Virgin Flair!!!

[Tengounsueño]

Hola!!
I would be so grateful if someone could tell me what is the virgin flair I have an idea but I dont really understand the question to know what is the correct answer. I know that sounds really dumb but its very true. Help please xx:(

[apaddyinuk]

Basically they are asking you what makes Virgin crew stand out above others. Think of things such as young, trendy, fun, enthusiastic etc etc...I dont work for Virgin but I can tell they could be some of the points considered to have Virgin Flair!

[wirgin blew]

Be able to tell a joke on the pa.
Add some fun into the flight eg air-robics.
Smile and look like your enjoying what you do.
Have a chat to the punters.

Anything along those lines.

:)

[Seaton Approach]

Hot looking beeeehatches.....! ;)

Sorry, not very constructive I know - just got in off the p*ss.

But that's the Virgin flair to me baby! :ok:

[OZcabincrew]

the Virgin flair is to be over the top, immature and to act hypoxic.

Well, that's what it was like on my first and last Virgin Blue flight!
They even got a passenger up to do the safety demo! (there are times when you need to be serious and this is one of them). Also, vary your jokes (if you're willing to tell any in the first place), imagine being a business person with say three sectors with Virgin and hearing the same pathetic jokes on every sector!!!!

[SydGirl]

Anyone else you'd care to tar with that brush Ozcabincrew? One flight does not an airline make!

On the contrary, I have flown on both Virgin Blue and Virgin Atlantic several times and didn't experience what you mentioned. Everything was performed professionally, yet in a fun way.

IMHO Virgin Flair is being fresh, youthful, vibrant and energetic.

Then again, I probably have no clue since I don't work for them!
SG
:}

[EI-CFC]

fresh, youthful, vibrant and energetic

Indeed, that's what I'd class it as.

As for OZ's comments..a little OTT and possibly a tad bitter...

[sukigirl]

Virgin Flair is not as encouraged as it once was for reasons of crew taking it to far, ie wearing nothing but a pair of speedos whilst doing duty free, telling inappropriate jokes to pas etc...all very funny stuff though.

[OZcabincrew]

EI-CFC

How is it over the top, i am telling it how it was, so you obviously agree the actions of the crew on two different sectors was definately "OTT". I guess it depends on what you're looking at/for in a professional airline.

As for me, enthusiastic and smiley etc is important for crew to do, but they did it no differently to any other airline i've flown with. I probably should've said it, i don't tar all DJ crew with the same brush, however the acts of these particular crew and with the joke telling seem to be what DJ are or were trying to encourage following comments from friends who experienced the same kind of things on their flights. This joke telling and silly behaviour isn't something that i look for when choosing who i'm going to fly with, enthusiastic, happy etc is, they're very different things.

PS- i have absolutely nothing to be bitter about. DJ? no thanks (in my opinion).

Oz

[speeddial]

Virgin means hot, sexy, youthful and fun staff, and all of the crew on my flights so far have been!

[Tengounsueño]

I have never been on a Virgin flight, are the crew that crazy (if true that is fantastic asat the moment im an overseas rep and i know how to have fun with guests when working) like selling duty free in speedos? wouldnt some guests find it a bit offensive and unprofesional? xx

[sukigirl]

The story gos that there were a few complaints from offended pax. i would have found it hillarious though.

Virgin crew do like to have lots of silly fun on board, to entertain themselves as well as pax. Like dressing up, doing a service in a funny hat, teeth, glasses etc, this goes down well especially on orlandos. It doesnt happen on every flight though but there is usually a good atmosphere and sense of fun between the crew, and most of the time pax pick up on that and seem to like it. However there was a time when there were a few memos floating around about not taking advantage of virgin flair just to get away with any kind of behaviour.

[EI-CFC]

Oz,

One persons "over the top" is another persons light relief as I'm sure you well know. You don't have to like it, but to critique in the way you have it was seem OTT. I've not doubt that you are telling it how you saw it, but you have to admit your view might be a tad "coloured" in comparison to your average DJ pax.

To me, it sounds like the DJ crew were trying to lighten the mood a little, which isn't nessecarily a bad thing. So no, I don't agree with you in the least.

[OZcabincrew]

absolutely!

everyone is different and it would be very boring if we were all the same, however all i said was that they got a passenger to do the safety demo (which is wrong in the first place) and that the jokes they tell are pathetic and they should vary them for the sake of the pax, i don't see how that is a "tad coloured?" This might be humorous to the first time flyer, but to any other mature person, it also can be a bit stupid.

