I came across a video on Instagram that has been viewed tens of millions of times. At first, I was confused how this was even interesting, but then I quickly figured out what was going on here (though it’s not entirely clear to me if the passenger even realizes it?).
In this post:
Flight attendant asks passengers a smart question
A couple of days ago, a social media user with hundreds of thousands of followers took a video while he was boarding an American Airlines flight. He was traveling with his wife, who was walking in front of him onto the plane.
I’m not sure what his purpose even was with taking the video, but two flight attendants can be seen standing at the door (more on that in a bit). The one flight attendant can be seen mouthing “hi, how are you?” to the man.
The flight attendant then notices the man recording in front of him, seemingly capturing the backside of the woman. So the flight attendant then asks the woman “are you two traveling together?” When she confirms that they are, the flight attendant says “I was going to say, cause it’s just, it’s either you’re traveling together, or you’re randomly wearing pretty similar outfits.”
If you watch the video quickly, you might assume it’s just random small talk, but it’s pretty clear that there’s more going on than that. The flight attendant registers that he’s filming the woman in front of him, so her way of analyzing the situation is to ask if they’re traveling together. Kudos to her for being quick on her feet.
I do have one issue with the crew in the video
The above isn’t the only thing that stands out to me about the video, though. Let me first say that passengers shouldn’t record videos in this way, because American has a policy against recording employees without their consent, and this video pretty clearly captures the two flight attendants in a way that’s not really just passive.
That being said, can I just point out how wild the contrast is between how you’re greeted on some US carriers, vs. on most foreign carriers? There are simply no standards. At most foreign airlines, flight attendants stand at the door in a specific way, with good posture, greeting each passenger with a smile.
Here you have the one flight attendant standing there with her Starbucks drink in one hand, and her other hand in her pocket. Meanwhile the male flight attendant is basically reclined, couldn’t have an unhappier look on his face, is playing with his nails, and looks like he’s judging the hell out of people boarding.
I’m not someone who expects service on US carriers to be like how it is on Emirates or Singapore Airlines. But first impressions matter a lot, and seriously, does anything about this give off a good first impression to passengers? I can’t imagine going to any sort of business and not finding this off-putting.
To be clear, the focus on this video is the flight attendant’s excellent job trying to identify a possible problem passenger, but I find their general galley setup and vibe to be so common at American, and it’s just a perfect reflection of the company’s lack of customer service culture. There are also lots of friendly flight attendants at American who do an amazing job greeting passengers, but I find the above to be more common than it should be.
Bottom line
For whatever reason, an American Airlines passenger was taking a video while boarding a flight, seemingly recording the backside of the passenger in front of him. Fortunately it was his wife, but the flight attendant wanted to make sure. So she subtly asked them if they were traveling together based on their outfits, and I commend her for how she approached that.
What I have less appreciation for is their general approach to greeting passengers, which is all too common on the airline.
What do you make of this American boarding interaction?
Yeah super smart.. 'why are you filming your freakin PARTNERs backside'? how dare him!... they are even dressed alike, what an insufferable Karen. Sadly the hispanic missed the opportunity to hit her with their same medicine: 'Are you profiling me for my race? are you that racist?'
She needs to be serving not drinking, coffee.
She should be serving pre departure beverages.
"I’m not someone who expects service on US carriers to be like how it is on Emirates or Singapore Airlines."
Such a sad testament to the state of airlines in the US and emblematic of how quickly the culture is devolving into third-world status.
One SHOULD expect service on any carrier to be like how it is on Emirates or Singapore, or any other carrier. Sadly, people value money more than decent or even...
"I’m not someone who expects service on US carriers to be like how it is on Emirates or Singapore Airlines."
Such a sad testament to the state of airlines in the US and emblematic of how quickly the culture is devolving into third-world status.
One SHOULD expect service on any carrier to be like how it is on Emirates or Singapore, or any other carrier. Sadly, people value money more than decent or even humane treatment and are willing to lower personal standards for the sake of a cheap fare 'just to get there'. In part, by continuing to purchase tickets on airlines with poor service, people allow themselves to continue experiencing a continuing degradation of service.
