None nanny, you?

[FlyingFox]

Recently flew Etihad SYD-AUH-ATH with two kids, 4 and 9.

At no stage did any of the flight crew appear to identify themselves or behave in any manner resembling a 'nanny'. To be honest I wasn't expecting much but I'm curious as to whether anyone else has seen the phantom nanny in action. The kids were handed an activity bag which was nice but fairly standard on international flights. Emirates made more fuss over the kids the last time we flew with no need to promise any nannies. Perhaps she was busy with other passengers. I just wonder whether she exists.

My son thinks its "a scam".

 

[smit0847]

The nanny is a marketing stunt. They dont actually do anything.

 

[FlyingFox]

Sadly an effective one. There was a mother with four kids getting on board. "There's a nanny!" She said to us with a look of hope.

 

[OzEire]

Same experience, 2 second appearance to hand out an activity pack and never saw them again in the cabin.

I did seek out the FA with the orange nanny apron (they seemed to be taking turns which is fair enough but i didn't see any of them nannying when walking the aisles to leg stretch). Found her in the rear galley. I asked politely to warm some milk in our baby's bottle. 20 mins later I found the bottle in the rear galley completely unattended, and still cold.

Marketing, and completely useless.

 

[FlyingFox]

I wonder how Etihad's business model is going to work our longer term.

The promise of Nanny-like care in the air is by all accounts non-existent or at least, the exception.

Their general customer service approach seems to be based on a similar philosophy. A promise of great care, concern and diligence but a reality which make the promise a very empty one.

It seems the appearance of service levels is enough. That they be expected to deliver on the promise is secondary and beside the point. It's about the appearance.

I believe they have gained a lot from Emirates by association as well as the idea that a rich nation can afford to offer more for less through their national carrier.

 

[MrJetset]

Actually the Sky Nanny concept was developed by GF before their staff defected to EY.

There are SkyNannys on board, but you have to ask for their assistance. There are hundreds of pax on board, they don't just magically appear without being summoned.

 

[FlyingFox]

Hmm, I think having kids is a fair indication that the 'nanny' might make an appearance, if only to say hello. There aren't normally hundreds of kids on board.

 

[OzEire]

And when you do ask for one small thing on a flight lasting 14 hours, they screw it up.

 

[FlyingFox]

You'd imagine not leaving a baby's bottle unattended in what's effectively a public place might've come up during training at the 'world renowned' Norland College.

Must've been busy "seating children, serving their meals, refilling bottles and providing activities such as face-painting, craft and magic tricks" someplace else.

 

[Homer]

Maggie, 3, has an actual nanny and the poor woman is run absolutely ragged by her for the 5 or so hours per day that they are together one-on-one. By co-opting this term for marketing without properly defining the role, EY is just setting themselves up to disappoint their customers.

 

[smit0847]

EY have demonstrated time and time again they couldnt care less about Y. I dont know why they bother with this nanny concept if theyre not going to deliver. What benefit is there in advertising something to attract pax with kids if they intend to disappoint them?!

 

[FlyingFox]

This is what I was on about earlier. Their business model seems to be largely based on the appearance of service above the delivery of it. As long as they seed confusion through copy/paste robotic responses to every complaint and never admit any shortfall, in medium term the majority doesn't catch on and their lower priced tickets continue to sell. Meanwhile the heavy promotion of their apartments leads people to assume there's a trickle down effect to service in Y class. Apartments have a butler and Y even has a nanny!

Many brands use this model. Mercedes for instance sells all kinds of lower end vehicles but mostly sells on the strength of their luxury offerings. They however, delivery a reliable experience across the range.

In the longer term all it will take is a big public error of some kind and Etihad won't have the brand equity to recover and the Eithad brand will be significantly tarnished. Or not. Perhaps they can keep it up forever.

 

[smit0847]

I dont know of anyone whos flown EY Y and chosen them again (the exact opposite is true for J and F). Surely their marketing isnt so good they can survive without repeat Y pax?

 

[TomVexille]

I dont know of anyone whos flown EY Y and chosen them again (the exact opposite is true for J and F). Surely their marketing isnt so good they can survive without repeat Y pax?

While EY Y is cough. People will keep choosing them if they're cheap.

 

[MrJetset]

Lots of false assumptions based on hearsay does not a fact make.

EY loads ex SYD and healthy so clearly you don't represent the majority.

 

[yohy?!]

Have only done a SIN-BNE with EY in Y (other sectors in J) and found the service indistinguishable to other major carriers whilst the hard product was quite good, I don't have children but agree the nanny idea is risky without the proper setup and follow through

 

[N860CR]

I dont know of anyone whos flown EY Y and chosen them again (the exact opposite is true for J and F). Surely their marketing isnt so good they can survive without repeat Y pax?

To break the pattern... I've flown them in J and won't do that again. The service is generally poor (similar to EK).

After flight customer service is non-existent.

 

[FlyingFox]

Lots of false assumptions based on hearsay does not a fact make.

EY loads ex SYD and healthy so clearly you don't represent the majority.

If by hearsay (by definition heasay is 'out of court' evidence) you mean the hundreds of poor reviews on various travel sites then I'd suggest, even given they aren't on here, they still mean something.

My experience of Etihad's in flight service was absolutely fine. I certainly wasn't expecting them to make good on their Nanny promise, which in itself says something. Nonetheless, if a service provider uses a promise of service to sell said service it's a little harsh to criticise people for expecting to receive it.

I tend to agree with TomVexille.

 

[MrJetset]

If by hearsay (by definition heasay is 'out of court' evidence) you mean the hundreds of poor reviews on various travel sites then I'd suggest, even given they aren't on here, they still mean something.

My experience of Etihad's in flight service was absolutely fine. I certainly wasn't expecting them to make good on their Nanny promise, which in itself says something. Nonetheless, if a service provider uses a promise of service to sell said service it's a little harsh to criticise people for expecting to receive it.

I tend to agree with TomVexille.

Hundreds of negative reviews while EY flies hundreds of people out of SYD per day on two flights. Do the math.

 

[N860CR]

Hundreds of negative reviews while EY flies hundreds of people out of SYD per day on two flights. Do the math.

Unfortunately "the math" doesn't always work when it comes to complaints vs actual passengers flown. Remember when Jetstar first started... They "proudly" displayed a complaints to pax ratio on their website and it was such a tiny number that it was irrelevant 0.02454 in a thousand or something.

Given my experience with Etihad customer care... I wouldn't even bother submitting feedback in future