You must be DJ crew or staff at least?

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Maybe i should fly Virgin again just to see if it's any different? or maybe not.

Oz

[Kelas]

Virgin flair?.......having a big bum and being loose in the morals department!

[EI-CFC]

You must be DJ crew or staff at least?

Wrong side of the world for a start... :D

[speeddial]

Never saw any big bums when I was flying, not that I was looking.

[SydGirl]

Ozcabincrew..

however all i said was that they got a passenger to do the safety demo (which is wrong in the first place)
Why is it wrong to get a pax to do the safety demo? Was there an oral briefing done by a crewmember whilst the pax was up doing the actions?

the jokes they tell are pathetic and they should vary them for the sake of the pax
Pathetic - this is your opinion which is fine, but you say they should vary their jokes, maybe they do! You said you've only been on one flight, so therefore how would you know if they vary them or not?

The DJ flights I have been on had absolutely nothing wrong with them in terms of safety or in their professionalism. I was a bit freaked out when a FA called me by my first name when she checked my boarding pass but otherwise that was the extent of my shock. I also believe that the DJ crews on the flights I travelled on demonstrated Virgin Flair (or at least my definition of it) so it made the flights very enjoyable.

Yes DJ do things differently to QF but it doesn't make them wrong or bad in any way, just different. There's obviously a market out there for them and frankly I like having them around if for no other reason but to keep QF on their toes!

The Virgin Atlantic flights I went on were flawless, great crew, great aircraft, great service, great fun. Really enjoyable :)

SG
:E

[OZcabincrew]

"Why is it wrong to get a pax to do the safety demo? Was there an oral briefing done by a crewmember whilst the pax was up doing the actions?"

The safety demo is one important part of a F/A's safety duties. I don't know if it's the same at Virgin, but doing the safety demo is the time when all crew are to demonstrate the correct operation of emergency equipment such as seatbelts, oxygen masks etc, if i was a nervous passenger/first time flyer and i wasn't too sure how the oxygen masks worked etc, i wouldn't feel very comfortable in watching a fellow passenger fumble their way through it, not even sure themselves and because Virgin don't have tv screens to be able to watch this if you can't quite see the F/A, it doesn't make it any easier. Also another point, when doing the safety demo, this is the time when all crew are supposed to be looking at all the pax to see which ABP's they would use in the event of an emergency and which one's would be able to assist in their area and with other passengers. I highly doubt that this particular F/A when she was on the cart selling food was thinking about which people would be able to assist her.

I took two flights with Virgin, both with different crew, both with the same jokes. Wasn't even funny the first time.

You're correct, there is a market for Virgin Blue out there, it's called being a low cost carrier and getting people from A to B as cheap as possible. I can guarantee you if you ask the average jo why would you fly Virgin Blue, they'd say "because it's cheap", not because the crew tell great jokes.

The amount of passengers that we get flying with us that say at the end of the flight "Thank God we're flying with Qantas and not Virgin!" isn't as uncommon as you may think. Or the amount of people surprised that they don't have to pay for their headsets (this isn't due to price as a couple of times i and family have looked on the web and the DJ and QF fares have have only been a difference of sometimes $10!) .

I had an English passenger on a flight to Singapore with his family who said that he came over with BA and they were ok, but he'd rather fly with Qantas than BA and then his family stayed in Perth while he flew to Melbourne for work with Qantas, again great and then he said for some reason his company booked him to fly back to Perth with Virgin Blue, his only comment was "never again!"

yes, i agree, every airline/company has bad apples. Qantas has some really grumpy people that shouldn't be flying anymore and then Virgin have people that don't do what they were employed to do or be like either. As you said, everyone has different opinions and different things attract different markets and that is what keeps it all interesting. I definately think competition is healthy and keeps each other on their toes. It's just my opinion and that of my family, that Virgin isn't for us.

EI-CFC,

"Wrong side of the world for a start... "

Have you ever flown Virgin Blue? If not, you're commenting why???

Also, you can't compare Virgin Blue to Virgin Atlantic, yes they may have the same kind of ethos, yet they are completely different. Virgin Atlantic is a full service international airline with a completely different product flying on completely different aircraft. Virgin Blue is a low cost, domestic airline with a very limited product flying again on completely different, one class aircraft.

Oz

[sinala1]

OzCabinCrew, Virgin Flair is actually a virgin-group trait, not just Virgin Blue...

