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I took a United Airlines flight to San Francisco on Friday. I have made it no secret how dissatisfied I have been flying with United over the past few years. Almost every flight I am on is late, the service is poor, the food is not good, and Wi-Fi is spotty at best. I’ve written plenty about my issues with the carrier, but I still have to fly it from time to time. I’m reminded what a good decision it was to move the bulk of my flying away from United every time that I board a flight on another airline.
My flight on Friday left me with an inoperable power outlet, Wi-Fi that crawled along and cut out most of the flight, a tray filled with carbs that was either overcooked (the pasta) or rock hard and cold (the dinner roll and cookie). The flight attendant working the aisle in First Class was lovely. Her counterpart in the galley was just the opposite. She was gruff with passengers, doing as little work as possible, and even gave the other flight attendant a hard time when she was trying to do her job.
After all of the passengers had eaten lunch and the trays were cleared, she began to pull the metal boxes off of the wall in the galley and set one up with her lunch and another as a seat. She sat there for over 30 minutes and admonished the other flight attendant when she came into the galley to get passengers beverages. While she ate her pasta and drank her Diet Coke, she watched videos on her iPad without headphones.
The exchanges between the two flight attendants had me scratching my head. One went as follows:
Nice flight attendant: “Excuse me, I need to grab something out of this cart.”
Grumpy flight attendant: “They’ll wait until I’m done.”
She then proceeded not to move and the nice flight attendant walked all the way to the back galley to get a soda.
After her 30-minute meal break, she closed a curtain around the galley and stayed in there until the end.
Anthony’s Take: Flight attendants are people. I will never criticize them for taking a break, having something to eat, or chatting with colleagues. But, when what you’re doing is at the expense of the passengers and you are clearly not looking to do anything to make the flight a good one, there is a problem. This flight attendant encapsulated a lot of my issues with United and hopefully she gets some additional training or finds another career.
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82 comments
That one needs to find another job.
And if she finds another job guess what now your flight is delayed or cancelled cause there’s not enough reserves and no one is coming out their beds to deal with any of you.
You must be one of those entitled flight attendants.
You must be another braindead entitled disgusting passenger. Go walk off a cliff Karen
You found yourself, apparently. A first class passenger is in fact entitled to a can of Coke. The flight attendant who refused to do her job is the problem. Let’s be clear.
And you need to walk into the ocean
This is a crappy “article”! You talk crap about United, proceed to say how all but one crew member was nice, and yet still proceed to crap on the company, thereby negating the positive actions of the others who worked to deliver a positive experience. Unless you were flying from some far flung locale, don’t say that UA was your only option. You chose it, and because you did, you purposely sought fault with your experience. That’s called bias.
Clearly if your carrier of choice couldn’t provide you the routing you sought, then they’re lacking in there network reach. No airline can be everything to everyone.
It’s amazing how someone can make a defense of wrong behavior, forgetting the basic principle that wrong is wrong and then complains who shows the wrong. You know the FA’s behavior is wrong, but you’d rather touch on other things. I don’t even know what the name of this fallacy is.
Yeah I think it’s fair to say Dien hasn’t exactly demonstrated a capacity to provide valuable insights here lol or really even coherent ones
United is a good company. When they weed out the bad flight attendants, they will be a better company, Hope that helps.
Could not agree more.
How is this negatively impacting your experience? Was your beverage delivery delayed?
Rude, unprofessional behavior from a flight attendant is a problem. Not complicated.
I am an International Purser for United and unfortunately there’s no accountability for flight attendants who behave this way. Having said that, the company is complicit in this. United allows flight attendants to fly up 200 hours per month; bulk up all of their trips so that they fly continuously for 2-3 weeks and then go home for 2-3 weeks. To give this context, flight attendant schedules are typically built between 75-85 hours per month. The FAA has no regulations regarding flying maximums. (In the EU, cabin crews can fly a maximum of 900 hours per year). Furthermore, flight attendants who choose to commute to their assigned base are allowed to sleep in crew rooms all day and all night. None of these policies are conducive to good self-care and what the customer is often left with is a tired overworked crew member who has neglected their own well-being as a result of their life-style choices. These policies are also not conducive to providing service excellence onboard the aircraft. Sadly, it’s what the system is…and no human being should be flying 280-200 hours per month. Pilots have FAA-imposed maximum limits on the number of hours they can fly per month, but flight attendants in the U.S. do not.
Jetsettet….you are obviously not someone who works to survive. You have no idea what fellow FA’s situations are and why they need to work so much, or why they try to to have longer stretches of time at home. One of the main reason we all are in the career is because of the flexibility that affords us to have the life we want to live. Im happy for you that you are able to only work your 3 trips a month…we are not all so blessed!!
MM that’s still no excuse to provide bad service to the people paying you. You want flexibility but flexibility has 2 sides and you have to give *something* back. So if you want to commute and put all your working time together then you better suck it up and not take out your poor life planning choices out on the customers. Every airline has too many senior mamas that refuse to do their work and complain about how “tough” their job is. You’re freaking opening soda cans.
This is news? Who cares if a flight attendant takes a break. Are you so desperate for some kind of content to post that you take a photo of someone eating? Ridiculous.
And playing videos on full volume. And hiding in the galley the rest of the flight. Don’t leave that part out.
Nothing that you stated excuses the behavior mentioned in the complaint. Adjust your attitude or get another job.
You need to get a better paying job if you need to fly 200hrs/mos to support your lifestyle. Your commute CANNOT affect you job performance. You do not play a video WITHOUT a headset – even if you are on your break. This is basic shit, not rocket science.
I would really hesitate to claim the flexibility in a crew members scheduling system is what caused this FA to behave in this way. This type of wide reaching, over arching categorization is not only untrue, but also harmful in the rhetoric that articles like these try to spread. Leave flexibility in scheduling out of it.
No. You cannot leave scheduling and flexibility out of it because these factors directly impact the kind of service the flight attendant provides to the paying customer.
What a ridiculous article, after being served and fed you still write crap about this flight attendant, get a life.
Until it’s you paying big money for a seat and being served crap both on a plate and in verbal service!
Spoken like a flight attendant who should get a life herself (or himself),.
Sorry folks. You chose this career, not the other way around. I know 1st hand how grueling this lifestyle is. Circadian rhythms are screwed up, constantly changing time zones, poor diets from eating airport food. I get it, but that’s no excuse for providing little to no service, admonishing fellow crew , etc..if you fly 200 hours a month, that’s on you. Too many bills to pay? Unless it’s medical bills, I would suggest living within your means and cutting back on the LV bags. Your passengers deserve better, and so do your crew mates.
Flight attendants CHOOSING to commute to their base is no one’s problem but their own. Lots of jobs. Unemployment is latest in more than 50 years a s if you want to work a lot of hours while basically not working and spending time commuting to work – don’t blame the system or company. I’m no fan of United, and their product sucks but the poor me FA is exhausting
Sounds like Anthony is the one who really needs to take a break here….. from his social media check rides.
Unbelievable how now flight attendants are being harassed even during their break. It’s none of your business how this lady’s using her break (aka nutritional opportunity). Your food was pure carbs? Bring your own. It’s a plane, not a restaurant. It’s called “complimentary”, you don’t have to have it, skip if it’s not what you want. If you fly as often as you say, you foresee these “inconvenients” and you prepare by bringing your own food, that’s more what you like, or simply pre-order. Shame on you for everything you wrote here. Shame on you!
If it was a domestic flight the FA isn’t entitled to a break. Sitting on the floor is unsafe. Watching an iPad without headphones is the rudest thing in the world. Having a container unsecured on the floor is a violation of FAA policies (again safety) as is watching a personal device while on duty.
Every fa complains and moans when people call them glorified drink servers that they’re on the plane for safety. Well obviously this one wasn’t because of the number of unsafe actions she was exhibiting.
👍
The vast majority of flight attendants I’ve worked with are consummate professionals. That said, every industry/profession (inside and outside of aviation) has some bad apples that should be weeded out. They make it miserable for the customers, for their fellow workers and they degrade morale if the good workers when no corrective action is taken. And with just about every work group unionized at the major air lines, it’s very difficult to remove people with terrible attitudes, they basically need to commit a flagrant violation of company rules or aviation safety. In any case, if the service is that poor (regardless of the company) write it up and send it in, let the management figure it out – it’s on them at that point. And don’t forget to leave positive comments/feedback for the hard workers, they’re often overlooked (negative comments tend to take precedence over praise)
If it was a domestic flight the FA isn’t entitled to a break. Sitting on the floor is unsafe. Watching an iPad without headphones is the rudest thing in the world. Having a container unsecured on the floor is a violation of FAA policies (again safety) as is watching a personal device while on duty.
Every fa complains and moans when people call them glorified drink servers that they’re on the plane for safety. Well obviously this one wasn’t because of the number of unsafe actions she was exhibiting.
Standard Behavior for their basic economy seat passengers and other self-absorbed entitled passengers. This is the future, and the future is now. Pop culture and public education promotes this Behavior. You think this Behavior is wrong? As every passenger and FA younger than you would say, “ok, boomer. :
That’s crazy you’re saying an FA isn’t entitled to a break because it’s “domestic” you don’t know what leg they are in a trip. They could have been 8 hours in a duty day. I would think any human is allowed a break especially after the service is completed.
They can take it between flights, then. They aren’t owed shit.
Seriously…. Not make excuses for poor behavior but these flight attendants often times work long days with no break and do not get paid for flight delays, boarding, or deplaning. Think about that. I can not imagine any one in any other industry not getting paid for when they report to work or punch in nor not getting a break after 8 hours of work. Try that and let me know what you think then.
Not entitled to a break for a domestic flight ?!!! It looks like you are definitely not flying as a crew (hopefully not), and yes we don’t like the title ” glorified waiter/waitress” because we go through intense training including safety and security.
We work hard and don’t like having passengers who judge us when we take our break…. Because clearly you have no idea how long our day is and how many flights we did that day, so seat back, relax, and enjoy your flight
FAs don’t have assigned breaks on domestic flights. You do the job until it’s done. We take a moment to eat oo rest when feasible, but service needs don’t stand still for us.
Even accepting that we don’t bother FAs on breaks, that doesn’t mean you get to block OTHER FAs from doing their jobs…
Not to mention it’s illegal for an on-duty FA to watch movies on a tablet while in-flight.
No, shame on YOU! A domestic flight attendant spending most of her time in the galley watching videos and ignoring the passengers needs to be FIRED!
Let me guess, you’re one of these shitty FAs? Here’s a hint for you. We, the customer, PAY for all of this. We PAY for a decent meal, as advertised. We PAY for complimentary drinks. We PAY for the service as advertised. When lazy-ass FAs fail to provide what we paid for, yes, we are entitled to be a bit upset. Your little break doesn’t come at the expense of blocking off the galley and other equipment from the other actual ‘good’ FAs, just so you repurpose galley boxes for your own self. Doesn’t work that way.
Didn’t realize the FA mafia would be here in the comments. In any case I’d report this particular person’s behavior. Bad service…
Yep…the angry ones who hate their jobs are out in full force! HAHA!
How dare your 4oz cups of Diet Coke not get to you when you snapped your fingers for it, because one out of 3-4 flight attendants needed to eat….
So, don’t eat on the floor in front of the beverage cart inconveniencing your fellow crew members. Total disrespect to the other crew members.
And needed to watch videos with no headphones? And hid in the galley the rest of the flight? Explain that part, tough guy.
If you put your eyes and ears in your own business you’d have a more stress-free life. You fly enough to know to bring your own empty thermos and fill it up with whatever pleases you once you’ve gone thru TSA. You fly enough to know airport and airplane food is bad and you should bring your own. You fly enough to know that flight attendants are not servers and the airplane is not a restaurant. You fly enough to know that flight attendant needed that break and last but not least you know that that flight attendant would do her best to save your life if you suddenly had a heart attack or your plane had an emergency. So write all you want from your arrogant and ignorant position but be sure to say “thank you” to future flight attendants that cross your path. And next time bring headphones and a book instead of trying to write one.
Nahhhh. You’re 100% wrong and probably a horrible flight attendant yourself. This is, obviously, first class, where a meal and “first class” service is bought or earned via status. If you don’t want to do the work of the job, then find a different job. Period. End of story.
Spoken like a true, militant cry-baby flight attendant.
They quite literally are there to serve the customer. 99.99% of the time, this is your only job. In the exceedingly rare event of an emergency, well… then I guess you’ve been trained to yell out “BRACE” and open the door…. Wow!
This is another post that shows a passenger that has no clue what’s going on but wants to interject their option on what’s going on. These days not just in the airline industry but in the entire service industry humans treat humans less than because they feel that they are always right. The disrespect, the lack of etiquette, the lack of care for fellow humans is out of control. What she was not supposed to eat? Do you go to most place without key essentials like water, food, and headphones. How about using the bathroom in the terminal instead of invading crews workspace. Water is free in all of outlets in the airport ie like the restaurant you are sitting across from or walked passed or better yet if you freeze your water it considered a solid and can come through TSA. It’s people like you that make the human race impossible to figure out, be a better person and worry about yourself.
Nope, just a horrible crew member being a disrespectful bitch to other crew members. Passengers in first class pay for that service or they have earned it through benefits provided by the airline. Do the damn job or get out of the way.
-Fellow FA
If you had to do their job for one day you would be curled up in a corner somewhere crying and mumbling.
Are you sure I wouldn’t be curled up in a corner of the galley with a meal watching movies on a tablet with no headphones, blocking other people from doing the job I was supposed to be doing?
Uh, I’ve NEVER seen an FA on a domestic, narrowbody plane do this. NEVER,
Its one thing to eat an unused First Class meal (since FAs typically don’t get crew meals anymore) – but its another to BLOCK another FA from doing their job. I’ve probably got close to 2 million miles under my belt – as a revenue pax & non-rev, and this type of attitude is aweful from this FA.
Totally fair to call out this FA.
Next time, find a vacant seat in the last row , or sit in the jumpseat while you eat (with curtain pulled). As a pax we’ll understand. But watching an iPad with no ear plugs, sitting on the floor, and blocking a fellow FA from their workspace is just rude and wrong. You can NOT defend this FA’s actions… you really can’t.
boy, sit in your seat and shut the hell up
I’ve flown just about every airline in the USA (Spirit, united, delta, America, frontier, sun country). Articles like this always makes me roll my eyes because someone that flies so much should know that every airline is just about the same. The meals on these airlines are all carb heavy and loaded with salt. The service itself can be different but the attitudes or lack their of can be found at every airline. It’s no perfect airline. I’ve seen every airline lack on something at one point or another (cancelled, delayed, mx issues, wifi not working, plug not working…experienced this on EVERY airline). Many usually pick airlines with the cheapest seat or best routes. You claim you cut back from flying UA but here you are on them now. Something made you come back. So stop with the bashing because you’ll get the same carb and salt loaded food on DL and AA just like you can run into bad attitude FAs at those airline also. Instead of bashing airlines you should be advocating to get these FAs paid during boarding because when your getting your pre departure drink they are not getting paid (except for DL and Skywest…and even with those two it’s not full pay!)
How does sitting on a box to eat your crew meal equal poor service? Wow what a blanket statement that “Senior mamas” are lazy. Commuting sometimes isn’t a choice, since United as well as almost every airline closes bases, forcing flight attendants to choose between quitting and commuting. The idea that domestic flight attendants are not entitled to a break ?! Guess they are not human beings. The only thing I personally think is wrong is watching movies while working.
Airline crew here and this guy is totally spot on. Many corporations close offices / layoff. Families are are forced to move / relocate. We have the option of at least commuting. We as crew are no more entitled than the passengers that down criticize. Ps – the writer is not criticizing the break but rather the lack of professionalism. Stop defending poor behavior. If we behaved like this in any other position / industry we’d be at the least suspended. I’m shocked and appalled at the defenses here. It’s an embarrassment to our profession and those who wear our uniform with pride.
Wow, after reading these responses, I truly hope that these responses are not indicative of what the majority of flight attendants believe. I respect flight attendants generally but if these responses are indicative of their mindsets, that respect is definitely lost. Really hope that these responses are more indicative of the internet bringing out the rabid minority. Hard to imagine hordes of workers in any other profession rising to defend the kind of behavior described here.
If you had to do their job for one day you would be a puddle on the corner crying and mumbling to yourself. THEY ARE HUMAN.
You are a good example of the flight attendants I have zero respect for.
You try doing their job, otherwise I suggest you stay in your seat and keep your mouth shut with your noise cancelling headphones on.
The job is actually really easy. I’ve done it for over 15 years. Smile, say nice things, and serve some sodas and maybe some trays of food. Respect your fellow crew members and if you take a break, do it out of the way so others can provide service to the passengers.
So many people here extremely offended that a human being is eating. Guess what they poop and need sleep too! “Not entitled to a break on domestic flights..”. You fail to recognize they do more than one flight a day and work longer days than you! Do you work for up to 14 hours without sitting to eat? Oh wait the alternative is sitting facing the lavatory while people go in and out passing you before and after they murder the bathroom and ogle your food if it’s something you brought from home and is better than what you were served.
I’m a longtime flight attendant and naïvely never expected I would see a fellow cabin crew member behave so unprofessionally (and trust me I’ve seen plenty) nor that I would read so many asinine comments from trolls. I applaud you for shaming her and I feel for the lovely flight attendant who had to work alongside her.
Sorry but you seem like a whiny, entitled piece of trash.
I had the same horrible experience on our trip to Europe. In Polaris Class, horrible food, crew rushed through the service, no wines that were on the menu were available except for one. The way back we thought would be better since the catering was done out of Europe… food was just as bad and tasteless, thank goodness we got some sandwiches in the airport. When we wrote to United, their response was “ if you don’t like the food, bring your own, this file is now closed” we live at a United hub, so we’re forced to fly them or we’d have to connect in another HUB with any other legacy carrier. Being part of star alliance helps to fly better members carriers of the partnership. Coming from the airline industry, it’s appalling what they serve business class passengers for what they pay.
From the beginning your whole blog was negative…not excusing anyone’s behavior…if the service was trash then it was trash…but you complained about everything under the sun regarding each time you travel. Maybe you should stop traveling all together. It’s this negative and entitled attitude that drives a lot of the flight attendants to no longer provide the same service they used to when they first start because you guys come on aircrafts with your nasty attitudes and most times won’t even acknowledge their presence when they greet you which makes them feel less than human. Then there’s the constant asking for shit….go to sleep …since the food is not that great go to sleep.
You get paid to provide service regardless. If you cannot provide friendly service, then you should find a different job. It’s obvious that you have nothing but contempt for your customers.
Passengers can be overly thirsty and hungry when it’s ‘free’… asking for 3,4,5+ drinks just cause it’s there… 30 min is a legal break time for fa’s to eat.. when they’re on pause for lunch, they’re on pause… the pax 6th drink can wait 30min…. Problem is pax got so used to the ‘ motherly’ care many fa’s gave so expect it all the… if everyone has a lunch break, why can’t an fa?
Your customers pay for those drinks. It’s not up to you to gate keep. 99.99% of the time your only job is to serve your customers. In the exceedingly rare event of an emergency, we’ll then you can yell “BRACE” and open the door… Also, your break doesn’t give you permission to commandeer the entire galley floor, and sit on the galley boxes while denying the other FAs from using it.
I am a fellow FA, and I really hope you reported this person to the company. Fellow flight attendants can’t report our colleagues without retaliation, so we rarely do. This story is a prime example of a FA who shouldn’t be working, and the FAs who defend her are just as bad. Her actions caused bad service, was not a professional look, was unsafe, and she was disrespectful to her colleague who was trying to work. She needs to be reported and disciplined.
People like you are the problem. Go right to the company rather than having a discussion or going to the union.
Unions are good for one thing – protecting workers from work. You’re welcome.
Amazing how many lazy FA’s came out of the woodwork to defend their right to be lazy and nasty on the job!
Good to see their true colors, though. One day, after this goes far enough there will be pressure for the US government to allow foreign competition on domestic routes. The parasites will kill their host, which apparently is their goal.
“This job would be great if there weren’t any customers!”- Typical FA posting above…
Look at all the lazy FAs crying about this piece of s.. being exposed.
There’s 100s of people ready to take your jobs. For half the pay. Tick tock, fatasses.
Wow. I read every comment here and am appalled at the number of FAs defending this person’s behavior, but am happy to see most other FAs do not. Sure it can be a tough job, as is every job, but don’t let the customers who pay your salary see you behaving this way. It’s a really bad look. Get better or find a different, non-customer facing job.
So many glorified waiters in here.
As a frequent traveler upfront, this situation would definitely tick me off. That said, I do think (even if they’re not allowed on domestic) flight attendants deserve a break. I don’t mind at all that a flight attendant sits down in their jump seat after serving the cabin and clearing meals. Typically they’ll get up in ten minutes to check on if anyone needs any drink refills or anything and then go work on that or sit back down. You can typically tell how your flight will go within a few interactions with the crew during boarding or right after take-off. There are some phenomenal crew out there both junior and senior. There are also some terrible crew out there both junior and senior. I’ve sent many emails to 1K this year commending flight attendants for flights I’ve had and maybe 1-2 where it was just downright terrible/rude service. It usually wasn’t directed at me but at how they reacted with other passengers in the cabin which I thought was inappropriate. I personally think at least with United that their service has gotten much better recently on domestic flights (international not so much, but I think they’re understaffed by one…?). Everyone has good and bad days but I think the main thing that bothers me here is watching something with headphones and being rude to another crew member. Sure, it’s tacky to sit on the ground of the galley but there could have been a reason they did that and I wasn’t there to see it. At the same time, I feel for flight attendants (both good and bad ones) that have to deal with passengers these days who are downright rude and frankly losing their mental state on board and an FA has to deal with that. It’s a shame.
As a F/A for another airline, this behavior was unacceptable to say the least. I’ve never sat to *take a break* until I’ve serviced all my passengers. Wtbs, there are some passengers that are extremely needy. I’ve experienced rude obnoxious passengers that didn’t want me to serve any other passengers but themselves. One constantly rang the service call bell after I already serviced them and explained that I will come back around to service them again. Some act as if they’re the only customer in first class. Again, I’m not agreeing at all with what this particular F/A did but I understand, sometimes, we too need a break. We are humans and as another F/A mentioned, sometimes we are overworked. Speaking for myself here, I often fly six days a week, multiple legs a day. This job/career isn’t for the faint of heart.
I guess you would want the Flight Attendant to eat in the bathroom, the only place on the plane they can have privacy.