United Airlines Offers Drinks To "The Idiots In Coach"
Reader Nicholas likes to listen to the cockpit channel while flying, because he says it calms his nerves. The flight attendants must have assumed that no one was turned to that station (or that they weren't being broadcast on it), because Nicholas says he heard one of them refer to the passengers in the coach cabin as "idiots." Whoops.
Nicholas says:
Hello, I noticed your story about the disconnecting of United's customer complaint hotline. I thought you might enjoy this.
I am a frequent business traveler. I was on United flight 941 from Chicago to Denver. On takeoff and landing I always listen to the cockpit communications. Hearing the dulcet tones of the pilot helps ease some of my flying nervousness. During flight 941 I didn't hear anything from the cockpit during takeoff and once we were in the air I heard something odd on the cockpit communications channel. It appeared I was hearing the flight attendants communications. I could see them talking on the phone near the bulkhead and I could hear it on the cockpit channel. Most of the conversation was fairly innocuous but when it was time to serve drinks I heard: "We start on drinks for the IDIOTS in coach". It was at that point one of my fellow passengers let them know we could hear what they were saying. They stopped using the communications system and offered no apology.
I've sent the story to United and surprise… no response.
How embarrassing for them. If don't have anything nice to say, flight attendants, don't say anything at all.
If you'd like to escalate your complaint, try writing to this fine gentleman.
(Photo:frankieleon)
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Comments:
Not to defend United here, because they definately should have offered an apology, but everywhere I've worked, from Customer Service to professional firms, have spoken rather poorly about their customers.
If it's any consolation, they probably choice things to say about the first-class people too.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say at least one person working at every major company in the United States has called one of their customers an idiot. Occasionally, we hear it out loud. What response does he want from United, exactly?
In other news: United Airlines petitions the TSA to ban personal radio scanners on the grounds that they "pose an increased security risk" to flight.
Hell I've got some choice words for some of my customers. Just the other day a buyer called me all pissed off because he couldn't buy the product we distribute direct from the manufacturer after we spent hours helping their engineers design it in.
Buyers are their own special breed of ignorant sometimes.
@philmin:
Rule number 1 of customer relations: You know you hate us. We know you hate us. But we expect you to at least *pretend* you respect us.
If you break this rule, at least *pretend* to apologize sincerely, so we can keep pretending to think you like us.
Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt like it if someone in a customer service role uttered "idiot" I happened to hear it, but I dont think this is good use of consumerists escalation techniques. If you were truly wronged as a consumer, escalate the issue until it is resolved. If some random employee was rude for about 2 seconds, please dont find this as a reason to "email corporate", leave that for the real consumer issues.
Where's Comcast Frank on this one?
@philmin:
So what would you have suggested he do? Demand an apology right there, where the flight attendants would have probably deemed him a risk and called the FBI to meet him on the ground? Who else is he going to talk to once he's off the plane?
I don't fly often, but how does one listen to "the cockpit channel" while flying?
I guess if I was a skywaitress, I would think the customers were idiots also.
If people couldn't curse and ridicule their customers, they would explode with rage and leave pieces of their brain over a ten mile radius. But people should be careful who can hear, because for some reason customers need the illusion that they are just the Most Important People In the World.
I would do nothing. If I was really upset by this utterance, which I can't imagine most people would be, I might act all upset and demand an apology on the spot, which would of course be silly.
I'm just questioning what the goal is exactly by escalating this issue. Is it simply for the generic apology, or would they like the flight attendant fired? Does the author of this story really believe this specific issue is related in some way to United as opposed to any other company, and therefore corporate needs to be involved to remedy the problem company wide?
I wonder if the idiots in the executive suites can hear what's going on?
@LastVigilante: Apparently its an option on the inflight radio system. Same system that lets you choose the movie channel to hear the inflight movie.
United offers Channel 9 on their inflight audio entertainment system, which (provided the pilot turns it on,which lately many of them don't) usually lets you here the dialogue between the pilot and air traffic control. Fun for flight geeks, but it sounds like somebody hooked it up wrong in this case.
@LastVigilante: United has "Channel 9" on most of its entertainment systems and which, at the captain's discretion, may be tuned to ATC communications. I'm a big fan of it myself.
@LastVigilante:
You can choose from a number of chanels on the seat arm for different styles of music, the movie and the cockpit chatter with the tower and Air Traffic Control.
I gained a new appreciation for Dave Brubeck as he seems to have his own channel on United domestic flights.
@Bungus Aurelius: Forgot to add: at times the switches may be set incorrectly so it transmits internal communications, like in this case.
@Skybolt:
I don't think customers expect to be treated like they're the most important people in the world. However, when you're paying (and paying and paying) to fly, check a bag, get a drink...is it really too much to ask that you not be called an "idiot" by airline employees? Granted, she might've been referring to a specific passenger who was acting like an idiot, but it's probably not a good thing to broadcast that message out over channel.
Also, that flight attendant might want to remember that the passengers are helping to ensure she still has a job.
I've got to side with the stewardess here...if you're still flying UAL, coach, buisness, or first, you are an idiot. And I really don't appreciate Nicholas feigning surprise and outrage. Anyone who's flown United and experienced their horrible anti-customer policies should know they think you're an idiot. So what if they actually verbalized it this time?
Have you ever really paid attention to how many people mistreat or condescend to those that wait on them? I've seen enough rudeness and bad manners exhibited by customers towards wait staff, receptionists, clerks, and, yes, flight attendants, to make me very thankful that my parents and grandparents drilled it into me that patience and manners are something we really can't have too much of. Perhaps the people in coach really were idiots on this particular day. Would it really surprise you?
Out of curiousity,how did the OP know the attendant was referring to him unless he did something to merit the response....
Somethings missing from this dialogue.
Travelers in coach expect limo service at city bus prices. I'm sure that wears on flight attendants.
Have you ever really paid attention to how many people mistreat or condescend to those that wait on them? I've seen enough rudeness and bad manners exhibited by customers towards wait staff, receptionists, clerks, and, yes, flight attendants, to make me very thankful that my parents and grandparents drilled it into me that patience and manners are something we really can't have too much of. Perhaps the people in coach really were idiots on this particular day. Would it really surprise you?
I do it all the time. It alleviates the feeling that I'm trapped in a metal tube at 30,000 feet with only the Bernoulli Principle holding me up. You get to hear the crew talking with the ground control, so there's at least a semblance of a feeling that you're being taken care of down on terra firma.
The flght attendant didn't apologize because she knows that non-idiots fly Southwest.
This may shock you, but everyone you deal with in every service industry thinks you're an idiot, just like you think they're idiots.
@ekthesy: If it's any consolation, it's not Bernoulli's principle that's holding you up, but Newton's. Common misconception.
Without corroborating evidence to the contrary there is a good chance that maybe you and everyone else in coach on that particular day was in fact, an idiot.
In fact, I would take the word of trained customer service professionals over a random internet poster on this matter. :)
@LastVigilante: I always listen to it when it's available, like other have already stated, it's nice to hear the babble between the plane and ATC. Also, as someone who has only ever been outside of the west coast TWICE, hearing tower names gives me an idea of where the hell I am during a cross-country flight.
@Russell Miller: "But we expect you to at least *pretend* you respect us."
Yep.
After working at a newspaper, I am totally incapable of sending in letters to the editor, because I know EXACTLY what the editorial staff has to say about those people! And it ain't polite. But you don't say it when there are people in the office who don't work there!
@Bungus Aurelius: I'm surprised that still happens. I haven't flown in years but I can't imagine any lawyers happy about the potential liability by giving the ability to passengers to listen to cockpit communications.
If this is true, why would anybody be surprised?!? Anyone who has had the chance to fly an Asian flag carrier like ANA, Singapore, or Cathay Pacific has experienced what it is like to fly with professional flight attendants. After you experience good customer service on a well run airline, the US flag carriers just seem so ghetto. I wish it wasn't so.........
@Applekid: There are some pretty impassioned debates about exactly that over at Flyertalk, especially once some United pilots chimed in on both sides. People in favor of being able to listen find it interesting and/or relaxing, as a few people have said above. Unfortunately, all of the pilots seemed to have horror stories of passengers who heard (or mis-heard) something and wanted to question the pilot on his/her ability to fly. Thus, it's completely at pilot discretion whether they turn it on or not.
That was an ABC conversation. Get over it. Everyone complains about their jobs.
@Skunky:
Not sure how widespread it is, but when I flew Delta to Florida for Christmas, they had the touchscreen systems in the backs of the chair that had access to the GPS with all the other info (Temps, winds, etc) on it. Check it out, it's neat :)
Half the equation to good customer service is to be a good customer, which I try to do all the time. In fact, I probably go a little too far in trying to help out the vendor. Not to the point of doing all of their job, but heck, I don't see a problem with wiping up a mess I made on a restaurant table or making a joke with someone to give them 30 seconds of relief.
An apology was certainly in order to the whole cabin, but I can understand why people in service professions can develop an attitude.
@philmin: So basically what you're getting at is that you feel that this isn't woth escalating simply because the issue isn't severe enough. Is that correct?
Is that ever good policy? I mean he probably shouldn't seek the attendant's head for this, but it's not a bad idea to let the airline know about it before it sparks a huge incident.
@cmdrsass: Maybe some of them do, but I think many of us just want to get to where we're going without being hassled. But that's really only a pipe dream with air travel these days.
@Silversmok3: No, nothing is missing. He never said that he believed they were referring to him. Not even once.
See, his problem is that when caught calling their customers idiots, something that was bad enough in itself, and that the employees in question didn't make an effort to apologize for their error in judgment and instead acted as if it had never happened.
;)
INT: United Airlines Flight 941 from Chicago to Denver.
A flight attendant, obviously nervous and upset, stands in front of the coach cabin. She pulls the microphone off the wall and speaks.
ATTENDANT: As a representative of both the crew as a whole and as a part of United Airlines, we want to apologize for calling you all idiots. It was rude and inconsiderate.
NICHOLAS: Damn right it was.
EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANE: Wait? What? They called us idiots? Those jerks! I'm never flying United again!
End scene.
In other words, so few people knew what they said, that the crew would be shooting itself in the foot by announcing it to everyone. Granted, it was a stupid thing to say on their part (if you can't say something nice, don't say it over a headset), but they'd have stirred up more anger if they told everyone about it.
Though now that it's hit Consumerist, I wouldn't be surprised if an apology came along.
What's the problem here? Every time I've flown coach (which is 100% of the time), it is definately full of idiots.
I personally like listening to the channel that plays the BBC Radio's adaptation of Snoop Dogg's movie "Soul Plane"
Well, I certainly can't claim to have never referred to UAL and its employees as idiots.
In fact I've probably done so on multiple, if not every, occasion.