What's the Deal with FSMs???

(QUALIFIER: I tried a search of "FSM" in subject line and found nothing -- please lock my post as fast as your daughter's chastity belt if it's a repeat.)

Embedded in several recent Trip Reports as of late has been the complaint that FSMs have become virtually invisible, particularly in UC. A troubling trend, to say the least.

I was wondering if others of you had had the same experience and -- most importantly -- if any of our friends on VS crew could inform us about any change in the FSM brief that may have occured with regard to duties, presence, etc.

Thanks!

GJ

PS -- And speaking of thanks, those of us here in the USA celebrate Thanksgiving Day tomorrow (Thursday). I can certainly say that i am thankful for this site, the many things I've learned from it, and some of the fine online mates I've made. I'm even thankful for those on here who may sail too closely to the line of insanity. Good times!

[Nottingham Nick]

Certainly not been my experience GJ.

I have no complaints about the FSMs on recent trips. One, who shall remain nameless, even came down the back to Y to introduce himself.

I suppose that on some flights they may have more 'problems' to deal with on flights, that will take them away from their passenger interaction roles.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Nick

Perhaps they only chat with gold FC pax...?

Ah.. they were better in the days when they were called the IFS...

[Decker]

ah but the temptation to refers to IFS and BUTTS...

*sigh*

I'm writing a T/R at the moment and one thing i'll say is that we had 2 IFM on the flight and never saw either of them! No problems to deal with at all...they sat in the galley infront of the w/c near 1K and didn't move.. More to come in my T/R

I do often see them doing quite a lot of paperwork in the forward section on an A346 - maybe there's quite a bit of "behind the scenes" stuff going on.[:?]

VS.

As I fly solo with escort (under 16) I have always found the FSM EXTREAMLY friendly and helpful. The crew always talk to me during the flight and i normally pop down to the galley and have a long chat with them. It all varies. Never had an unfriendly FSM though.

VFLY

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We get the day off school for it, and we dont even live in the states!

Originally posted by Decker
ah but the temptation to refers to IFS and BUTTS...

Reminds me of the tune 'I like big butts and I can not lie!' Ooops! Going off on a tangent, sorry [:I]

With regards to the FSM, I was lucky enough to have flown UCS twice this year. On my first flight the UCS cabin only had around 13 pax and on the second, the cabin was full. On both occasions I was only a lowly Red FC member and on both occasions the FSM stopped to have a brief chat. One of them even found time to have a 'rest' in one of the suites during the flight![:0]

Never had any problem with FSM, all friendly and helpful. Although it seems they do have few paper works to do during the flight, not sure what exactly they are. But one of these form is for recording broken IFE, and last time I've seen that list, it has a lot of records on it!

How V:Port all back to normal, plus the trip map!

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by McCoy
Perhaps they only chat with gold FC pax...?

Nope! I've done eight flights this year and on only two of them did the FSM introduce him/herself; one of them was excellent when we pointed out a lack of service caused by a number of factors; the rest were invisible

My better half is one of these FSM types & yes they do have a lot of paperwork to do, customs forms, crew appraisals, etc, etc. That said, on the flights i've been on she's always very proactive in working as part of the crew & getting to know the pax (not just gold card holders!!!). It's all down to personality, some view themselves as crew managers & leave the pax to the other crew & some really do try to make the flight enjoyable.

[Decker]

Originally posted by Denzil
some view themselves as crew managers & leave the pax to the other crew & some really do try to make the flight enjoyable.

I'd have to agree with your implicit criticism . How much management is required of a small group of people carrying out assigned roles ?

On both of my UC flights the other week, the FSM made regular visits to the UC cabin. Admittedly, the FSM on the returning flight was better, as she made individual, personal introductions to the UC passengers by name.

When I complained about the dodgy IFE reliability coming home [& later the faulty armrest on the suite] the FSM promptly appeared to apologise & said the comments would be logged in her report - so I guess they do have a fair bit of peperwork to complete.

To back the "paperwork" side of things up, when I was waiting for the UC toilet, the FSM + one other crew member were in 2 of the crew seats near the UC galley counting [a fair bit of] cash & completing paperwork for the duty free sales. I was more distracted at this point by the dodgy / funny newspaper cartoons the crew serving UC had stuck to the oven door in the UC galley. The FSM saw me looking & laughing at them and just said "nothing to do with me"!

Thanks
James

On VS201 on 18 September, the FSM was highly visable in economy which I thought was great.


Edited - preiffer : removed staff member's name as per site terms

I'm afraid those who contribute to this board often have expectations that exceed reality. The FSM is exactly that - the flight services manager. If he/she hasn't time to introduce herslf to each passenger then whats the problem. If you want to meet her/him, go to the galley.
For me I'm quite comfortable in my status in life not to feel that I need to be fawned over by the head honcho.
For what its worth my last flight from GND in upper last month was exactly how virgin should be. I flew out to miami in ba first and frankly apart from the seat ( which is almost unbearable in its 'seat' mode ) I'd go for virgin anytime. ( But they were a manchester crew!)

We've done ten flights this year all in upper. Once the fsm came round and introduced himself to everyone the other times I think the first we see of them is when the wine comes round with the food.

