This past Friday, the Sr. VP Inflight Services, Sam Risoli’s “Update” to Flight Attendants began with him telling us we are the “best Flight Attendants in the industry” and then insultingly, concluded with him holding Flight Attendants responsible for passenger dissatisfaction with our airline and an admonition to “step it up.”  Are you kidding us?  Mr. Risoli’s backhanded compliment is not only insulting, it fails to recognize the legitimate challenges and concerns faced by the very employees he repeatedly suggests he is the “biggest advocate for.”

Any claim that Mr. Risoli is one of our biggest advocates is disingenuous. More accurately, his words and actions demonstrate he is a staunch supporter of a larger management merger strategy of “more for less” and settling for the “lowest common denominator.”

Consider how time after time, throughout the course of this merger when there have been choices to be made on how to establish consistency at all subsidiaries, those choices have invariably included reducing or removing amenities, staffing or products. We reject any notion that Flight Attendants are responsible for the repeatedly poor decision making by management on catering issues, inadequate staffing, the onslaught of never ending policy changes and the poor quality of onboard entertainment systems. Simply put, we will not accept any attempt to place on the backs of Flight Attendants any blame for the general poor state of our airline.

As the Senior Vice President of the Inflight Division, it’s difficult to imagine that Sam is not aware of the changes that are being implemented by those who report directly to him.  Through these changes, we’ve seen a never ending reduction in resources and support and are in some way magically expected to deliver the same or, even more laughably, better service and satisfaction.  What must be understood by Sam is that there is a consequence for choosing cheaper, easier, faster and fewer.  It is unrealistic to expect Flight Attendants to deliver superior customer service with the inferior means to do so. 

Make no mistake.  Flight Attendants excel at “making things work.”  It’s in our very nature to do everything possible to turn a bad situation into a good one.  We apply these qualities every day we go to work.  It is also in our nature to create the best experience for our passengers, our flying partners and our company; however Mr. Risoli and management have taken our good nature for granted and are attempting to exploit it to the extreme. 

Under the guise of productivity improvement or cost reductions, removing dry ice, reduced staffing, poor quality entertainment systems do nothing to improve overall customer satisfaction with our comprehensive product.    Call it what you will but it is essential to take notice that all of these problems are a direct result of management creating a problem and failing to provide front line employees, who spend the greatest amount of time with our passengers, the resources needed to meet the expectations of the same passengers who have been entrusted to our care.  If there is a problem that someone needs to “step up and fix” it is definitely not our service or customer interaction.  The problem is a long-term, consistent bad decision making that fails to support Flight Attendants or our passengers.

There can be no question that we all want United to be a successful and profitable company. Flight Attendants know what management appears to be missing – you can’t run a world class airline with a bargain basement strategy.  Management knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.  We will not be successful by constantly disappointing the very people on whom we rely for our success – our passengers.

It is long overdue for management to “step it up and take it to the next level,” in providing meaningful and adequate support and advocacy for Flight Attendants.  This includes a drastically different approach towards staffing, resources, support and negotiations on the part of management.  Until that happens, Mr. Risoli would do well to understand that what you get out of something is commensurate with what you put into it.  Customer satisfaction is low, because we can no longer clean up your mess – and we’re the ones stuck with it.