do you notice a drop in service

[MAN Flyer]

Isn't that a bit of a cheap shot, flyer who is not from MAN? Surely as such a wise and omnipotent one, you should either expose a poster, should you have evidence, which would, of course, expose you also, OR allow folks to opine freely. Inuendo is very sad.

Well look who's crawled out of the woodwork.

We thought you'd disappeared to the moon or something, nice to see you're now back.

[demue]

While in general I can agree that SQ's standards in regards to inflight meal quality, some of the ground services, customer service & recovery, IT & web site as well as attractiveness of KF have taken a beating over the years I always felt that the one thing that held it together were the inflight crews.

While I don't doubt the OPs observations I have to say that I have rarely observed such a behaviour / performance by a crew regardless of the class of travel. Yes I have had the slightly indifferent FS from time to time that couldn't be much bothered ruining her shiny nail polish on some trivial passenger demands, but they were the exception rather than the norm. I would say submit your feedback on your observation to SQ. while they may not respond with anything other than boiler plate comments at least you got it off your chest.

Over the years and also on very recent flights I have had some fantastic crews delivering an excellent in-the-air experience that was the saving grace over medicore C class food and buggy IFE for example. Actually, one of the reasons I still even consider SQ are the crews.

As far as the improvement of QR, EK, EY and the likes goes I tend to agree, but then we should also keep in mind that they hired away a fair batch of SQ cabin staff over the last years in order to close ranks. All on their own and without that considerable influx I don't think they would be so close these days IMHO. Of course opinions will differ.

[benlee]

Yes I agreed, the crew and inflight service are still good, and most times superior to other airlines in terms of attentiveness. The food quality / portions are getting worse, noticeable even in J and F, part of cost cutting exercise. The website until now still a patch-up job after so many months. I still support SQ, but can't help feeling at times that I am no longer getting my money worth. If you want to charge the highest price, at least deliver the quality.

[UMD]

Just had a wonderful flight in J to MNL tonight. Food (at least my choice of duck breast)was good and crew were very good as well. I actually never had a bad flight with SQ in J because the crew who work up in J and F are always very attentive and friendly. Yes, my only gripe is that the food quality can be a bit off sometimes - more often now than before.

It is in Y that I ocassionally have bad experiences with SQ and the crew. I guess I was expecting too much flying as a TPPS.

[kelvgoh]

For what it's worth, having flown EK about 20 times this year so far both in Y and J, my view is that they're still not as good as SQ staff. There's something about a multi-national crew that makes the service experience slightly disjointed. Also, I have never, in all my years of flying SQ, had a muffin flung at me. EK managed that twice in a little over 3 months .

SQ still gets my business when prices aren't that far apart.

But I acknowledge that YMMV.

[pavion]

Just returned home from a HKG-SIN flight in SQ Business, and except for one crew member who was exceptional, the other two were making it clear they didn't like to be disturbed

[demue]

Just returned home from a HKG-SIN flight in SQ Business, and except for one crew member who was exceptional, the other two were making it clear they didn't like to be disturbed

Do you mind elaborating what it was that indicated that? Just curious what different flyers consider off behaviour versus a job well done.

[pavion]

Do you mind elaborating what it was that indicated that? Just curious what different flyers consider off behaviour versus a job well done.

I don't know how to describe it, but the leading stewardess was what I expected from a Singapore Airlines crew member. The other two crew members, they just seemed disinterested in their jobs

I mean they did everything, they did all the service requests, but the crew members faces were showing as if I was disturbing them a lot

[flyguy]

itsperceivable that inflight standards have seemingly come down somewhat and the proportion of having a good enthusiastic crew over a standard "robotic" or just doing their job is coming down. It's getting more a "hit or miss" sadly.

[9V-SIA]

I would like to say a word in defense of the crew.

SIN-HKG-SIN is a particularly challenging flight for crew.

They work long hours ( turnaround at HKG ), on busy flights, without overnight allowances.

So I cut them some slack on this flight. ( I imagine there are similar routes that are so demanding but I haven't flown them. TPE? )

I only fly SQ even with the "downgrades" because it is still an enjoyable experience

The most consistently irritating "enhancement" they have for me is no gate-to-gate IFE

[phaleesy]

I would like to say a word in defense of the crew.

SIN-HKG-SIN is a particularly challenging flight for crew.

They work long hours ( turnaround at HKG ), on busy flights, without overnight allowances.

So I cut them some slack on this flight. ( I imagine there are similar routes that are so demanding but I haven't flown them. TPE? )

So you are saying that if I work long hours (as do many people here I believe!), I am entitled to show my displeasure to my patients and fellow work colleagues?

When a patient stops to speak to me on the ward, I have the right to show them that I 'clearly do not want to be disturbed' because I am working long hours in a challenging environment?

The same goes for the waitresses in the restaurants, and the hotel receptionists? We're all working too damn long hours. We have been swamped with work and customers. We have every right and entitlement to be 'off' and 'not want to be nice to our customers'.

Great customer service indeed. I would love to follow through with this attitude at work tomorrow. I'm interested to see how long I could get away with this before my line manager comes after me.

P.S. But SQ is still better than EK.

[coffeeblack]

Could not agree more that for all the benefits diversity may bring, EK's service standards are nowhere near SQ.

Regarding your muffin flinging story, Kelvgoh, reminds me of that old Aeroflot story, read aeons ago about their Advertising slogan: We don't smile because we're serious about your comfort.

[9V-SIA]

I don't know how to describe it, but the leading stewardess was what I expected from a Singapore Airlines crew member. The other two crew members, they just seemed disinterested in their jobs

I mean they did everything, they did all the service requests, but the crew members faces were showing as if I was disturbing them a lot

If you get a complaint like this phaleesy do you haul the crew over hot coals?

No offence intended E-Aviation but I know what you mean.

The job gets done but without the usual smiles / warmth.

And definitely not the whole crew. Maybe one having a bad day...

[Kyo]

One outstanding guy on SQ246 in J this morning, the rest were mostly disengaged (having said that, it was a red-eye). Again, ultra-dry breakfast rice, more or less as I expected, should have booked a seafood meal, so I only have myself to blame.

[feb01mel]

I would like to say a word in defense of the crew.

SIN-HKG-SIN is a particularly challenging flight for crew.

They work long hours ( turnaround at HKG ), on busy flights, without overnight allowances.

So I cut them some slack on this flight. ( I imagine there are similar routes that are so demanding but I haven't flown them. TPE? )

I only fly SQ even with the "downgrades" because it is still an enjoyable experience

The most consistently irritating "enhancement" they have for me is no gate-to-gate IFE

I fully agree HKG is a lucrative sector for SQ, & the crew hate it because it is super duper rush for them. Most meals are full service, w/o the satay of course.

HKG, Guangzhou & Taipei are full meal services with flight time between 3-4 hours only. For Taipei, they even add in Satay for SQ878/879. If there is full load, I do pity them really, a lot of multi tasking & putting on a smile always is a huge challenge.

If the flight has a lot of PPS (usually on HKG & CGK), good luck to the crew man.

On 1 recent flight from BKK in J, the crew serve the starter first round, then came back second round with the main meal on the same tray, & is a full load mind you on the 2 hour flight, considering you need to clear everything when the pilot comes on 30mins before landing.