Cabin Service - Miami
- Thread starter MiAAmi
- Start date
Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
MiAAmi said:
Do AA employees do thru cleanings or is it outsourced? In SAN AA employees do the cleaning and I have not heard any complaints. However, on nights an outsource outfit cleans our cabins and they clean them pretty well. The only problem we have with them is when they try to turn on galley power in the cockpit or hook up external power without asking an AMT first.
jimntx
Veteran
My guess is that you might hear a similar complaint about all the hub stations except maybe STL. At ORD one day the guys that came on to clean announced loudly that they were going to clean F/C only and if we wanted coach cleaned, we would have to do it ourselves. I called the gate and let them know what was going on because when we got on, the plane had been trashed throughout--those high-class customers we are transporting for rockbottom fares, don't you know. Ended up 2 supervisors came down and cleaned the coach cabin.
At LGA I noticed the cleaners' new idea of blanket folding is roll it up in a ball and throw it in the overhead bin.
The guys who clean the cabins at STL where I am based are still pretty good, but because of the cutbacks, they don't have time to really clean like they did when I was first recalled last November.
At DFW, if something is missing from your a/c that is not a no go item--for instance, the SOS kit--it is highly unlikely you will get it before departure no matter how early you call.
At LGA I noticed the cleaners' new idea of blanket folding is roll it up in a ball and throw it in the overhead bin.
The guys who clean the cabins at STL where I am based are still pretty good, but because of the cutbacks, they don't have time to really clean like they did when I was first recalled last November.
At DFW, if something is missing from your a/c that is not a no go item--for instance, the SOS kit--it is highly unlikely you will get it before departure no matter how early you call.
MiAAmi said:
Well that's interesting because the compAAny swore under oath before the NMB to stop a representational election that Miami has over 500 cabin cleaners for days and afternoons. They didn't lie or did they. :mf_boff:
In miami don't expect the lavs to be stocked or the floors to be cleaned or really any supplies to be stocked. A week ago I asked the Crew Chief for supplies but he was too busy smoking outside on the jetbridge stairs. I don't know how many times I've boarded an a/c and the cleaning crew was watching a movie then moved to another a/c once the crew got on to finish the movie on another empty plane. The planes are a wreck when they leave miami and I guess management could care less because I have written this up for months.
TIME FOR CHANGE
Veteran
Well there is American Airlines and then there is American airlines Miami style. You can figure out the rest. 
WingNaPrayer
Veteran
It's just a given that the planes going through Miami are filthy, period. Most passengers are used to it, the Plats certainly are.
Depeaking has taken away a lot of the cleaning time. What really gets me is when I know I'm getting on a kick off flight, first one of the day and the plane that has been sitting there all night looks like a tornado just went through it.
Passengers just have to face it now, cheap fares means dumpy aircraft - it isn't any different than taking a bus. Anyone ever get on a city bus that looked like it had been cleaned in the past month?
The running joke about AA is that aircraft maintenance now consists of a few old farts with a roll of duct tape, you see of lot of duct tape on AA tin these days.
Depeaking has taken away a lot of the cleaning time. What really gets me is when I know I'm getting on a kick off flight, first one of the day and the plane that has been sitting there all night looks like a tornado just went through it.
Passengers just have to face it now, cheap fares means dumpy aircraft - it isn't any different than taking a bus. Anyone ever get on a city bus that looked like it had been cleaned in the past month?
The running joke about AA is that aircraft maintenance now consists of a few old farts with a roll of duct tape, you see of lot of duct tape on AA tin these days.
Here at DFW the line FSC's working on the gates clean the cabins on thru or turn flights. Cabin service only cleans internationals and widebodies plus SJU 757's. All overnite cabin is outsourced at DFW. We simply don't have the time to do a good job, plus we have to perform security checks on all international inbounds and outbounds. Last night we were doing a clean/security check on a 757 and about half way through looked up and saw passangers boarding. I heard that is a big fine if caught doing that?? They have the agents and csm's so scared of getting a delay they start boarding while were still cleaning, so we have no choice but to get off the plane asap. There is nothing I hate more then a csm following me up and down the cabin asking me every 2 minutes "Are you done yet", Are you done yet" I really need to board, were oversold and I can't afford another delay in this zone tonight. When you have a fully loaded 757 from MCO on a saturday afternoon with 40-50 kids onboard, it's going to take a while to pick up the countless M&M and bubblegum wrappers, which seem to get shredded into a million pieces and stuffed into the seatback pockets. My guess is that managment isn't too worried about cabin apperance anymore, they want us to just throw the blankets up in the bins without folding them.
jimntx
Veteran
Don't think I don't agree that the ramp and cabin service are understaffed these days. There is a certain amount of attitude adjustment that could take place, though.
