flight attendant job----unfriendly skies

SKY HIGH

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May 22, 2004
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/travel/1...amp;oref=slogin

And today I am one of them.

In a behind-the-scenes look at the other side of air travel, I donned a navy suit and starched white shirt earlier this summer and became a flight attendant for two days. With the cooperation of American Airlines, I first went to flight attendant training school at the company’s Flagship University in Fort Worth, Tex., where I learned what to do in an onboard emergency, from how to open an emergency exit window on a 777 aircraft (it’s heavier than you may think) to operating a defibrillator (there are pictures to help you get the pads in the right place). I then flew three legs in two days: a round-trip journey between Dallas and New York, and then back to New York the next day.

And though the other flight attendants knew I was a ringer, the passengers did not. Thus I got a crash course in what airline personnel have to put up with these days — and, after just one day on the job, began to wonder why the phrase “air rage†is only applied to passengers. Believe me, there were a few people along the way, like the demanding guy in first class who kept barking out drink orders as the flight progressed (until he finally passed out), whom I would have been more than happy to show to the exit, particularly when we were 35,000 feet in the air.

WHAT’S it like to be a flight attendant these days? That’s what I’ve often found myself wondering as I sit in my seat, waiting impatiently as yet another flight is delayed and my connection threatened, while around me are passengers fighting with each other over the lack of space in the shared bin, or complaining about having been bumped from an earlier flight, or swearing “never again†to fly this specific airline because they have been stuck in a middle seat even though they booked their ticket six months ago.
 
I tip my hat to all the FA's out there. While my job can get a bit stressfull at times there's no way I could do what they do day in and day out. You would probably see me on the news under the ticker "FA snaps, beats passenger".
 
I enjoyed the article. Be sure and watch the video that is connected to the article. That being said, I particularly enjoyed the fact that the writer was exhausted after flying 3 legs in two days.

She should have tried this sequence.
Day 1. (Yesterday)
3 legs the first day (STL-LGA-DFW-HSV) with a scheduled on duty of 12 hours 30 minutes including a 2-3 hour unpaid sit in DFW ending in HSV.
Followed by a 9 hour 55 minute layover (door open to door close).
Day 2 (Today)
1 leg back to DFW with a 6 hour 30 minute unpaid sit before working a final leg to MCO (slit my wrists). There was supposed to be a DFW-IAH turn in there, but it is cancelled for obvious reasons. And, since the over 5 hour sit is unscheduled, the company does not provide a hotel room to rest in. Scheduled on duty 12 hours 30 minutes.
15 hour 30 minute layover in MCO.
Day 3 (tomorrow)
MCO-JFK-MCO-STL. (If the wrist slitting didn't work yesterday, try again. :lol: ) Scheduled on duty 10 hours 50 minutes.

This is just a sequence I randomly picked out from the current STL sequences, and is not atypical of sequences being flown by f/as in every AA domestic base.
 
I can certainly agree with the authors experience with her trip. However, if the job is so awful then why is attrition so low? There certainly has to be some allure that keep people coming to work every day. I am flying to Paris tonight and I can honestly say I am excited...even after 17 years!
 
I can certainly agree with the authors experience with her trip. However, if the job is so awful then why is attrition so low? There certainly has to be some allure that keep people coming to work every day. I am flying to Paris tonight and I can honestly say I am excited...even after 17 years!


Exactly, why is attrition so low? And why are furloughees chomping at the bit for recall?
 
I don't think anyone said that the "job is awful." However, the public still thinks that we work one day, have 2 or 3 days off in Paris, or Rome, or London, then work one day back. Those movies from the 50's and 60's are still playing on late night TV. :lol:

I had a passenger recently that expressed shock about our pay plans. He had just learned recently that f/as and pilots are not paid until the door closes and the brake is released, and that the pay stops the second the door opens. As a business owner, he wanted to know how that could be legal under the Federal wage and hour law (Taft-Hartley). I explained to him that we are not covered by Taft-Hartley, we come under the RLA (Railway Labor Act).

The public still has great misconceptions about the job of flight attendant. If any of us ever get to start hiring again, you should go to an airline's open house for flight attendant hiring. The room will be packed. The minute the program starts and the "welcome to our flight attendant open house" is over, you will probably observe (I'm basing this on my experience at a CO job fair where they had to close the doors early because all 500 chairs were already filled)...

1. The speaker will note first that even though the job fair is in Houston which is CO's headquarters, those hired will most likely be based at EWR for some time after hiring. (At least 100 people got up and started walking out with comments like "All my family lives here in Houston. I can't be living in New Jersey.")

2. The speaker will go on to starting pay issues. He/she will point out that the starting pay is $18.00/hr (I don't remember if that is the correct rate, but it's close.) Those people in the room who are struggling to make it on $10.00/hr or less really perk up. Then the speaker points out that you will only be guaranteed to be paid for 75 hours/month; so, your gross monthly pay will be approx. $1350 and your annual pay will be less than $17,000. (Another 100 get up and walk out with "I don't know who they think they are. A gerbil couldn't live on that kind of money.")

3. The speaker informs you that if hired, you will have no non-rev travel privileges for the first 6 months until you complete probation; so, no you can not live in Houston and commute to Newark for at least the first 6 months. (Another bunch leaves.)

4. Then the speaker points out that you will be on straight reserve for up to 5 years after hiring. That doesn't register until it is explained that you will fly when, where, and how much the company decides, but when not flying you have to be within 2 hours of your base airport if on call for the day. They also point out that trips are assigned by seniority; so, unless you get one on reserve, the trips to London, Rome and Paris are not in your immediate future or even for several years. You are going to be working Newark-Dayton and Newark to Louisville trips for some time even after you get off reserve. (Another bunch leaves.)

By the time they started the actual interviews there were less than 200 of the original 500 left in the room. (One of the recruiters told me that is just about par for the course. It's why they have a morning open house and then an afternoon open house the same day. It generally takes two sessions to get 400-500 interviewees.) Of the 200, even I could pick out some that would not get past the first round. Like the young woman whose hair was dyed 3 different colors and whose fingernails were at least 2-3 inches long. She was sitting in the row in front of me and I heard her say to her friend, "Oh, I know that when I get hired, I'll probably have to cut my nails." It never occurred to her that as bizarre as she looked, she would not get hired.

As far as the questions about why do people stay...

1. It's a fun job.
2. Flexibility. Within certain restrictions, you can work as much or as little as you want.
3. It's a fun job.
4. Travel benefits.
5. It's a fun job.
6. An opportunity to be of service to others.
7. Did I mention that it's fun job? :lol:
 
Great job for those of us with ADHD. Nothing ever the same and no matter how bad today is, tomorrow will be different. You don't have to take the job home! And for the most part, your co-workers are great. Don't like someone, chances are next trip (or even day) will be different.

Why do those furloughed want to return? To have something to show for 20-30 years of service!
And for the number 1 reason, to be able to have a choice in when you hang up your wings.
 
Moving this to Aviation News because it is starting to be posted in other airline forums.
 
As far as the questions about why do people stay...

1. It's a fun job.
2. Flexibility. Within certain restrictions, you can work as much or as little as you want.
3. It's a fun job.
4. Travel benefits.
5. It's a fun job.
6. An opportunity to be of service to others.
7. Did I mention that it's fun job? :lol:
You forgot to mention the unlimited yummy turkey sandwich's we get to gobble down!
 

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