Reverse snobbery?

I see more and more cabin crew almost going out of their way to show that although they are serving you, they are really actually better than you, type of attitude.
I always treat people with the highest repect no matter what they do in life. If someone is in the service industry, then the role is to serve people. It does not mean they have any less prestige. In fact, an excellent waitor/waitress/cabin crew/shopkeeper etc. is a pleasure to meet and makes the experience so much better.
I don`t know if it is a kickback from some cabin crew when they have had to put up with people being rude to them. I have also seen an increase in people (passengers) not using please and thank you to them. Maybe it is just a case that people are becoming less courteous to each other and this is the result.

Like you Paul I always treat people with respect as long as they deserve that respect by the way they interact with others around them.

Apart from very occasional business flights I tend to fly down the back of the bus by choice. I have to say that the majority of crew who have been on our recent flights have been great and a credit to the industry they work in.

Snobbery and self importance is just something I can't abide.
As with everything in life it's not down to what material possessions you own, or how much you earn that is important, it's down to how you treat those around you.

Jon B

As a CSS at Virgin I have to say that most of the crew we have are kind people who do treat people with respect. I watch and listen to my crew like a hawk and very rarly to I hear anyone of them say or do anything to make me cringe.

I know there are 1 or 2 out there who think they are above eveyone else its like that anywhere but please don't put all crew in the same basket. I would suggest that if you come across this onboard then you request to speak to the CSS and inform them what is happening.

I have also found that some customers liek you say do not always say please and thank you but that is still no excuse for a CCM to be the same.

I've nver really come across Cabin who think they're better than everyone else on Virgin, or any other airline. I've found cabin crew to be one of the more down to earth industries.

I've found in some hotels and "designer" bars this to be very often the case. As an aquaintance of mine once said "I don't want to stay in a hotel where all the staff are better dressed and more good looking than me"

Dean

One VS female crew was very unpleasant to me and rude coming back from St Lucia when i was having problems with my newborn.I did complain after i arrived back in the UK as i felt totally humilated on the flight.

I must state however that not all cabin crew are the same and i wouldnt put them all in the same basket.I perhaps caught the CC in question on a very bad flight!

I firmly believe that i treat people as to how i would like to be treated.

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes

That's why I turn to my Cheyne Row townhome, my Northern hunting lodge, my Bentley, my unassailable wardrobe, my friends at Groucho's and Boujis, my moggy, and those quiet memories of my well-behaved Eton years for solace in the midst of this horrible world.

GJ

But is this enough for you GJ [:w]

GJ: By "moggy", do you mean your cat or your second car?

I have to say recently we've not encountered a single rude crew member (or any who were having a 'bad day')

The only times in the past half a dozen flights I have seen rudeness is from the other pax. Just because you're up the front of the plane or the back doesn't mean you have to leave your please and thank-you on the ground.

A number of my friends and neighbours are cabin and flight crew and I see a lot of the them at work and I have to say they are the most down to earth people around.

One observation I have noticed in the past year or so is a cultural one - not to upset our friends across the pond but they have a different way of asking for things - they're not being rude it's just cultural. So much so I remember on our last SFO-HNL flight we we're the only english on the entire plane and the CSM at the end came up and said how shocked the crew were with the number or times we said please and thank-you!!

Hello Ade -

I may have a different perspective, being from the "across the pond" as you say, but nonetheless I agree with you that American business travelers can be less polite than the Brit's (and it's not just a cultural thing as you politely suggest, it's just plain bad manners on occasion IMHO). I travel huge amounts on both United Airlines and now Virgin, and have observed the best and worst of passengers from both sides. Interestingly, what I've observed is more of a difference between American and British travelers in PE and UC, comparing them to differences in travelers who are in economy. Business travelers from our side seem to be more self-centered and less-polite, whereas there always seems to be a few bad apples in economy and it doesn't seem to matter where they are from.

Casey

I have encountered an aloof up his own a$$ cabin crew member in PE out of MAN to MCO, coincidentally one and a half years later when I was boarding UCS, behind me I heard a loud "Oi where do you think your going!", I turned around to see the very same person shouting this to four people accidentally heading towards the UCS cabin.

In contrast however I have found the crew to be nothing short of perfection and professional,

Customer services however are a waste of space as far as I can tell.

[ChuckC]

Originally posted by Paul H
I see more and more cabin crew almost going out of their way to show that although they are serving you, they are really actually better than you, type of attitude ... I have also seen an increase in people (passengers) not using please and thank you to them. Maybe it is just a case that people are becoming less courteous to each other and this is the result.

As has already been pointed out by GJ, we do prefer to deal in specifics on V-Flyer. Why not share with everyone the details of your concerns? I suspect there will be a raft of members wanting to comment, or to help you.


Regards,
Chuck-

Glad you agree with me GJ.

Personally, I've found it rare to find CC that are just plain rude and the only time I've witnessed it has been when a pax is being unnecessarily awkward or pompos with them.

Baps.

Superb as always GJ,

Why use one word when a hundred will do?!!

Regards

John

[Scrooge]

Gentlemen, please don't...thank you.

Err, sorry folks. My previous post has perhaps given the impression that I'm having some sort of "swipe" at GJ. This is NOT the case at all - I love reading his stuff. Perhaps it is I who is in need of a few lessons in expressing one's self a little better.

Oh, and sorry for hi-jacking the read too.

John

Anytime someone prompts one of GJ's literary creations, I consider it an education in eloquence, not thread hijacking. [y]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
I love Scotland. I love JAT74L. I mean this -- you can check my records, if you like.

GJ

Why do I now feel the need to run a back ground check on you just in case [?]

[Bazz]

Specific description of the incidents by all means but please do not report in open forum; flight details of crew details, these matters are better addressed elsewhere.

before I can say you are speaking from a position of rectitude or just intellectual laziness.

GJ, my intellectual laziness almost certainly comes from my old Eton days. What years were you there? Do you remember the annual, who has the largest overbite competition? All that time away from our parents,and girls, had no effect on us whatsoever did it. Character building, that`s what they told us in those quiet evening chats, all alone with our tutor. Or were you lucky enough to have the House master as your tutor? Hey, it made us what we are today GJ. Happy days, happy days. Can`t recreate them no matter how hard we try.

Our battle cry has served me well and if I had a choice GJ, I would take being a gentleman every time. A person should be judged on what they do,not what they know.

[Nottingham Nick]

Gentlemen,

Fascinating, though this discussion of the old days of the playing fields of Eton is. Its relevance to things to things Virgin Atlantic has become remote to say the least.

For that reason, please excuse me if I uproot it into the Off Topic forum, where I would encourage all parties to continue the reminiscences of better days gone by. [8D]

Nick

It may be purely coincidental, but The Sunday Telegraph has kindly carried out a poll for me in todays travel section,
Ò Are cabin crew less polite than they used to be?Ó
Answer: 54% yes, 46% no.
Quotes are,
They are also scruffier, grumpier and Ðdare I say it- less easy on the eye. RJ -Winchester.
Yes but so are passengers. You never heard about air rage 30 years ago. LM- Edinburgh.
They`re rude to everyone, then line up by the door so that we can all thank them as we leave. SS- Chester.
No, but the staff in the airport lounges are always dragons. DR- London.

Maybe we have a snooper from TST who reads our posts looking for ideas?[:?]