An American Airlines flight attendant took to social media because she wants premium cabin customers to know that they are not entitled to a bottle of water. Traditionally you’ll find a bottle of water at your seat when flying long haul in business class. Alaska Airlines gives you one at your seat domestically. But if you ask for one, that’s at the discretion of the crewmember on American – and this one wants you to know that it is a privilege and not a right.
If you get a full sized water bottle in domestic business that is a privilege, not a right.
Discussion
signed,The [flight attendant] who had to deal with an [Executive Platinum passenger] giving them the stink eye because they wouldn’t give him a full sized water bottle even after explaining the flight was down-lined catered and the prior crew used up most of our supplies. and yes, he did drop the “on my last flight” gem of a comeback.
PSA: If you get a full sized water bottle in domestic business that is a privilege, not a right.
by u/skygirl222 in americanairlines
I usually bring my own water, even when I’m flying up front with American Airlines. The cabin may be hot, and I assume that crew won’t offer a predeparture beverage. They’re supposed to (unless doing so would delay the flight’s departure) but there’s zero consequence for not doing it.
And I always buy water before flying a U.S. airline internationally. In fact, flying Air France business class I do this as well. Air France gives you small glasses to drink from. In theory they’ll fill those up as often as you wish, but they don’t. The French don’t drink nearly as much water as Americans do.
The worst flights for hydration were always out of Hong Kong and other places where they didn’t do liquids checks at security and they’d therefore do liquid checks at the gate – confiscating bottles of water you bought in the airport. Can you imagine relying on a United Airlines flight attendant for hydration when flying coach transpacific?
Some of you will say “just bring an empty bottle of water through security” everywhere else, and fill it up at a hydration station. You don’t actually believe those are cleaned properly and on a regular schedule, do you?
Earl – you’re just a a Nazi. You either believe I. Free speech or you don’t.
As for the closing discussion about airport water bottle refilling stations, to answer the question “You don’t actually believe those are cleaned properly and on a regular schedule, do you?” When is the last time you routinely cleaned out the pipes into your home? I refuse to believe you’ve never consumed your own tap water in one way or another. So freaking pretentious!!!
@Texas TJ
“Wow. As my favorite Domestic Airline, AA sure is making it hard to defend them lately.”
I live in Tampa, TPA is not a hub for any airline and my choice of airlines is quite remarkable. There are always choices that can be made. Depending on where I’m going and the flight schedules that work best for me, Southwest, JetBlue and Delta are my airlines of choice. For me, based on the friendliness of staff and the quality of past flying experiences, AA ranks near the bottom of the list, on the same level as Spirit and Avelo but above Frontier.
Granted, haven’t flown SA in few years, but last time I did,they had hydration stations in the gate area after the gate check.
I’m confused. Seats are a privilege. Water is a privilege.
WTH am I paying 4-5 figures for?
It’s stupid things like this that cost airlines customers. Within the past couple of years, I took a few business class fights on AA after not using their airline since the mid 1980s.
Back then, I used to fly out of Dallas weekly. It gets hot there in the summer. Unlike other airlines, AA wouldn’t give customers a can of whatever beverage they were having but would pour a small plastic cup. Dehydration is a serious problem though. Once, a flight attendant gave me a second cup after I gulped one down quickly. When she realized what she had done, she acted as if I had cheated her.
They might have thought that if they saved a dime per passenger, it added up to real money. But if it takes 100 passengers to save $10, then losing only 1% of passengers cost them hundreds. Losing one for decades might have cost them tens of thousands, not to mention family or associates who might have flown with me. And back then, planes didn’t fly full. It meant one more empty seat.
If I flew business and an obnoxious flight attendant thought that it was a privilege to expect water, it might cause me to stop flying AA for another 35 years, which would likely mean the rest of my life.
They need to stop trying to save dollars when business class tickets are in the thousands of dollars. The irony is that it likely cost United about a dime per flight to get me to be a long term customer back then.
i remember a decade ago when Chinese tourists burst into international travel scene, stories abound about how inappropriate or awkward they appeared to be in airlines and hotels around the world, as the butt of international jokes. Now its an endless parade of rude and obscene interactions between US travel industry service and its clientele. This circus show helps people though the tough and mad times in the past 3 years.
