How can cabin crew not know how to handle 50 lb overweight bags, or identify if this is beyond them, when they have been (presumably) trained to "assist" (manhandle) 200 lb adults onto and off the emergency slide ?

I do accept that there are a proportion of nuisance, "entitled" passengers, who will get a kick out of getting a 'flunky' to handle their bags. Which should be suppressed.

KLM Captains
 

5 years ago I was flying KLM from Inverness back to HKG. My first (of many connections) was tight at AMS. I inquired about my connection after departure and received a handwritten note from the Captain reassuring me about my connections.

This took 30 seconds but has impacted the way I feel as a customer about KLM and the way I discuss the airline with my peers.

Good job Captain R!

Any examples of this?

A few years ago we got stuck AOG downroute in the middle of the night. Were told nobody to unload the bags until the morning shift came on a few hrs later. I didn't go as far as to unload 150 odd bags but I did go down and grab the 4/5 strollers that were in the front of the fwd hold. Luckily if you're young enough, which I was at the time, vaulting oneself up into the fwd hold of a 737 is just about possible without any external assistance. God knows what would've happened though if it had all gone pear shaped, something I didn't really think of at the time! Of course it was well appreciated and if nothing else has given me a good example of 'going the extra mile' at 2 subsequent successful job interviews - albeit with the caveat that in hindsight perhaps I was a little too keen at the time :)

I flew back from Stavanger on Norwegian 10 days ago and from the gate watched the baggage handler vault into the forward hold of a 737 to receive bags, so still done by the "experts"

Two examples of FD crew going above and beyond.

I lived in bermuda at the time and having had a summer holiday in New England (Bermuda in August is something like 90 F and 95 % humidity) arriving back at Kindley Field we are struggling off a DL tristar with all the paraphernalia you carry for 2 under fives. The Captain who was standing by the door at the top of the steps said you guys look like could do with hand and picked up our backpacks and other baggage. At the bottom of the steps he asked if we had hold baggage- we did including a strolelr which was not in the main hold, he knew where to look found it -opened it so baby could be pushed not carried and walked us the 30 yards to the terminal.

Another time at Washington Dulles I am on a continental flight to EWR to get back to Stockholm on SAS, very bad weather, thunderstorms. Tomorrow is my daughters birthday and I do not want to get stranded. Mention it to the cabin crew and she takes me up to the flight deck and I explain that i dont know whether to swap onto a later LH direct to Frankfurt and thence to ARN. Crew go through all the short term predictions for Dulles and then again for Newark and say -go get LH, he isn't going to be out of here any quicker but by the time we depart all these thunderstorm are going to be right over New York so we probablty wont get to go or will get diverted.

So a couple of guys putting a real human face on the backs of heads on the flight deck that the pax usually see

Having once carried one child on my shoulders and one in my arms through a medium sized terminal as someone decided our stroller should go to the baggage carousel rather than being delivered at the aircraft, I always try to help pax get their strollers if the ramp handlers fail to deliver them. (I am not working for Cityhopper.) Just like maundy, it should not be below Captains to perform seemingly mundane tasks if their initiative is required to get them done on time save passengers a hassle and performing such will not make them little.

Good grief, man! Flying is risky enough as it is……You might have broken a fingernail :uhoh:

Helped an old lady down the stairs and over to the bus last winter in bad snowstorm. As I hurried back to get up the stairs I was stopped by handling agent “You really shouldn’t do that without wearing a high-vis”. :ugh:

I've offloaded my fair share of bags due to lack of ground staff. Doesn't really come to mind to be worried about what may happen and if insurance covers it. All in all I think it is a fairly low risk activity on my type, but whatever.

And then there are the cases where attitudes, rules and liability create funny situations. Main cargo door spring broken, door doesn't stay open anymore on the remaining spring. Maintenance had devices a strap solution. All stations informed. Part was not in stock, but ordered and scheduled to arrive in the evening, so one day of inconvenience. Outstations in smaller regional airports had no issue managing. Prop the door up, load the bags, all good. One of the outstations literally manufactured a sturdy prop to hold the door open in addition to the strap and left it in the cargo compartment for other stations to use.

Ground handling in the main hub was forbidden by their higher-ups to load that compartment due questions about liability and such. So leaving checked bags behind because it wouldn't all fit in the other compartments. But we arrived from every outstation with a full main cargo compartment. And they did offload those bags, but refused to then load the bags for the next flight in that same compartment... Must be different insurance policies for loading and unloading :rolleyes:.

Working for a major oil company which introduced a "Make the elephant dance" program to generate creativity in the work force, streamline operations, cut costs. Mate had to fly a load to platform A then fly a considerable distance to drop two pax at B, I had a load to B but two pax failed to show so we organised that I would take his two B pax thus saving considerable flight time, Mate said boss went bananas claiming I was over loaded, didn't have the nerve to front me. Trouble with making the elephant dance.