Do Not Disturb

February 25, 2010

in Attendant & Pilot Stories

I’m in the back of coach, on Singapore Airlines from Colombo to Singapore, sleeping. Suddenly, I was being pushed. I opened my eyes to see an SQ blue girl (most junior) above me. Her statement “just tidying up the wrapper for your blanket, sorry to wake you.” I didn’t sleep the rest of the flight.

I’m in seat 31H, on Singapore Airlines, from Newark to Singapore, sleeping, 31JK empty. All of a sudden, my seat was banged heavily. I thought a trolley had crashed into me. But no – it was an SQ red girl (2nd most senior) in front of me. I asked what she’s doing. She said putting away my TV. I asked why. She said I had fallen asleep watching TV. What the heck? I do that every night! Didn’t sleep the rest of flight.

This has happened a couple of other times on SQ. Perhaps it’s the Singapore custom or SQ rules to tidy-up, but please girls, tidying up is a nonsensical reason to wake us. Be a little more like UA, AA, DL on the Asia routes where the flight attendants are very senior and spend their time resting in the galley ignoring passengers. In other words, do not disturb.

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

david February 25, 2010 at 6:10 pm

newark to singapore is all business, thats the flight i take often, nonstop and i believe it is the longest or 2nd longest flight in the world

and it is a custom in singapore to be very tidy, if you visit singapore you will see that the whole country is very very clean and that people take pride in that…..the cleanest city in the world

also another reason that they turn the tv off when people are sleeping is due to the light that is created from the screen may awaken others next to you, its just the way it is………many SQ flyers prefer this and love the service that they do, and that the service is impecable and one of the best if not the best in the world

you must be living in lala land if you would rather fly an american based airline internationally, they are one of the worst and i avoid them at all costs, and everyone that works with me stays away from them too, soo many bad stories there and their flight attendants seem to be depressed and unhelpful and unwilling to help

on singapore airlines you can get a savory sandwich at any time during flight (cruising altitude) and the meals are very good and are edible unlike continental, united, delta, aa

i was on a singapore airlines flight a month or two ago and there was a mother with a baby flying back home to singapore and she had just gotten of a united flight prior and she was telling me how unhelpful they were and that they gave her attitude, but when she changed planes to singapore airlines she said that it was a safe haven due to the fact that the airline made sure that they had an aisle seat at the front of the bulkhead and allowed her to set up prior to regular boarding…..and they provided little toys for her to play with and were very kind to her………when the mother wanted to use the bathroom she was going to bring her baby with her, but a flight attendant came over and held her baby and was making the baby smile……….did the flight attendant have to do that? no but she did…………..and i guarentee you that it wouldnt happen on an american based airline

us airlines = shitty service

Reply

ps February 26, 2010 at 3:30 am

I don't know if it is still the case but the UA haul from Narita to Singapore they changed the flight crew from the usual veterans to a pretty much exclusively Asian crew with different uniforms. Still UA but more in the traditional attendant uniform. The service was very different from the usual US service on the Asian flight legs, which was not as hostile as domestic but not on par with Euro or Asian airlines.

Reply

paul February 25, 2010 at 8:57 pm

Or Air Canada………

Reply

Increasedosologist March 2, 2010 at 11:15 am

there is a 1 word explanation: Unions

Reply

ps March 2, 2010 at 4:27 pm

Dont know about that. Delta still has some good semblance of customer service but it may be an anomoly.

Reply

david March 2, 2010 at 11:38 am

unions are only good in certain fields, when it comes to customer service and the airline industry than it s just terrible for everyone

the workers slack off and dont care about others, they feel that they can do anything and not worry about consequences, this resulting in a total collapse in acceptable service and has created a tense and unhappy flying experiance

strikes are occuring, which they seem that they dont care about the actual passengers, they dont see consequences

Reply

Demotage March 2, 2010 at 5:32 pm

It is easy to bash unions, and they certainly have their bad side, but maybe one should also remember why unions had to form in the first place.

Reply

Increasedosologist March 3, 2010 at 8:49 am

How could one ever forget why they were formed?

There are 2 ways of making money:

1) provide something of value to the people for which they will be willing to pay.

2) threaten people with something so that they would give up their money to you from the fear of the threat.

UNIONS WERE FORMED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF METHOD #2!!!

Reply

Demotage March 2, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Appropos of nothing…..

Isn't tech wonderful. I'm actually posting this from a plane. No he'll here so far, except it's about 80 degrees in here, and the mouthy a-hole boarding right in front of me stuffed his underseat sized bags into the overhead above my seat before proceeding 10 rows back to his seat, leaving no place for my bag.

Reply

Kris March 3, 2010 at 5:47 pm

1st-EWR-SIN is all business class with fixed tv's, so you technically cannot "put away" your tv and

2nd-singapore airlines is KNOWN for their top notch customer service.

If you are not a person who wants great customer service on a flight, then go ahead and get your ass off of singapore airlines and onto a us airline, where the fa's ignore you…even when you need something

Reply

Dave K April 13, 2010 at 7:22 am

When I get on the airplane, I very nicely tell the FA that if you wake me when I am asleep, I will transform into a cranky maniac and make the rest of the flight a living hell. I say this with a smile, and have never been disturbed. Ambien rocks, also.

Reply

matz September 16, 2010 at 5:35 am

Actually i believe there's a sticker you can take from the FA that asks them not to disturb you when you sleep. In any case, i guess its part of the package to help you sleep better. Pity it didnt work well for you!

Reply

Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *




Previous post:

Next post: