The state of our profession
 

Not long ago I was checking into the Narita Hilton. What I witnessed was a sad reality of what our profession has become. I had just finished checking out and was sitting waiting for our handler. Several airline crews began to arrive. The first group was a Korean Airlines, then a China Airlines, and then a JAL crew. I was incredibly impressed with the level of professionalism of these crews. All of the FA's had the same look, hairstyle, weight, and were all quiet and not making a scene! The Captain went to the front desk, got everyone's keys,distributed them and then gave instructions as to when they were to meet on departure day. Now, while they were sitting there, a crew from an american airlines arrived, I won't say which airline it was, but they were "friendly".
The Captain, whose shirt tail was hanging out, stood off to the side while this circus of FA's created a disgusting scene. ( I know, it is not his job to babysit them.) The four weight challenged senior citizen FA's were so loud and obnoxious, that every person in the lobby felt uncomfortable. then came the three " sexually confused" male FA's with their fluorescent hair and skipping down the lobby holding hands! Everyone in the lobby was visibly upset. I was embarrassed at the way these " professionals " were acting! ( They were just as bad downstairs in the crew room.) It seemed to me that the crews from the other airlines were laughing at them for their behavior.
What is wrong with us? Do we have any pride?
Now I am sure that there will be criticism of my comments. I will chalk that up to too much wine and an inability to articulate my position accurately. But I have just finished re-reading Fate Is The Hunter, and feeling a bit disgusted as to what our profession has become.
I apologize if I have offended anyone, but I just needed to vent.

You don't owe an aplogy to anyone. In fact, you're absolutely correct. Part of the reason our profession is in the schitter is because WE DON'T RESPECT OURSELVES ENOUGH. We want to be treated and compensated like professionals, but yet we've got pilots wearing black sneakers, or black work boots with their uniforms, shirts untucked, pants that are 10 years old and faded to hell, shirts that are yellow instead of white, well you get the picture.

It drives me up the frickin' wall to see pilots and F/As looking and/or acting like trash. Disgusting.

Nevermind..........

And to think, if it weren't for the parents/grandparents of the "friendly" FA crew, the JAL crew would be speaking Chinese.

I'm totally confused. Why would a JAL crew be speaking Chinese?

Double you Double you two.

I think you mean the other way around.

the OP is 100% correct... for the most part, we're a disgrace compared to others I see around the world...

It is no excuse, but from what I have seen everyone starts out with a great attitude at the beginning of their airline career, but after years of low pay, a bad economy, almost no movement, and just endless bad news that lowers moral, many just stop caring about their profession. Again, that is not an excuse, but some reasons behind it.

I was just reflecting on my crew and a particular FA who has for three days straight, spent the entire boarding process with her back to the passengers as she texted. She then repeats the process while we deplane. It is embarrassing that she is the first and last crewmember passengers see.

Foreign carriers have always held customer service to a much higher level than US carriers ever have. Look at any foreign carriers real First Class service compared to the US. If I'm not mistaken, foreign countries don't have discrimination laws , so they can hire and fire who they want when they want with no recourse of being sued if an employee doesn't meet their standards..