Thats good to know.... I always seem to get the impression that the recalls hate APFA , hate AA and are pissed off about their seniority.... So I wonder why they come back....
FA Recalls
- Thread starter IORFA
- Start date
APFA-no comment
AA honored years of service
pissed off about seniority-forever
However, most coming back really like the job. They are coming back because they can and because it is on their terms. Remember, most said, "get over it, you'll never be recalled". I know of an RN who is going to do both. Fly and be an RN. This is his second recall. His company is willing to work with him because he is really good at his job and they don't want to lose him. Novel concept.
I happen to be one of those recently recalled. For the record, I do not hate APFA nor AA nor am I pissed off about the seniority thing. It could be because I have been with 4 airlines, had 4 different unions, seen an airline go bankrupt (one of the first large commercial airlines) and not resurrected, went with another carrier that eventually merged, continued with that 3rd airline which brought about the American merger. Guess I've been around long enough to learn that acceptance here as well as in life is an admirable characteristic to develop. I've also learned through the school of hard knocks that if I live in the past, the past becomes my future.
I look forward to reuniting with my old family of choice and enlarging it with a new family of choice in the AA family. As I welcome you in my life I so wish you will welcome me in yours.
Btw, I would never cross a picket line.
Maiah
Maiah, nicely said. And welcome back. I'm glad you're back on the line. I hope I get to work with you!!
For those who don't understand leaving a "good" job to become a F/A:
Sometimes it's not about the amount of money you make but the quality of life you have. I recently flew with a F/A who used to work in the ER at a hospital. She told me it could be very stressful (obviously) and also quite depressing. It wore her down. She left that environment to fly full time.
In a different way I was in the same type of situation. For years I worked the typical 9 to 5, salaried Monday thru Friday routine like a lot of people. It was stressful and I spent many sleepless nights tossing and turning with insomnia; dreading having to go into work the next day. I hated the daily grind, the office politics and the whole sleazy, nonsensical corporate culture. Some people thrive in that environment and they can keep it for all I care. I certainly don't want to work with them nor do I wish to see them day after day. They are generally assholes.
With that said, I resent the people on this site and in the general public who belittle the flight attendant job and dismiss us as second-class, undeserving, air-head leaches with no value. Most of us, like myself, are college educated and degreed professionals who have high standards of personal integrity and the willingness to appreciate that the F/A job is much more than opening cans of soda. Years ago I interviewed with American, took a sizable pay cut and started flying. Yes, I've been furloughed more than once but I keep returning and have never looked back with regret. I'm much happier now with the quality of my life both at work and at home. I'm here because I enjoy my job. But above all, I am a full-fledged human being first who deserves to be treated as such in regards to both respect and equitable compensation.
Sometimes it's not about the amount of money you make but the quality of life you have. I recently flew with a F/A who used to work in the ER at a hospital. She told me it could be very stressful (obviously) and also quite depressing. It wore her down. She left that environment to fly full time.
In a different way I was in the same type of situation. For years I worked the typical 9 to 5, salaried Monday thru Friday routine like a lot of people. It was stressful and I spent many sleepless nights tossing and turning with insomnia; dreading having to go into work the next day. I hated the daily grind, the office politics and the whole sleazy, nonsensical corporate culture. Some people thrive in that environment and they can keep it for all I care. I certainly don't want to work with them nor do I wish to see them day after day. They are generally assholes.
With that said, I resent the people on this site and in the general public who belittle the flight attendant job and dismiss us as second-class, undeserving, air-head leaches with no value. Most of us, like myself, are college educated and degreed professionals who have high standards of personal integrity and the willingness to appreciate that the F/A job is much more than opening cans of soda. Years ago I interviewed with American, took a sizable pay cut and started flying. Yes, I've been furloughed more than once but I keep returning and have never looked back with regret. I'm much happier now with the quality of my life both at work and at home. I'm here because I enjoy my job. But above all, I am a full-fledged human being first who deserves to be treated as such in regards to both respect and equitable compensation.
AA surely didn't honor the ticket agents years of service... AA stapled the agents to the bottom of the seniority list. Why doesn't anyone dog AA for that. Agents seem to take it and deal with it. For some reason all the former TWA F/As think that AA is on their side. They are NOT. AA did everything they could not recall. Now they have no choice. APFA is the good guy not AA.... I've been here for 20 yrs and can tell you that from experience.
