AFA Alaska Update – November 12, 2020

Inflight Service Tidbits

Items in bold are recently added

First Class

1. Don’t lose your serving tray again–when the door to the ice bucket compartment is open, there is a small space created above the door. This is a great place to stash one small serving tray.
2. Use metal tongs to handle the aluminum cups when plating food—saves you from burns from handling the hot cups.
3. Dirty scoops need to be placed in the used food cart so they go back to the galley for cleaning
4. The extra silverware bag is for multiple flights. When you are picking up the first course (fruit or salad) don’t forget to ask the passengers to keep their knives and forks for the entrée.
5. After giving the pilots their water bottles move your red wine from your beverage cart dry drawer into the pilot water drawer.
6. Make sure the pilots get their water from 1-10.
7. Let your D know where the hot towels are prior to 10K so they can locate them quickly.
8. Used linens may be placed in used oven or bread bags—they do not need to be separated by color. Please do not use recycle bags for used linens.  A handy trick for linens is also to tie two linens together, place all used linens in the center and then tie to the remaining ends together—all linens contained and no plastic bags.
9. If you are unsure how to pronounce something you are going to be serving Wikipedia is your friend.
10. In FC scrape and stack your FC items. Dump liquids/trash from your FC glasses and leave galleys clean—don’t forget to use just half of the FC glassware on RON or double catered flights (Trans-con flights are an exception because they are fully re-stocked.
11. After landing and the seatbelt sign goes off, remove the garbage and recycle bags from the carts when the cart will not be removed from the aircraft during catering or if there is just a catering trash and water service. Trash and recycle out of the carts? Time to seal the carts—don’t forget the liquor cart, too. 

Premium Class

1. Keep the PC boxes in the PC section PLEASE
2. If you have no PC section but lots of PC boxes, put those beverage cart drawers that are full of PC boxes in the IFE cart to make room for new top drawers in your beverage cart. At the end of the flight it is easy to just slip the drawers back in the beverage cart so they can go back to the kitchen

RON (Remain Overnight) Aircraft

1. RON flights need to have all open juices disposed of.  If they are empty flatten the cartons and put them in the recycle.  If the juice cartons are partially full drain them and recycle or put the lids on and put them in the trash.
2. RON flights – Please leave one empty oven rack in the oven but remove everything else!
3. No morning smelly surprises wanted—please remove the trash from all of the carts after landing and the seat belt sign has been turned off. Trash and recycle removed time to seal the carts too.

Recycling, Trash, and Conservation

1. Only use a plastic cup for tea fixings…please do not use plastic cups for putting coffee condiments (cream/sugar/equal) for the customer. Use a napkin and put coffee condiments on the napkin and hand to customer.
2. Do you know where to put your coffee ground compost bag…try and put them in your “used” food cart.
3. Chocolate bars go back in the beverage carts at the end of your segment.
4. Partial cans of soda do NOT need to emptied out. They will still be recycled
5. If your juice box is empty or contains less than a cupful, please dispose of the box. If you don’t have time to drain it put the lid on and place it in a drawer in a trash cart.  Don’t leave it for the next crew to deal with.  If the juice box on the downline leg is swollen please do not use it.
6. Juice and soda should NOT be emptied in the drain in front of the coffee makers. The cans will be recycled if they are in the drawers and open.  Put the lids on the open juice and place them in a drawer in the bottom of a trash cart.
7. Make sure that you are stacking cups and fruit & cheese platters for recycling to maximize space.
8. On the Trans-con/HI/MX/Long-hauls Services: Move picnic packs/cheese platters to the other food or supply cart to create more garbage space.  You have now have separated your remaining food from future garbage and recycle.  You have also created a trash cart by completely emptying one cart.
9. Remove the tins or skillets from the ovens after service—the oven racks can be interlocked in the ovens providing more trash space in the carts.
10. Keep that gray bag from slipping off the cart door w/o hanging it by a soda can—pull the handle up and tie a knot in it and put this on the inside of the door of the cart. This will keep the bag from slipping off.
11. Main cabin trash cart—Have your normal setup on top of the cart. Leave the door open and put a drawer on the inside with a bag hanging from the drawer.  Use a pokie to affix the gray bag.  You now have room for large passenger trash bags, pizza boxes and items too large for the top of the cart.
12. Coffee compost bags—Hang it! Tie a knot in the corner of the coffee compost bag corner and slip the knot behind the galley trash door making sure the galley trash door is securely closed.  The knot keeps the bag from slipping out from the door and the coffee packs are not out of the way. 
13. Help corral the loose crayon boxes—if you have a spare zip lock bag reuse it and place the crayon boxes in the bag. 

