Mesa / United Airlines

[Skaz]

Apart from you lot flying for them, who has flown as pax in the back with either?

Just returned from holiday in USA (DC, CO), and sorry to say not very impressed with them.

The security delays are not the topic htere, they are understandable and unfortunaltely have to be acceptable ......

Talking about service etc......Flew United from London Heathrow to Dulles in DC, then to Denver, was supposed to continue on to Gunnison, but got bumped.
Return was Gunnison to Denver, to Dulles to LHR.

Service was mediocre to say the least, on the international flight. Attendents are unfriendly, slow, and generally look like they dont want to be there? Had to ask more than one person more than twice for a can of Pepsi? Maybe I should yell gun on something stupid next time.

Then we get bumped on the Gunnison flight, cause of over selling the flight? With abour 12 other people off the previous flight as well. Then they loose our bags from the cargo area to the conveyer belts, give us the wrong directions to the hotel we stay in and nobody answers the toll free number when you phone!?!

The flight with Mesa from Gunnison to Denver was also an eye opener.....almost no comms between cockpit crew and pax, felt like a PPL was flying the Dash 8 as well. Hells bells those guys were rough...." sorry for the turbulence folks...oh wait, here's some more!" farside moment
The hostie acted like she would rather date osama bean laden than attend to the fare paying pax and 'speed rapped' her little announcement as fast as her over-lipsticked-lippies would allow......I dont think anybody on the aircraft could understand one word she uttered...and I was sitting right in front trying to lipread as well.

then she sat the whole way, no , not a little bit of the way, the WHOLE way with her head down , hunched over a piece of paper, scribbling away furiously...perhaps to her lover or something.........utterly and completely disinterested in anything even remotely connected to her job or why she was there


all in all, a very poor performance from a company I expected a lot better service of.

flame away all you want, I was there and its all true...honest

 

[DenverDude2002]

Sorry to hear about the crummy service Skaz. I live her ein Denver and continue to hear nothing but bad comments from people flying ual/mesa. But on the bright side, cant beat Gunnison. I was over there in october, a fun 5 hr drive each way, but scenic.

 

[rightrudder]

I will try to shed some light on the DEN-GUC flight. I do not work for Mesa, but for Air Wisconsin and used to fly the 328 between the two cities.

The flights may not have been oversold, you may have been bumped for weight purposes. I hear it is happening a lot with the Mesa Dash 8's since they implemented new rules regarding drift down that Dash's were previously exempt.

Regarding turbulence, well, it can make anyone seem like an "unsmooth pilot". The turbulence in the rockies can be pretty harsh. That leads me to point three.

The flight attendant should not be up serving pax during bad turbulence. That is probably why she did not serve. The flight crew or the FA should have made an announcement telling you that, so you didn't think it was due to a lazy FA.

Hope that helps

 

[Skaz]

we got bumped because they oversold the flight, not weight restricted, there was no turbulence, there was nothing to serve, the hostie was cr@p and so was the general service...end of story

 

[rightrudder]

we got bumped because they oversold the flight, not weight restricted, there was no turbulence, there was nothing to serve, the hostie was cr@p and so was the general service...end of story

Sorry to misinterpret your quotes

"Then we get bumped on the Gunnison flight, cause of over selling the flight? "

"Hells bells those guys were rough...." sorry for the turbulence folks..."

Don't be so hostile, I was just trying to offer some reasons why your one flight may have gone as it did. I don't even work for Mesa. Next time I won't bother.

 

[Skaz]

...sorry...

 

[350DRIVER]

I know the feeling, flew SWA once from LAS to HOU via PHX and that was enough for a lifetime.

It happens...


3 5 0

 

[Cardinal]

Though I can't speak for Mesa, on our Brasilia's the flight attendant literallly has nothing to do. They get the pax situated and briefed and that is the end of their duties unless a wing falls off. No catering, not even water or coffee. Eating lobster while aboard a turboprop ended three decades ago. And DEN-GUC is like a 45 minute flight - you can only squeeze in so many PA's before you just sound like a dork, and there are better things for a crewmember to ccupy oneself with. But really, let's put it all in context, we're talking about lowest-bidder very short haul turboprop flying. Expect little, receive less.

 

[Northern Lights]

Short Flights

"Due to the short duration of today's flight, there will be no beverage service."

That's a common P.A., then she sits down and reads her book for the next 30 minutes.

 

[Skaz]

rightrudder sorry mate, I did not mean to be hostile or rude opr anything, I guess I wasnt clear enough on my post, and you misunderstood me. Thanks for trying to clear things up with your explanations though, youre effort is appreciated.

If its ashort flight like that with no drinks service or anything, its cool, simple economics, but the hostie can at least make eye contact with the pax in her care and acknowledge their presence.

And the poor service didnt end with a young, self concious , inexperienced girl....the attendents on the international flights are not much better. Granted they have a higher workload, but they are also more experienced, probably better paid and should be better motivated seeing they have greatter responsibility.
But having to ask 2 different people, twice and three times each for a Pepsi , after the hostie doing the drinks service skipped three rows on one side....thats just poor service...... etc etc

thanks for your responses guys...

 

[sennant]

Maybe it has something to do with being called a "hostie" the whole time.

 

[Sniper@YourFeet]

The flight with Mesa from Gunnison to Denver was also an eye opener.....almost no comms between cockpit crew and pax, felt like a PPL was flying the Dash 8 as well.

Some passengers find the endless announcements of 'if you look to the left you'll see . . . ", "we're now passing over Mt. who-the-heck-cares" to be annoying. On a 45 minute flight over mountains, there's not much to point out, ya' know?

As far as the PPL blaming 'turbulence' for his bad hand-flying technique, the Dash has an autopilot, so that's where the blame lies.

 

[enigma]

Prior to Sept, 11, I commuted out of a small airport. The commuter flight to the hub was about 30 air minutes. Some FA's always attempted to serve, others never served. After a while, I came to recognize most of the FA's that flew the route, and I could tell if the paying pax would get watered just by noting the FA for the day. The good FA's would sit there and survey the cabin for problems like airsick or cold pax for the whole time. The lazy FA's would stick there head in a book or a bid package and ignore the pax. Had I been a paying pax, I would have made formal written complaints to management. It was so obvious that the lazy FA's were just trying to avoid work that it was embarassing to me and I was just an offline jumpseater.

Unfortunately, the Captain was usually in on the game and would start the trip with the "I expect turbulence and have asked the FA to remain seated throughout the trip" speech when there wasn't any turbulence for 500 miles.
Here's a tip for anyone who is a regional Captain; don't screw your pax just because you are friends with the FA! I've done the 30 seat, one FA deal, (as an FO 12 years ago) and I know that it is tempting to give your favorite FA the leg off, but the pax do figure it out.


regards,
enigma

 

[A Squared]

I've never flown Mesa, but your observations about United are consistent wint my experiences. Customer service was surly and unhelpful both on the airplane and off. It's not the first time that I've heard unfavorable commentary about United flight attendants. They have developed a bit of a reputation as being unpleasant, It seems to me a deserved reputation.

 

[rightrudder]

Skaz,

No problem. As a paying passenger, if you have a bad experience, just send a note to the company explaining your observations. Like the others said, sometimes the FA doesn't serve on short flights (or if they think it willl be bumpy), but if that is the case, someone should make a PA to tell you. Mesa is not known to have good service, and if enough people complain, maybe UAL won't be so eager to give them more flying.