The impact of Cabin Crew on a passenger’s journey

When I first started flying I was amazed at why some passengers were so disgruntled as they disembarked a flight and it wasn’t until after a few trips that I realised why.
A passenger’s personal journey starts from leaving home until arrival of their destination.

Imagine this scenario…

A family of 4 with 2 very young children travelling for 5 hours in a car to reach the airport in the early hours of the morning, only to be met at check in by a long queue and because they were stuck in bad traffic they are one of the last to be allocated seats and now cannot sit together for a 9 hour flight to Florida. At check in the ground staff can only seat passengers travelling together if they arrive in good time for those seats to be allocated.
The next saga of the family’s journeys is met with the requested children’s meal not on board the aircraft and it’s no longer chicken nuggets but a very spicy lamb curry for a 3 year old!
Finally the icing on the cake is the children’s seat back video is broken and for the next 9 hours there is no in-flight entertainment…..The end to a perfect day!

The passenger’s experience in Cabin Crew hands

As Cabin Crew this situation is not an uncommon one and this can make or break a passenger’s experience with the airline. The situation with the seating problem can sometimes be resolved just by moving one other person, perhaps travelling alone to accommodate an entire family sitting together. The children’s meal can also be adapted to accommodate. If there are any refreshments in another cabin i.e. business class e.g. fruit, cheese and biscuits, if there is enough to go round, you could utilise some of these options to build your own child’s meal. Also if the family are travelling back home on another flight with your carrier you could request with the ground staff on arrival that you make sure the meals are loaded for the inbound flight.
Then finally with the video problem, if you notice another passenger is not using their video and again is travelling alone, maybe you could ask them to swap seats. Sometimes it is just the little gestures that can make a passenger’s journey a seamless hassle free experience and just by you going that extra mile can ensure repeat business time and time again.

Do you think you could be aware enough of other people’s needs to make a positive difference to their travel experience?