Feeling at home on SQ

[DeltaFlyingProf]

I have been slow at starting a new thread about this, but finally I decided to go ahead and do it.

In the past few months, I have been flying a few airlines in J and F. I will not discuss the US domestic flights as they are really nothing to talk about (though I could still make some comments)
UA J and F, NW J, DL J, NH F, MH J, UL J, KE J, BA J...

And of course I have flown SQ F and some SQ J.

Well, the thing that strikes me the most is how I feel at home when I am on SQ F. I am not sure what makes it like that, but I can throw a few thoughts:

• I know what to expect
• I always feel pampered
• The little details make it so comfortable. From being addressed by your name to the flight attendant helping you put your carry on away.
• There are things I never have to ask for, like having my glass re-filled
• Waking up and finding that the FA put a blanket over me while I was asleep

I don't think there is one particular thing that makes it feel so good. It's the whole package and SQ still does it well.

But the strange thing is that in J, I do not feel the same thing. I have been surprised how I find the FAs in J almost disorganized. They seem stressed at times.
To give you an example, I flew in a regional J configured 777 and at meal times, two blue-kebaya girls came with the cart. And it was weird watching them discussing how to put things on the tray.
When I asked for something out of the ordinary, it took one of them three attempts to get the right thing. She kept misunderstanding and would not ask me if she had understood correctly. It felt very strange. And they did not have that very sweet personal interaction that more senior FAs usually have.

So I wonder if I just witnessed a few accidents or if this par for the course in J (Well, I mostly fly in F on SQ So my J experience has been very limited)

To close this post, I will say that NH comes second and pretty close. Now that they have real metal knives in F, I feel that they have a real F service!

PS: I would never buy UA F. Thank God for SWUs!

[Danny Bhoy]

What you experience in F (those five bullet points) is what I have consistently received in J.

Although you may have a point about the more senior FAs. Many of my J experiences are to/from JED (and more recently to/from SGN) which there is no F class. Hence, the senior FAs might have been serving in the J class when ordinarily they would have been on F class duty. So that could explain the better attention I got.

[LHR]

I agree with DFP. Especially when returning to Singapore for holiday, I feel that my holiday starts as soon as I step on board the plane (and that's usually on economy).

[kras]

But the strange thing is that in J, I do not feel the same thing. I have been surprised how I find the FAs in J almost disorganized. They seem stressed at times.
To give you an example, I flew in a regional J configured 777 and at meal times, two blue-kebaya girls came with the cart. And it was weird watching them discussing how to put things on the tray.
When I asked for something out of the ordinary, it took one of them three attempts to get the right thing. She kept misunderstanding and would not ask me if she had understood correctly. It felt very strange. And they did not have that very sweet personal interaction that more senior FAs usually have.

DFP... I am totally with you on these comments! I've been disappointed to see the level of service being provided in J, as compared to experiences from a few years back - when all FAs would offer "the Singapore Girl" experience to its passengers.

Also, you are very spot-on when speaking of the "sweet personal interaction" no longer being present amongst the junior FAs. I have found this gradual drop in service level quality to be consistent on the flights I've travelled over the years, and has hit a new low in my books. The attitude is just different nowadays, for most sets of the crews anyway.

(In fact, it was only yesterday that I posted my experiences on this forum about my recent SINSFO flight, where I wasn't at all impressed with how the service was...)

But having said that, there are still those selected individuals (as well as crews) that work very hard to please us passengers - shown not just by their hard-working efforts, but also their willingness towards servicing their customers.

I have, on occasions, asked for those comment forms from an FA, filled it out with my commendations of the crew by acknowledging their hard work, and returned it back making sure that HQ gets the comments. At the same time, there were one or two occasions whereby I made it clear just how unacceptable the service was from a particular individual or crew - where, surprisingly (on one occasion), I had a blue-kebaya girl come back to me asking about my comments and trying to explain herself even after I had sealed up the form (I was far from impressed by this!)

Either SQ is pumping out their flight attendants too quickly from training, not providing the proper education on just how a true Singapore Airline FA should be, or it's just bad staff morale...

[zvezda]

The worst experience I ever had on SQ was being awakened by a stewardess putting a blanket on me. The second worst experience I ever had on SQ was the same stewardess apologizing more than a dozen times. Once would have sufficed. Three times was too many. More than a dozen was grating. I finally had to ask the purser to ask her to stop apologizing.

[nykelaz]

Also, you are very spot-on when speaking of the "sweet personal interaction" no longer being present amongst the junior FAs. I have found this gradual drop in service level quality to be consistent on the flights I've travelled over the years, and has hit a new low in my books. The attitude is just different nowadays, for most sets of the crews anyway.

Either SQ is pumping out their flight attendants too quickly from training, not providing the proper education on just how a true Singapore Airline FA should be, or it's just bad staff morale...

Well, I think that "sweet personal interaction" depends very much on individual personality and cannot be trained. If one is outgoing and interactive, he/she would engage in small talks with the pax and provide genuine service from the heart regardless of which class or airline he/she is serving; Not quite the problem with the training. Training will only improve the FA's product knowledge and not make him/her to be more outgoing. On the other hand, if a FA is not outgoing by nature and tries too hard to be interactive, he/she would result in providing 'plastic' service, which is equally bad and can be easily identified. So basically, I rule out the possibility of insufficient training as a cause for it.

