Sluggo's first trip as an International Purser - Flight Attendant

After 11yrs of flying the Domestic routes with my airline, I've finally been able hold the proffer to fly Internationally. Most airlines have the International and Domestic flying integrated with their flying, however at my airline, it's separate. So it was a great joy to learn that I held the proffer.

In going International, I had to do about 8hrs worth of online training to learn how the services were to be done vs. how they are done domestically. After doing the online training, I then had to go to our training center down in Dallas for a few days to learn the 'ditching' aspect of our Emergency Procedures. I was a fun few days, but very tough as well as we had to make sure how to inflate rafts, learn new commands to evacuate the passengers from the aircraft, and again touch on the service aspects on the long-haul flights.

After training, I transferred to my new base in Miami and started my first flying on July 2nd. It was a tough one, but a good one to start learning the aspects of what the differences are between domestic flying, and my new international flying. When I called our 'reserve' tape to learn of my fate, I learned that I would be working Miami to La Paz, Bolivia, sit for an hour, then fly over to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The flying time wasn't bad. It was less than 6hrs, and the service was a basic pre-plated lunch entree, along with a smoked salmon sandwich follow-on service about an hour prior to landing. It felt just like my old JFK-SFO trans-con flights that I use to do.

Amazingly, when we landed in La Paz, I learned that the elevation of the airport was at 13,000ft above sea level. This meant the pilots had to don oxygen masks on landing since we would be so high up. I learned that while on the ground, the local staff bring oxygen in case passengers felt ill or faint while we waited to be cleaned and fueled up for our next leg.

I felt fine, however, the First Officer said that he felt a little dizzy while walking up the jetbridge stairs from doing his walk-around. It was around that time that I realized that Bolivia was on the opposite side of the equator, and they were in their winter months. Sure enough, it had started snowing a little and even formed ice on the wings while we waited.

I was shocked to see how thorough the ground staff was in cleaning the aircraft, as well as do a security sweep of the aircraft. It really made me feel good that security was high on their priority as they took apart all the seat cushions, opened every cabinet and drawers, and checked all the passengers on the plane.

Was all the security checks were done and some new passengers were boarded, we were off to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It was only an hour flight, so we got there pretty fast. Just like other short flights domestically, there wasn't any service in Main Cabin, but we had a beverage service in First Class. Before we knew it, we were landing by 1am.

Finally got to the hotel around 2am. I was very amazed at how the electricity worked much like a few other hotels I've been to where you have to place your room key into a slot to power everything. I'm actually amazed that more hotels don't utilize this system as they could really save on electricity.

I was suppose to go to a few markets with my fellow crew members, but I didn't wake up until later than we had planned on meeting, besides, it was cloudy, damp, and very windy. I think the temp was around 45degrees F. (of course, the day after was sunny and 60)

I would have loved to gone to the local zoo, local market, or even have gotten a massage at the hotel, but I was extremely tired and kept it quiet. Another thing I was amazed at, the free wifi was faster than some hotels in the US where you have to pay for the service!

Our departure back to Miami was suppose to have been at 12:30am, but we were slightly delayed departing due to some weight and balance issues. Once the pilots figured out what was going on, we were on our way.

I figured that since it was going to be an all-nighter flight, I was expecting a light snack and a follow-on breakfast before landing.  Boy was I wrong! It ended up being a Full-on dinner where I had to plate all the entree's, along with a full ice cream sundae. Something that should have been reserved for dinner, not a late-night supper. The pre-arrival follow-on service was just breakfast breads and juices. The flying time was 6hrs 30mins. I wasn't tired at all since I rested all day, but the other crew members took their breaks (even though they technically weren't suppose to. LOL)

We finally landed in Miami and the flight was done. I had great crew members that helped me tremendously. I can't wait for my next long-haul flight.

Sluggo's trip to London

Since my last post, I had mentioned that I was going to London again with my great friend Jeremy. He was going to be working the flight, as Purser, and I was just going to go along for his trip. He had a 24hr layover in London, so it was enough time to get in, take a nap, and do some running around London and see what it has to offer.

I get to Chicago a bit before he does. Keep in mind, I just worked a trip from San Francisco - New York's JFK airport that night, then hopped over to LaGuardia airport to get to Chicago. I think I had about an hours nap on the plane, otherwise, I didn't sleep at all.

Initially the flight was going to go out of K12, but it soon changed out of L8, and First Class was not looking promising for me to sit up front, where he was sitting. Fortunately for me, not only did I get on the flight, but I actually was able to sit in First Class!

