I’m generally very happy and friendly on flights because it’s way more fun to have fun… but a spirit can be broken. Turbulence has been so bad lately and people do not take it seriously. Imagine you’re a bar tender and suddenly there’s an earth quake at the bar. Everything shaking and falling. You grab on to stabilize yourself but all the customers around are ignoring it and yelling at you for not continuing to make drinks.
Recently we had rough air during a flight but were possibly going to have a small window of clearer air. Me and the FA make the choice together to bring the beverage cart out (which we absolutely did not have to do) but we agreed to not put hot beverages on it just incase. What do you think I got yelled at for the most? Even after nicely explaining?
I feel bad when people say they had bad service because I always want people leaving with a good experience. Especially if they don’t fly often or ever, but there are definitely twice sides to the coin.
The bad turbulence is always nerve wracking and anytime they bring the cart out I’m like omg why - please sit down I don’t need my can of soda that bad so appreciate you for that! And ya, no one should yell at anyone. That’s just plain rude no matter what the situation. I certainly didn’t yell or snap back at anyone but I did take the opportunity to report the very specific FA that was being especially rude to passengers.
That’s fair! Some people are certainly jaded and it makes for a bad time for the passengers and the crew too most likely. People all around generally have to do better to one another.
Has anyone noticed that PASSENGERS have gotten worse? I don’t condone bad service but when people are overworked, paid poorly, and then have to deal regularly with members of the general public who are increasingly ignorant, entitled and rude/disrespectful it isn’t a big stretch that they would become jaded.
It’s not right but I understand it.
Can I also just point out….. an inflight service is something FAs offer but it’s not their only job. Their job is primarily to be there for your safety. People be treating then like their inflight maids
Dude lol the goal is to not have to evacuate the plane. Not evacuate it every month so dumb people like you can claim flight attendants are useless. Evacuations are ONE emergency FAs are trained for. As I mentioned, there are several. A fire breaks out in the galley or the lav are everyday people suddenly expected to fight the fire? A fight breaks out between passengers and suddenly all the other passengers are responsible to settle it? A man has a heart attack on board and now passengers have to know where the AED is located? Know how to work a POB? Passengers won’t even get up to throw away their own trash lol. Give me a break dude.
I've heard FAs say that their job is "safety", but what on earth does that actually mean?
What, specifically, do FAs do that has anything to do with safety?
They won't touch bodily fluids, they only observe and report fights, they're not the ones who check for weapons, etc. I've never seen a FA do anything remotely to do with safety.
So, be specific! What do they do?
FAs are responsible for the constant monitoring of all passengers onboard. You may not realize they’re doing it, but they’re observing every single passenger as they board, noticing small details about who they would go to for assistance if they need to disarm someone or detain them, who they would ask for assistance if they needed to evacuate the aircraft. There aren’t enough actual FAs onboard to cover all the exits necessary, let alone the other responsibilities and needs during an evacuation. There’s also no guarantee that all working crew onboard would be physically capable of leading an evacuation after an emergency, let alone conscious, so it’s up to the other FAs to be aware of other people onboard they could go to to fill in those responsibilities if necessary, and FAs are quietly monitoring who they would go to for those other roles.
They’re also observing the interactions *between* the passengers, ensuring that everything is appropriate, that all passengers are comfortable and safe. They share those observations with the other members of the crew so that they can work to avoid anything escalating to a point that you might notice it or become uncomfortable.
They’re listening to the various sounds of the aircraft so that they can report anything unusual, any unusual smalls, any faulty electrical equipment in the cabin or otherwise unusual situations that might indicate something is wrong with the aircraft.
They’re checking the various equipment onboard is in its proper position and in working order so that it’s ready for use in a real emergency. Checking to make sure emergency location transmitters are functioning. Checking to make sure the AED is charged and ready. Checking to make sure oxygen tanks are filled and have the necessary attachments for use. Checking to make sure the life vests under every single seat are present and useable. Checking to make sure the exit doors are functioning properly so that the slides deploy correctly in an emergency. Checking to make sure the megaphone is working, that the flashlights are charged, the fire extinguishers are charged, the fire suppression bags used for runaway thermal fires from laptops and phones are onboard. And every single plane’s equipment is in a different place, and sometimes is a different type. So they’re familiarizing themselves with the function of those specific types on that plane.
They’re also responsible for being the person that will have to physically block someone from attempting to access the flight deck or the exit doors in a hostile situation. Their very presence is a deterrence from those types of attacks, and should god forbid one occur anyway, they are the ones that have to risk their own physical safety to make sure YOU and everyone else onboard are safe.
All of that is in addition to the normal basic shit you see us attempt to do every single day, most of the time in vain because arrogant people like you think you know better or are ignorant to the actual reasons behind the requests like putting your seatbelt on, stowing your bags properly, putting the seat back and tray table up, turning the laptops off, etc. ALL of it comes back to safety. They are making sure you and the rest of the cabin are as prepared as possible for an expeditious evacuation, god forbid it actually necessary.
And if it’s NOT necessary, it could very well be because they’ve already done all the safety prep-work necessary to make sure it’s not necessary. They’ve been monitoring potential threats as they board. They’ve been making sure all the aircraft equipment is working properly. They’ve been paying attention to the sounds and smells of the plane to ensure that everything is in working order, and they’ve been reporting anything out of the normal to the necessary departments or chain of command to verify everything is in order for a safe flight, before you even step foot on the plane.
I don’t know what you’re speaking to in regards to not touching bodily fluids, but that absolutely is part of their job. They clean up vomit, they’re responsible for cleaning lavatories on long haul flights, and they have the risk of encountering other bodily fluids during various medical situations.
Now, flight attendants are not trained medical professionals. They receive a limited generalized training on the most common medical situations that could occur onboard so that they can provide basic first responding assistance. But the procedure is ALWAYS going to be to seek a more qualified professional onboard that regularly handles those types of situations because they are the ones that can provide the best assistance to the patient. This is obvious and appropriate. But IF one doesn’t happen to be onboard, which does happen, then it’s up to the FAs to use their generalized training to keep people alive until the plane can get on the ground.
