| 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 |
Anna’s Witness Statement
I’ll return to the outcome of Lana’s investigation in the next chapter but for now, want to share Anna’s witness statement.
Witness statements were requested from the Cabin Crew almost four months after the flight.
Throughout her statement she refers to me as FSM (Flight Service Manager which is the Flight Manager) followed by my surname. Bart is referred to as CM (crew member) followed by his surname. I’ve deleted our names so in places all you’ll see is “FSM” or “CM”.
LRH (should read LHR – London Heathrow airport).
JR90 is a code used to identify crew members who are new to the company. She states I asked very targeted and challenging questions yet the first questions to be asked were aircraft familiarisation points which the crew hear every flight. They were asked to the group as a whole.
Anna didn’t answer any of the questions and I now understand why. She found them very challenging.
Next came the individual safety questions written by the safety training department. The same questions are used for several months at a time before being changed. The questions I asked had been in use for at least two months.
I had never met Anna or Bart previously so had no idea they knew each other. Should a crew member not answer their safety question correctly they must be asked a second question. Should that not be answered correctly they would be removed/stood down from the flight.
It was extremely rare for this to happen. I had never seen anyone be stood down because they couldn’t answer their question. On this flight we were already one crew member down so the last thing I wanted was to lose someone else.
It was only as we were leaving the check-in area for the aircraft that I was told another crew member was on their way to the airport. That person was Ven.
What Anna says in inverted commas and capital letters regarding Emmeline Heaney is not what I said.
Christmas is a tough time, especially when you’re going away not knowing whether your only living blood relative, who was my dad, will still be alive when you get home.
Nobody other than Bart and Ven personally had any recollection of my onboard announcements. Only Bart and Anna claimed they were aware of complaints from customers.
Anna seems to have forgotten I did a drinks service on the outbound flight with crew member Mia in Economy. She was doing the drinks service parallel to us on the opposite aisle. Mia also forgot about that in her witness statement.
Any crew member who has flown with me will know that during the service I spend very little time in the galley. The three crew members who worked alongside me in First Class confirm I worked as hard as everyone else.
After arriving at the front to help us finish the dinner service, Anna was asked to return to Economy because I didn’t need three additional crew members.
Mia and T remained at the front to help out. Anna was at the front for less than five minutes.
You’ll have noticed she says “although I didn’t witness this” and then goes into great detail about the outward appearance of the crew.
As well as doing a drinks service with Mia in Economy whilst Anna was serving parallel to us in the opposite aisle, I also did the afternoon tea service on the flight to Atlanta in Premium as stated in Bart’s complaint. There was no requirement for me to do this.
As a Flight Manager I always tried to work with as many of my crew as possible.
I didn’t do any services in Economy on the flight home because it was far too busy in First Class. I did however do the breakfast service in Premium. The Flight Manager is required to do breakfast in that cabin.
Anna who states she is ex police claims Bart assisted in the Economy cabin. On our outbound flight he worked in Premium on the opposite aisle to Ven. The cabin was virtually full. Economy was half empty so no additional help was needed.
On the inbound flight he struggled to keep up in First Class let alone having enough time to then help in Economy. With that said, the Economy service finished before the service in First which is why Mia and T were free to come to the front to help out.
The following screenshot comes from my defence.
If I was behind Anna how could she see I was hunched over? For point of reference I’m five foot seven.
Bart states in his complaint he’s a fairly confident ex police officer of eight years yet he said nothing to anyone about any inappropriate touching towards him or his fiancée.
He states this alleged behaviour was commented on continuously by other members of the crew. Not one single crew member was able to confirm they had seen or were aware of me touching anyone at any time despite being asked about my “physical touching”.
In his witness statement Peter said his best friend Mia had told him I had been quite physical towards her on a few occasions. That’s completely different to what Mia said in her own witness statement.
Ven accused me of squeezing his waist yet was unaware of me touching anyone else inappropriately. He was working out of the same small galley area as Bart and I on two nine hour flights.
It should also be remembered that according to T’s statement, Bart was openly criticising my ability and performance whenever I left the galley.
Regarding Anna inviting me to have drinks in crew member T’s hotel room with her, Bart and other members of the crew before our Christmas meal, I spoke about that here.
Considering Bart states in his complaint we did not have a good rapport from the outbound flight and Anna also says she didn’t have a good rapport with me, do you really think she would have invited me to have drinks with them in a hotel room prior to going down to dinner?