Of course I had to have a pre-departure Champagne, and now we're off to London! The flight was roughly 7hrs 30mins. Surprisingly, I didn't sleep, or at least I didn't think I did, even though one of the other flight attendants said he saw me sleeping during one of my movies. Either way, I was comfortable. First up, were the Crudites and dip. This was basically something to get you started on your meal. It consisted of slices of celery, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli. Now, on the most delicious appetizer! (MY FAV)

I can eat this appetizer day-in, day-out because I LOVE the smoked salmon. We use to have this on the domestic trans-cons, but they took this away to save some money, however, here is what the appetizer consisted of: Smoked salmon and tarragon shrimp accompanied by capers, red onion, and sour cream. Water, Pommery Brut Champagne, Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Merlot.

The Merlot was extremely tasteful and really accompanied the plate well. I would have asked for more, but being a good non-rev, I didn't want to take from the crew getting any food on the flight.

Next up was the Salad. I wasn't going to have a salad, but I took one anyway.  The salad consisted of: Fresh seasonal greens with squash, cucumbers, artichoke hearts and roasted tomatoes with pepper cream dressing. I could have added a Cajun-style roasted chicken breast, but I decided not to add it since I wanted to save room for the main course.

Since I was sitting in First Class, I had Video-On-Demand, so I started watching a movie that I've wanted to watch for a while, "The King's Speech". (Based on the true story of George VI and his friendship with a speech therapist who helps the stammering King find a voice.) Awesome job!

Next up on the menu was the main course. Dinner consisted of: Sauteed breast of Chicken featured with a ratatouille sauce, smashed potatoes with bacon and a medley of baby vegetables. Surprisingly, it was very good. I think I just about licked the plate when I was done. I can now understand why people want to pay Full Fare to sit up here due to the service. I just wish we would do the same on Domestic First Class Trans-Con flights. Something to differentiate from Business.

Of course following dinner, one has to partake in the dessert! Vanilla Ice Cream with Bailey's Irish cream. Simple and to the point, but good. I probably would have gone with just butterscotch, but since I don't get to drink on my flights that I work, I thought I should do it up....especially since I'm paying for this non-rev experience! (because I'm less than 25yrs with the company, I still have to pay taxes on the services in First Class, so this trip wasn't cheap!)



By this point, "The King's Speech" was over, so I wanted to watch another movie and selected "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1".(As Dark Forces threaten to tear them apart, Harry, Ron and Hermione set out to destroy the secret to Voldemort's immortality) I'm so behind in my movies, this flight really helped me get back on track!


It must have been during "Harry Potter" that I took a few cat naps that the one flight attendant said I took. I don't remember a lot of the movie, but it was still good. Once "Harry Potter" was over, then I watched "Inception"(In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception.) I tell ya, I think I have to watch it again because I lost a LOT of info because there was so much going on. It was interesting that someone can think of different levels of your dreams, and other people trying to attempt the data in your brain, through your dreams.

By this time, it was time for our descent into London's Heathrow Airport, so a Pre-Arrival Beverage of chilled sparkling water to freshen you up.  Since I was in First Class, I was able to deplane early, and get through customs quickly. The sad part was, they changed the pick-up point for friends/family traveling with crew-members. Fortunately the crew and van weren't waiting long when Jeremy found me, and we were on our way to The Forum for our layover. The sad part was, the other in-bound crews from Miami and Dallas passed us, so that meant that when we got to the hotel, we'd be behind them in getting rooms, and sure enough, we waited a little over an hour.

During this time, Jeremy asked me if I wanted to go right out and tour the city, or if I was tired and wanted to sleep. It truly didn't matter to me, so I left it up to him since he was working all night, and he chose to sleep. We set the alarm for 1pm, however we overslept and got up and showered in time to head out by 3pm.

It was a gorgeous day in London. Low 70s and sunny. We stopped by the concierge desk before leaving the hotel to see what theater shows were on performing that night. Jeremy had mentioned something about Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical, but I was a little tentative about seeing a bunch of drag queens prancing around on the stage. Either way, I left it up to him to decide later what we were going to do, so we ventured down to Gloucester Road Tube station and got on the tube to Westminster Tube station. Not going to London that often (my 3rd or 4th time) I didn't know where exactly we would come up until we got above ground. Yup, you guessed it, right next to the Houses of Parliament (Big Ben) and Westminster Abbey. Since we had such a late start, we got to Westminster just in time for the 5pm Evensong service.  I know if we had other friends with us, we'd probably not have gone, but we went in for about 20 minutes of the service and listened to the Westminster Abbey's Boys Choir sing. It was awesome.


Once we left the Abbey, we walked along Whitehall and passed the stables were the Royal Horses are housed. It was open, so we peeked in and saw where many military parades have gathered. (or at least via video) We kept walking along Whitehall and passed the National Portrait Gallery and stopped at a TKTS half-price ticket store to see how much tickets would be for Priscilla. Unfortunately, the guy said that all the tickets he had had already been taken back by The Palace theatre. We then walked to the box office to see what kind of deals they had, but all the tickets were pretty costly, or had obstructed views. The girl at the box office suggested that we try another TKTS location, so we go trotting off to another store, but they were closed. Jeremy wanted to buy some tickets at a discount place, but they were only $10 cheaper than at the box office, so I told him lets think about it.


Of course, Jeremy wasn't too happy, but he relented and back to the box office we went, and somehow, we got AWESOME tickets at a GREAT deal. It was almost a 2-4-1 type deal.

Before the show, we ran to grab a bit to eat at an Italian restaurant called "Amalfi". We shared a pizza, dessert, and a glass of wine. Ok, we didn't share the glass of wine, we each had our own, but it was great.  

The tickets the Jeremy got were 4th row, almost center. It was awesome! The show was non-stop fun. I have to laugh, having worked at The Ordway Center for Performing Arts before flying, I can understand how different company's are strict about taking pics or being on cell phones. The Staff at The Palace were on top of it! They were awesome. Anytime they saw anyone taking a pic or texting, they were right there to tell them "NO"! We had so much fun during the show, I really didn't believe I would enjoy it, but I would LOVE to go back and see it again! I heard the production that's on Broadway is a bit censored from that of the London production, which is sad because it goes to show that those in the U.S. just can't handle the language or half nudity...I mean, there was a kid sitting with his parents in front of us who loved the show, so why can't parents just allow their kids to see this in the U.S.?

After the show, we went to Rupert Street Bar in Soho, then to Comptons of Soho London. By this point, I was getting tired and a little lit, Jeremy wanted to go to G-A-Y bar for one more drink, but I said I was fine, so we hopped back on the tube and back to the hotel for an early morning.

I got up at 6am to put myself on the standby list, got back to the room and took a shower. By this time, it was time for Jeremy to get up and get ready. He wanted to stop by this great coffee shop that he frequents, however when we got there, they had closed. (presumably because of the Starbuck's that was right around the corner).

We all load up on the bus back to Heathrow, they drop me off at the front to go through the regular passenger line and security, where I had to relinquish the rest of my contact solution bottle, shampoo (yes I do use some) and after-shave lotion. Once I finally got to the gate, the crew was just coming up from their screening and I checked in at the gate and got my First Class seat.

I started watching my movies again. Started off  with a movie that we were playing on our Westbound Domestic flights, "The Company Men" (When corporate downsizing leaves Bobby and co-workers Phil and Gene unemployed, the men are forced to re-define their lives.) Next I went with a sci-fi: "I am Number Four" (This science fiction thriller follows an extraordinary teen who is a fugitive running from enemies sent to destroy him.) . It was interesting, I don't remember seeing advertisements for it, but the way they left it, there will be a second one coming out at some point.

Once again, time for meals to come out. I again had the Crudites and dip. I didn't care for the dip this time, as it was just a herb vinaigrette dressing, rather than an actual dip like we had leaving Chicago. Now comes the best part, the appetizer: Smoked salmon and tarragon shrimp accompanied by capers, red onion and sour Cream. Groom Lenswood Savignon Blanc. Again, I could just eat the smoked salmon since it is my favorite, but I chose not to since I didn't want to become a pain for the crew.

The Main Course had the same options as going to London, so I chose a different entree this time.  Grilled fillet of beef served with porcini mushroom butter and bordelaise sauce, diced yellow peppers, haricots verts, baby carrots and olive oil potatoes. I didn't care for the green beans that accompanied the vegetables, however the beef fillet just melted in my mouth. It was delicious. I probably could have eaten another one it was so good. We don't get anything like this on Domestic, so I savored ever last bite (except for the beans).

