BA Cabin Crew

[Chuchinchow]

I wonder if Matt101 was having an off day, whether he was "tired and emotional", or just behaving normally when he told us:

The last two posts of experienced rudeness are in my opinion not the fault of the crew but of BA and your fellow passengers. You can't have the cereal and the fruit salad because BA load enough breakfasts for one each, with maybe some extras, and on a trip to Jersey you couldn't have extra diet coke (yuck) because BA return cater the trip and there may not be enough for the return.

Now what should each Cabin Crew member do? Well really they should serve you what you ask for and deal with the potential problems later as professionally as possible, the trouble is these days people don't react well.

As ex BA crew I always recount the time in J during that god awful breakfast service that we ran out of the rancid Bacon rolls the pax in suits were always so fond of (personally I cant keep anything down at 4am), before landing. Now I like my Bacon but I don't think I've ever called anyone a self pleasuring son of a lady dog because I couldn't get one. However that day someone decided to call me such because quite clearly I wasn't "f****g sorry".

Now this was my one and only snapping point at BA but thankfully i went to the flight deck and snapped there (I asked the Captain if he would mind me swearing out the window at nothing in particular first). In with hate out with love and galley's aren't sound proof as I was taught.

This was one of many similar occurrences, and for some reason I went back for more, doing my best for each passenger that came along and trying to solve problems where company policy lead to a deficiency.

I did it for 3 years, but I imagine that after longer self preservation starts to kick in.

Is it easier to be rude and abrupt to one passenger who is nice or receive abuse from the next miserable SOB that you can't help however much you try? Now I know some of you will whine "but thats their job" blah blah blah. BS it is nobodies job to put up with a society which in the last decade has become increasingly obnoxious when things go wrong. Sadly all suffer.

That and there are some Wagon Dragon's who should have given up years ago.

If you don't agree ask yourself this, do you always do your job absolutely perfectly or sometimes, when you've gone 11 months since that last holiday, do you pick the route of least attrition?

Sorry for the rant but these threads p me off something rotten Name any large company and I will find you 500 people who love them and 500 who loathe them easily. for the loathsome, sorry those who loathe to then demonise part of that company to get it out their system is self indulgent in the extreme....... you didn't like it when I said society is becoming obnoxious did you?

Well, if your attitude to paying passengers is indicative of the rest of BA's cabin crew, in future I will:

(a) Complain vigorously to your employers, citing flight number and the relevant cabin crew members' names,

(b) Take my business elsewhere,

(c) Buy a can or bottle of Diet Coke (don't knock it too much, Matt101) in the departures area and raise two metaphorical fingers in your direction as you carry out your in-flight duties entirely to your own satisfaction.

If

these threads p me off something rotten

why do you even bother to read them in the first place, Matt101? Why get yourself worked up in the first place?

Oh no, I forgot: Matt101 is no longer employed by BA. If he has the effrontery to declare

The last two posts of experienced rudeness are in my opinion not the fault of the crew but of BA and your fellow passengers.

there can be little wonder as to why he is no longer employed by British Airways. With an attitude like that towards his employer and its customers he really must have been a wonderful asset to the cabin crew community.

[PAXboy]

bondim Glad that you have found it so. SA is a very mixed bag. The big hotels are good, when travelling out from the centres, allow more time for service to happen!

matt101 I agree that society has changed considerably in the past 30 years and that folks are more demanding and impatient and rude. But that's life and that's the job of CC, in any carrier. Those that don't like the change in society and prefer not to deal with it in that job, will leave it as you (apparently) have.

I work in a field where, for the most part, the clients are cooperative and appreciative of the service being given. However ... last year: immediately following completion of my duties, I was told by the family how well I had done and that it had gone as they wanted. Only 24 hours later, I was telephoned to say that I had done terribly, made a complete mess of everything and they were going to ensure that I was not paid.

Go figure that but I can be sure that CC meet the same kind of behaviour.

radeng

There are times that one feels the whole purpose of BA management is ...

As you know, the whole purpose of BA mgmt is to meet targets and to put out the least amount of cost for the maximum amount of revenue.

That, of itself, is what shareholders demand BUT I wonder what those faceless fund managers demand when they get on board? Do they want ALL the service that, as shareholders, they deny the mgmt???

[crewmeal]

I's very noticeable that frequently on BA, the DF whisky runs out on the homeward run. CC have told me that many times, they have requested management to load extra stocks of alcohol and cigarettes on the runes to Switzerland and their requests are always ignored.

I can't see the problem of loading a dozen or so extra mins of whiskey into a bar. Also I can't see the problem with cigarettes as well. I would have thought the latter would create extra revenue for the company.

I appreciate that you can't please everyone with alcoholic beverages, but in my view management should sit down and work out what sells and what doesn't. A prime management function in this day and age so I would have thought.

[vctenderness]

Logistics dear boy, logistics!

Stowage space is limited and bars are standard. I think the original post was referring to Duty Free bottles of Whisky not miniatures. Even on routes with mega DF sales such as Lagos the bars are standard.

I know that each route sales are scrutinized and adjusted but this usually on a seasonal basis.

[radeng]

You would think that they could arrange to have a second DF trolley in the hold and have them swapped at Geneva. As they are locked anyway, the chance of pilferage is reduced.