Pay It Forward

1. Carts that are not designated for your flight should remain sealed. Paying it forward doesn’t mean to open another crew’s cart and set it up.  Paying it forward means to restock (sugar/tea caddies) and put other items back where they came from.
2. If you are leg 1 of a double catered flight make sure you remove items from the ovens for the next crew or leg 2.
3. When flying a Trans-con/Hawaii if you have room in your used aisle cart put some water bottles in the drawers prior to landing—this will give the crew extra water for their flight home.
4. On the Trans-cons where you will be restocked with soda if you have extra fresh soda drawers at the end of the first segment, load them in your used aisle carts—this gives the second crew a few extra supplies from your used aisle cart.
5. Find an appropriate place for trays—on the second leg put them in the used cart, put them in the ice cart, put them in the picnic pack cart but don’t leave them so they fall on someone’s head
6. Dirty scoops need to be placed in the used food cart so they go back to the galley for cleaning
7. After landing and the seatbelt sign goes off, remove the garbage and recycle bags from the carts when the cart will not be removed from the aircraft during catering or if there is just a catering trash and water service. Trash and recycle out of the carts? Time to seal the carts—the aisle carts and the shelf stable BYOB cart, too.
8. Restock the sugar/tea caddies for the next crew just the way you would like them stocked for you. The middle upper galley 4 skinny compartment is a great place to stow the re-stocked caddies.  If you are on an aircraft that does not have this space use the AC L little corner cubby.

Hot Water Carafes

1. There is an arrow on the lid of the hot water carafe.  This needs to be pointed to the spout to have an opening for the hot water to pour out.  If you cannot see the arrow you can feel it as a small bump on the edge of the lid.
2. When you are finished using the hot water carafe screw lid on loosely. If screwed on tightly the change in cabin pressurization can make it very difficult to remove the lid
3. If you have a clean coffee pot, fill it with hot water and leave it on the hot plate prior to service. It is a QUICK refill for your carafe.

Ovens

1. Do not cook a customer’s personal food per FAM, Section 8.100 pg. 6 (Oven Components and Supplies)
2. On the 900ER or any oven please don’t draw on the face of the oven dial.
3. Turn off the ovens prior to arrival—hot oven racks are a safety hazard for catering.
4. Do not start heating meals until after take-off

Coffee Makers and Hotplates

1. If you have trouble removing coffee from the coffee drawer as the coffee pouches have inflated—Remove a couple of pouches of coffee from the drawer prior to cabin pressurization. Suggested spots for these coffee pouches–MC—creamer drawer, FC – in the galley bar compartment.
2. Turn off the coffee “hotplates” and make sure they are cool so that you can wipe them to remove the “old” spilled coffee.
3. Winter time…Put a little water in the coffee pots and turn the coffee makers and hotplates on when you get on the plane. This will help you serve hot coffee even on a very cold morning.

Inflight Entertainment Tablets

1. IFE players need to be cleaned prior to all arrivals in ANC
2. Every IFE Player on a downline flight should be handed out with a charging cord. This includes those players that do not appear to have been used.

Service

1. Remember that the service starts shortly after 10K (depending on weather) and not at cruise attitude.
2. Do you know how many carts you do and when you get re-stocked? Check out the IMD in GoodReader/ASA Supplement/Service Guide…to find out your re-stocking you go to GoodReader/ASA Supplement/ Onboard Experience/Cater-Restocking Schedule.
3. When doing a water service place an upside down coffee cup on the bottom…it gives stability to your stack of plastic cups.
4. C FA….”Take Two Rows and Turn”. When the C FA is directly on the food cart…. assist the B FA by taking 2 rows and selling food.
5. NO personal cups, thermos etc. can be filled or refilled. If passengers want extra pour 2 cups of the beverage.
6. After the beverage cart is in place with the D Flight Attendant at row 6, if you are the C please turn and help the B bring the retail cart forward.
7. Save time and steps back to the galley, find a space for a couple of entertainment players on your first service retail cart.

Miscellaneous

1. Did you know that your beer bins are supposed to be dumped of the water and re-iced when on Hawaii flights, mid-con and trans-con. Take the time to file a Flight Attendant Incident Report (link on the flight attendant webpage).  This is a SAFETY problem.
2. Please do not co-mingle catering supplies with emergency equipment in the overhead bins.
3. The Report It App is to be used for all catering feedback and the IMD version is much easier to use.