The day that the ORD guys announced that they were only going to clean f/c and that we (the f/as) would have to clean coach if we wanted it cleaned, I told the supervisor who ended up cleaning coach that if the guys had said "Look, we're really understaffed today. Could you give us a hand with the cleaning?", I would not have hesitated to pitch in.
Same at any station. But for a long time, if a f/a picked up so much as a gum wrapper off the floor, we would get yelled at and accused of taking jobs away from the ramp. Or worse, the crew would walk off the plane. Can't have it both ways.
The day that the ORD guys announced that they were only going to clean f/c and that we (the f/as) would have to clean coach if we wanted it cleaned, I told the supervisor who ended up cleaning coach that if the guys had said "Look, we're really understaffed today. Could you give us a hand with the cleaning?", I would not have hesitated to pitch in.
Same at any station. But for a long time, if a f/a picked up so much as a gum wrapper off the floor, we would get yelled at and accused of taking jobs away from the ramp. Or worse, the crew would walk off the plane. Can't have it both ways.
TIME FOR CHANGE
Veteran
It is part of the equation
less mechanics equals more duct tape.
Or is it more concessions more duct tape.
Or old fart doesnt really care anymore just passing the time until he retires 😛
TIME FOR CHANGE
Veteran
Sounds great when are these rampers or flight crew going to help me find that duct leak in that Airbus Pack Bay :blink:
Better yet I'll just get one of those old farts to put some duct tape on it
Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
jimntx said:
This is all part of AA's "risk management" mentality. We see it every day in Maintenence. If two AMTs are scheduled to work Days and one calls in sick, no problem. They don't hold o/t because they just roll the dice and hope an a/c will not crap itself and need two AMTs to repair it. Not till the odds catch up with AA will they do what is needed. Just like with Cabin Service it is a form of "risk management". The company could care less about the interiors on other than international flights. They will wait till it becomes an issue of their corporate identity being identified as one of lousy, filthy a/c.
The company has manufactured an environment where the employees have conflicting emotions which further erode morale. The f/a and Cabin Cleaners are both there to perform a job function but because of staffing can not achieve their goals. So, does the Cabin Cleaner tell the agent to hold off boarding so a presentable product is ready but take the delay? Or does the f/a perform another groups job function and create further turmoil? Does AArpey or any of the other top executives who were going to be taken care of when cAArty had his hand in the cookie jar give a rats tail about this? No! If they did they would ensure the a/c are cleaned just like the international flights are.
StraaightTaalk
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Cabin Service seems to be doing less and less nowadays. Replenishing does NOT mean dumping a plastic bag full of styrofoam cups on the galley counter.
Sooner or later, the company is going to realize that, if Cabin Service is going to do a crappy job, they might as well pay LESS to outsourced workers who will do an equally crappy job, but at least it will be no worse than what our own employees did.
Sooner or later, the company is going to realize that, if Cabin Service is going to do a crappy job, they might as well pay LESS to outsourced workers who will do an equally crappy job, but at least it will be no worse than what our own employees did.
It is the International Flights that are going out not stocked and dirty. For that matter the MIA-CDG flight divirted to JFK a few weeks back because someone didn't service the water. They thought they might have a leak since only 1/4 across the atlantic they were already out of water. I know this is not a cabin service issue but its just the mess thats going on in MIAMI. Its not just because they are understaffed . The Crew Chief smoking outside on the jetbridge doesn't help either. International flights go out all the time without supplies, dirty seats, traytables, floors etc. When I call for headsets or soap and towls for the F/C lavatory it rarely gets suppied. We know why you fly???????
