I'm so glad a no longer work for a big airline. A meeting I attended a couple of weeks ago discussed this problem, one major scheduled carrier said that they had decided only the SCCM would attend the FD. I think they are right, the SCCM tends to be known to the pilots as often other CC are seen once and then go off to other careers/companies.
Nowadays I fly VVIP, we know all our CC and all are welcome on the FD, and that has meant that the "good old days" of CC popping in for a chat and tea have never gone away from our operations.
Mind you, sometimes helping them load all the sea food salads can be a drag! Thank god my job normally keeps me in the front and out of the way
