Broken Seatback

[firstamendment]

yeah, I guess I could have...when i had a minute with me and my ONE other co-worker (our third is in 1st class by herself) dealing with the other 130 people and all their particular 'special needs'. this on top of all my regular duties of preflight inventory of catering supplies, for sale items, post flight inventory and paperwork(if I am $5 off from headset sales, liquor sales, in flight cafe meals I get a complementary trip to the supervisor on my day off) providing a drink, meal and seconds on drink to said 130 people. While I am in the aisle with my ONE other coworker I get to watch 3-4 people milling about in the back galley 'stretching thier legs' while the seat belt sign is on. Mind you they are opening cabinets and touching the door handles and sitting on slide bustles and I am trapped between two carts. I don't know what the hell they are doing and then right in the middle of the service while I have 2 call bells going off, might be a spilled diet coke, might be a heart attack, might be someone wondering..."what is that lake down there and will I make my connection, you never asked me if I wanted fresh ground pepper on my cafe meal..." Of course I don't know what it is for because the only flight attendants are 1. trapped between 2 carts in the aisle and 2. gone to the front galley to get other catering supplies we ran out of and to check to see if anyone has slit the front f/a throat. The First Officer then comes out to use the lav and one of us is required to go into the cockpit for security reasons. Now I am still only half way through the service and I am alone with 145 people who may want to kill me and 10 of them need something 'right now'.

Then I get to do it all over 2 more times that day!

See how an simple request to take care of her own problems by Audrey makes her a Big Girl who gets to travel by herself?

I stand by my 'personal responsibility' mantra. If she had asked the person in front of her to move his seat back forward and got no satisfaction, I am more than willing to help. If he refused my request (happens all the time) I can't make him.

Either way Audrey needs to suck it up and take care of herself.

Goodstew

When I had 5 years of flying I remember going on about people not putting their seats up and constantly having to remind them of such. I was so upset that these people didn't care to listen. I was complaining to a coworker and he asked me how long I had been flying. I said 5years. He responded, you've been telling them to bring their seat backs up for 5 years and will do so for the rest of your career. That's why we're here. I looked at him and said...you know, you're right.

Sweetie, I've been at it for 17 years and can tell you it's time for a different approach. We all get burned out but we ARE in the customer service industry. It's not ALL about safety. How long have you been slinging cokes?

FAR's, silly company policies, good..bad.and ugly customers, baby sitter, mother, father, pastor, counselor, mediator, PR person, boyfriend, girlfriend..............................expectations, babies crying, vomit, turbulence, connections missed, stupid questions, isulting remarks, mels, not enough meals (to sell), $5 for movies and drinks, thunderstorms in the summer, blizzards in the winter...on and on.

These things are a part of your entire job that will be with you until you either quit, the airline goes out of business, or you die. What is really making you so unhappy? I'm not going to be like others and tear you apart but sit down and try to feel why you are unhappy. You might find it has nothing to do with your job.

Customer service is harsh and it isn't for everyone. I have been working with the public for 26 years (God I'm only 41) and you have to learn to NOT take ANYTHING personally.

Good luck.

 

[audrey2001]

Notice how goodstew never showed up again.

Let's get it straight, goodstew. If you can't handle it, QUIT. I have more stress at my job in the medical profession -- you know, SAVING LIVES -- than you ever will.

 

[desertfox]

I think "Good" stew must work for AA

There are a large number of laid off TWA cabin crew that would be more than happy to return to serving those 130 customers..

 

[hp_fa]

OK, let's be clear here.

If I am asked to have a passenger raise their seat because of too much space infringement, I will.

If the seat is broken and I know it from either my own experience seeing it or from a maintenance write-up and the seat does cause a safety issue, there will either be a fixed seat or empty seats because of potential evac issues. If the seat breaks after pushback and causes a safety issue I will relocate people if I can/need to for takeoff/landing safety and I will make sure the seat is written up for repair and the next crew briefed.

BTW, AWA does not allow use of the knee saver device.

Hope that helps.

 

[jimntx]

It's interesting that no one has mentioned that it is an FAA requirement to have a strap apparatus on board that holds the seat in an upright position if it won't stay locked. While I was flying it was always faxcinating to me at the miracle broken seat cures that occurred if I suggested that the passenger would either have to move from the broken seat or put the strap apparatus on it which would hold it in the upright position for the entire flight.

Passengers would tell me that the seat wouldn't stay upright--that it was broken--usually right before landing. When I offered the two options above, suddenly the seat was healed. Houston, we have a miracle. Call Jimmy Swaggart!

 

[audrey2001]

Just to reiterate. I DID in fact ask the passenger in front of me very politely to recline their seat forward to be even with the other, non-broken seats. She refused and was quite rude, so that's when I asked the flight attendant for assistance and was also blown off.

In addition, I NEVER got a reply to my email complaining of this to AWA customer service online...and the hold times on the phone were horrendous and I gave up.

Why one poster seems to think that a non-response is suspicious---just goes to show how out of touch he or she is with how bad AWA's customer service is. They just ignored me.

Hmm..maybe the person who can't believe customer service wouldn't respond is in fact, Doug Parker posting here?

 

[Fleazle]

You know Goodstew; I was an F/A with US for 8 years; I saw it all; nasty mergers, cranky passengers, mechanicals, weather, etc.. But jeez I hope I never had the the shitty attitude you do. Come on; there are a lot of my friends on furlough now that would kill to be flying again. Re-examine your career choice if it is stressing you out.

 

[youngblood]

Notice how goodstew never showed up again.

Let's get it straight, goodstew. If you can't handle it, QUIT. I have more stress at my job in the medical profession -- you know, SAVING LIVES -- than you ever will.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm........... should I write a letter to the doctor who originally screwed up my husband's back and crippled him. No, sorry ..... I tried that, but you see doctor's are rarely held accountable because they have a so - called fraternity that covers each other's back. (No pun intended.) So, you see, as much as you want to say "Quit your job if you don't like the stress" - I can say why don't you quit yours when doctor's like you screw up and ruin someone's life and they try to make you accountable? You say different situation - I say "Not even". You see, the 2.5 inches didn't cost you a life time of handicaps; where as, my husband's operation did. Point proven?

 

[mweiss]

Passengers would tell me that the seat wouldn't stay upright--that it was broken--usually right before landing. When I offered the two options above, suddenly the seat was healed.

Jim, that hardly means that the seat isn't broken. I've been guilty of the same thing, but it's still an annoyance at best.

 

[woztwa]

Hi...I figured the professionals are the ones to ask about a situation like this so in case it happens again, I know what recourse I have.
I flew America West from Las Vegas back to Chicago and the person in front of me had a busted seatback that reclined a full 2-3 inches further back into my lap than all the other seats. This was a full flight. My knees were literally being CRUSHED.
I asked the flight attendant, after showing her the difference between the guy in front of me's full recline vs. the seats next to him in full recline) They REFUSED to ask him to put it up a bit into the normal recline position and simply shrugged and said there was nothing they could do.

I don't buy that. I have never experienced such an uncomfortable flight by such an uncaring and unresponsive crew--and I've flown all over the world. I don't mind the person reclining but this was a seat that was clearly malfunctioning.

I wrote your airline and got NO response...total blowoff.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Audrey, don't be dis-heartened, there are those of us (especially commuters) that keep a special eye on this--I do. You would be surprised, if the F/A's would take the time to "observe", that there are many who would not hesitate to ask the pax in front to politely put the seat up--to a degree that would satisfy both...it is aLL in how we say it.....and they DO