AA cabin crew are a pretty surly group in general.
Another day, another article from you AA Flight Attendants. Come on everyone, jump on & join in…..
Another day, another post from you bashing AA Flight Attendants. Come one everyone, jump on and join in the fun!
Hydration is as basic as it gets. It promotes health and reduces risk of blood clots. I get that most flight attendants are great, but the ridiculous costs of flying and the arbitrary interpretation of flight rules without recourse make giving your customers a bottle of water the most basic thing that can and should be done. That flight attendant needs a new job that doesn’t involve working with others and doesn’t have any travel perks. Why do airlines back the employees that cross lines like this?
Thankfully didn’t see anything “Fred” said by the time I saw this.
As so many have said, AA is generally felt to be the worst legacy carrier in the U.S.
I like many here, have been flying for decades, generally monthly. The legacy carriers have all had their “moments”— ten years ago Delta was in a bad place (and their satisfaction scores proved it) but thankfully they turned it around and generally get good reviews lately. United was like AA about 6 years ago (under Muñoz) – remember the “David Dao incident?” They got better too but I think in the last 1-2 years they are slipping.
How this AA flight attendant phrased this was certainly not “customer focused” regardless of where the issue with bottle availability lies–she should have been more gracious with the customer (I’m sure they tire of dealing with “entitled” people but if you are “customer-facing” you have to figure out how to grit your teeth and still be pleasant) but it’s not at all surprising because the tone is set at the top, and AA leadership absolutely does not care about the customers or the employees so then you get “mouthy” employees.
Personally, I have had “acceptable” experiences on Spirit (who I view as better than AA) and I haven’t flown Frontier in years, but the bottom of the barrel are those three airlines, with probably Frontier the worst currently in my eyes, then AA, then Spirit, but the difference among them is marginal.
@Walter Please enlighten us on why it’s ok to bash so-called “illegal immigrants.”
People and their freaking water bottles. Massive amount of plastic waste and no higher quality than what comes out of the tap in most U.S, cities.
And in answer to your question @Gary the water bottle filling stations are clean enough that I have never ever gotten sick drinking water from them.
Don’t disagreed that AA FAs suck.
But, If you want a water bottle bring your own and stop whining.
Gregg – they’re not ‘so called’, they’re criminals, they have no rights, and they’re irrelevant.
Immigrate legally, or stay out. It’s not complicated.
This is the second time I’ve gotten an ad to your blog, both times re-summarizing a Reddit post for content. I actually came across both Reddit posts first so your headlines were not new to me. You’re definitely sensationalizing content and making it out to be divisive. I’m only commenting this time to give more context. Catering provides 1 liter bottles to serve water. A bottle can pour up to 6 servings. Yes it was a privilege for that one passenger to ask and receive a whole bottle. Imagine if everyone in business class asked for a bottle. There would not be enough water for the return leg had water bottles been freely given out. Would you rather be on a flight that didn’t have water? Or have a flight attendant say “Sorry we have to limit your water intake because we have to ration water for passengers and emergencies”. Imagine the outrage. Stop exaggerating the situation. Water has never been a privilege nor having to expect water from a flight attendant.
Just stop flying US carriers internationally, your life will get so much better instantly, mine has since I stopped 10 years ago! ✈️
@Tim Dunn I don’t have a dog in this fight, but you seem to have some need to win with the last word defending Delta. Couldn’t you just let Patti’s comment about the subpar service she experienced stand without trying to correct her? Sometimes silence is a virtue.
European airlines likeSwiss and British only serve water in economy. No more beverages.
Clickbait. I think the passenger was asking for an entire large bottle of water. If this was a domestic flight, that’s all the FAs would have. They would not have small personal bottles of water. And it sounds like the FAs from previous flight broke into the downline catering.
Domestic airlines are really a huge disappointment when compared to Foreign Airlines. I’ve flown Korean Air, Turkish Airlines, Swiss Air and ANA….ALL of which not only give you a bottle of water to start, but the Stewards/Stewardess are kind, helpful and efficient. Whereas domestic counterparts seem to be irritated, and uncaring. This has been my personal experience.
