As United moves forward with their controversial plan to communicate new customer feedback to Flight Attendants program, we are hearing concerns from Members and receiving questions asking about the specific crew information that United is sharing when our passengers take the survey.
Further complicating the issue is that the graphical information presented to Flight Attendants in United’s internal communication mistakenly creates the perception that crew information, including pictures of the crew, is being provided to customers.
As the feedback from the initial test flights at ORD and HNL begins to make its way back to Flight Attendants, the information being provided to Flight Attendants does include the names and pictures of the crew members who were assigned to work the flight in question. United tells us this is for the benefit of the Flight Attendants receiving the feedback; to help those involved remember the crew who worked the flight from which the feedback originates because the survey results could be coming back several segments or pairings later.
We have been provided reassurances more than once that the survey given to the passengers does not contain any personal information such as a name or a picture of the crew. It is a general survey based on the entire crew and flight. While passengers may provide information on a particular crew member or event in their survey, they do not have access to any identifying information through the survey.
As we cautioned originally, from the onset, this survey was destined to be controversial and just how much so remains to be seen. While we can all draw our own conclusions on the type of feedback that may result from the “heat of the moment” and conjecture how United may interpret that data, the “proof will be in the pudding.” We have expressed our reservations about the program and will continue to monitor events that develop around the program.