I think the main reason behind the decline in service could be the lowering of selection criteria when hiring FAs. As the economy is currently doing pretty well, not many people are willing to be FAs. Contrary to past believe, being an FA is no longer a glamourous job. Long working hours and low pay defer people from selecting FA as their ideal job. Therefore, I believe SQ has no choice but to lower their expectations and select FAs who are of gratifying standard. Therefore, it is inevitable that SQ will have FAs who don't really have the passion to serve. Alternatively, we can say that maybe girls are just shy nowadays. *opps*

P.S. Just my 2 cents.

[kras]

I think the main reason behind the decline in service could be the lowering of selection criteria when hiring FAs. As the economy is currently doing pretty well, not many people are willing to be FAs. Contrary to past believe, being an FA is no longer a glamourous job. Long working hours and low pay defer people from selecting FA as their ideal job. Therefore, I believe SQ has no choice but to lower their expectations and select FAs who are of gratifying standard. Therefore, it is inevitable that SQ will have FAs who don't really have the passion to serve. Alternatively, we can say that maybe girls are just shy nowadays. *opps*

Yeah, you're right when you say selection criteria has been lowered... it is true that it is really dependent on the personality of the individual, and that is something that cannot be trained back - with "passion" being the operative word, I suppose...

I'm pretty tolerant when it comes to things like this. I've made my comments based on my SQ in-flight experience over the many years I've been contributing to SQ's profits. And, seriously, the last few have been rather disappointing in this regard... with the exception of F class service, of course.

The last flight that I got the true "Singapore Girl" service was on SQ380 to SYD... which was really a flight to remember! Not only was it because the CEO was on in J, or the many media reps on that flight, but the cabin crew selected for that flight was clearly an outstanding one. Although I was in EY, my two friends and I was given the level of service that I would expect, plus a bit more... so

But I doubt that I'd experience something like this in the near future, that's for sure!

Shy? I'm not too sure about that. Some are, that's for sure... but not "some"... or they really have a weird way of showing it!

[jjpb3]

SQ isn't the airline I find myself most frequently on, but it's the airline that feels most like "home" to me.

Whenever someone at work asks me why I have such high regard for it, I now pretty much boil it down to:

1. SQ best does the "complete package" of hard product, soft product and service (the big things and the little details that DFP mentioned) that most appeals to me

2. It has delivered that package -- across all classes -- the most consistently

3. The cabin service is very such a distinct feel (including the visual cues)

Because of (3), I can keep the SQ experience distinct in my head even when other airlines deliver a good experience. Because of (2), I can feel confident about anticipating the experience in the prelude to my flight. Because of (1), great flights are the norm rather than an exception.

[LionCity]

The worst experience I ever had on SQ was being awakened by a stewardess putting a blanket on me. The second worst experience I ever had on SQ was the same stewardess apologizing more than a dozen times. Once would have sufficed. Three times was too many. More than a dozen was grating. I finally had to ask the purser to ask her to stop apologizing.

I do find that some of the junior stewardess seems to worried about upsetting "C" Class Pax particularly PPS. A few appeared downright nervous. My view was confirmed by two IFS. However, the ones in green and red are more collected and professional.

[Tim]

3. The cabin service is very such a distinct feel (including the visual cues)

I concur with you fully. I haven't flown SQ that many times, but the same "aura" of inflight service is something I fully experience when flying with ANA or JAL. They are very courteous in every aspect and it certainly leaves a very positive impression when flying with them most of the time. When travelling to Japan I always choose ANA or JAL.

[SuperJonJon]

I do find that some of the junior stewardess seems to worried about upsetting "C" Class Pax particularly PPS. A few appeared downright nervous. My view was confirmed by two IFS. However, the ones in green and red are more collected and professional.

I whole heartedly agree with this statement. I once had a stewardess who was trembling when she was pouring me a diet coke (Do I look that scary?) !
My travelling partner asked why this was so and she replied that it was due to me being a PPS.

[aerosmith]

I do find that some of the junior stewardess seems to worried about upsetting "C" Class Pax particularly PPS. A few appeared downright nervous. My view was confirmed by two IFS. However, the ones in green and red are more collected and professional.

Chicken and egg problem. The "red" and "green" ones are once upon a time "blue" ones. And all cabin crew start from "ZERO". Give the "blue" ones some slack and let them grow in their jobs to being "more collected and professional".

[LionCity]

Chicken and egg problem. The "red" and "green" ones are once upon a time "blue" ones. And all cabin crew start from "ZERO". Give the "blue" ones some slack and let them grow in their jobs to being "more collected and professional".

Agreed. Being harsh will mean that it is harder to attract or retain the right talents for the job.

[zvezda]

I whole heartedly agree with this statement. I once had a stewardess who was trembling when she was pouring me a diet coke (Do I look that scary?) !
My travelling partner asked why this was so and she replied that it was due to me being a PPS.

I find that a smile usually helps.

[jhm]

I'd be nervous too in the presence of a God.