I know this thread has drawn to a close but having read this in utter disbelief and as a cabin super with FR for 2 1/2 years out of four... I simply must set the record straight! It never ceases to amaze me how someone can have a bad experience on an FR flight and throws it to the hounds on PPrune and before we know it we have all sorts of rubbish coming out…
<Quote> well if the bit about the crew ignoring the flight deck calls is true, then they do sound like inexperienced amateurs . at my airline if we get a double ding dong then its a mad rush to the phone and if the f/d say jump we say how high <End quote>
People all over the world have bad experiences on aircraft… I had one with a certain other dual fleet UK low fares setup recently… didn’t go screaming about it though! Anyway, back to point…
There are a few reasons for the temperature being cold in the cabin:
The outside air temp on the ground was high, which heats up the cabin temp sensor at row 2 and the aft temp sensor around row 25-30 (having flown regularly to Scandinavia I know for a fact the air which enters the cabin during boarding affects the sensor... I've had to call many times to the f/d for a temperature change!) So, if the temp sensor is warm... it assumes the cabin is and cools it down (the opposite in Scandinavia where it positively bakes the cabin during the t/o and climb!)
The thing was broken!
She did inform the f/d who report back that the f/d temp indicators read 22-27 deg C - I know from experience when I have been in the flight deck to complain that the indicators are showing comfortable temp when its not!
The crew who as you say were working a lot might not have noticed the low temp - remember we are not sitting still...
You were un-lucky and had a poor crew (which I stress is not the case with all FR crew... we are in some cases more professional than other airline crew... I know this for a fact because I watch them when I fly with them!) Sorry, not so much a poor crew... possibly just poor supervisors. As always... a few bad apples... and a PPruner goes anti FR!
The in charge was busy and forgot!
You are probably aware how much/long/hard we work in the cabin in FR... we have to look and of course smell good for up to 12 hours... so we don’t want to work in a hot sweaty environment... pax are on for a few hours... we can be on for literally half a day! Maybe the crew wanted it cool?
With regard to the 'double call'; in FR a double call is cabin to cabin. There are many reasons for the crew to call from the aft interphone hence you would not have seen them! Sometimes I do that myself! Also with regards to the calling constantly for 20 minutes... if the f/d had lost contact with the cabin for that length of time, an emergency call to the cabin would have been made by the captain to find out where they were... long before 20 minutes had elapsed!
With regards to the in charge not entering the flight deck... that’s for security reasons.
So to answer your question(s):
No it is not common practice in FR!
No it is not to save money; cabin air is bleed air from the engines... They pump out air at 700 Deg C! We're not saving money by not powering a device we don’t have!
Second, I have never seen a memo or heard from anyone in the company saying "right lads, slip on your thermals every day under the uniform and we'll turn down the cabin temp to sell a few more coffees"!!! (Think about it... if that was the case, we would have extra on board and wouldn't have run out on that sector... would we???)
So, if you think by paying peanuts you get a monkey service, why not look closer to home... see just how your own airline staff treat their customers... they just pay a lot more for the hellish experience that is 21st century air travel (complimentary organic peanuts drizzled in the finest Italian olive oil and lightly sprinkled with fine sea salt included in the inflated ticket price!) ... and you, I and every one else on this forum knows it... whether they will admit it or not!
So please stop FR bashing!
Please? Help stop all the stupid remarks and assumptions people make when they take little things out of context!
PS with regards to the taxiing on one engine... after a two minute spool down time why not shut it down? With oil at what $70 a barrell or so these days, should every airline not be doing the same... oh sorry, how could I be so silly... they just pass it on to their customers!