I have been reading this thread with interest and I have to say a large amount of tongue-biting - a lot of comments being made on here are outdated to say the least. One thing Virgin Blue is *very* strong on is pax safety - the days of pax getting up and doing the demo are *long* gone (and admittedly yes probably should never have been there in the first place).

I am not going to turn this into an interairline war, however I think its worth reinforcing as someone else previously mentioned, ALL airlines have their good and bad points - I hear stories every day as to why aa airline is cr*p, why bb airline is cr*p, why Mr Bloggs will never fly airline cc again etc.

The bitterness in this thread is wearing thin, lets keep it factual folks

:zzz:

[virgincrew99]

virgin flair havent seen this in atlantic for a long time!! and to be honest the virgin flair thing is aload of rubbish you are employed for your communication skills and the way inwhich you can interact with the general public!! to be honest i am not there to be all singing all dancing if that the case i will go get a job with asiana airlines see link

http://uk.flyasiana.com/travelplanner/travelplanner_inflight_magic.asp

and personally we are not paid enough in atlantic!!!


vote no to virgin atlantic pay deal offer!!!

[EI-CFC]

EI-CFC,

If not, you're commenting why???

You know, I wasn't going to bite as I tried to end the antagonism with a smiley, but seem seem as that went whoosh, I bite.

Whether or not I've flown DJ or not..well, that's for me to know. I've flown many airlines, many places (we do occasionally leave this little island of ours..), so you'll just have to have your own view.

As for commenting, why should I not? Anyone, experienced or not can comment if they feel like it. Even those who might have never flown DJ can have valid opinions.

As for people who say "I won't fly Virgin again" etc - you hear that everywhere..Ryanair, easyJet, Southwest - you name a low cost carrier, someone out there will have a beef with it. Yet, on the whole, they seem to be doing ok - so there must be enough happy people to keep them afloat! Some people just won't fly with a LCC, or have their expecations dented..but that's life!

Also, you can't compare Virgin Blue to Virgin Atlantic, yes they may have the same kind of ethos, yet they are completely different. Virgin Atlantic is a full service international airline with a completely different product flying on completely different aircraft. Virgin Blue is a low cost, domestic airline with a very limited product flying again on completely different, one class aircraft.

From what I know of the company, they seem to look for different aspects of the so called "Virgin flair" in nearly all their different brands.

[smile]

OK here it is!!!! The definition from the 'inside'....

Virgin Flair is "a desire to create memorable and positive experiences for all. The ability to have fun, making it fun for our guests and each other.'

The rest of the explaination includes words such as ....... upbeat, enthusiastic, personality, memorable, motivates others etc.



I do have to say (with tougue firmly planted in cheek) that I see some of the negative traits on this thread..... negative attitude, unable to laugh at self, lacks enthusiasm and humour. :E :E


love SMILE

[Galley Power]

I've flown Virgin Blue four times on four of their longer sectors. Only on two of them was a joke ever made, and definately no loud stuff. The other two so quiet it was like flying Qantas.

Do you think that, once their tvs are placed in the back of every seat - starting January I think, the Virgin Blue cabin crew will quiet down even further (as passengers will be on headphones watching tv they've paid for)? My guess is they wont be interuppted during flights much anymore as, for $5, I think many passengers (particularly on the longer sectors), will be on the tvs.


virgincrew99
Your web site of Asiana Airlines was soemthing I never knew existed! Maybe for future job prospects for cabin crew, people should get their violin lessons ready to go!?! Maybe it may be in my training in a couple of years? :yuk:

And look what else Asiana make their crews do:
"If a remote area is chosen for boarding or deplaning, all our crews say good-bye with waving hands, rain or shine. "
What, no umbrella?

[OZcabincrew]

Galley Power,

I guess like any flight with any airline, but not every QF flight is quiet! haha, although a lot of us wish it was sometimes. It all depends on your crew i guess, you have Qantas crew who spend most of their time out in the cabin having a laugh with the passengers etc and you have ones that don't, the same with Virgin i guess. Each airline targets certain markets and i guess they both do well within their own market group. Competition is good.

Oz

[EurofleetLHR]

My personal view on Virgin Blue allowing a passenger to do the safety briefing - what if there were non-English speaking customers on the flight ???
They would not have understood the p.a., and may have picked up some slightly incorrect information from an untrained person standing in the aisle.
I enjoy a good laugh as much as anyone else, but the safety briefing is NOT a laughing matter - it is there to help save lives, and I judge any airline on it's commitment to safety by the way it performs safety procedures.
By the same token, would a customer be allowed to land their plane - after all, there would be someone sitting next to them who was fully trained in doing it !!!!!!!!!

