally.

The union is proud of the results:

“With this newest approach tailored to show management their internal customer, Flight Attendant satisfaction levels through FPS, our goal is to strengthen your voice and to show management just how well they are doing in addressing your concerns and issues.”

But there just seems to be a disconnect from reality in this whole exercise.

I speak only as a (true) customer here, but I’ve experienced pretty darn amazing flight attendants all year long. I traveled on United last week and all the flight attendants were not just good, but great. Attentive. Cheerful. One even joked Southwest Airlines style, which may have been a bit over-the-top but to me showed that morale is high.

And then there is this survey that paints a horrible picture (even though it might not, depending upon how many neutral responses there were).  I don’t excuse United for keeping flight attendants waiting on the phone. United should not insist upon contract concessions to address problems of its own making. But goodness, these survey results invite public ridicule, not sympathy.

The very point of the union is push, push, and keeping pushing. The very design of this new FPS is so stacked against expressing contentment that every week United will be pummeled and once the hold time problem is fixed, the union will move on to the next problem. And once every problem is solved, it will be time to extract new concessions.

Flight attendants, do you not realize the union thrives and survives by fomenting discontent?

That’s not to say this is always a bad thing. In theory, unions serve a critical function in ensuring a proper balance between management and the worker. We just saw in the case of Lufthansa that a strong union showing resulted in a strong pay increase for workers.

But FPS represents an echo chamber of flight attendants, especially when they already have an enviably sweet deal with their pay, working conditions, and quality of life. Put in the time to get through the reserve years and you have a remarkably flexible schedule with a high wages and great perks like pass travel for the entire family. And don’t forget how quickly the government came to the aid of flight attendants on three different occasions during the pandemic through payroll support.

Instead of buying into the lie that management sucks and cares little for the flight attendant, the flight attendants at United would do well to see that their union can serve them best by proposing meaningful changes instead of wasting time with childish gimmicks like FPS that show a spirit of pettiness, not teamwork.

CONCLUSION

The first United Airlines FPS score is out and it is bad…really bad. But it’s frankly so bad that most will not take it seriously. While the AFA can do an effective and admirable job of holding management accountable, I look at this latest tool and laugh. There is no incentive to express satisfaction…so it won’t happen.

image: United Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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15 Comments

  1. Jan Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    If UA would only listen to Sara Nelson and stops all drink service in flight, the scores will be at an all time high.

    • Chris Reply
      August 9, 2022 at 3:23 pm

      If UA stopped drink service, customer satisfaction would be at an all time low.

  2. former AFA member Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    AFA is really a joke, petty and childish.

  3. Common Sense Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    If I was United, I would say that “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” and refuse to entertain Sara Nelson and her ridiculousness.

    • Mike Reply
      August 9, 2022 at 4:35 pm

      is it really healthy for an executive to refer to a fellow employee as a terrorist?

      • Common Sense Reply
        August 9, 2022 at 5:28 pm

        Exactly! A. Sara Nelson is not an employee. B. She is exclusively focused on engendering an unhealthy work environment so she could justify her existence, in other words, paying protection money to the Mafia.

        Not exactly conducive to a healthy team.

        All that ends up making a difference to the customer.

        • William Robert Reply
          August 9, 2022 at 8:36 pm

          Unless she just recently quit I believe she is still a united flight attendant. She was also just reelected a few months ago so the other FAs must appreciate her work to some extent.

          • Common Sense
            August 9, 2022 at 8:47 pm

            Really? I was unaware of that. Hope she’s not on my flight. 😉

          • AFAFA
            August 10, 2022 at 2:56 am

            She was not elected by the membership. AFA does not have direct membership elections for anything other than local council elections. She was elected by her fellow cronies.

  4. Christian Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    Well said. The thing that bothers me most about the survey is that there’s absolutely nothing in it about providing service to the customer. Instead, it’s all me, me, me.

  5. DFWSteve Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 8:52 pm

    Maybe if he have a tough recession then employees will remember the customer. I’m rooting for 10% unemployment and planes half full. Then maybe the airline employees will appreciate the customer once more.

  6. 1K Dave Reply
    August 9, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    The problem is clearly management. They’ve never figured out there are only a limited number of planes, pilots, flight attendants, and gates. Nor are they aware inclement weather happens. Not only do the employees suffer, so do the customers. However, management could care less. They are only interested in their stock options and major shareholders.

  7. Kim Lee Reply
    August 10, 2022 at 1:29 pm

    As you laugh and not take this prospective seriously, the truth of the matter is the issues are real and as a Flight Attendant, we are the face of company and most of us understands, PAX are our bread and butter. We love what we do and take our jobs seriously. We care for EVERYONE, who takes care of us?
    So while you laugh and think this is silly, what else can a Union do to help us?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 10, 2022 at 1:43 pm

      Maybe not inflame the situation by creating a pathetic display of narcissism? Maybe by pushing hard for a specific and carefully considered solution instead of simply saying NO to management? As I said, the long wait times are unacceptable. Creating a perpetually negative FPS score won’t help improve the problem.

  8. ed lewis Reply
    August 11, 2022 at 10:57 am

    The leaders of AFA must, as you say, push push push, but push on meaningful things. Perhaps this is an election year at the United branch of he AFA?

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