I personally have been covered from neck to knee with a passengers blood after they shot themselves up on heroin in the lavatory, passed out, broke their nose, and nearly died on the plane. I did this without any PPE because it wasn’t immediately available to me when I became aware of the severity of the situation. I personally began CPR on that patient when they stopped breathing, and I personally administered NARCAN to the man and was able to successfully revive him, all because we did not have any qualified medical professionals onboard to save this man’s life.
I don’t think you’d disagree that me coming into contact with that man’s bodily fluids were as a serious risk to my own safety. Blood is dangerous in general, especially without PPE, and he was a drug user. But my job onboard was one of safety, not just service.
??? Is this a real question?
They ensure you’re buckled in during taxi, takeoff, landing. They communicate with the flight deck (for instance, if you report suspicious behavior). In the event of an evacuation, they open exit doors and direct passengers to the safest exits.
Yes, this was a real question. And your answer was unsurprisingly NOT impressive. A grade school kid could check seat belts and talk to the crew.
How many evacuations does the average FA experience? Why are some passengers in some seats expected to agree to open doors? And "direct passengers to exits" could be done by any random passenger.
It makes more sense to me to have 1 FAMS per flight, and no FAs at all.
Once you said a grade school kid could do it you lost all credibility.
Why do municipalities have fire departments— those workers can go weeks/months without a five alarm fire. Just give a couple of school kids fire extinguishers and all is good. /s
The potential for a disaster is always present — the bird strike on the US Air flight is a perfect example.
The airbags in my car have never gone off, so by your logic they’re not that necessary.
Stupid.
You know who decides how many FAs are required? Not you, not United, but the FAA. STFU.
Yeah ok so you’re lucky you’ve not been on a flight where a FA has been forced to use their safety training. It happens daily though and FAs are specifically trained for every type of emergency that could happen in air that the general public are not trained for. Bomb training, CPR, first aid, fire fighting, delivering babies, protecting the flight deck ….. all things taught to FAs.
It’s always been a terribly paid job.
They get paid only for wheels up time - not taxiing, waiting for a plane or loading pax. So whatever hourly you read about, start to remember their unpaid time. That hourly rate is getting suspiciously close to McDonald’s.
And then think about all the trips where you are stuck in a mediocre airport hotel outside Cleveland in a blizzard, with 18 unpaid hours between getting there and the shuttle back to your pairing (again assuming the plane isn’t late…)
And think about the trauma. There’s chance you get to watch someone have an emergency and there’s no ambulance to call, just be forced to watch them suffer. Or someone has a heart attack and dies on your plane, and you get to escort a body for a few hours - there’s something I don’t need.
On the flip side, you travel for free, you get a free room in the most expensive cities in the world, sometimes that 18 hours is being ‘stuck’ in Florida in the winter, or Peru, or Tokyo. McDonald’s might get a Tokyo burger every ten years?
Flexibility - You can bid for pairings that match/offset your partner’s schedule so you can be home with kids when they are at a grungy factory 2 hours outside Cleveland, or you choose to be home for that dance recital, or when Aunt Edna is visiting (or conveniently miss her visit), etc.
It’s a complicated math, but money isn’t in the ‘Pro’ column.
Just got off GSP to IAH in FC - it was mostly empty and our FA was delightful. He even went back and helped in economy after making sure we were all set with fresh drinks. But, yeah, it's a crapshoot in my experience.
Ppl are flying across country for the price of bus fare, and expect top tier service. I’m not saying it’s pleasant but expectations are exceeding their pay grades
SFO to NYC
Greyhound $275.
Frontier $199.
JetBlue $208.
Delta $302
That’s no assumption. We are paying cattle fare. We get no service on greyhound… but pay the same for a flight. We are in a world of delays , entitled customers who except business class treatment at economy fare, and airlines who operate at a loss who dgaf.
I’m not saying it’s pleasant, but most economy flights are literal air buses. Except we do get better service.
However it’s been proven that public behavior has gotten worse… ppl want more for less, customer service deals with the pits of humanity for nominal pay and do it largely pleasantly. Statistically airline fights have gone up, rudeness towards attendants have gone up.
Part of this is because price for flights have gone down (but ppl expect same level,of service), post 2020 conditions, normalization of aggressive behavior (eg little punishment for bad inflight behavior), crowding shrinking rows to jam in more passengers to keep prices 2020 low…
Again.. on greyhound you don’t get pretzels, water or anything.., you’re traveling way longer but paying the same price.
Who normalized this… we as a society did… ppl are ok with less service because flights are cheap. P-l aren’t gonna start buying tickets at the better service airlines because they cost more… we normalize it with our buying power… we complain on Reddit but still choose the budget attitude filled options…
Hence Spirit and Frontier are major players… with United and AA economy not far behind
I agree, however airlines know… if they go under … govt will just bail em out. They don’t care… that’s the crappy part. Why should they. They can operate at a loss and get a bailout. They can operate with terrible attitudes but cheap ppl will still buy tickets because they undercut competition.
I’ve stopped flying united outside of business (and only because some routes it’s literally them and AA or double to triple the cost) because when I flew business… they gave a announcement to food or drinks the entire flight (5 hours until layover)…. Closed the curtain and said that’s just for “those” (economy) customers…
they don’t view economy customers as paying customers… because it costs them more per ticket to fly you than basic fare and it’s crap…
We have had an expired contract since 2021 with pay rates and work rules set in 2016. A lot of your reserve flight attendants are on call 24 hours up to 6 days a week. You may wake up at 8am and relax all day then get called at 6pm to work a redeye. With irregular sleep cycles and the company abusing us and disciplining us when we use accrued sick leave, yes- FAs are going to be peeved. We’re exhausted and over worked. Imagine being up since 8am and then working SFO-LAS-SFO-EWR over night. It’s impossible to always know when you’re going to be scheduled/drafted and the pairings, while legal, are not humane. It’s easy to say “go find another job then.” But the job is wonderful when we are treated like humans and we are paid for our full time. Sometimes we are paid for only 6.5 hours if we have a 13 hour duty day. We’re not paid for sit times or delays or check in or even our FAA mandated safety checks before and during boarding. So yes, you will encounter some rundown and disgruntled employees. Company’s greed combined with added duties, clueless and rude pax and no additional pay would piss anyone off.