I know it's on another thread, but Spirit should not exist. They 'serve' nobody.
I don’t have much of an issue with the female FA holding her coffee while greeting passangers. She seemed nice enough and welcome enough, and kudus on noticing a potential creepy situation. Culture plays a role in most settings. When you walk into a diner in Philadelphia you don’t expect the same welcome as a bar in Tokyo. A French restaurant in Sydney will have a very different vibe than one in Paris. It’s all...
I don’t have much of an issue with the female FA holding her coffee while greeting passangers. She seemed nice enough and welcome enough, and kudus on noticing a potential creepy situation. Culture plays a role in most settings. When you walk into a diner in Philadelphia you don’t expect the same welcome as a bar in Tokyo. A French restaurant in Sydney will have a very different vibe than one in Paris. It’s all good. She wasn’t rude. She wasn’t nasty. She fit what I would call casual American hospitality.
The male FA in the background though- I’d classify him as borderline rude with his “I hate people and detest my job” body langaiage
These FAs did a better job than an SNL skit of making FAs look unprofessional.
The female AA flight attendant was observant and did a good job verifying the passengers boarding were together. With her Starbucks coffee and posture, she was rocking that "American casual" vibe, lol. And looked good while doing it, I might add.
The male flight attendant back in the galley had that "I hate this job and am seriously constipated" (or perhaps it was just an "IDGAF") look, lol.
I very much doubt that verifying if “the passengers were boarding together” is in her job description or AA manual. Never seen it in 40 years of flying.
There is a lot to the job that is not apparent. I was flying economy, back of the plane on DL with a kind of jumpy want to be rapper nearby. A very senior citizen flight attendant made me aware that they had plans ready to move if the "jumpy" became problematic.
I don’t see how anyone can expect chipper greetings from anyone who spends every day dealing with American travelers. And honestly, I really couldn’t care less. It’s not like they are being actively unpleasant.
You thought that was a professional comment from the female FA? You thought that was a professional body posture from the male FA? Crews are not paying travelers to fly. Passengers therefore have no obligation to be nice to staff. The requirement is one way only. People who willing choose to go into a line of business dealing with the public cannot use the public as an excuse not to do their jobs well.
No, you don’t get to treat other people like shit just because you paid their employer some money. People like you are the reason service sucks in America.
To be honest... DL, UA have the same disorganized galley and at least two more people around organizing things, like organizing home at the very last minute...but that it is most common on narro body aircraft where the starboard door is the 1R just direct to the front galley. Wide body usually is the 2R that goes into an "alley" that is mostly organized. Remember that there is not much time between flights to have...
To be honest... DL, UA have the same disorganized galley and at least two more people around organizing things, like organizing home at the very last minute...but that it is most common on narro body aircraft where the starboard door is the 1R just direct to the front galley. Wide body usually is the 2R that goes into an "alley" that is mostly organized. Remember that there is not much time between flights to have things organized on time before boarding, especially for pre-board and Elites. This is not s problem of AA, this a problem with every airliner even with the most "prestigious" like SQ, EK, EK narrow body aircrafts.
Context is important here. At first looking at the still frame I got the same unprofessional impression as other commenters. However when I saw the video, the female flight attendant is clearly assessing the situation so good on her. The male flight attendant could appear friendlier but in fairness what would your captured facial expression be in the moment if you saw a passenger come on board filming the backside of a female passenger? What's your best wtf face?
The idea that my father would have videoed my mother while boarding a plane, back side/front side would have been bizarre and weird.
She does have a nice "backside". I'd film it too
Keep in mind, these 2 flight attendants probably make more money than FA's from JAL, Singapore and Etihad. Better benefits too. Still don't get more hospitality or a better attitude as a passenger. Joke.
THIS!
Sorry but this is not her job. She should settle down.
WTF @Icarus? It's not her problem? If this guy was a creep - filming strangers during boarding - he would have likely been a problem during the flight. This actually IS the FA doing her safety job.
Piss off.
John Maxtone Graham, who was the aficionado on ships, wrote that during the age of transatlantic crossings, the biggest complaint people had was that Americans were terrible at passenger service. As a result, the United States Line and other U.S. carriers didn’t rely on Americans as stewards. Nothing has changed.