[sinala1]

My personal view on Virgin Blue allowing a passenger to do the safety briefing - what if there were non-English speaking customers on the flight ???
Just to reiterate again folks that this no longer happens, and has not done for years (and, as I have previously mentioned, should never have in the first place).

[SydGirl]

Australian regulations state that an oral briefing must be given to pax prior to take off. So in actual fact, having anyone (be it pax or a crewmember) up there doing the actions is (at least legally) superfluous and unnecessary.

There is not one crewmember in the universe that can tell me that every single person observes the demo briefing. However, crew do ensure people listen to the demo.

So to say that having a pax up there doing the actions in a demo is wrong.. well technically it isn't. It also isn't illegal. It may not be to every person's taste however that of course is a matter of opinion.

I did not witness this on the DJ flights I've been on, in fact I thought the demo was performed really well. The crew were more aware of the verbal cues and were a lot more 'in time' than the crew on any QF flights I've been on, which IMHO look horribly sloppy.

SG
:}

[Galley Guru]

"Superfluous and unnecessary" are you kidding me! SydGirl your justification is nothing more than worrying! You certainly have reinforced the essence of "Virgin Flair" - Sheer Stupidity

[SydGirl]

Galley Guru,

I never said I agree with the regulations, I was just saying what they are. Smaller RPT operators that don't have cabin crew do a verbal safety briefing - it is not unusual nor unsafe and it does fulfil the regulations.

All I said is that from a legal standpoint, if DJ did have a pax up there doing the actions there is no illegality (is that a word?) in it, they are still complying. As another person on this thread has already detailed, they don't do that anymore anyway.. so what is the issue?

SG
:}

[OZcabincrew]

the issue is that it WAS done, showing the competency of the crew (or that particular crew member). Obviously not thinking at the time.

[twisted-diamonddolly]

For VIRGIN FLAIR think BIG HAIR and thats just the stewards...
:D

[OZcabincrew]

Not wanting to drag it out anymore, but the following are comments based on this topic from actual Virgn Blue passengers.

Virgin Blue - by Mike Stevens

11 May 2005

MEL-SYD. 737-700 - 4 cabin crew. Plane was about 3/4 full. When Cabin Crew Supervisor was giving safety presentation over the intercom (and other 3 crew were demonstrating, 2 of which also were in hysterics), she burst into laughter several times, to the point where she had to stop and have a moment to get her composure, which didn't work as she continued to laugh throughout the entire presentation. While I can appreciate Virgin offers an "experience" different to other airlines (ie the crew have fun and are informally very interactive with guests), I didn't find it funny that our Cabin Crew (all but one who seemed appalled at her colleagues' behavior) expect our attention "even if we are frequent flyers as safety is an issue we take seriously" - very hypocritical. It gives an impression of "well, if the Crew on this flight have this attitude towards safety - and are the ones they tell us to rely on in the event of an emergency - then what about the pilots, the ground crew, mechanics etc?" Otherwise, flight was good - but when people ask how was your flight, it's the Cabin Crew's behavior that usually first comes to mind.


Virgin Blue - by Edmund Carew

6 September 2005

MEL-CBR-MEL on a recent Thursday. Timekeeping excellent; plenty of spare seats in each direction. Northbound, the cabin supervisor briefly laughed during the safety spiel - inappropriate


Virgin Blue - by Paul Fellows

27 October 2005

Melbourne-Gold Coast- Melbourne: "Hi-di-hi Airline Of The Year" - it is really boring to hear the same jokes on both legs. I assume these are scripted. The ultra-cheerful, 'your most welcome' style of announcements grate after a while. Apart from this everything was quite efficient and on a par with European budget airlines. Functional and perfectly satisfactory as a mode of transport - but take the ear-plugs!