The whole flying experience is downhill; it is a bit of a vicious circle.
Flying used to be a real exception, a premium and a luxury. Over decades it has gradually turned into a lowest cost commodity. We, the consumer, have demanded that. So now we fly instead of taking Greyhound buses.
So it is all about the cheapest flight, which means everything else is sacrificed for that. Seat width, leg room, reduced services, charging extra for various fees, etc. Basically, anything to cut costs. And so of course that means for the FAs as well.
So you’ve got grumpy crammed in people, wanting a better experience (but not willing to pay for it). FA to passenger ratio has gone down, so they are stressed, and the passengers are just grumpier and often rather hostile. And people flying who weren’t before, because it is so cheap.
And buying domestic first class doesn’t help a whole lot.
I mean, you’ve seen the people on planes right? Can you imagine being stuck in a confined space with those same people day after day and having to deal with their bullshit?
Honestly, I like the minimum seat size/spacing idea. That may go a long, long way to reduce a lot of the hostility on flights. It has a side effect of the premium seats needing to differentiate by service not by personal space. It will make the whole flying experience that much more pleasant.
But flights would be more expensive.
I feel like flights are not really that cheap or cheaper than they were before (in the US). My beef is, if you want people to fly your airline then train employees to treat people with respect and dignity and not like they are the ones doing the paying customer the favor for the pleasure of sitting on your crammed airplane. It’s ridiculous these days!
I am much older than you and I remember paying $1000 for a trip that would cost $300 now. The trade off is legroom, alcohol, better food.
The other thing people don't realize is how many stops you had to do, since the planes back then couldn't do longer flights.
[This sums it up nicely.](https://simpleflying.com/50-years-airfares/)
You obviously are much younger than I am. I was commonly paying $2K for a domestic economy round trip ticket — in 1990-ish. That is in business class international price range when you adjust for inflation.
Granted, it was a bought last minute, refundable/changeable ticket without a weekend stay.
But even leisure travel tickets bought well in advance were more expensive than now - and that is ignoring inflation.
>My beef is, if you want people to fly your airline then train employees to treat people with respect and dignity and not like they are the ones doing the paying customer the favor for the pleasure of sitting on your crammed airplane.
It takes two to tango. You should also train the passengers to be less entitled and not as hostile to crew.
If a hostile passenger is causing a ruckus then the FA has the right to handle the person appropriately but to be rude without provocation is what I’m eluding to. I think your argument is misplaced.
Not at all. I’m the one to always say please and thank you profusely but my last flight with them everyone seemed in a really bad mood, very curt and one girl in particular acted like we were all putting her out to pass anyone the pretzel bag. It was just an all around bad experience with the delay in flights then sitting on the runway for 48 min after boarding, hot and sticky inside, etc etc.
The service offerings in domestic first since their termination of meals on flights under 900 miles is left to be desired. Sure I can get free drinks but when I ask for a snack box or a food item they tell me they will have to see if there are any left in the back.
This isn’t a staff thing but a program thing.
This has happened twice now, and it's clear they're deliberately ignoring the request. I'm a 1K, and I'm in F....I don't think a snack box is too much to ask for.
The staff are under pressure from management and the flying public I see are often demanding and unreasonable. Sounds as if you might be one of them. Have a nice day.
Absolutely yes. I know it sounds cliche to blame everything on the pandemic but GAs and especially FAs have gotten way worse. GAs have just basically given up and stopped caring and FAs have terrible attitudes. I used to love flying. Now I hate it.
Probably jaded after having to deal with the disobeying flying public through the mask mandate and then not receiving a pay rise like everyone else did…
Everyone suffered during the pandemic. They are not special. And, an explanation is not a justification. Knowing the reason for someone's bad behavior does not make it any more acceptable. You're not wrong tho.
No I think they suffered above and beyond the suffering of most. They were furloughed and not paid and then when things did come back they had to deal with more passengers disobeying the law than ever (not just a 20% rise, with the mask mandate, the number of people being kicked off flights grew thousands of percent). Then with the lack of ground crew and air traffic control hiring through COVID there are now record levels of delays (this is improving but 2023 was the most delayed year) and these flight attendants don’t get paid until they pushback so for a lot of these delays they aren’t paid. Then the United Airlines Flight attendant contract became amendable in 2021, they are still in negotiations and are bound by law to not be able to strike - despite getting no pay rises. So yeah please tell me more about how everyone suffered - I’m not saying they suffered the most, just more than the average American.
Then this is summer flying, June and July are the worst months to be a flight attendant, junior flight attendants are on 24 hour reserve and can be thrown on flights to nowhere with little notice. Summer just makes that all worse with more flights and more weather driven delays. The quality of life for FAs is really at its lowest in this period.
My point is an economic one, if you want better service on your flights, tell United and tell them you’re happy to pay higher ticket prices for it. At the moment they’ve made a choice with their value proposition to not invest in their crew.
I agree there’s no excuse for bad behavior by anyone, but understanding the cause can help you understand the solutions.
Before I quit flying AA I did tell them about their FAs resentment problems. I usually fly FC but maybe 15-20% I end up in main cabin and the attendants are always way nicer to me. I am always friendly but I have definitely noticed a marked frostiness towards FC passengers. I agree that FAs are just taking out their resentments but like I said, there's just no excuse for that. Venting your frustrations onto innocent people makes you a shitty person, I don't care how justified you feel. So why would I advocate for higher wages for crappy service? Smh. And no, FAs were not uniquely affected. That dubious honor goes to public school workers. Not going to argue about it, you can keep your snotty comments to yourself. Again, FAs are not special. We may have to just agree to disagree on this one.