I think you’re being overly critical. You can clearly see the flight attendant greeted the woman ahead of him and the man behind her obviously has a camera pointed towards her so she might have better things to worry about split second than greeting him. So their posture could be a little better and maybe the male flight attendant could have said hi too but really you’re over analyzing the situation and likely drawing negative...
I think you’re being overly critical. You can clearly see the flight attendant greeted the woman ahead of him and the man behind her obviously has a camera pointed towards her so she might have better things to worry about split second than greeting him. So their posture could be a little better and maybe the male flight attendant could have said hi too but really you’re over analyzing the situation and likely drawing negative attention from the airline to these two flight attendants who essentially were doing nothing wrong.
If we’re going to expect flight attendants to be policing passengers attire and behavior, we probably should further train them for that, oh, and please pay them more. Safety. Comfort. Settling disputes. Hazard pay. C’mon.
They're trained to spot human trafficking. It's been that way for a long time now. Nothing new.
And now you've s*xualized the lady more than a single creep (who WANSN'T ONE!, but the *husband* of all people!) ever could.
Congrats if the absolutely (A)American lack of self respect and disdain for your job, or anything other than trying to act like the Social Justice Team America World Police is the "only" thing you see wrong in all this.
Why are you censoring sexualised? It's a legitimate word ffs.
I assume that P.A. thought their comment might be blocked by censorship of some kind if they spelled out the word.
It ostensibly seems people incessantly cry about everything these days. I travel economy domestically = AA/AS and fly CX/JL/QR in business when I travel internationally. Intra-Asia, I've flown a bunch of carriers - Batik, Lion Air, AirAsia X, Thai etc. and those are in economy. To be honest, I'm happy with both ways. The "laid back" approach and the "professional" approach. As long as I'm treated decently (proper service, etc) and respectfully then I really...
It ostensibly seems people incessantly cry about everything these days. I travel economy domestically = AA/AS and fly CX/JL/QR in business when I travel internationally. Intra-Asia, I've flown a bunch of carriers - Batik, Lion Air, AirAsia X, Thai etc. and those are in economy. To be honest, I'm happy with both ways. The "laid back" approach and the "professional" approach. As long as I'm treated decently (proper service, etc) and respectfully then I really don't care which approach the FAs take.
Life is too short to be crying and whining about everything all the time.
I am on a tour of Asia and have flown EVA, Starlux, Malaysia, Singapore and Cathay. I have not seen any FA chatting, gossiping, eating, drinking, or leaning against anything. Whenever they are onboard they are WORKING. These two should go and check to see if the lavatories need cleaning.
100%. Whereas the last time I flew back from Asia on a US airline (in "Delta One," what a joke of a name), the FAs were gossiping so loud throughout the flight that I couldn't even sleep.
Those 2 FA's are so unprofessional! Just look at them! Then again, what can I expect from AA and/or the 'Murican airline industry...
I think that her asking is a normal question for the situation.
Sad that there are no standards for greeting. When did professionalism and pride in your work vanish?
Both of these flight attendants would be fired without question at any airline with a modicum of self respect. What unprofessional comportment!
That entire scene defines perfectly the FA culture in the U.S. I have no words.
Plz remember every AA FA is way above and beyond in importance and the passengers are mere common folk that should bask in said FA'S graces...
In theory, the FA may be still on her time off/coffee break She hasn't started being paid for her job yet...
….and whatever you do, DON’T hit your call button!
Reminds me of one time when I was first to board a KLM flight and there's been some miscommunication between the gate and the crew because clearly they didn't expect passengers. I walked on two cabin crew sitting in J eating some snacks and chatting, noticing the horror in their eyes as they saw me, followed by them quickly leaving the seats, trying to quickly find a place to put their food in and get...
