Flight Attendants Inventory Catering Supplies

[FlyingHippie]

In regards to theft in "MoBay", if US Airways' aircraft were parked in front of the terminal instead of being isolated in front of a hangar maybe this pilferage wouldn't be a problem. My two cents.

 

[exagony]

As to the comment "It's not in my job description" Reading a book while on duty isn't in your job description either but do you hear me complain to Consumer Affairs about it when it happens?

Don't even write back that it's not true because you know it is. A statement like that is the reason folks hate unions. Your job, morally ethically if not contracturally is to perform any function that results in your employer earning a lawful profit that in turns allows you through the collective bargaining process to seek higher wages and perks.

AMEN!!!!

 

[ITRADE]

As to the comment "It's not in my job description" Reading a book while on duty isn't in your job description either but do you hear me complain to Consumer Affairs about it when it happens?

Don't even write back that it's not true because you know it is. A statement like that is the reason folks hate unions. Your job, morally ethically if not contracturally is to perform any function that results in your employer earning a lawful profit that in turns allows you through the collective bargaining process to seek higher wages and perks.

AMEN!!!!

Additional golf clap.

 

[Fly]

You're right Twice Baked! However the difference is I have marketable job skills and in reality F/A's don't!

So, marketable job skills in your reality must be in the same business (i.e.-aviation)? If you are in sales at IBM and then you were to find a job as a Marketing consultant at ADP, then you too had no marketable skills, because you didn't find work at another copier company performing a sales job. Is that what you mean??? I have an advanced degree from an arguably good university. If I CHOOSE to stop flying and CHOOSE to use my degree at a boring 9 to 5 job, stay indoors for all days of sunlight except two, and hand my kids some keys to get into the house after school, would that make me a "marketable" person? Guaranteed one thing, most people could NOT do our jobs well..........and we COULD do most any job. We are versatile people. In my book, we are probably one of the most marketable people they have got. You see, we were hired because of our laid back attitudes and ability to smooth over rough situations, we have an unbelievable quality of putting people at ease which makes it very easy for future employers to hire us.

I think the offense that the flight attendants are taking is this: People will bash us as unimportant and frivolous to an airline but when was the last time someone said "Gee, what a great flight" when the flight attendants were horrible? Every single airline employee could go 110% but it could feasibly be one solitary flight attendant who could destroy that entire experience for the customer.

Food for thought..... I have never seen a flight attendant try to minimize anyones self-worth, either here or in the real world. NOT ONCE!

 

[mbmbbost]

I can't imagine they'd be asking FA's to count individual items other than liquor or sodas. Wouldn't they just want to know how many bulk packages of other items are on hand? Would that take more than a couple minutes? It just seems silly to me (on the surface anyway) to get worked up over this one....it takes away from concerns about much greater issues...I know everyone has made a lot of sacrifices, but it does appear to me as a passenger that on average FA's have more free time on board with all the cutbacks in cabin service. What does Dea think?

 

[firstamendment]

I can't imagine they'd be asking FA's to count individual items other than liquor or sodas. Wouldn't they just want to know how many bulk packages of other items are on hand? Would that take more than a couple minutes? It just seems silly to me (on the surface anyway) to get worked up over this one....it takes away from concerns about much greater issues...I know everyone has made a lot of sacrifices, but it does appear to me as a passenger that on average FA's have more free time on board with all the cutbacks in cabin service. What does Dea think?

Very good point! Lest we forget the late 80's on a transcon flight when we served predeparture wine and juice, three choices of entrees, ice cream, hot towels, mints, and a welcome to whatever hub video...and that was in COACH!! So alittle inventory ain't gonna kill anyone...AND, there isn't THAT much stuff on a 319 or 737 that won't take 10 minutes. Given it takes all of 45 minutes- 1 hour total time to do a transcon service( arrival included), at least I'll have something to do.


I do believe the f/a's should get a comission if we are going to sell somebody else's merchandise. Some of the European carriers sell food on flights, including bevs and they really push the products. Many say they walk away with very nice checks because you sell on every flight.


In my opinion, when an aircraft overnights (and first flight in am after redeyes), there shoud be provisioned enough catering supplies for the day. There are plenty of empty carts. Ice would be brought in as well as the sold snacks and that is it. There should be one bin with enough utility supplies for the day. If there is no catering at that ron, last hub going to that city will cater.


With regards to utility, don't waste your time and my time if I just came in from PHL from LGA. Tidy up and go. . I will promise you there is a 757 somewhere with one person cleaning after a transcon flight with plenty of trash. But to empty 9 trash containers?

There is so much room for cooperation with everyone getting bent out of shape. I don't want anyone to loose their jobs...just distribute the load and I sincerely can live with the few moments to check inventory. :blink:

 

[Dea Certe]

Well, since you asked my opinion: I'd like to know when we would be required to do this. Most f/a's will tell you that supplies are often scattered about the plane, like finding pillow covers and paper towels in overhead bins, liquid soap and T.P. in the overheads as well. Will I be required to do a full a/c search for these supplies? Will I be in trouble or cause someone else to be in trouble if I don't find all the items? Would we be doing this every time we change planes? Or every time catering supplies are boarded? Would one f/a be responsible for the counting? The whole crew share responsibility?

When I get on a plane, I always do a pre-fllight of my emergency equipment. This just takes a few minutes. On our first flight, we have a briefing, that can take a few minutes or longer depending on what the Captain has to say. I don't want to delay boarding for inventory. Neither do I want to delay inflight service to my pax. They've usually waited long enough for their little sip of beverage by the time we get in the air and it's safe enough to start setting up.

It just doesn't sound like a very well thought-out plan. If there's a lot of missing inventory, it seems the better thing to do would be have a supervisor inventory the intems as they are loaded into the catering/utility trucks. If pilfering is a problem, I just don't see it's the flight attendants hauling off plastic cups, paper towels or pretzels. God knows I have enough "essential" items related to my beauty maintenance in my bags to have any room left over for the thieving of US Airways products.

This just doesn't seem to be a good idea.

Dea

 

[mbmbbost]

I'd like to know when we would be required to do this. Most f/a's will tell you that supplies are often scattered about the plane, like finding pillow covers and paper towels in overhead bins, liquid soap and T.P. in the overheads as well. Will I be required to do a full a/c search for these supplies? Will I be in trouble or cause someone else to be in trouble if I don't find all the items? Would we be doing this every time we change planes? Or every time catering supplies are boarded? Would one f/a be responsible for the counting? The whole crew share responsibility?

Those are all good and reasonable questions. The fact that there aren't apparently answers or complete information about all this, yet folks are all set to condemn the mere notion of any kind of inventory by flight attendants, is what I don't understand. If it were clear that this was going to be a very tedious and burdensome task, then I could see getting upset about it...

 

[Dea Certe]

mbmbbost,

What worries me is that it might be another hare-brained plan that hasn't been thoroughly thought out. Our customers have enough troubles with flying these days without taking unnecessary delays because the crew is counting swizzle sticks. We can't do this during boarding as we are required to be in certain places for safety reasons at that time. I don't mind taking care of the liquor or headsets. Right now, we have some pretty sloppy precedures for this. On my last trip I found headsets scattered everywhere! In the overhead bins, in closets and in several carts.

I've been trying to come up with a way to organize the supplies in a manner that will allow better accountability but haven't found one. Maybe if all the supplies could be placed in the carts, sealed and signed for, that might work. Every cart would have to have the same amount inside. But then, the carts would have to be replaced at every station. There has to be a better way.

What do you think?

Dea

 

[mbmbbost]

Dea,

You obviously know a lot more about the routine than most of us. As I read all those posts before ours I still thought that the idea of keeping tabs on where supplies were going (and where they were coming from) made sense, and just found it troubling that some had a problem with taking any part in that. Despite all the fumblings of management, it's still in everyone's interest to do what they can to help the bottom line. Obviously things should be set up in a way that makes keeping track of inventory straightforward. If that's not being done, then that's another issue. (There's no excuse for not having Milanos on board!) If management wants something more than approximate numbers on most of this stuff they're crazy. And they may well be hare-brained about how to accomplish this counting. But in principle, it ought to be pretty easy to count up bulk packages of a lot of items quickly, and get a good idea of the numbers. I used to manage a retail store, with thousands of low-value items. When it came time for inventory, I knew that an exact count would be cost prohibitive. Instead, we were careful with what mattered, and made educated guesses about a lot of the rest of it, figuring that it all averaged out in the end.

This is really a very boring topic, but what I found interesting, is how the issue could rile people without there being a convincing argument that it causes any particular hardship to them.

mbmbbost

 

[MarkMyWords]

If I was reading this correctly, this isn't a system wide issue, it is an issue with a few of the Caribbean stations where we are being charged for items that may not be placed on board. Let's say that MBJ is suspect of overcharging us for items not boarded. Prior to landing in MBJ the F/A does a quick inventory of the bulk items, sodas, ice, coffee, etc. After catering departs, they reinvnetory the items to show how many items were boarded. This F/A inventory is compared to the one submitted by the catering provider and if we are being charged for twice the merchandise, then fraud charges coudl be filed or providers changed. I don't think the company wants you to reinventory the provisions for arrival in PHL or other domestic stations. The issue isn't our people stealing supplies, it is contract providers in certain locations.

Just my thoughts.

 

[PITbull]

MMW,

This is a positively great idea. But, do you think management could pay us "boarding pay"....cause we don't get one penny for pre boarding a flight, getting our first class ready, briefing, checking the all safety equipment, supplies, or first class service and all the duties we are responsible for before the door shuts for takeoff.

We are NOT salaried employees and we do not punch in a time clock when we arrive at work. So, these EXTRA duties are great but we are professionals that do a professioanl job. If these responsbilities are important to the company's bottom line, then why can't this company pay flight attendants a "flat rate "to board? Even if it was minimum wage? Not only are we off the clock for these duties, but when we deplane the passengers and clean certain stations, we are OFF the pay clock for that!

I come to work to make a wage to support my family. As management has stated ,they are not in business for "charity"; neither are the workers.

Hey, just my thought.

 

[MarkMyWords]

We have had this discussion about pay before.....I won't rehash it. But if you are inventorying items PRIOR to landing, you are still on the clock. If you inventory items AFTER departure, you would still be on the clock. The choice would be up to you, as long as it got done when requested. 5 minutes of your time PRIOR to landing and 5 minutes AFTER departure should not cut into the inflight service and still allow you time to read a few chapters in your book. You are not being asked to sit there and count every swizzel stick and packet of sugar, it is a bulk count to ensure we are getting what we pay for. This isn't a system wide issue and won't be something done over a long period of time. The company will make its case against the provider, then threaten or change providers and the problem will be solved. It is a very simple taks that can be completed while you are being paid to work.

 

[PITbull]

I did not see any memo on this, but you are saying that the inventory check is requested to be done 5 minutes prior to landing and 5 minutes prior to departure?

Is this correct? If you are to count the inventory 5 minutes prior to landing, why would you need to do it gain prior to departure? If catering brings on new supplies prior to departure, then you are counting this stuff when they bring it on, and that is NOT 5 minutes prior to departure. It is actually before boarding.

So which is it?

 

[Dea Certe]

In my experience, there's always been a problem with receiving the goods as ordered. Remember the PIE (I think they were called) we were filling out for a while? I filled them out every leg as requested and never once got a reply back. Talk to any f/a and they will tell you at least one horror story about leaving without appetizers, plates, hot pads or another basic item needed for service. I myself recall one flight that had the aladdin trays boarded without cutlery! Yikes!

It can be very difficult to get an accounting prior to take-off. Many times the flights are late arriving and the agents (understandably) want to get the plane out as quickly as possible. I would rather be giving my F/C pax a pre-departure beverage and hanging their coats rather than trying to sort out supplies other than those I need immediately.

If the problem is only in the Islands, why not "double cater" on the Mainland? Wouldn't that be easier and more efficient? Since we aren't serving much food, there should be plenty of room in the carts for extras.

And just so you all know, I don't read on the jumpseat or otherwise occupy myself with activities not related to inflight service. Some might, but many more do not. The galleys are usually plenty dirty or untidy enough to keep me busy.

Dea