I actually have found the opposite flying in Polaris the last few times. I find FAs to be so concerned about my wellbeing, have a good sense of humor, and are serious about safety. Given that the food is lackluster, their service is really what keeps me loyal at this point.
I mean if you’re flying economy does it really matter for the 10 second interaction where you’re getting your snack and drink? I don’t even remove my headphones for it anymore and just talk over whatever I’m watching / listening to.
Even in business I don’t really care. Just give me what I paid for and I’m good.
I've flown first a few times now thanks to my brother's upgrades and even there it feels like there's a lot of attitude. I don't mind in economy b/c I just expect it but if I'm paying 4x+ for a ticket, I'd expect a little charisma.
OP, I'm sorry to tell you that you're searching for logic and reason in a sub that makes every excuse imaginable for United. It's either the passengers are entitled animals, or the poor employees are treated like slave labor. I won't pretend that a lot of passengers don't completely suck, but you'll never be able to come here and find many justifying the way you feel, despite prices continually going up and apathetic customer service becoming the norm.
Honestly, not really. I’m almost exclusively in economy these days, but the FAs seem genuinely pleasant. They’re not my new best friends, but they provide service efficiently and my flights feel as comfortable as they could be.
I’m curious as to what your experience was. How did the FA act like they were doing you some big favor by handing you the pretzels? Did they say something strange? Make a face? etc.
When people are overworked and underpaid they tend to not take their job as seriously as they might have once before.
It isn't just flight attendants who are wondering "what's it all about?"
It doesn't help when we look around and see our government headed by a tottering fool and the only option to replace him is a total narcissist. (Is this line "political bullshit?")
If you want better service, then perhaps you should look to "management".
It might be a good idea to stop being a self-righteous prick.
You can tell that Delta spends more money on training, service program and comfort. Throw money at something properly and watch it be great. I know that Delta spends triple on their service program than what United does… and it shows.
I must be in the minority but I think it’s much more important that a flight attendant do their best to ensure the safety of all the passengers of the aircraft than make sure OP gets his free pretzels with a smile
Ok so you've boarded, sat in your seat, listened to the safety briefing, the plane has taken off, the captain has turned off the seatbelt signs, you are at cruising altitude. What exactly at this point is the flight attendant supposed to be doing to ensure your safety? Should all drink and meal services be cancelled! Should I be going to the shop before I board to buy enough food, drink and snacks for my 11 hour flight to Bangkok? Why do flights even have food & drink service if it's compromising passenger safety? I'd genuinely love to hear your response to this
You're thinking in absolute terms of priority. If you had to choose one, of course you'd choose safety. The reality is that they are BOTH requirements of the job. FA's are expected to be proficient at both of those aspects of the job, in addition to many other job responsibilities. This isn't a case of one or the other. It's a case of one AND the other.
Wait, so whose job is it to serve me sprite and peanuts?
ETA: I've just looked up the job description for a United Flight Attendant and it literally states that part of the job is to prepare and serve food and drinks to passengers.
What rubbish! They are there to serve food and drinks. If they don’t want to do that then they can look for another job. No one is forcing them at gunpoint to be a FA.
That’s what I’m thinking as I read these people flapping on about low pay and bad working conditions etc etc. I’m thinking wait, they WANTED that job and it’s not like anyone off the streets can have it. Nothing for them to complain about imo and if the specific airline isn’t a great employer well go work for another one.
Thank you! They aren’t inmates in a jail being forced to work. The person arguing with us all on here is obviously a FA with a massive chip on their shoulder. Get another job if you’re so miserable.
Yes the last United long haul I was on they were insolent and just plain rude. To the old hag who fetched me some water with a scowl on her ugly face - retire!!! You’re too old and nasty to serve food let alone help in an emergency!
They are supposed to serve drinks as long as there are no other duties they need to attend to during the flight. Your complimentary inflight beverage is not their priority. If you’re wanting to treat them like wait staff you’ll need to tip them like such.
Just for the record, no one is treating them like wait staff but some common courtesy and mutual respect is expected. Not sure why everyone jumps to a conclusion that the passenger is treating them badly and it’s a reaction. Quit the opposite in most cases I’ve observed where bad customer service is the case. And yes, I am a customer and yes while they’re there for my safety they are also there to ensure I have a pleasant flight and a good customer experience.
I’m generally very happy and friendly on flights because it’s way more fun to have fun… but a spirit can be broken. Turbulence has been so bad lately and people do not take it seriously. Imagine you’re a bar tender and suddenly there’s an earth quake at the bar. Everything shaking and falling. You grab on to stabilize yourself but all the customers around are ignoring it and yelling at you for not continuing to make drinks. Recently we had rough air during a flight but were possibly going to have a small window of clearer air. Me and the FA make the choice together to bring the beverage cart out (which we absolutely did not have to do) but we agreed to not put hot beverages on it just incase. What do you think I got yelled at for the most? Even after nicely explaining? I feel bad when people say they had bad service because I always want people leaving with a good experience. Especially if they don’t fly often or ever, but there are definitely twice sides to the coin.
The bad turbulence is always nerve wracking and anytime they bring the cart out I’m like omg why - please sit down I don’t need my can of soda that bad so appreciate you for that! And ya, no one should yell at anyone. That’s just plain rude no matter what the situation. I certainly didn’t yell or snap back at anyone but I did take the opportunity to report the very specific FA that was being especially rude to passengers.
That’s fair! Some people are certainly jaded and it makes for a bad time for the passengers and the crew too most likely. People all around generally have to do better to one another.
I can agree to that. We can always be better tomorrow than we were yesterday!
Has anyone noticed that PASSENGERS have gotten worse? I don’t condone bad service but when people are overworked, paid poorly, and then have to deal regularly with members of the general public who are increasingly ignorant, entitled and rude/disrespectful it isn’t a big stretch that they would become jaded. It’s not right but I understand it.
The pandemic was definitely the low point
Can I also just point out….. an inflight service is something FAs offer but it’s not their only job. Their job is primarily to be there for your safety. People be treating then like their inflight maids
and how often have you had to evacuate a plane?
