Get off my *&%**# plane

[PaperTiger]

Latest update from snopes debunks the Gordon Bethune (CO CEO) story currently 'making the rounds'.

http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bethune.htm

[ratsarrse]

It's a great story and it's a shame that it has been debunked. In our world of PC and spin, where no-one actually *says* anything, it's refreshing to hear some straight talking once in a while.

[Sharjah Night Shift]

Reading the article it is nice to see that Gordon Bethune does not approve of passengers being rude to his staff and quite rightly so.

However this works both ways as I do not like airline staff being rude to me when I am a paying passenger. That is why after only one flight I will never fly with Continental again.

[t3953]

Send him to the Middle East! Preferably Qatar! Hed be crowned a King!!!

[reynoldsno1]

That is why after only one flight I will never fly with Continental again.

I flew once with this airline over 10 years ago - it was once too often, and I have never flown with them since.

[PaperTiger]

Suggest you do r#1. You may be pleasantly surprised, CO is quite different from the bad old days. I would never blacklist any airline on the basis of a single flight anyway, sh*t can happen on even the best at times.

(No, I have no connection whatsoever to Continental :) )

[cargosales]

Agree with PaperTiger 100%

Just been on a bunch of CO flights last week. All very good. No-one was the slightest bit rude. All very pleasant and professional. Especially the gate staff at EWR who went out of their way to help when I got bounced from one flight.

Did get a bit fed up with the same pretzels day in, day out but you can't have everything.

(No connection with CO here either)

P.S. The new TSA security staff at US airports are a HUGE improvement. Fast, efficient and friendly.

CS

[Boss Raptor]

'New Continental' definately on my preferred list...ironically all the airlines I choose seem to align with each other somehow...Continental, Air Europa and Virgin...just co-incidence... maybe not...

All are still 'individual' carriers in this age of alliances...and still appear to be proud of their individual company and product...and it shows!

[AOG007]

CO - RUDE
VS - BAD ATTEMPT AT POSH CHARTER
BA - SUPERB!

Ok, I worked for them for 7 years, but not for mainline. And on all my flights I found the service, well, excellent. I'm talking just about what I experienced, I'm speaking of my observations of the crew and ground staff, and the way they treated the full fare passenger.

We all have bad experiences with different carriers, but BA have always maintained the highest of standards on the flights have travelled on.

AOG007

[bealine]

I do not like airline staff being rude to me when I am a paying passenger

Whilst I would agree that there is seldom any reason to be rude, the term itself is open to individual perception. In England, a "Northerner" prefers to be spoken to in a straightforward, blunt sort of manner - "No, I'm sorry, we're not looking for complimentary upgrades" causes no offence, but does to a "Southerner" who prefers you to grovel and go all "around the houses" to say what you mean! (No, I'm not a Northerner - just perceptive even though I know I shouldn't really generalise!)

Unfortunately, some people consider the turning down of a request to be "rude" - and, sometimes, we can unintentionally appear rude when we turn down a request - purely because we've unconciously put up a "defence barrier" (eg - "No! You'll have to stay in that seat - I have nothing else!")

Personally, I cannot fault my own airline - BA - from my own flights and equally, I can't fault Continental or Virgin from the flights I've experienced with them. (And, although staff pax do appear on the crew's passenger list, they're far too busy to remember what seats we're in so I assure you we're treated no differently from yourselves(except if the crew request that we give up our meal or swap seats to get a family together or to one without IFE so that a paying pax can have it (only right and proper)!..........unless, of course, we're offered, at the gate, the opportunity to cross that hallowed threshold into J class which kind of makes up for times you have had the "hard cheese" deal!)

No - reynoldsno1 - I think you may just have had a bad one-off experience! Give 'em another try (unless of course you've switched to BA!!!)

[PaperTiger]

One consideration in this 'rude CO' perception may be that UK travellers are likely to transit through Newark. At the risk of offending some, staff there do tend to have a New York frame of mind :) If you're not used to that it may appear rude. Actually it's not, it's just the way they do things.