| Table of Contents Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth Part 5 Page 1 – Outcome of Lana’s Investigation Page 2 – An Aircraft Called Emmeline Heaney Page 3 – Profile of a Narcissist Page 4 – Anna’s Witness Statement Page 5 – Our Standards Policy Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth Part 7 |
An Aircraft Called Emmeline Heaney
During the investigative meeting which I found incredibly stressful, whilst trying to defend myself from a pack of lies I couldn’t remember the exact words I’d used when making an announcement some four months earlier.
The day after the meeting I sent Crew Manager Lana an email which included the following two paragraphs;
You’ll be surprised to learn the only crew members who had any recollection of me giving the name of the aircraft either during the pre-flight briefing or whilst on the aircraft was Bart and his fiancée Anna.
At the time of my first meeting regarding Bart’s complaint, witness statements had not yet been requested.
Lana didn’t speak with Katrina as Bart had asked, she just referred to her witness statement. At the end of her statement Katrina invited the company to contact her should they have any further questions. Nobody ever did.
In response to Bart’s initial complaint before the investigative meeting took place, I stated I made an announcement on the ground regarding the name of the aircraft and not as Bart states in my after take-off announcement.
In later correspondence I supplied a copy of the announcement which was on my iPad. Here it is. Some detail has been changed for data protection purposes;
This comes from Anna’s witness statement. She only refers to me by my surname which I’ve removed;
This next extract comes from the outcome of my appeal carried out by the Head of Department.
Let me put what she says into context. During the initial investigative meeting with Crew Manager Lana I was told Bart had said I made the statement during my pre-flight briefing and then repeated it after take-off.
I didn’t argue at the time but having thought about it realised I would not have given this information after take-off. The announcement would have been made before the door was closed for departure.
The Head of Department states “the majority of crew don’t recall you making the comments onboard the aircraft”. She’s right, the only two who allegedly had any recollection of it were Bart and Anna.
She then states she felt it was an inappropriate comment for me to say during my pre-flight briefing. The only people present in the briefing were nine cabin crew. Briefings are carried out in a closed room, the atmosphere is relaxed and it’s a time for everyone to get to know each other.
Had I said Emmeline Heaney was nobody well known/famous that would have been okay but because I expressed myself using words that were not quite as eloquent, the Head of Department feels I need additional coaching.
I had a lot on my mind that morning. Having said goodbye to my dad I wasn’t certain he’d still be alive when I returned home. I was also aware with it being Christmas I had to create a happy atmosphere for the crew and customers. I really wasn’t feeling very Christmassy. I should have called in sick but didn’t want to let the company down at a time when it’s very difficult to crew flights because of high sickness.
I was also feeling slightly apprehensive being on a flight with a relatively junior crew and no other onboard managers. There should have been two. I had only been back at work for less than a year after being off for almost two years with issues relating to my mental health.
Prior to this period of long term sick, flying alone as a manager would never have bothered me however I was no longer the same person as I once was.
Everyone’s so into mental health nowadays yet considering several crew found my briefing “strange and unusual”, nobody thought of asking me why that was or if everything was okay. Bear in mind none of us had met before.
Just outside the cabin crew briefing room are the Crew Managers. Anna states in her witness statement she had been chatting with her manager prior to the briefing. If anyone had any concerns regarding my behaviour or the number of questions I asked during the briefing, it could have been mentioned to one of several managers who were sitting just outside the briefing room door.
We all occasionally say things that don’t come out quite as they should. Here’s a perfect example.
Returning to the outcome of Lana’s investigation;
The first comment refers to Bart’s allegation that prior to the pre-flight briefing he approached Tommy and I and asked “are you on the Atlanta flight?” He alleges I walked away and ignored him whilst Tommy replied “they’ve already been allocated”. A reference to inflight working positions.
Bart states the first time he was advised of where he was working was when I told him during the pre-flight briefing. Surely if Tommy stated “positions had been allocated” his next question would have been “where am I working?”
Cabin crew usually choose their own working position but where it has been allocated by the Flight Manager, they want to know where it is they’re working as soon as possible.
Tommy doesn’t mention this conversation in his witness statement and states he was unaware of me ignoring anyone at any time.
The point regarding clearing the rubbish refers to me asking Bart to clear rubbish from the right side of the Premium cabin whilst I did the left. I stated Bart ignored my request and it was only after I returned to the galley for the second time with a full tray of rubbish that he did as I asked.
When I returned to the galley he was still speaking to his colleague. Our eyes then met and only then did he pick up a tray and leave the galley. I never addressed this matter with him at the time but should have.
Had I done so however, in hindsight I’m certain he would have accused me of bullying for addressing the matter with him.
It was Christmas Eve, we were coming to the end of a long flight and I didn’t want to create a bad atmosphere. I knew we would all be having Christmas dinner together that evening in the hotel so didn’t want to address something that I didn’t feel at the time was terribly important.
Although I had spoken to Bart shortly after take-off about taking his orders on the ground, the matter had been addressed and I considered it closed.
