In the near future, American Airlines passengers may notice a subtle change to when crews prepare the cabin for landing, and it has some implications for passengers, as flagged by PYOK.
Continue reading: American Airlines Flight Attendants Will Start Preparing For Landing Earlier
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I’ve been noticing a lot of crew start preparing as soon as the captain makes the announcement that they’ve started any descent. I find it very annoying because I don’t want to give up my drinks or put away my laptop.
Less work, more time to gossip.
On long haul flight in premium cabins, breakfast service will now start 20 minutes after the dinner service finishes.
They already use the fake turbulence excuse when they can’t be bothered with service, so this just gives them another reason to spend more time sat down on their phones
"Prepare for landing" as soon as reach cruise altitude . Too late for drinks or meals . Ha .
"I’d be curious to know what the total number of injuries among flight attendants during the descent phase is, and how many of those are considered serious."
How many in the last year? I bet it's been zero.
Increase it I would think. Less time for a customer to have the gall to ask for something if they're winding down the in flight service 8000ft earlier
But AFCM, Walter Mitty Dunn (as far as I can recall) has failed to mention this fact …. is the poor darlink asleep on the job do you think? 🙂
The question is Dave, a drink followed by a very rapid decent, alternatively, no drink followed by a normal decent?
as previously noted, DL changed its service on shorthaul flights in line with the fact that most US airlines are now preparing the cabin at 18K feet
Other airlines aren't telling you that their service will be reduced but it will.
I don't care if they use turbulence as a excuse for less service, I'm so tired of having a little turbulence, see the seat belt light go on, and have it lit for 45 minutes of clear flying after. This seems more frequent with US carriers. Please stop this garbage.
A little late to the party Walter, however, Ben will appreciate your click. The rest of us will give thanks for your minor contribution to future flight reviews which your clicks bring.
So, remind me Walter …. where is your chosen location for our forthcoming heart to heart?
Yeah this is terrible. Frequently, I hear the captain mention at takeoff. "I expect turbulence, so i'm going ask the flight crew to stay in their seats longer" and of course, there's no significant turbulence 9 out 10 times, so it just translates to less service. Now they're actually institutionalizing it as part of the landing process. Ridiculous!
Anyone who thinks this change is actually “safety” related doesn’t know how unions work
thank you for acknowledging that you haven't been reading what matters for the past 9 months while you have been fixating on me.
guest account my backside
United has been doing it, as well. Not sure if it's at 18k, but it was a policy change to do it sooner than the 10k chime. On a few of my flights, they started cabin prep (seats upright, carryons stowed, etc) 30 minutes before ETA.
@ Tim Dunn -- We're waiting to learn which EWR-LAX frequencies UA operates with 737-900ERs, please!! These are the important details!
So by now we should have 2 years worth of data from Southwest regarding this practice.... I'd love to see the stats...
There should be absolutely no excuse to not offering at least a limited express beverage on all but the very shortest flights, unlike what DL has just done.
Just like greenwashing, another excuse to primarily save $$$ be it in catering & OJI payouts ...Expect more enshitification as the fuel costs bite even longer ...
What a joke. I remember flying in the 70's when they prepared the last ten minutes. I can put my tray table up, my seat up, and my lap top away in a minute, and without endangering anyone. You could even order a drink back then the last half hour.
Yeah. Also, flying extensively in Europe and the US, I noticed that European airlines tend to turn off the seatbelt sign shortly after take off, while on Delta and other US carriers it tends to be on forever… Are US skies so turbulent compared to Europe? Or is it lazy flight attendants who just want to sit in the galley and chitchat?
Interesting that Ben uses the phrase "passengers store their belongings." What I always hear is "stow" -- just another nautical term adapted to aviation. People who grew up around or associate with adults with non-rhotic accents, are probably more likely to hear "store."
US aviation is such a joke. Reducing service but calling it safety. What a race to the bottom. Every US mainline airline is essentially a European discount carrier now. Surprised there’s not a fee to use the toilets yet.
Obfuscation is your only defence against the truth Walter. Trust me, there are too many who comment about your incompetence or lack of integrity when it comes to actually offering a straight answer to a straight question.
Your “Backside” holds no interest to me or anyone else as far as I am aware. What “Guest account” has to do with my repeated question is just another one of your silly side stepping statements.
You are unwilling to disclose your aviation background, yet you post: “You wanna know my credentials? jet in for a visit w/ your passport in tow”.
I am willing to comply and have repeatedly requested further information, yet in all instances when clarification is requested (on any subject matter) you slip away like a thief in the night.
I put it to you the login ‘Tim Dunn’, that you are nothing less than a Walter Mitty character who has no more true aviation experience than your dear leader Donald ‘rump!
It’s that Merriam Webster dictionary to blame Ross. Corruption of the English language became an obsession in the colonies …. 🙂
you do realize there are plenty of flights on other airlines including WN where the FAs do not attempt a beverage service.
DL is just setting the expectation
These comments—yea, there was a ton of service occurring in descent. I don't think most will notice any change. It would be interesting to know what the policies are on other airlines. Last point, note the change is coming from the company; the APFA (union) is alerting them to the new guidelines.
You are much more likely to encounter moderate or greater turbulence above FL180 than you are below it. Rather than have a hard and fast rule give the crew some latitude based on anticipated conditions while using 10,000ft as the maximum altitude to prepare for landing.
The policy is coming from management. The pilots control de seatbelt sign, not the flight attendants. Pilots are held accountable for the safety of the crew and passengers. They are the ones who cover themselves from having many injuries in their record.
Carts in the aisle are 300 pounds heavy , with hot beverages on top.
As mentioned on the post. This will affect four to eight minutes of the flight. It is not that tragic.
They use data from previous aircraft and weather information. Turbulences are serious , and someone ending up on the ceiling has happen.