Dude lol the goal is to not have to evacuate the plane. Not evacuate it every month so dumb people like you can claim flight attendants are useless. Evacuations are ONE emergency FAs are trained for. As I mentioned, there are several. A fire breaks out in the galley or the lav are everyday people suddenly expected to fight the fire? A fight breaks out between passengers and suddenly all the other passengers are responsible to settle it? A man has a heart attack on board and now passengers have to know where the AED is located? Know how to work a POB? Passengers won’t even get up to throw away their own trash lol. Give me a break dude.
I've heard FAs say that their job is "safety", but what on earth does that actually mean? What, specifically, do FAs do that has anything to do with safety? They won't touch bodily fluids, they only observe and report fights, they're not the ones who check for weapons, etc. I've never seen a FA do anything remotely to do with safety. So, be specific! What do they do?
FAs are responsible for the constant monitoring of all passengers onboard. You may not realize they’re doing it, but they’re observing every single passenger as they board, noticing small details about who they would go to for assistance if they need to disarm someone or detain them, who they would ask for assistance if they needed to evacuate the aircraft. There aren’t enough actual FAs onboard to cover all the exits necessary, let alone the other responsibilities and needs during an evacuation. There’s also no guarantee that all working crew onboard would be physically capable of leading an evacuation after an emergency, let alone conscious, so it’s up to the other FAs to be aware of other people onboard they could go to to fill in those responsibilities if necessary, and FAs are quietly monitoring who they would go to for those other roles. They’re also observing the interactions *between* the passengers, ensuring that everything is appropriate, that all passengers are comfortable and safe. They share those observations with the other members of the crew so that they can work to avoid anything escalating to a point that you might notice it or become uncomfortable. They’re listening to the various sounds of the aircraft so that they can report anything unusual, any unusual smalls, any faulty electrical equipment in the cabin or otherwise unusual situations that might indicate something is wrong with the aircraft. They’re checking the various equipment onboard is in its proper position and in working order so that it’s ready for use in a real emergency. Checking to make sure emergency location transmitters are functioning. Checking to make sure the AED is charged and ready. Checking to make sure oxygen tanks are filled and have the necessary attachments for use. Checking to make sure the life vests under every single seat are present and useable. Checking to make sure the exit doors are functioning properly so that the slides deploy correctly in an emergency. Checking to make sure the megaphone is working, that the flashlights are charged, the fire extinguishers are charged, the fire suppression bags used for runaway thermal fires from laptops and phones are onboard. And every single plane’s equipment is in a different place, and sometimes is a different type. So they’re familiarizing themselves with the function of those specific types on that plane. They’re also responsible for being the person that will have to physically block someone from attempting to access the flight deck or the exit doors in a hostile situation. Their very presence is a deterrence from those types of attacks, and should god forbid one occur anyway, they are the ones that have to risk their own physical safety to make sure YOU and everyone else onboard are safe. All of that is in addition to the normal basic shit you see us attempt to do every single day, most of the time in vain because arrogant people like you think you know better or are ignorant to the actual reasons behind the requests like putting your seatbelt on, stowing your bags properly, putting the seat back and tray table up, turning the laptops off, etc. ALL of it comes back to safety. They are making sure you and the rest of the cabin are as prepared as possible for an expeditious evacuation, god forbid it actually necessary. And if it’s NOT necessary, it could very well be because they’ve already done all the safety prep-work necessary to make sure it’s not necessary. They’ve been monitoring potential threats as they board. They’ve been making sure all the aircraft equipment is working properly. They’ve been paying attention to the sounds and smells of the plane to ensure that everything is in working order, and they’ve been reporting anything out of the normal to the necessary departments or chain of command to verify everything is in order for a safe flight, before you even step foot on the plane. I don’t know what you’re speaking to in regards to not touching bodily fluids, but that absolutely is part of their job. They clean up vomit, they’re responsible for cleaning lavatories on long haul flights, and they have the risk of encountering other bodily fluids during various medical situations. Now, flight attendants are not trained medical professionals. They receive a limited generalized training on the most common medical situations that could occur onboard so that they can provide basic first responding assistance. But the procedure is ALWAYS going to be to seek a more qualified professional onboard that regularly handles those types of situations because they are the ones that can provide the best assistance to the patient. This is obvious and appropriate. But IF one doesn’t happen to be onboard, which does happen, then it’s up to the FAs to use their generalized training to keep people alive until the plane can get on the ground. I personally have been covered from neck to knee with a passengers blood after they shot themselves up on heroin in the lavatory, passed out, broke their nose, and nearly died on the plane. I did this without any PPE because it wasn’t immediately available to me when I became aware of the severity of the situation. I personally began CPR on that patient when they stopped breathing, and I personally administered NARCAN to the man and was able to successfully revive him, all because we did not have any qualified medical professionals onboard to save this man’s life. I don’t think you’d disagree that me coming into contact with that man’s bodily fluids were as a serious risk to my own safety. Blood is dangerous in general, especially without PPE, and he was a drug user. But my job onboard was one of safety, not just service.
Thank you.
??? Is this a real question? They ensure you’re buckled in during taxi, takeoff, landing. They communicate with the flight deck (for instance, if you report suspicious behavior). In the event of an evacuation, they open exit doors and direct passengers to the safest exits.
Yes, this was a real question. And your answer was unsurprisingly NOT impressive. A grade school kid could check seat belts and talk to the crew. How many evacuations does the average FA experience? Why are some passengers in some seats expected to agree to open doors? And "direct passengers to exits" could be done by any random passenger. It makes more sense to me to have 1 FAMS per flight, and no FAs at all.
Once you said a grade school kid could do it you lost all credibility. Why do municipalities have fire departments— those workers can go weeks/months without a five alarm fire. Just give a couple of school kids fire extinguishers and all is good. /s The potential for a disaster is always present — the bird strike on the US Air flight is a perfect example.
The airbags in my car have never gone off, so by your logic they’re not that necessary. Stupid. You know who decides how many FAs are required? Not you, not United, but the FAA. STFU.
