Onboard Service has just released a new set of guidelines that redefine widebody aircraft service and staffing.  These staffing changes are aimed at the 777 and 747 aircraft and will take effect on June 1.

Some notable changes include the following:

• Long overdue elimination of the 777 six-point start
• Purser role has been shifted to 'assist where needed' on B777XA two-class aircraft, B777XC/XI/XP international aircraft, and B747 international aircraft.

For the specific changes, please consult the New Widebody Staffing Changes section.  This information will also be posted in the June revision of our Inflight Handbook.

One interesting note:  In the 4-page publication placed in all our mailboxes aimed at explaining the rationale behind the staffing changes, I noticed the following comment under the "A Successful Service Includes..." section:

A customer-paced service delivery.

Not quite sure what that means in the reality of 35,000 feet of vessel environment.  Needless to say, how about a safety-paced service delivery?  It's not a restaurant up there for heaven's sake!