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Home » United Airlines » United Airlines Flight Attendants Protest Staffing Cuts, Warn Of Poor Service Onboard
Law In TravelUnited Airlines

United Airlines Flight Attendants Protest Staffing Cuts, Warn Of Poor Service Onboard

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 10, 2018November 14, 2023 14 Comments

a woman smiling at a man

Flight attendants from United Airlines are resisting management efforts to reduce staffing on international flights.

Earlier this week, I wrote about a memo to FAs from VP John Slater. Citing competitive pressures, he informed FAs that on certain international flights, the dedicated galley position would be removed in business class. To compensate, United will begin pre-plating meals in Polaris business class. The move would not result in the elimination of any flight attendant positions. In fact, United plans to hire 2,000 more FAs in 2019.

But the Association of Flight Attendants, the labor union representing United’s FAs, quickly pushed back.

Our management team has now made the unfortunate choice to reach for the lowest common denominator. Instead of setting a new bar for excellence, winning over more customers and actually BEATING our competition — they are content with just trying to BE our competition. I don’t want to be the same as Delta or American. I want better!!!

And I must admit, I agree with this sentiment. Want to know one reason why people generally find “Asian airlines” better? It is because there are more FAs onboard, allowing better and more personalized service.

AFA President Sara Nelson noted:

Reduced staffing means fewer flight attendants to observe odd behavior, identify intoxicated passengers, resolve issues at boarding and de-escalate conflict between passengers. It means fewer flight attendants to respond to medical emergencies, back each other up with aggressive passengers and follow through on any issues of sexual assault. It means not having the time provide the customer service so many enjoy giving.

Thank goodness for the last sentence. A FA union rep will never concede the importance of providing good service onboard, but that is what this issue is about. As far as I am concerned, it has little to do with safety.

Warning: Poor Service Ahead?

Unfortunately for customers, FAs are not happy. Some are making veiled threats of poor service if the cuts is implemented:

When you reduce staff, of course there is a reduction in service. Polaris is not going to be anything but the basics — a far cry from the rollout two years ago.

This FA is right about the Polaris cutbacks. Passengers also won’t like an even slower meal service on shorter transatlantic flights. But I hope FAs won’t use this cutback as an excuse to stop smiling.

United’s Right to Reduce Staffing

Unfortunately for the FAs, United has a right to reduce staffing levels. The latest (2016) FA contract contract states only that “a reasonable effort will be made by the company to monitor and staff consistent with the ESG.”

ESG is “established staffing guidelines”, a non-binding guideline taking into account FAA minimums and industry trends for passenger to crew ratio.

This was a key point in the labor negotiations: United wanted the flexibility to reduce staffing. It recieved it and FAs have no legal leg to stand on in resisting this. But they certainly have a practical leg, for there is no doubt this will result in reduced service onboard. Hopefully FAs will continue to make that point.

CONCLUSION

Stay tuned. One FA lamented that “it all feels very hollow,” when thinking about United’s core4 program. If providing excellent customer service is a key goal to win back customers, how does eliminating positions onboard international flights help meet that goal? Fair question indeed.

> Read More: More United Polaris “Enhancements” On The Way
> Read More: United’s Surprising New Emphasis in Customer Service Training

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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14 Comments

  1. Kyle Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 11:42 am

    How does Delta have the same, lower staffing as UA is going to and yet far more positive customer service and higher in-flight Net Promoter Scores?

    It sounds like sour grapes from the union or a tacit admission that Delta IS actually a better airline due to themselves

  2. Ryan Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    Delta sucks. I’ve had bad service lately. They are a big fat pig with pretty lipstick (PTVs). Their first class sucks in legroom and food. Delta One sucks the big one , even the suites. Delta international lounges are pathetic. Skyteam is pathetic. Comfort + upgrade program is a nightmare. Their hubs suck — JFK is worse than EWR. ATL is worse than everything. Skymiles sucks. I think of very few things Delta that doesn’t suck. PTVs and 777s with 9 across. Don’t get exited. I think they have like 12 777s lol. That’s the only reason they kept 9 across. If they had 60-100 like UA and AA have guarantee you wouldn’t have seen the squeeze. Delta has been the ones leading the squeeze with their super dense 737s/757s. Don’t think for a second they are friendlier than anyone else. #1 on upgrade list ATL-SJC and 3 seats go out empty. I even waited to board. Complained got 10000 miles. United isn’t worse than Delta. They are different. In my opinion overall better. Looks like they are getting ready to nose dive deeper:(

    • Greg Reply
      November 10, 2018 at 5:28 pm

      @Ryan – Well said – correct on every point on over-rated Delta. They put the PTVs in because that’s what drives the net promoter scores up, and well they get to gloss over the rest of the stuff. Smart on their part – but you’re smart enough to see right through it.

    • Ariel Reply
      November 10, 2018 at 8:07 pm

      Completely agree. I was Diamond on Delta and 1K on United and ended up switching my spend to United 100%. The Comfort Plus thing was absurd and my upgrades never cleared. As someone who commutes to NY and SF, the lack of a hub in SF and having to traipse out to JFK was a deal breaker for me.
      Add to this what I saw as fairly dismal service and attitudes by ground staff. While I occasionally encounter this with United – particularly at LAX and a couple other airports – it’s far less frequent, particularly if they know you’re a 1K flyer.
      Delta is all smoke and mirrors in my opinion.

