Cabin Service: The Ins & Outs of the Aisle

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Flight Attendant | 6 comments

TweetShare

When buying your airline ticket how much thought goes into the type of service you’re going to receive once you get onboard?

Many people book tickets with a particular airline because their company books it for them or they have a good loyalty program, but does anyone book tickets for an airline based on service?

I only pose this question because I’ve been hearing that statement a lot lately:

I’m usually a United (or American) flier but I book on you on now on this route because of the service. You don’t get service like this at the legacy airlines.

While thats comforting to hear, positive for job security, it also makes me wonder what’s different?

The legacy product is simple, you know what you were getting. A safe flight from point A to point B, a crappy new-er movie which required the purchase of “special” $5 headphones, and the lottery chance of buying an onboard meal. Most legacy airlines outsource their onboard catering items to LSG SkyChefs (or a similar company), who, for fear of losing money on a flight only boards a select quantity of meals per airplane. On a typical 150-or-so seat aircraft procedure usually is to start 3 rows away from the bulkhead and go through the cabin with an initial beverage service. One flight attendant would work toward the cart while the other worked away- usually 3 rows a piece then would move the cart back 6 rows to repeat the process. Following the beverage service is when it usually gets interesting.

The next sequence in service is usually the food cart, as the food cart enters the aisle people suddenly wake up from their REM sleep, books would close, eye masks and ear plugs come off and all of a sudden everyone is hungry. Great, since there is about 50 total meals for 150 people on a 4.5 hour flight. Most airlines start the front of the main cabin and scream through the aisle “Anything to eat? Would you like something to eat?” It should go without saying that of course you should listen to the informational PA that was made prior to the food cart’s grand appearance explaining the items available and you don’t ask the flight attendant when they get to you “what do you have?” because you know the flight attendants are so old (yes, older than your grandparents) that they don’t remember either or they’re going to walk right past you.

All of a sudden by row 15, you notice the cart speed up and head to the back as everyone waves money in the air and the flight attendant gives you that “I’ll be right back” look coupled with the “we’re sold out” remark. The only other time you would see a flight attendant in the aisle was to collect your trash or for the last beverage service 2 hours outside of your destination, which by then, there was no ice left, so the cart moved by rather quickly. The rest of the time, they’re in the back with the curtain closed.

Newer hybrid legacy-lowcost carriers (those that offer a first class or premium product) are developing ways to enhance the service and experience you have onboard. One in particular has the flight attendants do an initial beverage service with a cart and once it reaches the galley, its never to be seen again. The remainder of the service is done through a touch screen television at your seat. You have the ability to order food and additional drinks from your seat at any time [except for critical phases of flight and extreme turbulence] allowing everyone a fair shot to obtain something to eat. You’re able to view the menu, read a description of the item and order the product all at once.  You only have to face the flight attendants for delivery of your ordered items, trash collection, and compliance checks. Since this cuts down on the interaction between the flight attendants and you, they are generally happier and more fun as there isn’t many complaints coming in and you are left to enjoy your flight watching TV.

Other lower-cost carriers don’t use the cart at all, they do a tray service and hand deliver each and every drink. This model works well in a full “coach” class cabin, divided out among the flight attendants into sections. Each flight attendant is then responsible for the passengers in their designated zone. When this model is in place, its rare that the airline would offer a true meal option, most offer an unlimited amount of snacks such as cookies, pretzles, peanuts, biscotti, crackers, etc. This eliminates pressure on the flight attendants of running out of fresh food and being stuck with 20-30 or so passengers who have some sort of disease the CDC hasn’t even heard of and require food immediatly.

One big issue that affects service across the industry though is problem resolution. All airlines proclaim ‘customer service’ but does it happen onboard?

If a drink is spilled on you, you dislike a purchase you made, there is a seating problem or an issue with another passenger does it get resolved?

The legacy’s would probably tell you to contact customer relations for your disliked purchase and tell you “the phone number is on the back of your boarding pass” [circa US Airways], and to “talk to the other people around you about moving your seat, we can’t do anything about it.”

Some low-cost carriers would try to assist you the best they could. If the issue can’t be resolved they will then tell you to pass it along to customer relations. There shouldn’t be a disliked purchase in this situation either, there was nothing to buy and if there was, it was probably a pillow and a blanket.

And at the newer hybrid airlines, the employees are empowered to make the experience better for the passenger in anyway possible. Flight attendants can issue refunds, handle money for dry cleaning, re-seat passengers and even offer you a credit toward a future flight, right on board the aircraft.

I can see why people would choose to fly a specific airline based upon onboard product and experience. You can either have a safe, comfortable, pain-free experience or you can have a safe, uncomfortable on an old airplane, ran-out-of-food experience in which you received no answers to your questions and concerns.

However, the draw of loyalty programs is a big one. If you can get more ‘bang’ for your buck and earn something in return for the few hundred dollars you paid for a plane ticket, is it worth the sometimes painful experiences?

Some would say so.

Airlines also seem to create cult followings. Some people rave about open seating and free snacks others rave about free TV and extra legroom. I guess real research would have to be done to see if those people in the ‘cult’ bring in the same amount of return passengers as mileage programs do.

So in closing, yes, I think people do buy tickets based on onboard service. However, I also think people are seeking more for their money now a days and if that means booking a seat on the airline they have the most miles with, so be it. The make-up of a modern day airline traveler is something worth studying.

TweetShare