Welcome with open arms !!! I hope I have the pleasure to fly with you. I think the future will be brighter for all of us here at AA.
Finally Some GOOD NEWS: AFAYou Rock.
Direct from www.afanet.org
For Immediate Release: March 17, 2011
Contact: Corey Caldwell, (202) 434-0586
Flight Attendant Union Wins Major Victory For Former Midwest Flight Attendants
Washington, DC – The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) won a major arbitration today for hundreds of former Midwest Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by AFA. The arbitration award validated AFA’s assertion that the Midwest Flight Attendant contract was violated after Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. purchased Midwest Airlines and staffed the same flights with non-Midwest Flight Attendants, often compensated up to 70 percent less.
The AFA Midwest contract outlined strong provisions for protecting Flight Attendant jobs and contained language that specified the outcome if Midwest was purchased by another airline. AFA filed a grievance in 2009 accusing Republic of violating the terms of these vital scope and successorship provisions after the merger of the two carriers was completed. As a result of the contract violation, hundreds of Midwest Flight Attendants were laid off while lesser paid Flight Attendants from different airlines staffed the flights they once worked.
“Today is a victory for Midwest Flight Attendants whose careers were stripped by corporate greed. AFA vowed to stop at nothing until management was held responsible for stealing the livelihoods of the hardworking Flight Attendants at Midwest Airlines,” said Veda Shook, AFA International President. “It took the commitment and effort of over 400 Flight Attendants and other airline employees to make Midwest one of the best in the country and only narrow corporate interests to destroy it. The Midwest Flight Attendants’ determination to right this wrong is why AFA worked tirelessly to hold management responsible.”
Now that the arbitrator has ruled that Republic violated the terms of the Midwest Flight Attendant contract, a remedy must be reached. At AFA’s request, the arbitrator left the task of negotiating a settlement to AFA and management representatives, ensuring that the resolution will be in the best interest of Midwest Flight Attendants.
“It was the dedicated women and men of Midwest Airlines who helped to create our exceptional carrier,” said Toni Higgins, former AFA Midwest President. “We dedicated our careers to this hometown airline that was repeatedly one of the highest rated domestic carriers in the country. Yet after we merged with Republic, it was the Midwest Flight Attendants and other flight crew who were tossed aside, without jobs, while our flying partners from other airlines worked our flights for significantly less pay. Management’s behavior was not only reprehensible, but it was also in violation of our legally-binding contract. This decision is a great victory for the Midwest Flight Attendants.”
For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants at 21 airlines come together to form AFA, the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org
Beautifully stated and oh so true... Every job has someone that makes negative comments about it.. look at teachers, "if you can't "do", teach. I was the "working mom" that somehow always managed to be the room mother, troop leader, "can I have a ride" mom while many "stay at home" moms were too busy (see..lol). I took classes, did the Junior League "thing", played lots of tennis and was politically active. All because of a wonderful lifestyle afforded to me by flying. I had the "perfect" seniority which allowed me to fly turns or all nighters and allowed me to be at home for my family. As my children became adults I discovered ANC and feel so lucky to have exerienced its magic. I never liked Intn. (hey, someone has to like domestic), but am so happy I was able to fly to ATH and LHR (I went to school in LHR) for a change.
I love working in non profit and the skills I learned as a union rep have served me (and the Participants I represent) well. I get panicky if I have to sit in my office too long. Even after all of these years -0730-1530, 5 days a week, makes me crazy. I do miss layovers, the great pax, and not having to think about the job the minute I got off the plane. I would not miss reserve at 63, commuting (I always lived where I worked), living in a crash pad with 10-12 others, and being a creature of habit, not being able to always work #1. I admire those returning and understand completely why they want to come back. Some will be great f/as, some will not, just like everywhere else. Most will go through a honeymoon phase and some will even have the "Stockholm Syndrome" , but all will have years of jet fuel and and a pure love of the job flowing through their veins. That is a fact regardless of the airline, the union or the circumstance.
And your love of the job and willingness to leave better paying jobs to do this is the companys best weapon against you in Negotiations.
"Not I" said the forced to retire...
And I am somewhat suspicious that the just recalled newbie isn't really a former TWA f/a...lol Most of us use our real names.
That is not in imply those just recalled aren't happy to be given the choice to come back but as for the other....
Au contraire, I am very much an ex-Twa flight attendant. Many of us just don't carry around a parcel of resentments....
Maiah