[trollies_r_go]

All I can say to DJ crew, is that be very careful what you say in the galley!! 1ABC is very close, and I have done I'd say about 5 trips BNE-DRW (in the middle of the night) and I always sit in 1A (my mate works for aerocare in DRW), anyway I can say that EVERYTIME I have flown DJ and sat in 1ABC, I have heard innapropriate conversations, the crew have always been professional, lame jokes are few and far between (damn it!:{ ) but my last flight was a cracker. Took off at 0200 ex DRW, I was one of the first pax on, I sat in 1A and the lockers all said crew only and I had heaps of bags and so I thought I'd wait and sit in the seat. Anway whilst waiting the CS whilst boarding was telling this other Cabin Crew member that she is gonna break up with her boyfriend, there's no spark etc and he's lost interest, whilst the other asked her CS if she thought he was fooling around on her, I didn't know where to look, I felt like you do when your say driving with someone, and they are having a personal conversation and you ARE listening, but you try and pretend your not, VERY AWKWARD, I am a Cabin Crew with another airline, and I thought jesus, this CS is having this conversation without even greeting guests, simply saying "yeah I think its all over, 14 on the left, he's just a dud *laughs*" nice one. Funny thing was I had my crew bags from my airline (sorry security) and this Cabin Crew offered to put them up for me, when she realised she goes "why are you flying us?" ha, but serious, I have often on the red eye woken up from the chatter in the galley (which is tiny and close to the first row on the usual 700 series) and just listening to the conversations has taught me to simply keep it down in the galley on our a/c, its not cool and people are listening!

[SkySista]

TRG, must admit I've overheard some juicy goss from the galley too, so BE CAREFUL GUYS!! :p

(I've been guilty of it too, talking about a particularly rude pax only to discover someone sitting right nearby (in what we thought was an empty lounge) who was there to see them off...! :O :\ )

[coolape]

I like juicy stories, pls do share :P

[wirgin blew]

OZ I would have to say that imho it is generally the whingers who have anything negative to say about anything. The people that enjoy the jokes and like the smiles are the ones that may only travel once or twice a year and enjoy the way it is done on Virgin. The guys and gals that are "freq flyers" would sure be sick of the jokes because they see us all as flying taxi's. They want to get to the aircraft when its about to leave, strap in, get there as fast as possible and would appreciate it if we said absolutely nothing to them so they could get an extra bit of sleeping done before getting to the office.

As far as the safety demo - I have seen this used as Virgin Flair which is what this post is about. It was done mid flight and a few willing guests got up and did there best impersonation of a trolley dolley for a few laughs. Nothing against being safe but most people in this country love taking the p*ss and realise that when the job has to be done that they are in good hands.

:)

[OZcabincrew]

and a lot of people don't think like that. When i saw it done, it was done at the start of the flight before take off, disgusting. Great during the flight if that's what Virgin want to do. There is no inflight entertainment, so it's a good way of keeping passengers occupied, it can also be seen as a nuiscance and disturbance. Virgin obviously aren't thinking of everyone in this case.

I think you'll also find, frequent flyers look at a lot more when they travel than just getting their, sleeping and getting off. If you speak to them, i think they'd have a lot to say.

Anyway, happy to agree to disagree. it depends what you look at in customer service and safety, i just have a different view/opinion on the way Virgin look at both of these things. Virgin are good for the market they're trying to attract and that's it.

Oz

[blue_stew]

Here's my 2 cents on virgin flair. I think the intent of the 'compentancy', yes we are evaluated everyday on VF, was to make sure people were treating passengers with respect and being nice in the cabin. A Joke and a laugh here and there was ok so that we were not percieved as 'old school' and stuffy. The problem that has happened at DJ is that there has never been any real training on the issue. As a result there are lots of crew who are not funny in the slightest telling stale jokes and acting like a**holes in the cabin. At no time were we taught to be tasteful or use some moderation. As a result there have been many complaints by pax, some to the point that notices have been issued for certain behaviors to stop immediately (ie Tassie jokes, dry ice in the cabin). We have even taken 'boys and girls' out of the PAs. Hopefully when live2air comes (whenever that is?????) and we are no longer permitted to banter away on the PA and 'hover' over pax, VB will crack down on the clowns and hopefully steer us to a more moderate place, ie not so Qantas but also not so Playschool.

[John@Virgin]

Heya..

I think you've got it all wrong.

"Virgin Flair" is all about doing something spontanious for the passenger/guest. An act in which will leave the guest walking off the aircraft with a memory in which the Cabin Crew gave them personally.

Making jokes and full of smilies is meant to be part of Virgin's CC job on a day to day basis, "Virgin Flair" however is making the airline unique by leaving a warm stamp in the mind of the traveller.

There.. I said it - the secret is out now ;)

[OZcabincrew]

john@virgin,

unfortunately "your" secret has been out for a long long time, because that is the same thing cabin crew at other airlines have been doing for years, not just Virgin. Sorry to have to tell you, it's no different.

Oz

[sixmilehighclub]

.....having a big bum and being loose in the morals department!

Dammit, Kelas, I'm working for the wrong airline!!!