Just for the heck of it, I calculated my very first paycheck from AA (I still have it as a souvenir) and adjusted the amount for inflation in today's dollars. In September 1986, my PRE-TAX mid-month check was 496.00. The taxes were as follows: FICA: 34.75 and US w/h Tax: 54.10. Therefore, my take home pay was about 407.15 which, adjusted to today's dollar value, comes to $793. Remember this was for 33.50 hours. Fast forward to 2008: my mid month check before taxes is $1,586 (in the domestic division). After I deduct taxes, medical, pre-funding of retirement, and the rest of all the other little treats the company has extracted from us, my mid-month check today comes to $1,077 (take home amount). Of course, this is for 35 hours, so we must deduct the total hours paid by one hour and ten minutes in order to mirror the 1986 check which was for 33.50 hours. This lowers my mid month check to $1,536, bringing my take-home to $1,045 (before 401K, of course). We must now do the arithmetic: 1045 - 793 = 252.
So, in 22 years, my pay has increased a mere $252.00 for the mid month check. For a 70 hour month (which used to be considered a full month of flying), the total monthly increase comes to a whopping $575 from step one of the B-scale pay scale. So, when the company tells the media the flight attendants make $50 an hour and work 11 days a month, we know it is bull because our take home salary is barely more than it was in 1986. Most flight attendants work a great deal more than 70 hours a month just to make ends meet. It seems we have all reverted to B scale.
Now, before you all start accusing flight attendants of being stupid for staying in a dead end job for so long, let me assure you that most flight attendants I know...including yours truly...have second careers or are in school with the goal of establishing a second (or third) career. I merely wanted to post these figures to counter some of the misinformation that is circulating in some commercial venues concerning our pay. AOL, for instance, recently extolled the flight attendant career as being one of the "cushiest" in the United States due to its high salary and number of days off. Perhaps AOL was looking at our contract before it was gutted as a result of the RPA.
So, in 22 years, my pay has increased a mere $252.00 for the mid month check. For a 70 hour month (which used to be considered a full month of flying), the total monthly increase comes to a whopping $575 from step one of the B-scale pay scale. So, when the company tells the media the flight attendants make $50 an hour and work 11 days a month, we know it is bull because our take home salary is barely more than it was in 1986. Most flight attendants work a great deal more than 70 hours a month just to make ends meet. It seems we have all reverted to B scale.
Now, before you all start accusing flight attendants of being stupid for staying in a dead end job for so long, let me assure you that most flight attendants I know...including yours truly...have second careers or are in school with the goal of establishing a second (or third) career. I merely wanted to post these figures to counter some of the misinformation that is circulating in some commercial venues concerning our pay. AOL, for instance, recently extolled the flight attendant career as being one of the "cushiest" in the United States due to its high salary and number of days off. Perhaps AOL was looking at our contract before it was gutted as a result of the RPA.