| 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 I want to share Anna’s witness statement.
Statements were requested from the 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”.
JR90 are crew members 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. Clearly she didn’t answer any of the questions because 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 stood down from the flight. In other words they would not be allowed to operate.
That happened very rarely. In thirty years with the company I had never personally 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 someone had been called from standby. 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 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 P.As. 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. She was doing the drinks service on the opposite aisle.
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. Mia and T remained 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 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.
I didn’t do any services in Economy on the flight home but did breakfast in Premium. The Flight Manager is required to do this service.
Anna who remember is also ex police states Bart assisted in the Economy cabin. On our outbound flight he worked in Premium which was virtually full. Economy was half empty. On the inbound flight he struggled to keep up in First Class let alone having enough time to then help in Economy.
In fact Mia and T from Economy helped us in First Class.
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. In the photo in the previous link she’s the crew member not wearing a sweatshirt.
Bear in mind her fiancée was a “fairly confident” ex police officer of eight years yet said nothing to me or anyone else about any inappropriate touching. He states this was commented on continuously by other members of the crew. Not a 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”.
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?
Mia states I made the tommy tank comment some seven hours later when some of the crew asked us after dinner to go with them to a bar. I was sitting with Lottie, Katrina, Claire, the Captain and First Officer. 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.
She 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.
The screenshot comes from my defence;
The pornograh video was a cartoon that lasted less than one minute.
In witness statements not one single crew member said they were aware of me ignoring or excluding anyone at any time.
Everyone apart from Anna and Ven said they were unaware of any unusual behaviour between Bart and I.
The crew member she complained with to a manager 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 on their days off.
Regarding no feedback being given, crew member T, Lottie and also Katrina 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 area at Heathrow).
Bart does not say in his complaint he tried to say hello to me. Here’s 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 did 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.
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 and 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.
Clearly Lottie said something to Bart about this because he also makes reference to it in his complaint. Bart obviously shared the information with Anna.
So it seems many of the crew were talking behind my back on this flight.
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 difficult.
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.
Her statement will be published in due course.
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 covered numerous times previously. This comment was shared with Bart and Anna by Ven who had no idea how the system worked. Bart was told during his meeting with crew manager Lana this complaint had to be retracted because it was not justified.
Positions were entered and I received feedback as I should have done from Claire and Katrina who worked alongside me in First Class. T should also have done upward feedback on me but didn’t. He didn’t do any of the performance feedback he was required to do.
In the outcome to my appeal the Head of Cabin Crew said she could find no evidence of collusion. She also 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 vile as Anna’s. Ven has since been promoted to Purser.
This comes from the company’s Our Standards Policy;
“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 Covid cutbacks but that was more than a year after she wrote her witness statement . She’s now a manager at a recruitment agency.
Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth 