I'm only a frequent flyer so I hope I'm not trespassing by commenting on this thread.
The results of Flaps40's poll didn't come as a surprise to me, but that's only because I've occasionally ventured into the Cabin Crew Forum -
not a forum I'd recommend passengers to read - and the attitudes frequently displayed there are reflected in the votes cast.
I suspect a similar poll of your customers would have produced a figure 99% and 1% 'Don't know'.
It seems to me there's something very very wrong with a system in which an absurdly low percentage of CC regard the Captain as in charge of the aircraft and, IMHO, the fault must lie with management. As an earlier contributor said, the title 'CSD' given to the senior cabin attendant by BA is absurd. Director??
I understand the virtues of CRM between the pilots, and between the various grades of cabin crew but, as a passeger, I can't understand where it comes into relations between cabin atendants and flight crew. Surely if there's a problem the cabin supervisor can't resolve, the problem is passed to the flight crew, and ultimately to the Captain if the F/O can't deal with it?
Apart possibly from ludicrous political correctnes, I can't see any motive for management giving the cabin crew an over-inflated sense of importance other than to drive a wedge between them and the flight crew - divide and rule. As an outsider, it seems to me that is much more likely to produce an 'us and them' attitude than the long established chain of command system where everyone knew where they stood.
BTW, although people have suggested the problem is confined to BA, and Virgin's 'IFS' is a more sensible job description, I'm not sure the issues described in earlier posts are BA only. A few weeks ago, I was on a Virgin flight which involved a change of crew. The outgoing IFS announced that 'John Smith' and 'Tracy Whatever' would be taking us the rest of our way to London. Ah, I thought naively, a lady F/O. Not a bit of it, it turned out she was introducing the oncoming Captain and IFS!
I don't think Captain's are blame-free in the context of this discussion. Not many years ago, we had announcements from the flight deck intermittently throughout a flight. Now, very often, all we get from the flight deck is a pre/post take-off announcement telling us where we're going and how long it will take, followed by 8-10 hours of silence, then another announcement telling us we'll be landing in 45 minutes and the weather at our destination.
I'm not a fool who thinks pilots sit there doing nothing for the duration of the flight but I don't believe the workload is so high that there's no time (for example) for one of them to point out that we have a clear view of some famous city or geograpical landmark. Before anyone tells me, I do appreciate that not everyone will be able to see the sight, particularly in a wide-body jet, but that's no reason everyone should be deprived of the opportunity. I've never yet spoken to a single passenger who doesn't appreciate such announcements when the flight crew take the trouble.
I've probably trodden on enough toes by now, so I'd better stop but, to be completely honest, I find this modern trend of making CC out to be more than they are very irritating. I know they have a safety role if we have to force land/ditch in the ocean, and our safety is of paramount importance etc etc, but 99.9% of the time their function is to serve food and drink. Why pretend otherwise?