I guess you can consider me a simpleton. I again chose the Vanilla Ice Cream, but this time with Kahlua! I actually liked it better than with Bailey's. By the end of dinner, the movie was over, so I selected "Little Fokkers" (It's taken ten years, two kids with his wife, Pam, and countless hurdles for Greg to get "in" with his father-in-law, Jack) There were some funny parts, some dull parts, but over-all I liked it.

Just about 2hrs prior to landing, it was time for the 'Light Meal' to come around. I didn't eat breakfast on the way to London, however I wanted to eat something more, so I got the Grilled Chicken Breast offered with tabbouleh kebab salad, tzatziki with pita bread, kalamata olives and feta cheese. This was recommended by Jeremy, so I had to try it. He said that the pizza was never any good (too gooey) I was pleasantly surprised at how good the stuffed peppers were. I was enjoying my bottled water I didn't realize that a drink appeared on my tray, so Jeremy asked me to take a sip. I about killed over. I don't think there was any Coca-Cola with the double Jack Daniels he put in the glass! LOL Alas, it was good. By this time, it was time for my last movie: "Gulliver's Travels" (Jonathan Swift's iconic literary satire gets a larger-than-life, 21st century revamp)

I once again had an awesome trip to London. I really can't wait until I get over to the International side. Hopefully this summer I'll have my chances, but until then, I'll continue to do my Trans-cons!

Sluggo's heading to London!

Tomorrow, I'll be flying to NYC to work my JFK-SFO trip on Saturday, then working the red-eye flight back to JFK that night. Once I get back to NYC, I'll then be flying to ORD to meet up with a couple of my friends to head to London for a day.

My good friend, who is a Purser out of ORD, is working the flight to London, and I'll be staying with him once I get there. I'm glad we didn't go during the Royal Wedding as it would have been hectic and busy, however I'm excited to be going back to London because it's been a few years since my last visit.

On this visit, it won't only be he and I, my friend is taking his partner too, so it will be the three of us running around London trying to stay out of trouble.

I'm not exactly sure what we'll be visiting, maybe head back to The Tower of London and check out King Henry's armor, or maybe go and visit The London Dungeon where they showcase how they use to torture those bad-bad people. (I remember visiting that when I first visited London back in '94...very cool)

I'd be ok with visiting some new places we haven't been yet. It is always a treat to watch the Changing of the Guard (I tear up watching the marching band go by) but we could go to G-A-Y, or Knightsbridge, Harrad's, or who knows where. I'll leave it up to my friend as he is often tired when working the trip in, but he's such a great tour guide. If I remember on one trip, we ended up going all the way to Vauxhall where we had fun bar-hopping. So many options to choose from, in so little time.

It is a shame that the bars near the hotel are no longer what they use to be. There were two gay bars within walking distance that were actually a LOT of fun, but they are now straight bars.

Well, keep an eye out for another update with where we went. Maybe I'll post my whole experience from boarding, in-flight food/movies, landing, customs, running around London, and the return experience! 

What is proper Etiquette while on an airplane and bare feet

One of the things that continually amazes me is how people don't think of their fellow traveler while on an airplane. A joke among many flight attendants is "Passengers often check their brains, not their luggage". One pet peeves is to see a passenger get on an airplane immediately take off their shoes, and put them up onto something that isn't theirs.

It doesn't matter whether the customer is in Coach, Business, or First, it continually amazes me how this seems to be a common practice because people do it all the time. A fellow flight attendant, and avid blogger regarding proper Jetiquette, Sky Steward, has posted several question from his readers and has answered them to the best of his ability.

We all know that boarding can be hectic. I know that many of our passengers probably kick off their shoes when they are at home because they want to just air their feet and relax a little bit. I can also  understand that passengers too have had long days, often with boring meetings and would like to sit back and relax, but what would happen if during boarding, while the aircraft is being refueled for the flight something happened and you have to evacuate. That person now has to take critical minutes to put those shoes back on.

Just keep those shoes on because even after the door closes while the plane is taxiing out to the runway, or even during an attempt to take-off, there have been instances where there is an aborted take-off. Thankfully, not many are in need of an evacuation, but they do occur. How are you going to quickly evacuate if you are fumbling for your shoes to put them back on? Lots of valuable time is wasted for your personal well-being putting those shoes back on when you could be in imminent danger of a smoke filling up the cabin, making it difficult to see and you have to evacuate the aircraft.

Ok, so none of the above scenarios happened, so we're inflight and you really do need to just relax. OK, that's fine, but don't put your feet up on the armrest or tray table. We all like to think that the tray tables get cleaned after every single flight, however, they are not. Someone's stinky feet aren't the only things that get on tray tables, parents will often change their babies diapers on them instead of using the baby tables in the lavatories.

