ABGO
17th May 2001, 08:34
MUTT asked for opinions regarding a Fortune 500 Company that has dispensed with FAs on other than international flights or those with 7 passengers as a cost cutting measure.
Am unable to find his post to reply, hence new thread.
MUTT, I agree - an FA is an essential element of the crew. Not just for the high workload / emergency situation when both pilots are busy and ought to be up front, or the rare occasion when a fast passenger egress is essential to minimize the risk to their life and limb, but for everyday passenger service planning, organization, management and thru-flight individual attention to passenger requirements.
Deciding upon, ordering and ensuring the timely delivery of the catering, flowers, newspapers, magazines; stocking the aircraft with whatever the Principal and his/her associates or family prefers, are only part of the responsibilities covered by the FA. Quite apart the in-flight meal preparation and service, confirming hotel bookings, limousines, and resturants; arranging in-flight telephone connections, etc., and in general being the personal assistant to the Principal and other passengers whilst airborne are other key roles. The FA's attention to all these details makes the flight a first class service, which is, afterall, one of the main reasons the Principal has paid the tens of millions for the aircraft and flight department operation.
And then there are the numerous times when everything does not run according to plan and on schedule: then the presence of the regular, well known to the Principal and key executives, personable and competent FA - to assist, to rectify, to communicate with the Captain, to explain and to smooth out the ruffled feathers of the impatient passenger - is invaluable. Otherwise the pilots can be severely distracted from their primary task of flying the aircraft, with all the attendant risks of jeopardizing flight safety.
Even in the case of having a third pilot on board, horses for courses, a professional FA is still essential if a proper, high standard service is to be assured. Afterall, only by attention to all these details are the passengers to arrive at each destination well rested and in the best of health and humour - essential for their subsequent on-ground executive and personal performance.
Saving the fractional percentage that an FA's salary, etc., represents in the annual budget of a flight department would be a grossly disproportionate degradation to the quality, functionality, purpose and intended outcome for which the flight department was established. A false economy!
Am unable to find his post to reply, hence new thread.
MUTT, I agree - an FA is an essential element of the crew. Not just for the high workload / emergency situation when both pilots are busy and ought to be up front, or the rare occasion when a fast passenger egress is essential to minimize the risk to their life and limb, but for everyday passenger service planning, organization, management and thru-flight individual attention to passenger requirements.
Deciding upon, ordering and ensuring the timely delivery of the catering, flowers, newspapers, magazines; stocking the aircraft with whatever the Principal and his/her associates or family prefers, are only part of the responsibilities covered by the FA. Quite apart the in-flight meal preparation and service, confirming hotel bookings, limousines, and resturants; arranging in-flight telephone connections, etc., and in general being the personal assistant to the Principal and other passengers whilst airborne are other key roles. The FA's attention to all these details makes the flight a first class service, which is, afterall, one of the main reasons the Principal has paid the tens of millions for the aircraft and flight department operation.
And then there are the numerous times when everything does not run according to plan and on schedule: then the presence of the regular, well known to the Principal and key executives, personable and competent FA - to assist, to rectify, to communicate with the Captain, to explain and to smooth out the ruffled feathers of the impatient passenger - is invaluable. Otherwise the pilots can be severely distracted from their primary task of flying the aircraft, with all the attendant risks of jeopardizing flight safety.
Even in the case of having a third pilot on board, horses for courses, a professional FA is still essential if a proper, high standard service is to be assured. Afterall, only by attention to all these details are the passengers to arrive at each destination well rested and in the best of health and humour - essential for their subsequent on-ground executive and personal performance.
Saving the fractional percentage that an FA's salary, etc., represents in the annual budget of a flight department would be a grossly disproportionate degradation to the quality, functionality, purpose and intended outcome for which the flight department was established. A false economy!