Amen on those HKG watergate checks. It’s sad. I usually do bring a water bottle to fill on domestic hops as I’m not worried about tap water quality but I love it when I go to a hydration station and it will say something like I saved 54323 plastic bottles to which I wonder when they last changed that filter 🙂
Stories like this blog post always remind me of the FA offering George Clooney “The Can Sir” in Up And Away.
It’s about to be a right. Most recent FAA reauthorization bill mandates free water for every flight 1 hour or more..
Imagine saying water is a privilege while on an airplane… Beyond pathetic. Garbage people don’t need more reasons to be clowns of modern-day society. Get your f***ing priorities straight and blend back into the crowd as an irrelevant sheep. The world is already lopsided enough with grotesque and immoral cretins, so try to make a positive impact and don’t pretend like your life matters by withholding power via denying water bottles to passengers/customers.
With America West, it is a privilege to even within their August company.
Consider yourself fortunate that they tolerate your stinky presence in their planes as a paying customer.
How dare you have expectations, you peasant?!
Airlines, and flight attendants: you can keep your water and your business class and I’ll keep my money..
Probably the best setup for SHUT UP AND POUR THE DRINKS yet – a flight attendant refusing to pour the drinks and instead using 100x the effort it would have taken to do so in order to make the mistake of speaking.
Once again, Gary takes a story and runs in the wrong direction with it just to bash and smear the FAs for no apparent reason. It seems pretty clear that the customer wanted an entire large bottle of water for himself. Sometimes you get 2-3 of those for the entire cabin. When scheduled, we have small individual water bottles for customers (not all flights) and large bottles from which glasses are poured to serve about 8 customers per bottle. Rather than bashing the FA, why not address the over-entitlement of some people who have NO regard for anyone else??? Your reporting skills leave a lot to be desired.
The airline in question does not provide water bottles for customers seating in premium cabins.
The fact that this particular individual is an Executive Platinum shows how the previously called frequent flyer program became a loyalty program, which is mainly based on credit card spending.
Bashing the FA for following the company policy they work for… just show you le frustration with the airline in general.
If you want to see a change in policy about individual water bottles being provided contact the airline directly. Currently they are not catered to give 16 1lr bottles of water to each and everyone seating you there .
Shame on you.
Sounds like a great situation of both parties escalating unnecessarily. So there is not enough water on the flight. The FA should have simply stuck to the fact that there are inadequate supplies because there was no additionally catering after the prior flight (e.g., “if there is enough after everyone is served, I’ll be happy to provide more”). Instead, the FA absurdly attacked the notion that those who pay more for C/F should get… more. Meanwhile, the passenger should know that complaining to someone who is not empowered to fix the problem can only ever cause grief for everyone and adjust the complaint accordingly (e.g., “I see. I understand that you cannot magically create more bottled water. I am frustrated that I paid $xxx more for a seat in F and the airline cannot be bothered to cater enough water.”).
Someone asked Theodore Roosevelt about his skills as president. “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” What is it about American that causes their employees to act like this? Is it a union thing? “…not my job”. Is it because they hire the wrong people? Could it be that management doesn’t hire the right people or are promoting people with no people skills into management? Dougie Parker once told the AA employees that (and I’m paraphrasing), “…you do what we tell you to do and we’ll make money.” So…how’s that working out for you? Not worth crap. American’s service is at an all time low. Employee morale is at an all time low. Is it because management bosses rather than leads? C.E. Woolman once said of Delta Air Lines, “The character of our company…it’s not me…it’s US. You are the character of this company…everyone of you. Character isn’t just being nice to people. Character is being efficient; character is being productive.” So why is American management not focused on the “us”? Edmunds Demming brought his thoughts on employee participation to the “Big 3” automakers. They turned him down. He went to Toyota and convinced them to get the employees involved in every aspect of manufacturing. Toyota came up with a “mildly successful Camry! Ford Motor Company got Demming to come back. Ford then came up with a “mildly successful” Taurus. Look over your shoulder “Bobby” Isom, maybe you and your bosses ain’t doin’ a very good job of leading.