Another aspect is how people think because they are in the bulkhead seat, they can climb their feet all over the bulkhead wall. This is the biggest peeve of mine, especially from those passengers who are in First and/or Business Class. People don't go into restaurants or their Doctor's/Lawyer's offices and put their feet up on the tables or furniture, so why do this on an airplane?

If you don't put your feet on the table at a restaurant, then why put feet on the tray-table or bulkhead (wall). I can see how some people who are tall are trying to get comfortable, however not everyone in the cabin would like to see (or smell) your feet. Would you expect your client to walk into your office or conference room and kick off their shoes and put them up on the table? How about clipping their toenails? WHY oh WHY would you want to clip them at your seat? At least go into the lavatory and clip them in the privacy....(hint: there's a trash container for the clippings when your done too!) Every airline has their share of inconsiderate passenger.

Airlines will put their planes through certain over-hauls (C-Checks) (scroll down to aircraft maintenance procedures) after certain amount of hours flown. Some checks only allow steam-cleaning of aisle carpets, replacing burned out reading lights, fixing seats that don't recline properly. There are also bigger checks where the airplane is completely stripped of everything inside the cabin and everything is replaced with newer items. One airline use to use carpet for their bulkheads, and have just recently replaced them with a different wall. Here is a picture of a bulkhead where the carpet was completely ruined by passengers putting their feet up on the wall, costing the airlines thousands of dollars to replace.

Ok, it's inevitable...passengers need to have physiological breaks and need to go to the lavatory during the flight. What doesn't surprise me are these same people who have their feet on a seat, tray table, bulkhead, are the same ones who walk up the extremely dirty aisle and walk to the lavatory in their bare feet. Something to consider if this is you....that's often NOT water on the floor of the lavatory. As good of an aim some male passengers have on the ground, will have a good aim when turbulence hits. Surprising enough, women often have bad aims too, especially when they squat over the seat as oppose to sitting on the seat. (literally had to clean up the bodily fluid after a female passenger urinated all over the floor instead of hitting the spot) Again, just put your shoes  on for the few minutes you need to use the loo because 1) it's more sanitary, and 2) there may actually be broken glass on the floor walking to the lavatory.  (this goes for the little tykes too!)

Are you still with me? Yeah, believe it or not, people do this all the time. I've even encountered a stinky foot on a commuting flight.  Sure, this person was kind enough to keep her shoes on, but they stunk up to high heaven. I had to repeatedly turn around and ask her to move her feet because of the stench. (that's my elbow next to her foot)

I actually put my tote bag under the seat in front of me and leave it there the entire flight. I get out what I need when I get to my seat so I don't have to bother with it later on. I do get cramped sometimes, so what I do is to get up when the seatbelt sign is off and go to the lavatory, even if I don't have to go just to stretch and get the blood flowing.

Here are some more folks with their feet on the bulkhead. Yes, at one time all three of their feet were on the wall. I don't know why this is so except-able because there is often food involved along with beverages being handed out. Many passengers don't even remove their feet when the working flight attendant is trying to work (place beverage, snacks, and/or food)  Passengers throw a fit when they board a plane and it is a pig sty. Well, just look at what the passenger does, you can then start to understand why the place isn't so tidy. It would be nice if we did have the plane steam-cleaned after every single flight, but that would cost money and take up a LOT of your valuable time since most passengers want to board that late arriving airplane and get on their way to their destination quickly

Now the flight is coming to a close, and we're descending into our destination. Believe it or not, many people still don't put their shoes on for landing. Just like the take-off, anything could happen at any moment, and you just don't know when you will have to evacuate the aircraft.

There could be times where the plane lands in terrible weather, crashes, and you have to quickly get out to save yourself, or the plane has no power and abruptly stops at the end of the runway and you hear the evacuation commands to "UNFASTEN SEATBELTS, COME THIS WAY!" 

Best rule of thumb is wait until you're at cruise altitude to take off your shoes (if you really have to). Remember to put your shoes back on when you have to go to the bathroom, take them off again when you're back at your seat, don't put them on the furniture since other people not only have to sit there, but eat there too. When preparing for landing, put your shoes back on because you just never know what may happen.

Following these simple rules not only keeps you prepared for any type of emergency, but gives you a few extra minutes doing other things while those who don't know how to follow proper jetiquette are still gathering their belongings and putting on their shoes when they had the last 25 minutes to do so.

Now that Winter is virtually over, it's time to fix the Potholes!

I must first say that I really do love living in Minneapolis. It's a great place to be in, and several magazines have shown how 'cool' the city is.  The April issue of Men's Journal said "Minneapolis is lauded as the "Best Place to Live in a Big City Designed for Getting Outside” and the editors cite Minneapolis’ parks, Chain of Lakes, large biking community (#1 biking city in America, according to Bicycling Magazine), and numerous farmers markets as the reasons"

Minneapolis was even voted as The Gayest City of America by The Advocate magazine, but all of this wains in comparison in how the Twin Cities is going to recover from all the potholes we endured from the 5th Snowiest Winter of all time, according to long time  Meteorologist, Paul Douglas.

Street crews are preparing to repair potholes, but is it already too late? The city of Minneapolis has awarded MNDot an extra $1M for pothole funding. It is hard to drive down any street as you literally have to swerve to miss the holes because how deep they are, and if you do hit one, wondering what kind of damage it has done to your car. One lady interviewed said she has already replaced two tires due to running over potholes.

The repairs that MNDot is doing are great, but how long will they last? I know from years past, the temporary repairs lasted a long time, but surrounding the repair, other holes emerged. I'm not sure if it's funny or sad that KSTP.com linked up with See Click Fix Maps to map and report potholes in and around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Yes, MNDot is working hard to repair the potholes, but we need a more permanent fix instead of a temporary fix. It's going to be only a matter of time before these repairs give way to the coming rains that we will receive.

I should be happy that Minneapolis didn't make Gadling's Worst Potholes in the World list two years ago. This problem does show that potholes aren't just a Minnesota problem, doing a quick Google Search I see headlines such as: "Vermont's worst pothole season", "Seattle catching up to record number of potholes", even Scotland spent £3million over five years for damage and injuries caused by potholes.

One just hopes that the pothole repairs will be better than this years snow removal. 

What's the difference between an airline Company ID and a nametag?

Following a great discussion on Flyertalk.com, a question was asked if hiding a badge was against FAA/TSA regulations and/or policies.  Since it is not an FAA/TSA regulation/policy, I responded to the question as it was not.

Later on in the thread, another poster quoted an airline policy regarding wearing of name-tags, which is completely different than that which was asked. Yes, majority of airlines do have a policy where their employee's must wear name-tags on their uniforms, as most company's do.

I then posed a question whether or not the person who felt a flight attendant was specifically hiding their name-tag thought that what was being hidden was actually a Company ID. This is in deed different than a name-tag that most airlines require, as the Company ID to all crewmembers is issued under Department of Homeland Securty, and is checked at each Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, much like regular passengers must show their Driver's License.

Company IDs have more information than just a name-tag. They often include company name, a hire date, company seniority date, photo of the crew member, employee pay-role number, full name of the crew member, along with a TSA mandated expiration date.

Majority of airlines will require the Company ID to be hidden from regular view of the passenger, but will require crew members to wear their name tags at all times. Name tags will often come in variable forms: first name only, last name only, nickname only, or first and last name, along with any other title such as specific language or qualification such as a Lead Flight Attendant.

I can understand that majority of passengers don't understand the difference between company policy and/or FAA/TSA regulations and most wouldn't care. Many flight attendants will put their own name on their name tags, while others will not.

Sure, we can walk into a restaurant, retail store, or even a post office and find someone wearing a name tag. There have been cases involving passengers looking up crew members by their name and stalking them. When a customer writes a letter (whether it be a complimentary letter or a derogatory experience) they often want a name to provide the company.

Just like at a retail store, you don't need a name, let alone a full name of the person you are writing up. You just need to write what store you were at, what time of day, and in what department you were in (if it was a large store). Same thing with the airline, you don't need a name (which could be helpful) you just need to have the date you were flying, flight number, and seat number, the company will do the leg work in finding the appropriate person to commend, or reprimand.

I do wonder though, why is it when one is explaining differences, others believe that they hate what they are doing and should find something else to do. It's funny that not once did I ever say what the flight attendant did to the original poster was right or wrong, yet because I posted to the topic I'm acknowledging the flight attendant (or me) was wrong and should find another job. That always baffles me.

A new year has started an I'm a few months behind in writing anything. Hard to believe! Well, I'm starting reserve this month, so hopefully I'll get back to writing stuff. Until then, have a great day!