I agree with this sentiment; it's interesting to note that Lufthansa and Swiss issue name tags with an initial and surname, e.g. H Mueller.

I find it feels polite to ask 'excuse me, Frau Mueller, may I have an xxxx', whereas would not wish to call someone by their first name, (unless I knew them, which is often the case on my local airline and they will often call me by name.)

Why do British Airlines insist on calling their CC by first name only?

Usually it is for security reasons. There have been cases of people using a cabin crew members full name to harass them in a hotel, and even at home through the phone book.

Sorry FTG - I think you have been out of Great Britain for too long!

A knight is never addressed as plain "sir" - at the first introduction, he is addressed as "My Lord" or "Milord" and any subsequent address is "Sir, followed by his firs name (eg Sir Lancelot).

You are quite correct concerning a military knight though!

We are allowed to have our full name or just our first name on our badges, I choose just my first name as my surname is very distinctive and it would take about two seconds to find my home details out. Obviously my security pass has my full name on it, but I turn that around if dealing with agressive pax, usually it is to be worn at chest height which means most people wouldn't look there anyway. :}

Oooh no,no,no! Far too simple...

A peer is referred to as My Lord at first meeting but a plain old Knight is always Sir Firstname.

So, were I say Baron Clareprop of Heathrow, etiquette would require you to greet me as My Lord and then after as Sir.
However, were I Sir Clareprop Dreamliner, then etiquette would require you to call me Sir Clareprop when you first meet me and thereafter as well.
You notice I say etiquette requires this because being a good all round sort, I wouldn't care what you called me so long as the old G&T was available on a regular basis.

A year or so ago, I was travelling through Dubai with my elderly grandmother. On checking our invitations to the Qatar Airways lounge, the young girl replied with "Thank You Mr. Richard" which I thought was fine.

Then she checked my grandmothers, (whose name was Irene) and replied "Thankyou Mrs Earring". My Grandmother didn't quite catch what she had said, so she tried again "Thankyou Mrs Eye-ring".

At this point, we both laughed a little (not at her directly of course!), and the girl apologised, and seemed so disappointed that she had got it wrong. I told her there was no need, and commented that she pronounced my grandmothers English name better than I could pronounce her Arabic one.

Later on, the same girl came over and asked very politely what was the correct pronunciation, "So she would remember for when we came to Dubai again". We told her.

Sure enough, when we transited through again, three weeks later the same girl was working in the lounge, and greeted us with the warmest smile I have ever seen from an airport employee. Before she even looked at the invitation, she greeted us with...

"Hello again Mr Richard, Hello Mrs err... Smith"

As others have said, its not the name they use, its the thought that goes behind it.

We went out for dinner this evening and a couple of minutes after dinner was brought to our table ( i hate the word "served"), the waitress came to us and said "Is everything ok guys?"
Now, this is a very posh (and blimey expensive) restaurant. One would maybe expect to be addressed to as "You Highness" :}.
I immediately thought of this thread and said to myself "I don't really mind..." The lady was very polite, had a smile on her face and looked as if she was genuinely interested if we were happy with the food or if we needed anything else.
Having said that, personally, i would never use the words "guys", "love", "mate", "me duck" :ugh: when addressing pax. I use "Sir" or "Madam", "Ladies" or "Gentlemen".
But that's just me.

This is the norm in Germany. In department stores or supermarkets, shop assistants usually have a surname on their name tags- never a first name. In front of customers, they'll usually address each other as Frau X or Herr Y.
Maybe it's more common where the language has a Du/Sie,Tu/Vouz distinction in addressing people?

But Lexxity, if the crew member says on the PA "My name is _______ and I am the Cabin Services Director" or something similar, in fact on smaller aircraft they say "My name is ____, and together with ______, _______ and _______ we will be looking after you". So is that not encouraging the pax to refer to you by your first name.

Personally I find as a pax in certain countries the staff find it more comfortable to address me by my first name, and in others the surname or "Sir" is better. I refer to pax as "Sir / Madam" until I see their name on their boarding card or wherever and then it's "Mr" or "Ms" unless I find it too difficult to pronounce! Again as a Brit I don't like using first names too freely!

XSB

I'm not Cabin Crew though, I'm ground staff.

Yes, I agree though it does encourage the use of first name and but it is a company policy rather than a personal choice.

Oops sorry, I just assumed you were Cabin Crew but glad to hear you have your feet on the ground like me!!!

XSB

I really don't mind whether I am addressed as Sir, Mr or nothing at all as long as it is polite and with a smile if possible. I was addressed by a No1 in the premium cabin as "Mate" once. Just the once!!

I suggest it is an invasion of privacy for a crew member to address any passenger by their name in front of others. Perhaps the passenger does want their name known to seatmates. (A celebrity, spousal abuse victim, etc.) Would a crew member announce other personal information in the airline's records about the passenger in front of others? No.

The same could occur to the passenger, I expect, once a nut learns their name.

Cultural differences apply
 

Well, I was watching a French medical program recently. They discussed a survey done in France and the USA on how patients wanted to be addressed by their doctors and other medical staff. The majority of US residents surveyed wanted to be addressed by their first name. The majority of French people surveyed wanted to be addressed as "Madame" or "Monsieur" without any mention of their first or family names.

In cultural studies, this is known as the "power distance". France has a high power distance. The US has a low one. (Ireland is lowest of about 120 countries mentioned in the relevant study.) There is a notion of hierarchy here, and it is not that clear how the hierarchy is viewed between crews and passengers. I suppose your mileage may vary. As a dual Swiss-Irish citizen, I remain confused.

I don't think this situation should arise as I know of cases of people arranging with the airline to travel under an assumed name, it used to be quite common.

Ancient Observer - ancient prejudices (#9)
 

So just what is your point, Ancient Observer? Or do you merely want an opportunity to display your antediluvian prejudices - and a chance to hide under the umbrella of "not being offended"?

Frankly, your entire attitude disgusts me.

I think it's less about how cabin crew address premium passengers, rather how they recognise premium passengers.

If LH English-speaking business class (sometimes first class) passengers are still being addressed in German at the end of an 11 hour flight, there's something wrong.

Not every time, mind you and on occasion, they're up there with Singapore Airlines in attentiveness and general clued-upness.

As in: Referring to the passenger list during the service, inquiring as to the correct pronunciation.

I'm not that worried about "Mr" this or ""Mr"" that - I just don't want to hear "Was möchten Sie trinken?"" after answering in English for the previous 10 hours.

There are also crew who look further than the name. Flew to Muscat with the Baroness on my birthday and I was given felicitations and two unexpected glasses of champagne (we were flying J) before push back.

RevMan2

Well, no-one's perfect, and it would only take that momentary glazed-eye look to ensure the question was reiterated in English (and whatever other language was to hand if that didn't work). Sometimes I can't decide which language to use and reply in German to an English question, especially if I'm working and reading German stuff.

Does this happen to you much? It doesn't boil my urine but I'll watch more carefully in future, purely out of curiosity.

The CC get my name right, but it's German as well as English, so if it's passed on orally amongst themselves, they'll assume that Hr Schicklgruber in 9A is German-speaking.

Mind you, I would be taken aback if SQ CC addressed me in Mandarin :}

SO

There is more chance the SQ crew would talk to you in Hokien than Mandrin! (Singlish seems to be the language of choice!). Very few Mandrin speakers in Singapore, though I believe the numbers are increasing as it is taught in schools.