I’ll post my full flight review in the coming days, but I feel compelled to dedicate a post on the less than international first class service I received and observed in United Global First last week.

It’s no secret that United is remarkably inconsistent when it comes to in-flight service and I think it’s most evident when flying internationally. Last year, I had a terrific experience in United BusinessFirst from Los Angeles to Sydney with attentive and professional flight attendants who were sincere in their desire to provide exceptional service. My return from Sydney was the exact opposite with indifferent, stoic flight attendants who seemed to treat service as a chore.

I was optimistic for my San Francisco-Tokyo Narita-San Francisco flights in Global First knowing that in the past, flights to/from Japan were a particular quality control focus. While the crew I had (the same on both flights) wasn’t stoic or indifferent, the service they provided wasn’t what you’d expect for international first class. I know, I know… not really a shocker for a U.S. airline when compared to foreign carriers. But here are a few unique observations from my flights.

On the ground, the reaction by two Global First passengers arriving in the gate room in Tokyo and being told to queue in the already huge 75+ passenger Group 1 boarding lane was priceless. They were visibly shocked there wasn’t priority given over business class (or even coach passengers with elite status).

Onboard, the dislike between the purser and lead flight attendant serving Global First was palpable, something unprofessional to visibly allow and express in view of the cabin.

When a passenger couldn’t immediately find storage space for his carry-on (a problem on the 747-400), a flight attendant who wasn’t working in First told him he’d have to put it in business class and to “write to the company to complain” without offering assistance. Fortunately, the purser was more proactive and found space for him in first class.

In many cases, the menu, amenity kit and slippers are presented to you after you’re seated in first class. On both of my flights, the menus were nicely displayed on the console, though the amenity kits and slippers were stored away in the seat compartments. Not a huge deal, but there’s just something about the presentation of them personally that adds a touch of class.

United introduced turndown service in Global First? Absolutely no mention of it was made on the outbound. And on the return, I overhead the lead flight attendant say, “What are we… a hotel?!” when telling another passenger about it after he found the seat cover in his compartment. She even went on to say that flight attendants love to take them to their crew bunks for use. Sigh.

Now I should mention that the flight attendants were each friendly in their own way (particularly when I reappeared on their return flight the next day), but service elements and overall cabin management on my flights certainly weren’t worth what a normally priced Global First ticket would run.

I was hoping for a stellar experience, but I drew the short stick on these United flights. I know there are flight attendants at United who pride themselves on delivering exceptional service. It’s just a shame that the amount who don’t or won’t step up will prevent United from ever being on par with their global counterparts.

Related posts:

I’m Off on a Weeklong Mileage Run… In Style!

Amenity Kit Review: United Airlines Global First

Flight Review: United Airlines BusinessFirst Los Angeles to Sydney

Flight Review: United Boeing 787 Dreamliner Inaugural

Quite a few notable events in the airline industry the past couple of days include:

• American Airlines today took delivery of their first Boeing 777-300ER, N717AN. It’s actually airborne as I type on its way to Dallas where it’ll eventually sport American’s new livery. Passenger service is scheduled to begin January 31 from Dallas to Sao Paulo.

• Delta Air Lines has purchased a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, launching a joint venture between the two airlines. This will give the two airlines about 25% of the U.S. to UK market, positioning them as #2 behind the American-British Airways stronghold share of 60%. Once the deal is approved (end of 2013), the ability to earn and burn miles between carriers will exist, as well as reciprocal lounge access for elites and full-fare premium cabin passengers. And I’m sure Delta will be championing them to participate fully in SkyTeam. Whether that actually happens given Virgin’s “one-off” alliance-building history remains to be seen.
• Virgin America will launch flights to Newark beginning April 2013. Three daily nonstops are planned from both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hopefully we’ll see some good fare wars between VX and United in those markets.
• Lufthansa on Monday swapped out a 747-400 for the 747-8i on the Los Angeles to Frankfurt route. Flight 456 departs Frankfurt daily at 10:00 a.m. arriving at LAX at 12:40 p.m. The return flight, LH 457, departs LAX at 2:50 p.m. with an arrival back in Frankfurt at 10:45 a.m. the following morning. From my experience, this route is pretty difficult to snag a First Class award seat… but I’ll be trying!
• Service on Cathay Pacific might get a bit more… er… U.S. airline-esque as flight attendants are at odds with the carrier over a pay raise. Instead of striking, they’re reportedly considering customer-focused actions. “We will be selective in providing our services,” union general secretary Tsang Kwok-fung told the AFP.  ”This could include not smiling at passengers, not providing certain types of beverages — such as alcohol — or stop serving meals,” he said.

If you fly as much as I do, you probably have all the flight attendant announcements heard during the flight memorized and could step in if needed. Lately, I’ve been noticing just how many FAs break away from the script and add a bit of personality or other uniqueness to them.

Southwest, of course, is famous for their free-spirited safety demonstrations and overall laid-back feeling, so non-rigid announcements filtering through the cabin aren’t uncommon and might even be encouraged. Attendants on legacy carriers, though, generally follow a mandated script and it can become so routine that uber frequent flyers like myself just drown them out.

This is definitely a simple and sort-of lighthearted post this Friday morning, but after listening to one gentleman’s announcements repeatedly on the same LAX-IAD flight the past four weeks, it got me to thinking about whether or not some take adding a bit of fun to their announcements too far and if it should be allowed. The particular FA I’m referring to consistently refers to his colleagues as “stewardesses” when making announcements and I wonder just how that makes some of the crew feel, not to mention if it puts in the minds of the average flyer that the term is still appropriate.

Flight attendants have to deal with such a wide range of personalities and their job can be incredibly stressful at times, so I think adding a bit of personality to their announcements – so long as it’s appropriate – is totally acceptable as it’s one very small way they can have a bit of fun on the job. It also makes me take notice of the announcements more than I would normally.

What do you think?

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