Reminds me of one time when I was first to board a KLM flight and there's been some miscommunication between the gate and the crew because clearly they didn't expect passengers. I walked on two cabin crew sitting in J eating some snacks and chatting, noticing the horror in their eyes as they saw me, followed by them quickly leaving the seats, trying to quickly find a place to put their food in and get into the position, while simultaneously swallowing the food in their mouth so they can greet me. Obviously no harm done and not a case of unprofessionalism (if anything, they were super quick to fix it), they just weren't aware we were being boarded already. I found it quite funny and we had a good laugh about it.
One drinking coffee, the other.....well....it looks like the counter is holding him up. The fact that both are so brazen speaks volumes about AA's absolute lack of accountability. Some will say that it's no big deal but it absolutely is. AA really needs to start a comprehensive monitoring program and behavior like this should warrant at minimum a suspension. It displays a complete lact of respect for the customer.
That male crew member looks like a nightmare
It looks like he’s planning to make it his business for everyone on that aircraft to have a miserable flight. These days cameras are so ubiquitous that it’s best to assume you’re being recorded anywhere outside your own home or hotel room. If you’re on duty, in company uniform, then you should be even more conscious of being caught out in slovenly and/or unprofessional behaviour.
As the saying goes, if employers pretend to pay people for their work, people will eventually pretend to work for their pay.
There is a clear difference between how U.S. airlines and international airlines pay flight attendants. In the U.S., most flight attendants are paid only from the time the aircraft doors close until they open again. This means important work like preflight checks, boarding passengers, and long ground delays is often unpaid.
In many...
As the saying goes, if employers pretend to pay people for their work, people will eventually pretend to work for their pay.
There is a clear difference between how U.S. airlines and international airlines pay flight attendants. In the U.S., most flight attendants are paid only from the time the aircraft doors close until they open again. This means important work like preflight checks, boarding passengers, and long ground delays is often unpaid.
In many other countries, flight attendants are paid from the moment they report for duty. Their job starts on the ground, and their pay reflects that. This shows more respect for the full range of work they do.
When workers are not fully paid for their time, it can affect how seriously they treat the job. Low pay for real work leads to low motivation.
You have a point. If crews are required to be in uniform at the airport by a certain time to have their first pre-flight briefing of the day, they should be paid from the time that briefing is scheduled to start. Likewise they should be paid until they leave the airport after the last sector of the day. Not paying employees for every minute they’re expected to spend on the job is simply unfair.
But I think US FAs get paid significantly more per hour that is payable?
Was the "paying from doors closed" originally a management attempt to motivate FAs to push for quick boarding, or something else?
U.S. carriers only recently have been negotiating for pay during boarding, because older union members used to request higher hourly pay during time in the air, in LIEU of it (because the senior crew bid for longer but less total flight legs per day, meaning they spent a smaller percentage of their total work time on the ground than rookies & that arrangement benefits those with seniority more). Those without much seniority and lower hourly...
U.S. carriers only recently have been negotiating for pay during boarding, because older union members used to request higher hourly pay during time in the air, in LIEU of it (because the senior crew bid for longer but less total flight legs per day, meaning they spent a smaller percentage of their total work time on the ground than rookies & that arrangement benefits those with seniority more). Those without much seniority and lower hourly wage rates were especially hurt in comparison to their fellow experienced co-workers.
Without a doubt US airlines aren't on par with Asia in regards to service however AA is in a class of it's own. I'm usually greeted when I board and FAs are generally friendly.
IMO they are a step above Latin American airlines. But all AA FAs appear to be off their meds, at best disinterested and lazy at worst downright nasty. Good loyalty program tho
But then again, US pilots and aviation safety is on another level above the rest of the world. I should know I used to work in aviation safety. You would be horrified if you knew what goes on with some international airlines.
Yes, good on her for spotting the issue, and also: both of these crew members’ behaviour otherwise is an almost cartoonish caricature of terrible (A)American service. Forget what they think about the pax — this behaviour shows absolutely zero self-respect for themselves and what they do when this is how they present themselves professionally. If you’re that unhappy, find a new job.
I don’t know of any carriers that would allow their crew to be leaning against a bulkhead/wall sipping on a cup of takeaway coffee at a door like that …and as far as that male F/A ….the disdain in the facial expression is so disgusting
Jetblue - BlueHouse, looks amazing! A new era of lounges.