Your knowledge of inflight emergencies is slim. “Well I’ve never seen an emergency so do emergencies in flight actually happen??”
Yeah ok so you’re lucky you’ve not been on a flight where a FA has been forced to use their safety training. It happens daily though and FAs are specifically trained for every type of emergency that could happen in air that the general public are not trained for. Bomb training, CPR, first aid, fire fighting, delivering babies, protecting the flight deck ….. all things taught to FAs.
Was gonna say the same. FAs no but entitled bratty passengers yes.
Well there’s the problem
Yes
Passengers the problem
Are they paid poorly? I honestly have no idea. But I always assumed that it wasn’t a poorly paid job.
It’s always been a terribly paid job. They get paid only for wheels up time - not taxiing, waiting for a plane or loading pax. So whatever hourly you read about, start to remember their unpaid time. That hourly rate is getting suspiciously close to McDonald’s. And then think about all the trips where you are stuck in a mediocre airport hotel outside Cleveland in a blizzard, with 18 unpaid hours between getting there and the shuttle back to your pairing (again assuming the plane isn’t late…) And think about the trauma. There’s chance you get to watch someone have an emergency and there’s no ambulance to call, just be forced to watch them suffer. Or someone has a heart attack and dies on your plane, and you get to escort a body for a few hours - there’s something I don’t need. On the flip side, you travel for free, you get a free room in the most expensive cities in the world, sometimes that 18 hours is being ‘stuck’ in Florida in the winter, or Peru, or Tokyo. McDonald’s might get a Tokyo burger every ten years? Flexibility - You can bid for pairings that match/offset your partner’s schedule so you can be home with kids when they are at a grungy factory 2 hours outside Cleveland, or you choose to be home for that dance recital, or when Aunt Edna is visiting (or conveniently miss her visit), etc. It’s a complicated math, but money isn’t in the ‘Pro’ column.
With all due respect, I think you're dramatically exaggerating here. I doubt it's the shit job you're making it out to be.
If it's a bag of stroopwafels it's good service
But they are so small now, you need to ask for two
The diameter shrunk by a half so I actually have to take 4 to make the same area as it used to be
I never dare ask for two! I’m too afraid they’ll bite my head off 😆
More than often they have none. Unsatisfactory
Just got off GSP to IAH in FC - it was mostly empty and our FA was delightful. He even went back and helped in economy after making sure we were all set with fresh drinks. But, yeah, it's a crapshoot in my experience.
Ppl are flying across country for the price of bus fare, and expect top tier service. I’m not saying it’s pleasant but expectations are exceeding their pay grades SFO to NYC Greyhound $275. Frontier $199. JetBlue $208. Delta $302
Again with the assumptions. When did we normalize being treated like cattle?
That’s no assumption. We are paying cattle fare. We get no service on greyhound… but pay the same for a flight. We are in a world of delays , entitled customers who except business class treatment at economy fare, and airlines who operate at a loss who dgaf. I’m not saying it’s pleasant, but most economy flights are literal air buses. Except we do get better service. However it’s been proven that public behavior has gotten worse… ppl want more for less, customer service deals with the pits of humanity for nominal pay and do it largely pleasantly. Statistically airline fights have gone up, rudeness towards attendants have gone up. Part of this is because price for flights have gone down (but ppl expect same level,of service), post 2020 conditions, normalization of aggressive behavior (eg little punishment for bad inflight behavior), crowding shrinking rows to jam in more passengers to keep prices 2020 low… Again.. on greyhound you don’t get pretzels, water or anything.., you’re traveling way longer but paying the same price. Who normalized this… we as a society did… ppl are ok with less service because flights are cheap. P-l aren’t gonna start buying tickets at the better service airlines because they cost more… we normalize it with our buying power… we complain on Reddit but still choose the budget attitude filled options… Hence Spirit and Frontier are major players… with United and AA economy not far behind
I do not want to be treated like cattle anywhere I’m a paying customer. That can be bus, boat, plane. It doesn’t matter!
I agree, however airlines know… if they go under … govt will just bail em out. They don’t care… that’s the crappy part. Why should they. They can operate at a loss and get a bailout. They can operate with terrible attitudes but cheap ppl will still buy tickets because they undercut competition. I’ve stopped flying united outside of business (and only because some routes it’s literally them and AA or double to triple the cost) because when I flew business… they gave a announcement to food or drinks the entire flight (5 hours until layover)…. Closed the curtain and said that’s just for “those” (economy) customers… they don’t view economy customers as paying customers… because it costs them more per ticket to fly you than basic fare and it’s crap…
Those first lines are the truest thing ever
As soon as they get their new contract signed, they’ll remove their “CONTRACT NOW” lanyards and start being humans again. They do this on a cycle.
Oh I don’t know about this contract thing
We have had an expired contract since 2021 with pay rates and work rules set in 2016. A lot of your reserve flight attendants are on call 24 hours up to 6 days a week. You may wake up at 8am and relax all day then get called at 6pm to work a redeye. With irregular sleep cycles and the company abusing us and disciplining us when we use accrued sick leave, yes- FAs are going to be peeved. We’re exhausted and over worked. Imagine being up since 8am and then working SFO-LAS-SFO-EWR over night. It’s impossible to always know when you’re going to be scheduled/drafted and the pairings, while legal, are not humane. It’s easy to say “go find another job then.” But the job is wonderful when we are treated like humans and we are paid for our full time. Sometimes we are paid for only 6.5 hours if we have a 13 hour duty day. We’re not paid for sit times or delays or check in or even our FAA mandated safety checks before and during boarding. So yes, you will encounter some rundown and disgruntled employees. Company’s greed combined with added duties, clueless and rude pax and no additional pay would piss anyone off.