I always have a great flight with AA flight attendants. They get bombarded with passengers constantly. Being prior military, you always prepare yourself.
Hello everyone, I have been flying with AA Since 1985, in the past two years I have been flying AA 3 to 4 roundtrip flights monthly in the Business Class Cabin. For this Flight Attendant to post “premium cabin customers to know that they are not entitled to a bottle of water” comments like this are outrageous!!!!! I am going to assume, and you know what they say when you assume, that this flight attendant has failed to realize or has forgotten the price that customers pay for premium cabins seats domestically or internationally, it’s not cheap. We pay 3 to 4 times more of than the price of a main cabin!!!! Please note that an aircraft needs to be catered on every leg of the flight whether it’s a short haul or a long haul!!!! AA rakes in millions of dollars in profit as noted in their quarterly company Q1, Q2, & Q3 upper echelon meetings! It’s a shame that this flight attendant has this type of attitude! She should be told that it is a privilege for her to work for American Airlines if she doesn’t like her job let her go join the belligerent flight attendant at Spirit and Frontier Airlines. It is my contention that all American Airlines advantage members that purchase premium class cabin tickets should boycott American Airlines for 3 months, that will shake a stick in somebody’s tail, and then you’ll see how upper management will curtail this type of behavior from flight attendants.
This is American… anything but handing over your money including getting to your destination is considered a privilege.
when the front-of-the-bus is paying 2x-3x the middle/back… yea there is a justifiable sense of entitlement (dont need to be an a-hole about it though). otherwise there is no difference between business AA (if seat/water/everything is only a privilege) and Spirit. I get that flyers are becoming increasingly rude (completely inexcusable), but at the end of the day, airlines are a business and pilots/attendants arent doing passengers favors. its a service that is being paid for. its a relatively competitive industry and differentiating on service quality is cheaper than competing on price.
This is what to expect when you give a flying waitress or waiter some authority.
The problem with everyone nowadays, including others who have posted here, is that everyone thinks THEY are so entitled, but God forbid anyone else is. How about not making such a big deal about stupid things to start. The world would be a much better place if everyone would just chill.
Is toilet paper in the American Airlines aircraft lavatories a privilege or a right?
Here’s the reason for the F/A’s frustration…..There aren’t enough water bottles catered on the aircraft to accommodate giving every business class passenger a whole bottle (and the bottles are the 48+ ounce kind – they are meant to be used in the galley to make glasses of water). If they honor one request, they have to be able to accommodate the same for the other 15-21 passengers (on a narrow-body). If they run out, they have to serve everyone airplane tap water which almost everyone finds objectionable. The crewmember wants to fulfill every request but can’t always do it. They feel stuck and unable to do their job per customer wishes. Then, when the occasional passenger behaves as if they are entitled to it, it becomes frustrating. No, they are NOT “surly”. If you think a big bottle of H2O should be included, complain to the airlines’ management. ✈
Last flight we had on AA, back last April from DFW to PSP, we were in FC. We received no PDB. The FA never came through the cabin even once during the entire flight. The seatbelt sign was off, no to very little turbulence. No drink/snack service. Economy got drinks/snacks, but not FC. Several people pressed the call button, the FA reluctantly came and gave them a drink but didn’t offer anything to anyone else. It was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever experienced on a domestic flight. When I went to the lavatory, the FA was just sitting in the jumpseat watching something on her phone. I messaged customer service but they just responded that, “flight conditions made it impossible to offer service”, which was BS.
I’m surprised AA allows their FAs to post on social media about these types of incidents. AA is generally considered the worst legacy carrier and allowing these types of posts isn’t going to help their reputation.
I’m not sure what a “full size” water bottle is but I’m guessing it’s 500ml max. I’ve never seen anyone request or receive a 1.5 liter bottle.
Win reminds me of those long gone days when Delta had the mojo, and were my #1 choice.
Everyone had a better attitude then when we all…passengers and crew… were raised better, and at least house broken.
I just can’t let that ” flying waitresses ” thing pass though.
This IS a large part of the problem here. The flight attendant is primarily a safety officer, who will bring you a drink when it is possible. Ask anyone who has ever been involved in any sort of ” incident ” whether with or without ground contact.
Those folks are there for larger reasons than your drinks.
I also think a great deal of the conflict here is the definition of ” bottle.”
Liter, 500ml, 250ml…?
.
cr,
it’s not about defending Delta as about defending reality.
If the seat belt sign is on and FAs are not moving, it may well be because the captain asked them not to serve at that point in the flight. Accusing anyone of being lazy w/o knowing the facts is low.
We could all recount positive and negative experiences w/ any company that serves over 100 million customers per year. I made it clear that my post in that regard applies to most US airlines
As long as this is is an open discussion forum, it is as appropriate for someone to respond to some else’s post as it is for them to post their experience in the first place.
What does “down-lined catered” mean and is that standard operating procedure?
If the airline decides not to load enough bottles of water on the aircraft for everyone in business class, then it’s just math that not every biz class passenger can get one, and the stink eye should be directed at the airline, not the FA.
If this was an irregular event then the FAs tweet is poorly framed. I think (nearly) all passengers understand that sometimes sh*t happens and we don’t get everything we should have a right to. But those situations should be relatively rare and should include an apology, not a scolding.
It is a privilege for the airline to have the customer business. The Flight Attendant is the face of the company on flights. I think the flight attendant could have chosen a better way to say it. Yes things happen on flights such as not being stocked with bottle water to cover all premium seats. However there is a polite and professional way to say it to passengers and a way and the way this flight attendant decided to tell the passenger. I have flown only first on American for past 10 years and never had any issues with flight crews being rude. In fact I never found any employee from American to be rude, but instead they go out of their way to go the extra mile without being asked.
I read the post this morning and I commented on set post around 8:12 a.m. I was flabbergasted regarding the Flight Attendant Posting such a comment. But after reading the new contract negotiations between the pilots Union and American Airlines, I also came across this article;
https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-pilots-ratify-contract-a07575766ccc2111562bf189f8d9162c
And in this article I came across the American Airlines ” American Airlines rides travel boom to $1.3 billion profit in the second quarter as fuel prices drop”
https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-earnings-travel-fuel-e8d0cdb6f111b3c0755bab1a00851329
So when a passenger ask for a bottle of water whether in first class or in main cabin the flight attendant shouldn’t be given any BS to the paying customer. Like I said in my post this morning, every flight needs to be catered whether long haul or short haul! American Airlines is putting profit over customer satisfaction! I think it’s time for American Airlines to get a little taste of the Delta Airlines boycott about 8 years ago! When American Airlines starts losing revenue because of the crappy service that their flight attendants are providing once a customer is on board their aircraft, someone an upper management is going to wake up and start asking why are we losing so much revenue! Customers need to be sending letters in to the CEO of American Airlines instead of posting reviews like mine on “View From the Wing.”
I stopped flying AA about 15 years ago for a similar incident. Not because they denied me a second cup of water, but because the FA was rude about it and that the company was so cheap they wouldn’t provide enough water on flights.
AA FAs have been surely and with a ” what tf you want attitude?!” as SOP In Intern’l Biz class to South America for YEARS. It’s ridiculous – especially now that they ve doubled the cost of biz class flights post pandemic. Def looking for alternatives for that route. Would never fly them to Europe – they’re are better options! Domestically they suck regardless of class- although FAs in 1st class seem marginally better than their surely ass counterparts on Intl biz.
Gary had to sneak in a germaphobe comment at the end, lol. One question. When you open your sealed water bottle, how do you think it was filled? You don’t think they pay a person to stand in the restroom and make sure everybody washes their hands, do you?
@timdunn
A majority of the time FA’s ask the pilots to turn on the seat belt sign to force the customers to their seats. Regarding the water, what was the purpose of it being catered.
The small bottles are meant to be handed out to the customers for preboarding. This is required and not a privileage. The large bottles are usually used to refill the water during the meal service and movies. The large bottles are not meant to be handed out to a customer.
The FA’s also hoard the large water bottles for their international layovers. They are not allowed to take any supplies off the aircraft. The airlines consider it theft and grounds for termination.