  3. Peter Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    Bottom line is that work ethic among most U.S. flight attendants is dismal. I’ve flown all over the world both up front and in main cabin and without doubt the service at Asian carriers is superb. The former rush food service so that they can disappear and not be bothered by the customer, while the latter are attentive and professional throughout the flight. Even with fewer FAs it can’t get any worse.

  4. Barbara A Sfraga Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    I wish I could express my true feelings about United but I can’t. My son has worked in a Senior position for Continental over 20 years. He was happy then. Now…not so much. Sad. So sad.

  5. Robin Gilinger Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    Barbara…the new United is not recongnizable to both sides. But the reality is that CO management remained in the majority after the merger.
    Peter..while I agree that there are a lot of issues with FAs on US carriers, the problem stems from many areas. You can not compare US carriers to Asian carriers though. Most Asian carriers are subsidized by their government. And those FAs would be immediately fired for any reason.
    And for Matthew…it is about safety. The primary job of a flight attendant is to provide a safe, comfortable environment onboard. And after 9/11, the need to place a higher value on this aspect is more Important than ever.
    The airlines have placed an enormous amount of pressure on everyone who travels. And the front line employees are taking the heat of managements decisions. The WIFI is horrible. The domestic service has been cut. FAs now have to sell food and more with less staff.
    It comes down to abuse of all who travel by management that only looks at the one penny more they can make. While management pays themselves an exhorbitant amount of money to make decisions no one seems to like but the CFO.
    There is no pride in ones job because management doesn’t recognize the value in the person.

    • oleg Reply
      November 10, 2018 at 11:02 pm

      @Robin –

      “Most Asian carriers are subsidized by their government.”
      Which Asian carriers do you think receive big subsidies? US legacy 3 have received far larger subsidies than just about any other in the world.

      “And those FAs would be immediately fired for any reason.”
      If any reason is disappearing for majority of the flight, loudly chatting in the galley, or otherwise provide bad service – that’s a good thing. In any other industry, if you do a bad job, you don’t get to keep on doing it and get promoted based on tenure. Even in this industry, other airlines outside of US value good service. Passengers sometime get surveys in flights, purser is actually empowered and responsible for ensuring good quality of service, etc.

      “And after 9/11, the need to place a higher value on this aspect is more Important than ever.”
      9/11 is a sad tragedy. We now have armored cockpit doors and both FAs and passengers won’t cooperate with hijackers. Whether you have 10 or 15 FAs is entirely irrelevant to safety here and claiming this is an insult to anyone affected by 9/11. If you don’t have a reasonable argument, saying 9/11 doesn’t give you one.

      I’ve had truly terrific experiences on UA. I have close friends who work in this industry. The cut is indeed unfortunate. With that said, industry has changed. If you think you’re not providing good service due to management, or need someone to recognize your value, please find another job. You’ll be happier, and someone else who values service more will be able to take your place.

    • Eduardo Reply
      November 11, 2018 at 12:42 am

      Robin Gilinger. Singapore Airlines, Eva Air and Cathay Pacific are not subsidized by governments, and they are the #1, 4th and 5th best airlines in the world respectively in the 2018 prestigious Skytrax customer survey awards. Get your facts right.

    • Billiken Reply
      November 11, 2018 at 1:21 pm

      @ Robin, from a passenger perspective, the primary duty of a flight attendant is to provide service. That should be your focus. Flight attendant safety duties are ancillary. If U.S. flight attendants are unable to perform both duties, with the emphasis on customer service, then perhaps U.S. airlines should create separate positions. They could create a safety and security officer position, with the remaining flight attendants focusing exclusively on customer service. Perhaps that would drive home the need for U.S. flight attendants to provide customer service.

      • Kenneth Reply
        November 23, 2018 at 7:45 pm

        Billiken… sorry to say, but I am a flight attendant for a major US carrier, and you are completely wrong listing customer service as our primary duty. The primary duties of a flight attendant is to get you and every passenger evacuated off of an airplane within 90 seconds of an impending disaster or crash. We are medical responders as well. We go to annual certification training for those duties. We are safety professionals, and that is paramount above any other duty that we have. Customer service is secondary and slinging drinks & food to you is an added “perk”. We do not have training for slinging drinks and food (so that tells you that those “perks” aren’t important). So, please get your “facts” checked before posting erroneous information.

        • IJS Reply
          December 8, 2018 at 5:43 pm

          LOL but when half the time anything “safety” related occurs it’s the flight attendants being the first ones saying they need to come off and act like they got the vapors. Sobs like many of your peers should find another career choice.

  6. Laurie A. Reply
    November 10, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    “Most Asian carriers are subsidized by their government. And those FAs would be immediately fired for any reason.”

    Robin, you have provided absolutely no proof that this is true.

    To be honest, you sound like a disgruntled FA on one of the domestic carriers (probably United).

  7. Theodore Reply
    November 11, 2018 at 6:56 am

    United is just following suit to what Delta has been doing for a very long time. FAA MINIMUM staff on domestic & bare minimum on international ie just above FAA minimum. Delta, like United, have introduced a new configuration for their fleet & immediately reduced current staffing. But what you don’t know is that they added more seats in the new cabins & increased service. So now the crews have to work harder, longer and when they finish in their assigned cabin, have to go help in another. While I know that there are those out there that have absolutely no cares about the crew, you should at least try to understand that they are human because surely their employers do not.

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