Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth Part 6

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

---

Profile of a Narcissist

This next point relates to something I addressed with Bart in his performance review. In his initial complaint to his manager he wrote;

---

He then said in his actual grievance ” I am now aware this comment says hostess and could not have been me”.

Read what we both wrote and then I’ll explain why he’s getting confused. When I responded to Bart’s complaint I changed the colour of the text to red. His response is in green and blue.

---

---

The reason Bart gets confused is because in the email I sent after the flight to the Cabin Crew working in Economy, I said;

---

---

Anna who was Bart’s fiancée was one of the crew who received that email. So he read the email I sent to her in which I used the word “stewardess” and that confused him. In his performance review I did not use the word “stewardess”, I just said “the respective crew member”. I also said the customer was not being looked after by Bart.

He even makes a point of saying the comment states specifically “hostess” (instead of stewardess). After eleven months with the airline he was still so unfamiliar with so much of the terminology.

The fury this narcissist was feeling was off the scale. How dare someone as menial as me criticise his performance “which is regularly described as exceptional”.

Here’s what Crew Manager Lana says in response to this part of his complaint;

---

---

So Lana had to “explain to Bart” the comment I made was not targeting him but she could see why he felt it was. I really don’t get it, I could not have made it any clearer the comment was not aimed at him!

Bart claims on his LinkedIn profile to have “excellent communication and leadership skills, international management experience and is educated to Masters Degree level.” Yet he cannot grasp something that could not have been written any clearer.

During my pre-flight briefing I ask the cabin crew to “engage with customers”. A crew member wasn’t doing that and it was mentioned by a customer in their post flight questionnaire.

Having observed Bart wasn’t engaging with his customers and was instead just methodically serving them, I mention the comment made by the customer who was sitting somewhere in Economy to demonstrate the importance of engaging with people. Bart worked one sector in Premium and the other in First.

Crew Manager Lana then says it was a poor choice of words and there are learnings for me which she will share with my manager. I’m sorry but I really don’t get it.

---

Moving on to Lana’s next point;

---

I’m glad that after nineteen years of being a Flight Manager I can be trusted to make the decision regarding who I feel is suitable to work up in a supervisory position and who’s not.

Yet as a Flight Manager I can’t correct the cabin crew when the service they deliver is not in line with company procedures without a complaint for bullying, harassment and overbearing supervision being upheld.

This is the last point that refers to the outbound sector of our flight. This is what all of this was really all about. Before I had even met Bart he was irritated at not having been given the opportunity to work up. He therefore took an instant dislike to me, not the other way around.

What infuriated him even more was that Katrina had only been in the company for a couple of months longer than him. He was the second most junior crew member and had no previous flying experience.

That’s why he looked at the floor throughout the pre-flight briefing. It’s probably also the reason why he felt he could take orders on the ground during the short delay instead of after takeoff. He thought it wouldn’t be noticed.

He probably also believed it would make him look more efficient when it “appeared” after takeoff that he had finished taking his orders before Lottie and Claire.

It was definitely the reason he ignored me when I asked him to clear rubbish in during the flight.

Having then addressed further issues with him on our inbound flight to London and then having written a performance appraisal, it was too much for this egotistical narcissist to cope with.

Having learnt I touched crew member Ven’s ankle whilst playing a joke on him, he came up with the idea of accusing me of inappropriate touching. He then colluded with several crew members to ensure they supported his lies. Fortunately for him, all of the crew working alongside his fiancée at the back of the aircraft were friends outside of work.

Although Ven didn’t know anyone when he arrived for the flight he was more than happy to support Bart’s complaint. This was because he was aggrieved at not being allowed to work up in a supervisory role.

Ven was told when being called from standby that he would be working up as Purser on the flight. I changed his working position however before he arrived at the aircraft.

---