[PAXboy]

You know what you're problem is radeng? You're an engineer that likes to solve problems and you go around offering free solutions. Really - do you think that you can come up with a solution that has not already been carefully evaluated by BA mgmt? If the DF trolley is empty, then it's empty for a good reason and that reason is none of your business.

ps To work out a solution requires 'out of the trolley thinking'
[yes, I know it's Sunday afternoon and I'm bored. I'm going to signal for the CC to bring me a mug of tea and some M&S Choc Chip Cookies. Oh, I forgot, there's no CC off to put the kettle on ...]

[SLF3]

The problem for BA CC is they don't believe in the product any more. And nor do the passengers.

[ExXB]

Originally Posted by SLF3

The problem for BA CC is they don't believe in the product any more. And nor do the passengers.

No, the problem is that BA management thinks they have a superior product, but they don't.

Radeng - flying an extra trolly back and forth to their Swiss destinations on every flight isn't such a good idea. However putting an extra container on once a week/fortnight to resupply BA's DF Stores at Swiss Airports shouldn't be too difficult. Give the stuff to the Lounge Dragons, it would give them something to do, other than studying their "How to make your customers hate you" manuals.

[Yellow Pen]

No, the problem is that BA management thinks they have a superior product, but they don't.

Quite the opposite actually. BA management are fully aware that their product is inferior to many of their competitors which is why they are beginning to throw money at the problem. There's certainly no belief from any manager of significance that they have a world-beating product.

[WHBM]

I've read all of these posts above and, as regulars here probably know too well by now, am often the first to complain about everything.

In the 40 years of paxing since BA came along (and indeed back to their predecessors) I have NEVER, not once, encountered rudeness from any BA staff*. Either I have the most amazing luck, or they actually are a cut above the rest, somehow not reflected here for some reason.

Well done all. See you soon .

.

* : Certainly not something I can say about US carriers, but on reflection it does apply to every UK one.

[ExXB]

Originally Posted by Yellow Pen

Quite the opposite actually. BA management are fully aware that their product is inferior to many of their competitors which is why they are beginning to throw money at the problem. There's certainly no belief from any manager of significance that they have a world-beating product.

I was talking about Senior Staff Management. Anyone on the line knows the truth.

[grassy]

Just got off a flight to Bermuda - the entertainment system was the old one which is completely unacceptable and really poor quality sound and vision.

[ilesmark]

(Quote function not working properly) - It's very noticeable that frequently on BA, the DF whisky runs out on the homeward run. CC have told me that many times, they have requested management to load extra stocks of alcohol and cigarettes on the runes to Switzerland and their requests are always ignored

Try flying Emirates. They NEVER run out of alcohol

[Lemain]

FWIW I very seldom come across a crabby FA in any airline...sometimes they are rushed off their feet on short haul when service has been delayed for some reason. However, surprisingly, in Europe my vote is Monarch, Ryan Air then Easy Jet, for FAs. Monarch are a dream.

[SLF3]

In the last 9 months I have been long haul business class on Continental, Air France, Iberia and TAM. All were significantly better than the two BA flights(to Houston and Rio). The planes were filthy, the seats falling apart, the IFE unwatchable, the food embarassingly bad and the staff went through the motions but no more. BA was between 20 and 100% more expensive than we typically pay on the route.

Also went short haul economy to Copenhagen - again old, tired, dirty planes. Can't comment on the service - there wasn't any.

[lakerman]

In the last 30 years, I had more flying hours than most crews achieve within the same period. My company preferred us, if possible, to fly BA. Most of us, if we could wangle it, flew on anything but BA. Reason, if you were First class, they would fawn over you, if you were Club, they would put up with you, but heaven forbid if you were Economy, they just ignored you. I was traveling back from the US into LHR in the late 80's and I was reading a novel by Brian Lecomber, an aerobatic flyer at one time with the Rothmans Team, and his opening paragraph in his third novel started with the words "I was flying on the worlds most arrogant airline" Anybody who ever read the book new immediately which airline he was referring to. It always summed up the We Fly, To Serve motto as I always found them to be the worst when it came to service on board, I much preferred Dan-Air, Laker and Virgin to anything BA served up.

[ZFT]

BA really is getting a bashing on this thread.

I rarely fly on them anymore and if I do it’s only short haul so I can’t comment on today’s situation but whilst I wouldn’t dare claim to fly more than the crews do, I utilized BA long haul significantly in the late 80s and early 90s and then their product was amongst the finest out there.
Posts stating that then they had the worst service on board are IMHO totally unjustified.

Then their entertainment and service in the premium cabins was also amongst the best. Customer Service also then worked extremely well.

[pwalhx]

With all due respect zft you say you are not in a position to comment and then go on to do so. Your comments may be true or the 80's and 90's but sadly it is not true today. The truth of the matter is BA are expensive and the service does not warrant the price being paid and therein lies the problem. Many people much like myself are voting with their feet and getting a better service at a better price elsewhere.

[philrigger]

To hold back stuff from sale in case someone else wants to buy it later is just plain old silly. Imagine if they did that to you at a checkout at a supermarket !

Exactly. Its like the storeman who refuses to hand over the last screw in the box because someone else might want it.

Phil.

[GROUNDHOG]

Agree with pwalhx - I really want BA to be the carrier I have loved over many years but sadly they are not at the moment. Some aspects of BA are still so good but at the sharp end the aircraft I have been on have been tired and dirty and the crews have just looked a bit fed up in general and just not engaging with the passengers.