Pilot/FA fight diverts UA Flt.

[nbmcg01]

so glad i'm not there anymore...i got out while the gettin was good and have never looked back...except for the occasional online gossip...

sounds like the airline has sunk to impossible lows...the taylor guitar, this thread's subject...i'll be surprised if they survive at all for the long term...

i've been gone for 2 years...i pay to fly now...never use my passes...don't wanna go near that outfit...sorry for all my friends that're still there and have to put up with the constant demoralization of this company

Ouch.. I'm former a PanAM,TWA,and retired AA f/a. I also never use my passes but not for your reason. Full loads! I have had great flights on United and have never been treated with anything but kindness and respect. Same with AA and SW. In this day and age of entitlement, many have forgotten that an airline's job is to get you safely from point A to point B. Everything else is gravy.

I think we have all (after 35 years of flying now 40 with retirement) seen issues on both sides of the flight deck door BUT this (if all reported is accurate) probably takes the cake. I know this has given many of us (on private bbs) much to reminisce about our "favorite" pilots, past and present.

 

[JS]

I'm not buying the story as written by a UA F/A. The F/A's on this thread are piling on with a mob mentality and I'm not buying that either.

In my experience (just my opinion), UA captains have been nothing but professional. I've gotten hand-written thank-you notes from the Captain for being a Premier Executive. On one flight where security boarded the aircraft to remove someone who had carried a small knife on board, after he was whisked away and we waited for paperwork, the pilot apologized to the passengers over the PA for the delay and suggested that if you are going to bring a knife on board, please don't show it off to us (seriously, the passenger was that dumb). They have common sense and are professional. That was the only thing I missed about dropping UA as my preferred airline.

The other UA employees, on the other hand, especially the flight attendants, are what drove me away. They are rude, ignore paying customers to chat with fellow F/A's (hence the comment "As a F/A from another airline flying for free on UA, I always get treated great by UA F/A's"), and come down on passengers like a ton of bricks because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I sat next to someone who was berated by a UA F/A for violating the no-cell-phones policy with the comment "Are you trying to crash the plane?" They have left the lights on at night because it made it easier for them to do the service (I guess WN and DL F/A's have night vision goggles?) Then there's the legendary prison matrons on the trans-Pacific flights, taking unprofessional coke-slinging to a new level.

It may be the case that this diverted flight is the captain's fault. But these are my observations of how drastically different the pilots and flight attendants at UA are.

 

[HottootrotNyc]

I'm not buying the story as written by a UA F/A. The F/A's on this thread are piling on with a mob mentality and I'm not buying that either.

In my experience (just my opinion), UA captains have been nothing but professional. I've gotten hand-written thank-you notes from the Captain for being a Premier Executive. On one flight where security boarded the aircraft to remove someone who had carried a small knife on board, after he was whisked away and we waited for paperwork, the pilot apologized to the passengers over the PA for the delay and suggested that if you are going to bring a knife on board, please don't show it off to us (seriously, the passenger was that dumb). They have common sense and are professional. That was the only thing I missed about dropping UA as my preferred airline.

The other UA employees, on the other hand, especially the flight attendants, are what drove me away. They are rude, ignore paying customers to chat with fellow F/A's (hence the comment "As a F/A from another airline flying for free on UA, I always get treated great by UA F/A's"), and come down on passengers like a ton of bricks because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I sat next to someone who was berated by a UA F/A for violating the no-cell-phones policy with the comment "Are you trying to crash the plane?" They have left the lights on at night because it made it easier for them to do the service (I guess WN and DL F/A's have night vision goggles?) Then there's the legendary prison matrons on the trans-Pacific flights, taking unprofessional coke-slinging to a new level.

It may be the case that this diverted flight is the captain's fault. But these are my observations of how drastically different the pilots and flight attendants at UA are.

So you have experienced over 17,000 Flight Attendants? Or is this just you being over dramatic. I sincerely doubt you know anything about most of UA Pilot's because a few were nice to enough to make a P.A. As I have said before to many people, you don't work in our enviroment or in our industry and you know nothing of our experiences. So mind your business and I am many others will be sure to do the same when it comes to our customers and there jobs.

 

[FA Mikey]

Perhaps if JS was only able to sit in the cockpit, and had to listen to their conversations and rants. If JS's only interaction with flight attendants was being served drinks on demand and passing a nice tray of food each leg. JS might think things the other way around. That pilots are cranky give me, give me babys and the flight attendants are these wonderful people who do nothing more than give me things at my request.

Neither scenario is true or accurate. Its just one persons limited view of another's work. I have often found the people most critical of me and my work are often the laziest ones of their own.

 

[galleyguy4u2]

JS needs to walk a few million miles in our shoes. I must say to Mikey we had a few at TWA who would just sit in the J/S and refuse to do a second required service.

 

[FA Mikey]

Every airline has its worthless few.

 

[JS]

You guys might have a valid point if the only airline I ever flew was UA.

But that is not the case. Unless there is some small airline I missed, I have flown every airline currently operating in the United States with the exception of New Mexico Airlines.

I have taken lots of flights on US, DL, AA, NW, CO, WN and UA. UA is by far the most disappointing, which is really sad given the bad reputation that US Airways has (and that is primarily management, not the employees).

Sorry but my observation stands, that UA flight attendants have no credibility with me when it comes to pointing fingers at other UA employee's actions.

 

[spacewaitress]

Ouch.. I'm former a PanAM,TWA,and retired AA f/a. I also never use my passes but not for your reason. Full loads! I have had great flights on United and have never been treated with anything but kindness and respect. Same with AA and SW. In this day and age of entitlement, many have forgotten that an airline's job is to get you safely from point A to point B. Everything else is gravy.

U'r making an assumption re: the reasons I won't fly UAL (so far). The main reason is the lack of maintenance, the shoddy airplanes...old equipment, etc. I'm not commenting on the flight atttendants (some who are friends), my comment refers more to the love I have for my life. I don't trust the maintenance there anymore, period.

I had 22 years there and will not give any of my hardearned money just to line the pockets of the corporate bandits that run that airline. The company sucks...it has sucked for many years. I have never experienced a more dysfunctional organization, corporate or otherwise, than UAL.

It's been my belief for many years that UAL will self destruct eventually in large part because of the low morale, the infighting, the hostile relations between management and labor, etc etc etc. You may well say that it is the same at all airlines...that's not true at SW, for one. It doesn't have to be that way. United has always been a house divided, and it's incomprehensibly worse now than it ever was (at least 2 years ago when I left). The handwriting was on the wall in my mind and I worked to get myself in a place where I could leave...again, I say...I feel really bad for my friends that are still there...god bless 'em....seriously.

 

[phasersonstun2]

I'm not buying the story as written by a UA F/A. The F/A's on this thread are piling on with a mob mentality and I'm not buying that either. In my experience (just my opinion), UA captains have been nothing but professional...

As a former UAL pilot I can tell you there were UAL pilots who were absolutely tremendous. There were also pilots who were the biggest jerks known to man. Unbelievable personality traits that manifested as OCD or passive-aggresive with a touch of a**hole. Some truly needed deep psychological counseling that never belonged in the cockpit of an airliner.