Oh so she was sent in...? I thought she was an original Eastie. What I've heard from other guys is she dislikes Rampers quite a bit... I see her wondering around quite often. I pay no attention; seems a tad stuck up if you ask me. :down:
She probably went over there because she was soooo despised by the crews on the West. Sounds like she is making the same headway in Philadelphia.
Here's a little background information for you about Ms. Dean. She was promoted to Director of Catering from, believe it or not, AIRCRAFT APPEARANCE!! This probably explains a lot since all we serve now is GARBAGE!
Before Maureen Dean, we had a fantastic Director of Catering named Sue Bettenhausen. We had a First Class product that was actually very good during her time here. America West "Signature Service" which included menus, 3 or 4 restaurant quality entree choices in First Class (served in courses with hot appetizers, salad, main course, dessert) on all long haul domestic flights, premium wines, champagne, hot towels, linens, etc. If you were working "A" it was a lot of work, but since we were serving a product we could actually be proud of it was worth it. The desserts were fantastic...and the presentation was very nice. Our customers were happy and the employees took pride in the service we offered. It was a winning combination.
If you flew medium haul routes and even what we would consider short haul (like Phoenix to Salt Lake City) you still were served a lighter fare in First Class like a sandwich with potato salad or a vegetable, fruit and cheese crudite' with hummus and pita bread. Even on morning flights less than an hour in duration from PHX to the L.A. basin we served a nice selection of fresh pastries. Hot towels, linens and glassware were available in First Class on ALL of our flights back then. Those were great times for us at America West because we were offering our passengers a First Class product that was comparable to our competitors...sometimes better!
God, I sure miss those days...they were the best!
We even served decent complimentary meals in Coach, with choice of either a hot (lasagna, etc.) or cold (huge salads) until 9/11/01 happened.
Sue introduced the "Buy on Board" product to AWA to get meals back on our planes for our Coach passengers. The "Buy on Board" products were even better in quality and quantity during Sue's time here. So many of us (passengers and crew) sure do miss her now! Believe me, we out West understand where everyone on the East is coming when they talk about how our onboard product has taken a nosedive to ghetto levels. We understand your disappointment to see our service levels deteriorate to all time lows.
When Maureen came onboard it was all downhill from there for our onboard product and it has never recovered. :down:
