That was exactly the situation on my JS flight the other day.

Read FOM 10.2.2.1

They are going to do what they feel like and blame it on us at times too. I’ve heard them make PAs where they stated “the CA said” and no such thing was ever said. It’s an inflight problem, they need to fix it. Nothing we say or try to do is going to change a dang thing.
At least I haven’t had one tell me, yes tell me, “it’s going to be bumpy so we don’t have to do service right?” In a while.

I had a flight to SLC from an outstation where the pilots getting off the plane told me the ride was good, FWV showed the ride was good as well. Then when I go to brief the FAs the lead goes "the FAs who came in said it was really bumpy so we might not be able to do service" Umm, no.

It’s so different flying international, especially Asia to the US. The FA‘s are super eager to get their service done, turbulence be damned! Because after it’s done is when the sleeping breaks start. The time to go is hacked, and half go on break immediately once the service is done. They know on a long flight that there is gonna be smooth air somewhere so there’s no chance to avoid the service.

Been a captain for 5 years and never attended the pre Covid course or this new one. I don’t even think they know I work here.

Have some tegridy and let them know you need a class!!

yeah, I get it “complete command and authority “ and all that. But i really don’t think that means I'm supposed to tell FAs when and how to open sprites.

You said supervisor. The FOM is pretty clear about your role as Captain. Be one.

That doesn't mean ordering them to serve. It does mean pushing back when they are calling about it being "too rough to serve" when in smooth air or occasional light chop. Same goes when they call you to tell/ask you to turn on the belts to give them an excuse to not do the service.

I have no idea what the cabin crew are doing back there when the door is locked. If they call and ask I tell them what I think. Am I supposed go back there and supervise….Im sorry, CAPTAIN (by god!) them in to doing the job they were hired and trained to do by another department with its own manuals and management? Why aren’t our chief pilots calling them and demanding they do better?

If in-flight is getting complaints then they need to rectify that, not demand that pilots create bad CRM scenarios by pretending to know how be their proxy-bosses.

Fortunately in my experience in the real world I haven’t seen many issues with this. especially lately, except for my anecdote upthread about the OE instructor the other day. if I sense them calling me looking for an excuse I tell them straight up I think it is safe to bust out the carts. That said, I am reticent to cross the line in to telling them what to do. For a few reasons.

also, the FOM is actually fairly vague about our role. I won’t post the language here publicly but it uses extremely broad terms and offers very few specifics. I don’t believe 10.2.2.1 encapsulates becoming an IFS quality control officer.