British Cabin Crew

[Julian]

Heard on radio as I was running out of the door this morning that a Japanese airline (not sure who as I was runnig like I said!), is hiring British cabin crew as they feel it will enhance the look and professionalism of their flights.

Well done boys n girls.

Nice to know we are good at something - unlike err. football, cricket, rugby, ... ;)

[5711N0205W]

I hope they find the right kind of people!

If I had to choose between JAL and BA it would be JAL all the way.

The JAL cabin crew are excellent and manage to make you feel you are important as a customer without giving the impression that BA sometimes (notice I said sometimes) do of "I'm really too good to be doing this job so I'll treat you with disdain".

The concept of working in a customer facing position effectively and with dignity sometimes escapes the members of this Island Race.

Mind you there are a lot of British pax who do not know how to behave appropriately as a customer or human!

[paulsamcam]

Don't be so quick to run down british cabin crew. British Airways have some of the best who are committed to their customers. Having flown with many japanese crew over the years who do an excellent job their are some very big differences in style.If you ever have a problem which requires flexibility i know hands down that i would rather be flying BA.

[j2000]

paulsamcam,
Could'nt agree with you more....I've also worked along side Japanese cabin crew, and whilst they are very good with the pax, they are not good at dealing with any situation that is even slightly out of they're normal routine.
Also JAL's LHR based cabin crew are not just British, they also have a large number of other European nationalities flying from LHR base.

[Ditch]

The BA crews I have come across in my travels have all been excellent. In fact when I travel subload to the UK, I prefer to go BA than with my own airline. I find British crews to be highly professional, and they have that Conservative edge, that other airlines appear not to have. Perhaps this is what JAL may be looking for. ;)

[moosey]

I'm glad you have had good flights with BA. I'm sick of people bad mouthing BA, i'm sure they are the ones with the BA rejection letter. They are an excellent company to work for.

[tomospk]

Hi guys.
I guess you are talking about NH/ANA (All Nippon Airways) LHR based Cabin crew.
They just finished On the job traning and now fly only on Tokyo-LHR route.
The finished training first 26 people and now start training another 26 or so.
NH will put them on FRA/CDG-Tokyo soon.
Not sure NH will hire again soon but they might.
check ANA Europe site (http://www.ana-europe.com)when NH hires.
Bye.

[flapsforty]

Why all this fuss? :confused:

Isn't ANA simply doing what many western carriers have been doing for over 20 years; namely improving their service by offering a mix of "native" and "foreign" cabin staff?

People from different backgrounds tend to have different areas they exell in; what can possibly be wrong with trying to give the SLF the best of both worlds?

Yes the Japamese girls in our mob tend to be more servile than us western loud-mouths. Kinder, more modest and less assertive they are too.
And yes us Westernerners tend to joke more with the pax, are better at improvising,
keeping the SLF from going OTT with the booze, and at listenuing to a lonely business traveler pouring out his woes in the small hours over the atlantic.

All in all the combination works pretty well, pax are happy and when an effort is made from both sides, we even have a good time in the galley.

No big deal IMHO. :)

[Bird Strike]

Could it be that it's actually a language problem they're trying to solve, but too proud to admit it??

[tomospk]

Actually, ANA admits that point.
"By hiring European Cabin Crew, we can offer better service including languages to the European customers in order to attract more customer from Europe."

As some of you know, ANA has language problem.

I wonder what ANA is going to do with North American Routes.

[catchpoint]

From a single male passenger perspective British Cabin Crew are the best in the air. Especially those great looking blondes based out of london that get suspended for their activities in first class.

[flyblue]

On a schedule flight there are so many different types of pax that having CA of different nationalities and language skills seems to me a good idea.
Often I have to speak 4 languages on a flight. It is also very common that collegues call me to deal with pax of my same nationality.
Language skilled CA care particularly for "their" pax during the flight, to make them feel comfortable.
In AF at the boarding gate we display a notice with all the flight information, language spoken on board included.