Ginger, please ignore the petty bantering on this thread. I couldn’t agree more with the service issues you have raised. I have experienced many of the same differences on AA, and find myself at a loss to understand why the airline consistently refuses to get its affairs in order so it can compete with foreign carriers on international routes where capacity is regulated – particularly in the premium cabins.
There are several reasons for this. Among them are that AA’s management team (including its CEO) are mostly accountants who don’t seem to understand that the most clever marketing in the world doesn’t matter without a solid core offering.
Let’s start with the issue of alcoholic beverages. This is one of a host of “fee-based services” that AA has implemented in recent years in an effort to change its revenue model. Consumers are now lured by deceptively low one-way-based-on-roundtrip “base fares” and then made to cough up extra charges for just about everything from baggage to beverages. The airline is hardly alone in doing this, and many would say it is simply responding to competitive forces. The practice is at the very least annoying nonetheless, and it is an excellent reason for greater regulatory oversight.
Next, let’s address the issue of “old, haggered, untidy and damn right disrespectful” flight attendants. Many of the AA international flight attendants are actually very kind, respectful, and responsible (I’m even good friends with a few). Far too many, however, fall in the category you’ve described. The reason for this is simple: once they get enough seniority to fly on the international routes, many of them are old, jaded, overweight, unhappy, and know that there’s very little they can do in terms of providing poor customer service to suffer any meaningful employment consequences. This is mostly due to the overly-powerful unions that protect them – but it’s also partly because of the corporate culture at AA. Both need to change.
The passenger mobility issue is one I’ve also experienced before. I’m quite tall, and on one AA flight where I was stuck in the middle seat of a 777 and the seatbelt was turned OFF, I attempted to stand in an area in front of the galley only to be told to sit down by the flight attendant. When I politely asked her where would be an acceptable place to stand up, the boorish cow flippantly responded, “well, I guess you can’t really stand in the galley, you can’t stand in the isles, and you can’t stand in front of the bathrooms. I guess that leaves inside the lavatory.” I was shocked and offended, but said nothing and sat down as instructed. When I got back I contacted AA’s corporate offices to report the incident – they confirmed that standing in the galleys when the seatbelt sign was disengaged was acceptable provided no congregation was taking place. But how was I supposed to argue with her?
Finally, regarding the fact that AA aircraft, including the 777, are “untidy and seem worn…. with poor and outdated” entertainment. This to me is an even greater issue than the disservice previously mentioned. I truly just don’t get it. Whoever is in charge of designing the premium cabins either: (a.) is being given an inadequate budget by AA’s bean-counter management, (b.) has never flown on a competing airline in a premium cabin, or (c.) is grossly incompetent. Take the business class cabin with what I call the “torture seat.” These are dubbed “lie flat” but are actually painfully narrow, acutely angled seats that will crush the feet of anyone over 6 feet in height. What’s worse, if you’re in the middle (777) seat or window seat and the person next to you “goes flat,” you are literally trapped in your seat with no means of escape other than trampling that person. Yet AA’s marketing department loudly brags about how great these miserable contraptions are with slick flash websites and collateral overpromising a totally unrealistic customer experience.
Even in first class, AA is miles behind its competition with tattered old seats, disgustingly cheap food, grossly subpar wine selections, and a lack of basic international first class amenities such as proper bed padding for the seat (if you’ve ridden first on SQ, CX or QF you know what I’m referring to). Every time AA attempts to upgrade its entertainment system the airline cheaps out and gets it wrong – not nearly enough programs or variety for the length of the long-haul flights.
I digress. The point here is that I think your post is totally legitimate and you’ve offered many sentiments that are shared by a vast number of other consumers who have flown AA internationally. If the airline could see fit to make substantially greater investments in its international operations, I believe it could achieve far greater margins in those markets.
As you’ve pointed out:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginger
Come on AA sort it out your rivals are 10 years ahead of you.
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Truer words are seldom written.