Deep empathy for flight attendants - giving gifts to balance things out?

[gentlegee1976]

Hi everyone,
I want to show some appreciation to the flight attendants on an upcoming trip. This is country number 11 that I am going to visit, and over my travels, I've developed a deep personal empathy for public service workers.

I have prepared four £10 Starbucks gift vouchers (one for each crew member on a short-haul flight) to hand over.

This will be done from BHX whenever my finances allow me to. Along with the gift cards, I’ve written a note to explain why I'm doing this. This is the exact text of the note:

"Hi, please accept these Starbucks gift vouchers as a small gesture of my appreciation. There's one for each of you (4 in total).
I spent 10 years as a Birmingham bus driver, during which time I was spat at, punched in the face and headbutted, not to mention the endless disrespect and abuse that public service workers have to endure.
Although (as you already know) the overwhelming majority of people are polite and respectful, it's the small minority that can really ruin your day.
I'm just trying to balance things out a bit and maybe brighten your shift up a little. I truly understand the problems that you face, and the fact that they're only getting worse.
Unfortunately, 12-hour+ workdays are all too familiar to me as well. Please buy yourselves a nice breakfast, you deserve it. I appreciate your hard work, and recognise that you do a difficult and demanding job."

My question for the board is: will this small gesture do to try and balance out the endless problems that they have to deal with?

Has anyone done something similar, or do we have any cabin crew on here who can advise? They'll be given to the first attendant I see in an envelope (discreetly) when first boarding. They'll understand when they open it.
Thanks in advance.

Close friend is cabin crew who flies mostly long haul. They get little gifts and packages on virtually every flight from customers. They’re hoping for an upgrade or some other special attention on the flight. Not done for social media in their experience.

Agreed. I am guessing OP means they are public facing. But again, customer facing would be more appropriate.

It's weird sorry and have you (or AI even) written a similar post before, about flying with special needs children and giving the cabin crew a similar gift then?

I have a relative who is cabin crew and they do sometimes get gifts and appreciate them. We travelled abroad for a wedding last year and had a suit carrier, and my family member advised us to ask the cabin crew to hang it up in their locker to reduce creasing) and to offer them some chocolates. On the way out the supervisor (I assume) was really stony faced, but on the way back the crew were really delighted.

It is still a thing. I was intrigued that despite the crew being mostly British, that British chocolates were very welcome, rather than more fancy ones. We gave Hotel Chocolat.

The budget airlines are minimum wage. Easyjet and particularly Ryanair have had issues treating their employees poorly.

They’ve referenced short haul but not that it’s a budget airline. They could be flying BA/another airline that has a business class cabin.

Hmm, just give out the giftcards individually and whisper "thank you, have a nice treat". No need for a sermon.

Weird , patronising , the note is absolutely mad.

The note is very long.

If the passengers behave and are polite , I dint see how a short haul flight to Europe and back can be that onerous.

Are they allowed to receive gifts like that? I know a couple of young flight attendants and it’s quite a tough recruitment process - they love the job though - why would they need a gift? Just express your gratitude verbally.

I think you'd be better handing them over while disembarking with a simple thanks.

The note actually makes it about you.

You can't get a nice breakfast at Starbucks.

Just a reheated sandwich if some sort, mass produced croissants, or those weird tiny onleteee things

You are a therapists wet dream op. Fascinating.

although I was in the bar on an emirates plane a couple of years ago and there was a bloke propping up the bar noting the female flight attendant to death so she probably deserved a reward!

This is an American thing isn’t it? Usually to get preferential treatment. I think European air crew would be baffled by it.

Your note is very me, me, me.

The whispering will add an extra layer of menace to it!

Seriously weird and starbucks coffee tastes like shit

I had to smile at this post because just yesterday I came across a particularly charmless and unsmiling flight attendant (unusual actually) when buying a BA exorbitant cup of tea. "No cash, card only..be careful with the machine because of sthg or other..
Grim face throughout the whole exchange.

It feels like you’re strongly relating to cabin crew with a sort of hyper-empathy which you desperately want to communicate to them.

it might be quite interesting as a self reflecting exercise to explore why this is, because kind as the gesture is, it is about a need in you, not really anything to do with them.

i find a warm, ‘Thank you for looking after us so well’ at the end of the flight as i exit the plane does the trick for me.

You seem very passionate about it. I think the gift card is fine but your note seems a bit patronising. Just give them the cards and say you appreciate everything they do. Don’t go on a big long speech about it.

OP if this is something you want to do then do it! There’s clearly no harm or malice in this at all so it will just be a quirky little thing that shows solidarity in your own way as a token gesture of appreciation. This is where anonymous online forms aren’t always helpful. little gestures like these are sweet and will probably brighten their day. I wouldn’t overthink it. If it’s something you want to do - go for it. And to PPs, It’s not doing any harm.

£10 is obviously based on the €4 voucher I got from Ryanair when my flight was delayed for two hours last week. I thought that was a fucking joke too.

OP, don't forget to slip the pilot and extra tenner, must be hell in that little box up the front.

What a performative idiot.

Your use of the terms ‘public transit’ and ‘waitstaff’ immediately mark you out as American. How did you come to spend decades driving buses in Birmingham? That must be a story, hmm?

Also, neither cabin crew nor bus drivers are public sector workers in the UK.

This whole thing feels fabricated and very strange. The creeping rise of AI posts hangs over it.

Honestly this feels a bit performative and me-me-me. I don't mean that unkindly as you've clearly had experience in the public transit system. But then why flight attendant ts not bus drivers or train guards? Perhaps a better way to support might be to a transport workers benevolent fund. That way you're supporting people who really need it, rather than giving a gift card to someone who might not really be able to use it,or mught be ok financially ... you might also find an outlet for your empathy there too ... do they need listening volunteers.