ewrbasedpilot

Vagabond,
(First off, thanks to everyone who's complimented CAL on their great service and agents..........it's nice to hear ((or "here" to some on this forum..)), especially in this day and age). Your story is not alone. Most days I'm glad I'm not a gate agent, mechanic, FA, nor anyone else for that matter. It's always amazed me how "everything" (including the weather and ATC delays) are ALWAYS the airlines fault, and anyone associated with that airline gets the proverbial tongue lashings. I've always found that "educating" the passengers a little bit goes a LONG way to settling them down. Once you start answering questions (provided you're in uniform and flying the trip), more and more passengers gather around to hear what you have to say, and then they are usually satisfied. FA's are told that they are to leave their "bad days" at home.......passengers are paying for a service, and that's what they're supposed to get. Unfortunately, everything doesn't always go smooth and frustration sets in. I usually try to be there to settle the passengers down, and also let folks know the REAL story. When I tell them not to take their frustration out on the agents/FA's, mechanics, etc., they seem to understand that WE are just as frustrated as THEY are. I'm sorry for your experience, but it's just one of those things that happens. I guess it's like my mom always says (and she's ALWAYS right...), if that's the worst thing that ever happens to you, then count your blessings! Come see us on CAL, and stop up and say hello. We'll try and give you a great experience! Happy Holidays.

Jake Wheeler

Passengers want first class service on a 777 from Peoria, IL direct to Macon, GA for $100 because riding the bus is too expensive and takes too long.

Sorry, but it's hard for me to sympathize with someone who is treated like cattle when they are unwilling to pay more than cattle car prices. They should Moo someplace else like direct to management.

Max Glide

I am positive that the US Air CSR in PHL thinks EXACTLY like you do!

bravo24

Speaking as a passenger that is not what we expect. We do expect to arrive safely on time at our destination with our bags. We expect a clean airplane. We expect not to be mistreated by gate agents, flight attendants, or even the flight crew (all of which has happened to me). We expect not to be lied to.

Remember - we are your customers and primary source of the revenue that makes your careers possible. While that doesn't give us a license to mistreat airline employees, you should keep it in mind when you deal with us.

QCappy

First off, you must be a sweet captain to fly with. Do you treat your FOs worse because they don't make as much as you? Who cares what someone paid for their ticket. If you don't treat all your passengers the same, they won't come back. How do you think the airlines fill up the seats that no one is buying? Yep. With those "cheap" people. Ewwwww... Don't look at them. They just crawled out of the trailer park, stopped by Wal Mart, and got on your big jet...I mean Embrear.

Secondly, Vagabond is not just your average passenger. As a stockholder and frequent flier of Alaska Airlines, Vagabond has something good to compare experiences with. Obviously USAirways didn't impress. I think the post was a good example of what is completely wrong with several airlines in this country.

Take the story as a lesson on how to drive away your customers, not ridicule them, for management not running a good airline.

Jake Wheeler

I'll do everything in my power to make sure the flight is safe and as timely as safety allows. Everything else is beyond my power which may explain your perception of being "mistreated" by a flight crew.

If you go to a restaurant and the steak sucks, do you complain to the waitress or the manager? It's the cook's fault and management's for hiring the cook or buying lousy meat, so why beotch at the waitress? It may make you feel better and them feel worse, but it doesn't solve the problem.

Every airline I know has a airline magazine on board. Inside is an address to forward complaints. Please don't take it out on the crew, especially the Flight Attendant, when you don't like the schedule, the cleanliness of the cabin, the pitch of the seats or anything else they have absolutely no control over.

Jake Wheeler

My crews love me because I protect them from idiots who think they're at Burger King and deserve to have it their way for a $100 ticket.

I tell every Flight Attendant in my safety brief that if they have a problem, tell me exactly what they want to do about it and I'll make it happen. This includes deplaning non-compliant passengers who think they're special and don't have to follow the FAR's.

You bring up the key word: Management. Please don't take out your anger on someone who has no control over any of the problems noted. Management may listen to passengers sometimes but they never listen to the crews except about safety problems.

While I fully understand the problems of passengers, stockholders and friends in traveling these days, expressing anger at flight crews isn't going to solve those problems.

bravo24

Is EVERYTHING that goes wrong management's fault? Is it management's fault that I endured a three-bounce landing at DFW last week because they hired an inferior pilot? Of course not. Management in any industry has limited amount of control over what happens in their business. While they may determine strategy, policies, and allocate resources it is the employees that are most responsible for the day-to-day operation of the company and the company's public image. If I am treated rudely by a gate agent I'm going to blame them, not the CEO.

I've been in the business for close to 30 years and am extremely familiar with who is responsible for what - maybe even more than you are. I know that the crew is not responsible for schedules, cabin cleanliness, or a myriad of other things that make an airline function. But everyone at an airline who deals with customers are responsible for the quality of their interactions with those customers. And bad interactions can result in people looking for another airline or another mode of travel - not a good outcome for either one of us.

My bad experiences with airline people were not perceptions - they were real events. I tend to be a forgiving sort but it's hard to be Mr. Nice Guy with someone who gets snarky, cops an attitude, or abuses their authority. Airline employees human and like in every other human endeavour there is a certain percentage of jerks running around. Fortunately they are in the minority.

Jake Wheeler

Who hired an inferior pilot? Whose responsibility is it to hire qualified employees and properly train them? The ramp? Flight Attendants? The gate agents? The pilots? Yes, most problems are induced by poor management.

An interesting conclusion since you have no idea how long I've been in the business nor the extent of my background experience.

hangaber

And that's all that happened to you?? Wow. Service at US Airways' Philly hub IS improving. I just knew the Prison Work Release Program teaming with H.R. would work sooner or later. And only in it's 15th year! ...wait...where's my wallet....it..was..here.....gotta go.