I hear you on that. Southwest seems to have cut a lot of that out, been a while since I've seen a sing along kind of attendant. They do still have a lot who think they need to be comedians, during the safety briefing, and arrival brief which is a bit annoying. But I agree, that was pretty absurd.
And while the service is just a drink (or 6) at least they're smiling, gracious, and willing. Seems they've gotten a lot more business travel oriented in the past few years, where as before, I think they were more leisure oriented, where that kind of thing keeps the Ma and Pa Kettle's on vacation entertained. And I totally agree, the biggest draw for me, is the operations, and flexibility. I love the ability to change, or cancel at the last minute, without a penalty. That, and the Companion Pass was the primary reason for switching. True, it's not AA first class, which is admittedly better, but I love the flexibility it gives me, and I much prefer the smaller airports they tend to fly from. Dallas Love VS DFW, Houston Hobby VS Bush Intl, Midway VS O'Hare, etc. The pleasant attendants are just icing on the cake. Can't recall the last surly, disinterested or obnoxious attendant on WN.
And maybe it's just that I just fly so much, that many of the flight attendants remember me, and tend to pay a little extra attention to those on Business Select fares, and who have status. The fact that Southwest sends their top tier fliers those employee recognition coupons we can give them to turn in, for exceptional service. I'm sure that doesn't hurt. I assume they turn them in for some kind of reward or something. They really seem to dig it when we give them one. Come to think of it, that would be a good program for Amtrak to consider, just a handful of little coupons to give to those crews who do great, to reward positive experience.
I tend to see many of them repeatedly, sometimes more than once per week. That's changed a little, also lately, I think they've changed their crew scheduling or something, used to be I could almost guess who would be on the Birmingham-Dallas flight on a Wed AM. Not so much anymore, maybe it's just because they got bigger, there is a lot more staff now than when I originally switched to them, I don't know. But I still see several familiar faces, and more than a few know what my beverage of choice is, in the AM, and in the afternoons.
They've also tightened up a bit on the drinks, I almost always fly Business Select fares, which comes with that one drink coupon. Used to be they rarely even took it, and rarely charged for the others. Past year or so, they're more likely to want the coupon, and actually charge for the drinks after that. Which is fine, as long as they keep coming.
On the train, seems like the cafe attendant is glued to a table, and only begrudgingly gets up to take your order. Almost like it's an inconvenience. Sure, there are exceptions, I've also had very nice on board attendants, in the sleeper and cafe. My impression however, is that those are the exception, and most seem to display the attitude that their job would be great, if it wasn't for all the passengers. That said, there is no way I could be happy and positive for 2-3 days straight either, on 6 hours of sleep or less, so I guess there is that. Basically, just saying it would be nice to have some consistency in how things work, and what level of service we'll be getting on a train. Some do great, some seem to make things up as they go, doing whatever makes their life easier. Just my observation.
