Passengers complain about grumpy flight attendants
By Keith L. Alexander
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Whenever biotech salesman Douglas Stone flies US Airways, his preferred seat is in first class, bulkhead row, by the flight attendants. There he is often privy to their discussions during flights — and sometimes cringes.
"I've heard them complain, bitch and moan about the state of their airline and the state of their future," the Darnestown, Md.-based frequent flier said. "If the employees feel that way, it comes across in how they respond to customers."
Rita Grazda, an Alexandria, Va.-based human resources director, said she stopped flying United Airlines 10 years ago after watching flight attendants "argue with each other in the aisle."
Some passengers take their complaints about flight attendants' morale to the government. According to the latest statistics from the Department of Transportation, United had the most passenger complaints in 2003 about its flight attendants' "poor attitude." Of the nation's top 11 airlines, United received 196 complaints about flight attendants per 1 million passengers last year. American Airlines had the fourth-highest number of complaints, while US Airways came in fifth.
But now American has told its flight attendants, in no uncertain terms, to knock off the chatter.
Late last month, John Tiliacos, American's Northeast regional director, issued a memo to all flight attendants based at Washington's Reagan National, Boston's Logan International, New York's JFK International and Newark International airports, urging them to avoid "galley talk" such as salary reductions and rules on crew rest. It annoys passengers to hear American's "dirty laundry," he wrote.
One major corporate customer participating in a travel survey was so irritated by the disgruntled-employee gossip that the customer was considering changing to other airlines, Tiliacos wrote.
In a statement, John Ward, head of American's flight attendants union, said last week that his members were "understandably upset" and "insulted" by the memo, which was posted on the Internet along with rebuttals from two flight attendants. American confirmed the memo was genuine.
Ward relayed comments from a New York-based leader of the flight attendants union, who said flight attendants planned to "continue to put our best face forward, not only to the customer, but to our co-workers in what has become one of the most trying times in our history."
American, like many of the nation's carriers, has been struggling financially. American, United and US Airways have eliminated thousands of flight-attendant jobs and obtained millions of dollars in pay and benefit concessions from its workers to keep the carriers afloat. American's 25,000 flight attendants have agreed to $340 million in concessions.
Earlier this month, United's flight attendants demonstrated at various airports to draw attention to the airline's decision to reduce retiree health benefits. And Southwest Airlines flight attendants, who have complained that they are among the lowest paid at any airline, have picketed across the country as their union and the carrier have tried to agree on a new contract over the past two years.
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