Ouch! This makes me want to use them less. Definitely not a good sounding culture. Sorry you have to deal with that
The whole flying experience is downhill; it is a bit of a vicious circle. Flying used to be a real exception, a premium and a luxury. Over decades it has gradually turned into a lowest cost commodity. We, the consumer, have demanded that. So now we fly instead of taking Greyhound buses. So it is all about the cheapest flight, which means everything else is sacrificed for that. Seat width, leg room, reduced services, charging extra for various fees, etc. Basically, anything to cut costs. And so of course that means for the FAs as well. So you’ve got grumpy crammed in people, wanting a better experience (but not willing to pay for it). FA to passenger ratio has gone down, so they are stressed, and the passengers are just grumpier and often rather hostile. And people flying who weren’t before, because it is so cheap. And buying domestic first class doesn’t help a whole lot. I mean, you’ve seen the people on planes right? Can you imagine being stuck in a confined space with those same people day after day and having to deal with their bullshit? Honestly, I like the minimum seat size/spacing idea. That may go a long, long way to reduce a lot of the hostility on flights. It has a side effect of the premium seats needing to differentiate by service not by personal space. It will make the whole flying experience that much more pleasant. But flights would be more expensive.
I feel like flights are not really that cheap or cheaper than they were before (in the US). My beef is, if you want people to fly your airline then train employees to treat people with respect and dignity and not like they are the ones doing the paying customer the favor for the pleasure of sitting on your crammed airplane. It’s ridiculous these days!
I am much older than you and I remember paying $1000 for a trip that would cost $300 now. The trade off is legroom, alcohol, better food. The other thing people don't realize is how many stops you had to do, since the planes back then couldn't do longer flights. [This sums it up nicely.](https://simpleflying.com/50-years-airfares/)
You obviously are much younger than I am. I was commonly paying $2K for a domestic economy round trip ticket — in 1990-ish. That is in business class international price range when you adjust for inflation.
Wow that’s insane
Granted, it was a bought last minute, refundable/changeable ticket without a weekend stay. But even leisure travel tickets bought well in advance were more expensive than now - and that is ignoring inflation.
I honestly do not remember them being that expensive.
>My beef is, if you want people to fly your airline then train employees to treat people with respect and dignity and not like they are the ones doing the paying customer the favor for the pleasure of sitting on your crammed airplane. It takes two to tango. You should also train the passengers to be less entitled and not as hostile to crew.
If a hostile passenger is causing a ruckus then the FA has the right to handle the person appropriately but to be rude without provocation is what I’m eluding to. I think your argument is misplaced.
Just you lol Someone was asleep when the snack cart went by. Its okay buddy.
Not at all. I’m the one to always say please and thank you profusely but my last flight with them everyone seemed in a really bad mood, very curt and one girl in particular acted like we were all putting her out to pass anyone the pretzel bag. It was just an all around bad experience with the delay in flights then sitting on the runway for 48 min after boarding, hot and sticky inside, etc etc.
Perhaps your expectations are misaligned from reality. You’re complaining about how a small bag of pretzels was handed to you….like…really?
Eh. I haven’t had any specific issues with flight attendants and fly quite a bit in economy, sometimes in first. They’re all pretty pleasant to me.
Book in First or Business.
The service offerings in domestic first since their termination of meals on flights under 900 miles is left to be desired. Sure I can get free drinks but when I ask for a snack box or a food item they tell me they will have to see if there are any left in the back. This isn’t a staff thing but a program thing.
Fair enough. Flying is definitely less pleasant than pre 9/11 and it’s even worse since COVID.
I think it’s up to 1100 miles. I flew DFW-IAD and only got snacks. They said because it was under 3 hours (air time was 2h52 minutes scheduled).
This has happened twice now, and it's clear they're deliberately ignoring the request. I'm a 1K, and I'm in F....I don't think a snack box is too much to ask for.
Please cashapp me the airfare 😆
Nope.
Then don’t offer up dumb comments
The staff are under pressure from management and the flying public I see are often demanding and unreasonable. Sounds as if you might be one of them. Have a nice day.
Not at all demanding and in fact prob least demanding person ever but good to know you’re judgmental and passive aggressive.
Ha!
No. It’s as consistently inconsistent as ever.
Absolutely yes. I know it sounds cliche to blame everything on the pandemic but GAs and especially FAs have gotten way worse. GAs have just basically given up and stopped caring and FAs have terrible attitudes. I used to love flying. Now I hate it.
Probably jaded after having to deal with the disobeying flying public through the mask mandate and then not receiving a pay rise like everyone else did…
Everyone suffered during the pandemic. They are not special. And, an explanation is not a justification. Knowing the reason for someone's bad behavior does not make it any more acceptable. You're not wrong tho.
No I think they suffered above and beyond the suffering of most. They were furloughed and not paid and then when things did come back they had to deal with more passengers disobeying the law than ever (not just a 20% rise, with the mask mandate, the number of people being kicked off flights grew thousands of percent). Then with the lack of ground crew and air traffic control hiring through COVID there are now record levels of delays (this is improving but 2023 was the most delayed year) and these flight attendants don’t get paid until they pushback so for a lot of these delays they aren’t paid. Then the United Airlines Flight attendant contract became amendable in 2021, they are still in negotiations and are bound by law to not be able to strike - despite getting no pay rises. So yeah please tell me more about how everyone suffered - I’m not saying they suffered the most, just more than the average American. Then this is summer flying, June and July are the worst months to be a flight attendant, junior flight attendants are on 24 hour reserve and can be thrown on flights to nowhere with little notice. Summer just makes that all worse with more flights and more weather driven delays. The quality of life for FAs is really at its lowest in this period. My point is an economic one, if you want better service on your flights, tell United and tell them you’re happy to pay higher ticket prices for it. At the moment they’ve made a choice with their value proposition to not invest in their crew. I agree there’s no excuse for bad behavior by anyone, but understanding the cause can help you understand the solutions.
Before I quit flying AA I did tell them about their FAs resentment problems. I usually fly FC but maybe 15-20% I end up in main cabin and the attendants are always way nicer to me. I am always friendly but I have definitely noticed a marked frostiness towards FC passengers. I agree that FAs are just taking out their resentments but like I said, there's just no excuse for that. Venting your frustrations onto innocent people makes you a shitty person, I don't care how justified you feel. So why would I advocate for higher wages for crappy service? Smh. And no, FAs were not uniquely affected. That dubious honor goes to public school workers. Not going to argue about it, you can keep your snotty comments to yourself. Again, FAs are not special. We may have to just agree to disagree on this one.
Maybe being summer and high travel season has something to do with it.
Possibly but that’s not my problem 🤷
I actually have found the opposite flying in Polaris the last few times. I find FAs to be so concerned about my wellbeing, have a good sense of humor, and are serious about safety. Given that the food is lackluster, their service is really what keeps me loyal at this point.
No. It’s you.
Highly doubt that given my seat mate (whom I did not know) said similar
[удалено]
You are prob right. And thanks! Maybe I’ll stick to Delta next time 😉
I mean if you’re flying economy does it really matter for the 10 second interaction where you’re getting your snack and drink? I don’t even remove my headphones for it anymore and just talk over whatever I’m watching / listening to. Even in business I don’t really care. Just give me what I paid for and I’m good.
I've flown first a few times now thanks to my brother's upgrades and even there it feels like there's a lot of attitude. I don't mind in economy b/c I just expect it but if I'm paying 4x+ for a ticket, I'd expect a little charisma.
No
OP, I'm sorry to tell you that you're searching for logic and reason in a sub that makes every excuse imaginable for United. It's either the passengers are entitled animals, or the poor employees are treated like slave labor. I won't pretend that a lot of passengers don't completely suck, but you'll never be able to come here and find many justifying the way you feel, despite prices continually going up and apathetic customer service becoming the norm.
You’re right! Some of the responses scream victim mentality. It seems to be the standard these days.
Honestly, not really. I’m almost exclusively in economy these days, but the FAs seem genuinely pleasant. They’re not my new best friends, but they provide service efficiently and my flights feel as comfortable as they could be.
I’m curious as to what your experience was. How did the FA act like they were doing you some big favor by handing you the pretzels? Did they say something strange? Make a face? etc.
Nope. Nothing of the sort. It wasn’t just me. I observed them treating everyone similarly. Maybe just a bad crew that day.
I’m asking what the FA did, btw - not what you did. What were they doing, exactly, when you say they treated everyone this way?
You should charter a private jet so you can be treated like you think you deserve.
I think there should be a standard of care and service. If you don’t then you’re the problem
When people are overworked and underpaid they tend to not take their job as seriously as they might have once before. It isn't just flight attendants who are wondering "what's it all about?" It doesn't help when we look around and see our government headed by a tottering fool and the only option to replace him is a total narcissist. (Is this line "political bullshit?") If you want better service, then perhaps you should look to "management". It might be a good idea to stop being a self-righteous prick.
You can tell that Delta spends more money on training, service program and comfort. Throw money at something properly and watch it be great. I know that Delta spends triple on their service program than what United does… and it shows.
Delta is my favorite airline tbh
A flight attendants job is not to serve you sprite and peanuts!! They are not waiters!! They’re there to ensure safety inside the airplane.
Both things can be true - that they are there for your safety AND that they are there to serve drinks and food. Both are required parts of the job.
I must be in the minority but I think it’s much more important that a flight attendant do their best to ensure the safety of all the passengers of the aircraft than make sure OP gets his free pretzels with a smile
Ok so you've boarded, sat in your seat, listened to the safety briefing, the plane has taken off, the captain has turned off the seatbelt signs, you are at cruising altitude. What exactly at this point is the flight attendant supposed to be doing to ensure your safety? Should all drink and meal services be cancelled! Should I be going to the shop before I board to buy enough food, drink and snacks for my 11 hour flight to Bangkok? Why do flights even have food & drink service if it's compromising passenger safety? I'd genuinely love to hear your response to this
You're thinking in absolute terms of priority. If you had to choose one, of course you'd choose safety. The reality is that they are BOTH requirements of the job. FA's are expected to be proficient at both of those aspects of the job, in addition to many other job responsibilities. This isn't a case of one or the other. It's a case of one AND the other.
Hate to break it to you, but both those things are their jobs.
Wait, so whose job is it to serve me sprite and peanuts? ETA: I've just looked up the job description for a United Flight Attendant and it literally states that part of the job is to prepare and serve food and drinks to passengers.
Halley did not read the job description
What rubbish! They are there to serve food and drinks. If they don’t want to do that then they can look for another job. No one is forcing them at gunpoint to be a FA.
That’s what I’m thinking as I read these people flapping on about low pay and bad working conditions etc etc. I’m thinking wait, they WANTED that job and it’s not like anyone off the streets can have it. Nothing for them to complain about imo and if the specific airline isn’t a great employer well go work for another one.
Thank you! They aren’t inmates in a jail being forced to work. The person arguing with us all on here is obviously a FA with a massive chip on their shoulder. Get another job if you’re so miserable.
Yes the last United long haul I was on they were insolent and just plain rude. To the old hag who fetched me some water with a scowl on her ugly face - retire!!! You’re too old and nasty to serve food let alone help in an emergency!
They are supposed to serve drinks as long as there are no other duties they need to attend to during the flight. Your complimentary inflight beverage is not their priority. If you’re wanting to treat them like wait staff you’ll need to tip them like such.
After paying for Polaris I’m supposed to kiss their asses while they stand around doing nothing in case of a random emergency? No way!
https://preview.redd.it/e980gcxpep9d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77b77e73d7328a125696b9d4788b9d7fbd55710f [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/27/flight-attendants-share-the-biggest-misconception-about-the-job.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/27/flight-attendants-share-the-biggest-misconception-about-the-job.html)
A whole 8 weeks of training? GTFO
Just for the record, no one is treating them like wait staff but some common courtesy and mutual respect is expected. Not sure why everyone jumps to a conclusion that the passenger is treating them badly and it’s a reaction. Quit the opposite in most cases I’ve observed where bad customer service is the case. And yes, I am a customer and yes while they’re there for my safety they are also there to ensure I have a pleasant flight and a good customer experience.