Rude pax
If this is too far off thread, then, dear Moderator, cast this post into the outer darkness. But here is a view from the other side. I am an old f**t, an experienced SLF who started tasting the delights of being a passenger in the early 60s, on Cambrian DC3s. Cambrian? Please dont vilify the travelling British business person too much; some of us are old, meek and submissive travellers, too poor to turn left, who cower in cattle class, praying for the upgrade which never comes. I agree completely that pax have become boorish; that children on flights are completely intolerable; that the whole experience is hell on earth for all of us.
From my viewpoint, the welcome from FAs is not what it was in the golden days of Viscounts with big windows and big seat pitches. But FA performance is generally adequate, courteous and reasonably efficient, bearing in mind the appalling working conditions.
A couple of weeks ago, I did a hellish trip: BRS EWR GSP IAH SMF LAX HKG. Then SZX CKG SZX. Then HKG-LHR. Eight days of grovelling to potential customers for business.
Every flight but one was full. On every flight but one, the attendants were at the very least efficient and professional. Just one, Expressjet GSP IAH, was half empty. And just one the same Expressjet had a FA with the cold, dead eyes of a great white shark, and the temperament to match. Pity that puddlejumpers are usually friendly places.
Next time, Mr/Ms Continental/Delta/Cathay/BA, look for the drooling, slack-jawed, confused, sleep-deprived Brit in Row 57. Give him a smile. It could be me.