Flight Attendants Need An Attitude Adjustment #TT #TravelTuesday

Honestly, I've just about had it up to here with flight attendants. While there are many, many good FAs working for US air carriers, the percentage whose overall attitude make them unfit for any job requiring customer interaction is amazing. From specific, anal-retentive, behaviors that make FAs look like people who failed the psychological screening to be kindergarten teachers, to those who feel the need to force you into their routine at all costs, to the ones who just have an overall surly attitude, it's time for a fundamental change in how these people are hired and trained.

The issue of safety, and the role of the flight attendant in ensuring a safe flight is the main problem here. Both the airlines and their FAs are quick to point out that flight attendants' primary mission is flight safety. They're there to make sure passengers don't injure themselves in the event of an in-flight emergency. From seat belts to emergency exits to “unconventional” landings, there's a lot that can potentially go wrong on the average commercial airline flight. The FAs are trained to respond when things go wrong.

This is where the relationship between FA and passenger breaks down. The safety training FAs receive, and the responsibility with which they are charged are significant and serious. They also give many FAs a rationale for absolving themselves of customer service duties. “We're not your waitresses, we're here for your safety,” is the meme you'll here from many FAs on Twitter, right before they regale you with stories of unruly, drunk, and otherwise undesirable customers.

I respectfully disagree with this characterization of FAs as something above wait staff. They may not like it, but they ARE my cook, waiter/waitress, and bartender for the duration of the flight. It's not like I can get up and go to a vending machine to buy a candy bar or a soft drink. There's no bar for me to amble over to and get my early-morning bloody mary. I'm strapped into a seat by the window, with two other people between me and an aisleway so narrow, airlines have to use special wheelchairs to get handicapped passengers to and from their seats. Movement even to and from the lavatory is a challenge, which is why everything is brought to you.

Now, consider the number of flights per year where a passenger-safety incident occurs. Flights where oxygen masks drop, or there's a need to make an emergency exit. While it's essential that FAs be trained to respond appropriately in these situations, you simply cannot rationalize that they are there for no other purpose.

Flight Attendants are their employer's primary customer service contact with the flying public. The public's flying experience very much rests in the hands of the flight crew. The pilots are charged with getting the plane up and down, minimizing the bumps along the way. The rest is on the FAs. Just as a bad server can ruin a dinner, or a surly bartender can ruin a night out, a FA who thinks giving you your soft drink and pack of pretzels presents a public relations challenge for the airline. That server or bartender may well be the reason someone never returns to that restaurant or pub, and that FA may be enough to encourage a flier to choose a different airline.

Somehow I doubt FAs will see it that way, however, even when they're bidding on fewer flights because customers don't use their airline as much.