Even as gold we've not had a hello. However the IFS and seniors have always made a point esp on LGW route of saying hi to us and noting we're gold - they tend to recongnise use from previous fights for the past half a dozen flights or so.

I think the hello from the fsm has gone by the wayside now.

Originally posted by dom
I'm afraid those who contribute to this board often have expectations that exceed reality. The FSM is exactly that - the flight services manager. If he/she hasn't time to introduce herslf to each passenger then whats the problem. If you want to meet her/him, go to the galley.
For me I'm quite comfortable in my status in life not to feel that I need to be fawned over by the head honcho.
For what its worth my last flight from GND in upper last month was exactly how virgin should be. I flew out to miami in ba first and frankly apart from the seat ( which is almost unbearable in its 'seat' mode ) I'd go for virgin anytime. ( But they were a manchester crew!)

Errrr, "expectations that exceed reality"? I think not. If I'm paying top dollar (or pound actually) I expect the FSM at the very least to make damn sure they introduce themselves to each and every passenger in UC (w/o wanting to get into the fare-class argument again) before they bury themselves in paperwork - c'mon we're often talking 10 hour+ flights; I doubt there is really that much paperwork, and I work 12+ days and manage to speak with my customers EVERY day.

My last 3 UC flights have not revealed the FSM to me, although astonishingly other pax have whilst I sit there apparently invisible for 10-12+ hour flghts.

I do not want to be "fawned over by the Head Honcho" (I find that particular comment unnecessary and patronising at the same time [:(!] - and last time I checked the HH was the Captain); I simply want the person in charge to check that I'm happy with the flight. This is basic customer satisfaction stuff that any self-respecting business would have under control. Anyone running their own business would not understand why you wouldn't want your guy in charge checking with your highest-class paying customers that they're ok with everything. It's very simple - premium class passengers are responsible for a healthy element of profits, or maybe profits aren't that important these days?

The issue here I believe is not the quality per se of the FSM's, it's quite simply the utter inconsistency of the people in the role. Some have a clear understanding of what I believe to be the correct priorities - looking after the passengers (or are they really just highly paid air clerks???).

Flame off.

Originally posted by dom
For me I'm quite comfortable in my status in life not to feel that I need to be fawned over by the head honcho.

I agree with vizbiz, I do not need to be fawned over, however if I am in UC paying a lot more money than if I were down the back, it is important that the FSM comes and introduces themselves and makes sure that everyone is happy in the premium cabin. It is basic customer service and it is a real shame that it is so inconsistant as my flight to NY our FSM on the way out was amazing she came around said hello and introduced herself to everyone and it was a full UC cabin, but the return flight I didn't see him once......I think VS need to sort this out and maybe re train FSM so they are singing off the same sheet and not doing what they think the job entails.

Dominic

Originally posted by dom

For me I'm quite comfortable in my status in life not to feel that I need to be fawned over by the head honcho.

On my return from MIA earlier this month I did not even discover who the FSM was. To make things worse UC had quite a few empty seats so it would not have been too difficult for them to introduce themselves. (I must add I could not fault the rest of the crew who did an excellent job[y])

To look at it another way even if the 747 was full in UC (that's 44 people I believe) surly it's not that difficult to speak to everyone.
Even if you spend a minute with each person thats only three quarters of an hour which is about 1/10 of the time on an average 9 hour flight.

I can think of a couple of FSMs we have encountered that I wouldn't pay with brass washers,others have been very good.Same old story some staff are very good some are not.The majority of BA CSDs have introduced themselfs since we have held EC gold,in both short and longhaul.

[fozzyo]

One of the big issues VS need to address - service consistency. I would expect that at the very least all Gold FC members should be personally welcomed aboard the flight by the FSM - irrespective of cabin class. And ideally all UC passengers.

Something that hasn't happened on a few of my recent flights.

Although no FSM has ever introduced themselves they have always been very helpful when approached.

The best FSM I have ever experienced was on Nationwide Airlines that flies from JNB to LGW. Their FSM walks the WHOLE plane - 767 - and speaks to every passenger - even if its just a quick hi!

I am not saying that they should do that on Virgin but I also believe like most other replies here that they should be more visible and make sure that their UC and premium paying passengers are happy and comfortable.

[fozzyo]

Originally posted by Love Flying
Although no FSM has ever introduced themselves they have always been very helpful when approached.

While the greetings and visibility are important, this is the real measure of an FSM.

Originally posted by Love Flying
Although no FSM has ever introduced themselves they have always been very helpful when approached.

The best FSM I have ever experienced was on Nationwide Airlines that flies from JNB to LGW. Their FSM walks the WHOLE plane - 767 - and speaks to every passenger - even if its just a quick hi!

I am not saying that they should do that on Virgin but I also believe like most other replies here that they should be more visible and make sure that their UC and premium paying passengers are happy and comfortable.

Ideally the FSM should strive to greet all passengers - the FSM IS there for ALL passengers. UC & PE have the additional benefits of their purchased tickets including (I presume) dedicated flight attendents.

In my view, the FSMs are there to ensure good service to all passengers - The person for all classes to turn to if having problems or unhappy - If your in UC/PE or Economy and get the opportunity to chat with the FSM then great. I suppose those that stay away from UC probably stay away from the other classes as well.

Regards
Martin.