Originally Posted by PCL_128  Grrrr. Nothing pisses me off more than Captains that don't treat their FAs right. Being a Captain isn't just about knowing procedures and being able to fly the plane. That's the least of it. Being a Captain is really about managing a crew, and you're doing a horrible job of managing the crew if they're angry at you for acting like a jerk. The FAs are an extremely valuable part of the crew, and they should be treated with respect. Anyone who doesn't treat them with respect doesn't deserve his fourth stripe.
When I was a Captain, I had a few rules that made life easy on the FA:
1. The entire crew, including the FA, gets three meals a day, no matter what. And I'm not talking about standing in the galley and inhaling a burrito while the gate agent breathes down your neck, I'm talking about nice relaxing meals so you can unwind. If that means delaying three flights a day because we don't have any breaks built into the schedule, then so be it. The delay report was always sent in saying "Captain needed meal break." That way, none of the other crew took the heat for delaying the flight, and I would be the one getting the phone call.
2. The flight doesn't get boarded until both me and the FA are ready. When walking up to a gate on a quick turn from an aircraft swap, most gate agents would say "I'll send the pax down in five minutes." My response: "No, you'll send them down after you check with the FA to see if she's ready. She has pre-flight checks to do, and she hasn't even seen if the plane has been cleaned yet. Come down in five minutes and ask her if she's ready for boarding."
3. It's my responsibility to keep the heat off of the FA by keeping the pax informed of what's going on. If we're sitting on a taxiway for 15 minutes because of a ground stop, then I need to make a PA so the people are informed and not taking it out on the FA. The simple act of keeping the people informed of what is going on can make an FA's day 100% better.
4. If something happens during a flight that requires the FA to submit a report and talk to her supervisor, like a denied pax boarding, then I'm going with her to see the supervisor to back her up. Management at Pinnacle tried to put a hell of a lot of pressure on the FAs and intimidate them, and they wouldn't pull that crap if the Captain was in the office with the FA during the meeting.
5. If an FA overslept accidentally or for some other reason showed up late to the plane (by accident, not intentionally), then I put the delay report on myself. They'll fire the FA for something like that, but they won't touch me.
6. If we're still at the gate and the FA is having problems with a passenger, then I'll go back to help handle it. For some reason the pax think they can give a bunch of crap to the FAs, but they shut up and comply when they see the guy with the blazer and hat walk up. Lots of Captains will just sit there on their happy asses and wait for the FAs and gate agents to take care of it. Pathetic, as far as I'm concerned.
There's more, but those are good examples. The general idea is simple: Captain's, take care of your FAs and back them up. They are an important part of your crew and they should be treated with respect. Any Captain that doesn't treat his FAs with respect isn't just a bad Captain, he's a bad human being. |