Regarding the tommy tank comment, in her witness statement Mia claims I said that some seven hours later after dinner. Nobody other than Bart, Anna and Mia had any recollection of me making this comment either then or in the hotel lobby whilst waiting for our room keys.
Anna states I had subjected the crew to a strict management style yet our outbound flight was half empty and they all had a two hour rest break in the bunks. I hardly spoke to her on that sector.
This screenshot comes from my defence;
The “pornograh video” was a gay themed cartoon that played for about forty seconds.
In witness statements nobody said they were aware of me ignoring or excluding anyone at any time.
Every crew member including the Captain and First Officer said they were unaware of any unusual behaviour between Bart and I. Ven stated I seemed to always pull Bart up but then said he didn’t see Bart and I talking together at any time.
The crew member who accompanied Anna when she complained to a manager prior to her next flight was Mia. As mentioned previously, I spoke to Crew Manager Julie to ask what had been said. She confirmed the only thing they complained about was the email they received from me on their days off.
Regarding no feedback being given, crew member T, Lottie and Katrina all talk in their statement about me giving feedback during the flight.
Bart says nothing in his complaint about me ignoring Anna at The Gatehouse (cabin crew check-in at Heathrow).
Bart does not say in his complaint he tried to say hello to me. This is what he says;
“I saw Laurence in the hotel corridor as all of our rooms were on the same floor. He walked past me and did not acknowledge or speak to me. I realise we can look different in uniform and in civilian clothes, however it is easier to spot male crew members. He chose to ignore me. I saw him again about 20 minutes later in the same corridor, I was with a female crew member (Anna), and again he walked straight past ignoring us both. Harassment; deliberately excluding staff
In the morning of the outbound sector, I looked at Laurence to acknowledge him however he ignored me again. In all honesty, I felt intimidated by him and was really dreading the flight back.”
Workplace is the company’s communications’ platform. Considering Anna spent very little time in the First Class cabin she seemed to know I was less visible in the cabin than the rest of the crew.
This next screenshot comes from Lottie’s statement;
I honestly have no idea what she means by the way I was laying up tables is not in line with the service flow.
The fact she mentions this shows that even Lottie was speaking about me behind my back during the flight. I know that because in Bart’s initial complaint he says Lottie told him I wasn’t laying tables up as per the service flow.
That really saddens me because on the inbound sector I spoke at length to Lottie to praise her performance, ability and encouraged her to go for promotion. She talks about that in her witness statement.
Regarding me not laying tables correctly, when the lunch/dinner service begins the crew lay up customers’ tables. On each table we place two glasses, cutlery wrapped in a serviette, a side plate with a knife, butter dish and salt and pepper.
There is a specific way we’re supposed to lay each item down but admittedly I may not have followed that to the letter.
I put items down neatly and in a logical order. Nobody has ever commented on the way I lay tables. Bear in mind anonymous upward feedback is completed on me at the end of every sector.
Having said something about this to Bart, he clearly repeated it to Anna who mentioned it in her witness statement. You may recall the Head of Department told me she could find no evidence of collusion.
Lottie worked to a high standard and was the only person I spoke to about the way the service was running. I did not speak to her about Bart but did say I felt Katrina was finding working up as Purser quite challenging.
I had several long conversations with Katrina during the flight which Lottie confirms in her statement. She also makes a point of saying it was a busy and challenging flight.
VoC is the Voice of Customer post flight questionnaire. The statement said “the stewardess was professional but not very engaging”. Bear in mind Anna was still in probation having been with the company for less time than Bart.
JR90 is a code used to identify new crew who are still in or recently out of probation.
Crew manager Julie confirmed Anna and Mia only complained about the email and nothing else. OMB is supposed to say OBM – Onboard Manager.
Regarding me not submitting working positions into my iPad, this has been explained. previously. This comment was shared with Bart and/or Anna by Ven who had no understanding about how the system worked. Bart was told during his initial meeting this complaint had to be retracted because it was not justified.
In the outcome to my appeal the Head of Department upheld the allegation of inappropriate touching based on the fact that my alleged touching “made certain crew members feel uncomfortable.” They were Anna, Bart and Ven.
Ven’s statement will be published in the next chapter. It’s just as malicious and despicable as Anna’s. Ven has since been promoted to Purser.
This excerpt comes from the company’s Our Standards Policy. The same policy I was told I had breached multiple times;
“Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and you should always consider whether your words or conduct could be considered to be offensive to others”.
Anna was made redundant in response to cutbacks following Covid-19. That was a year later.
Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth 
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