In witness statements received from the remaining crew which included the Captain and First Officer, nobody was aware of me ignoring or excluding anyone at any time.
Bart complains about the length of my P.A’s and says they’re not effective or concise. He says this behaviour is “overbearing/abuse” of my seniority which is an “over-arching” concern for him.
I was the Flight Manager and had been flying for thirty years. He was the second most junior crew member and had been flying for eleven months.
Regarding me attributing blame on Bart for missing a customer out during the breakfast service, I didn’t blame him, I asked why the customer had been missed out. Having then been told how he did the service I explained that’s not the way it should be done.
In his complaint he blames Katrina and Claire for what happened. He also states I should take some responsibility because I am in charge of running the service. Yet again Bart is not familiar with Service Procedures on the aircraft. I am not in charge of running the service, the Purser is.
I never admonished Bart and having told him how the service should be done correctly that was the end of it. The conversation was carried in the presence of Katrina. I spoke to him in a relaxed and professional manner.
Had she told him to wake every customer up on his side and then go back to start serving them as he claims in his complaint, I believe she would have owned up and taken responsibility for that. He never told me that at the time and says nothing about it in her witness statement.
Bart says I never addressed anything directly with the crew and always went through Katrina who was working up. Yet Bart repeatedly accuse me of bullying him.
The majority of the crew state in their witness statement they were unaware of any unusual behaviour between me and Bart. One of those was Mia who worked alongside him during the dinner service on our inbound flight.
Others state they never saw the two of us talking alone.
Tommy says in his statement Bart was openly criticising the way I was running the flight whenever I left the galley.
When I addressed an issue in Bart’s performance review about him not securing his cabin correctly for landing which is a mandatory safety requirement, he says it’s derogatory comments about his performance.
Returning to the outcome of Lana’s investigation;
So for advising Bart he shouldn’t have taken drinks and meal orders prior to take-off because that’s not how the service is done and for telling him it’s not necessary to write customers’ first names on his aisle order sheet, I was in the wrong so his complaint was upheld.
My job description as a Flight Manager states I should be coaching and developing my crew. It also states I am responsible for ensuring correct safety and service procedures are followed.
This comes from Bart’s meeting with Crew Manager Lana. Employee Relations Consultant Pedro took minutes. He’s the same person who took minutes during my meeting with Lana and who was openly guiding Crew Manager Hayley during the second disciplinary meeting.
Bart states customers already knew what they wanted to eat. Of course they did, menus are on their seat when they board.
People are not silly, they don’t give a crew member their drink and meal order just because they come along to say hello. Most of the twenty customers in the cabin were travelling with the airline for the first time.
Bart states I was expecting him to take drinks and meal orders separately. That’s correct, because that’s how the crew are trained to deliver the service.
He says Katrina said it was okay for him to start taking orders so once again is blaming someone else for his incompetence.
In his complaint Bart says he took orders prior to takeoff because he was using his initiative and wanted to save time in the air.
As you can see from the previous screenshot, Katrina states she was unaware when he took orders.
The following screenshot comes from my evidence. The black text is from Bart’s complaint, blue is my response. The exhibits that are mentioned are screenshots from the Service Procedures Manual.
On the rare occasion crew do take orders on the ground it’s because the cabin is busy, not because it’s quiet.
Bart is a compulsive liar and a narcissist. He had no idea how to deliver the service correctly which is why I now believe he had never worked in this cabin before.
Due to his incredible arrogance he believed he could improvise and get away with it but everything went terribly wrong.
The comment regarding the crew shaking their heads was the alleged response to me saying in my after takeoff announcement Emmeline Heaney is nobody important just someone who won a competition.
These minutes were taken by Employee Relations Consultant Pedro during my first meeting with Crew Manager Lana. You may recall from an earlier chapter that I said his minutes were very difficult to understand and many corrections had to be made;
What he’s trying to say is that on a recent flight a Purser commented in my upward feedback about how I coached and developed a crew member. I told Lana to speak with Katrina regarding how I coached and supported her during our flight.
Having asked Bart to clear in rubbish on one side of the Premium cabin I was disappointed he didn’t go out straight away. I said he didn’t seem to be friendly towards me but didn’t feel it was necessary to address it at the time.
Bart had stated during his meeting that he felt we didn’t have a great rapport. I said I had no issues with him and didn’t understand why he didn’t like me.
This next section of Lana’s report I agree with. It was poor judgement on my behalf. With Bart having blatantly ignored me when I asked him to clear in rubbish, having looked at the floor throughout the pre-flight briefing and now being aloof and unfriendly, I should definitely have spoken to him about his behaviour.
With it being such a nice flight and also being Christmas Eve I didn’t want to create any bad feelings so let it go over my head. That is bad management and I’m not someone who’s afraid to address issues. I accept when I make a mistake and am happy to learn and be developed.
In his warped mind he believes me asking him to clear in rubbish and not being happy because he didn’t do it straight away equates to overbearing supervision and bullying and harassment.
Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth 
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