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Galley Gossip: In Defense Of Old And Weary Flight Attendants
"Wouldn't it be nice to be served by flight attendants that are actually excited to come to work? Yes, safety training is important. But there is no reason to believe that a fit and alert 29-year-old should perform less safely in an emergency than a weary, overweight 60-year-old." –Bill Frezza, Forbes.comIf you want to talk safety, Bill, let's talk safety. But what's with using "weary" and "overweight" to describe 60-year-old flight attendants? Maybe the point you were trying to make in your article about airline bankruptcy is that new labor is cheap labor. What you've seem to have forgotten is times have changed over the last thirty years and some airlines now deliberately hire older people in an effort to save money on retirement and pensions. And did you know new flight attendants start out making between $14,000-18,000 in the first year? Each year we're given an across-the-board raise with most flight attendants maxing out around the 13-year mark. Flight attendants don't cost the airlines half as much as the airlines would love the flying public to believe.
Going back to safety, Bill, let's ask the passengers on board US Airways flight 1549 how they felt about the crew who evacuated a plane full of 150-plus passengers after the aircraft ditched into the Hudson River. The entire crew of the "Miracle on the Hudson" (including Captain Sullenberger) was over 50, leaning closer to 60. I'd say they did a wonderful job of getting passengers out safely. Personally, I'd be more concerned with my fellow passengers moving quickly than I would be about flight attendants of any age – after all, we are only allowed to work if we can pass a yearly recurrent training program. Passengers just have to buy a ticket.
Now, as for being excited to come to work, it's true that sometimes it's hard to love passengers who verbalize how miserable they feel about flying, especially when these same passengers go on to wonder why we aren't younger and prettier. Last time I checked, flight attendants were people, too. I know it's hard to believe but we, too, are allowed to grow old just like passengers. I'm talking to you, Bill!
But Bill is not alone.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Crowley one-upped Bill with a few sexist tweets about flight attendants, female pilots and pretty much women in general after he became upset that his flight was delayed due to the crew being illegal to work (apparently he and Bill have differing feelings on weary flight attendants). He tweeted something snarky about the flight attendants' mandatory crew rest followed by, "I'm more likely to see a Squatch before I see a hot flight attendant. Then again, I think the airlines are hiring Squatch's to do that job." Wait, it gets better. He added, "Chick pilot. Should I be OK with that or am I just a sexist caveman?"I'm going to have to go with sexist caveman. Of course Cowardly - er, I mean Cowley, deleted his twitter account soon after he got into it with a female journalist over the comments.
In my book, "Cruising Attitude," I mention that ageism is not only alive and well at 30,000 feet but those who still hold these outdated beliefs have no problem expressing them to the very people they're talking about. Once, right after I told a passenger that my mother was also a flight attendant (she's "junior" to me, meaning she started flying AFTER I became a flight attendant), he informed me he found it unsettling to stare at postmenopausal women pushing beverage carts for three hours – as if buying an airline ticket entitled him to eye candy. Of course, he wasn't much to look at either. But I'd take nice, thoughtful passengers over good-looking, younger ones any day!
Bill wraps up his outdated rant against flight attendants with this: "Take a good look at the superannuated attendants next time you board a legacy airline. They are as tired of flying as those of us that have been doing it for thirty years, but it's the customers who pay the price."
Maybe it's the recession, because people always find this one tough to believe, but it's the customers who are NOT paying the price, since ticket prices are cheaper than they were twenty years ago. This is why service has gone downhill. This is also why there are less flight attendants on board to help passengers. And if I or one of my more senior colleagues looks tired or weary, I apologize. Keep in mind it might have something to do with the airlines cutting back to save money. They've decreased my layover time in an effort to save money on hotels. Most domestic layovers average 9-10 hours these days. Add a delay and it's 8 hours behind the locked door. That's barely enough time to eat, sleep AND shower. Personally I think it should be illegal to work flights that are longer than our layovers, but hey, that's me. What do I know?
[photos courtesy of santheo and alexindigo]
Filed under: Airlines, Galley Gossip
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Vicki Howell May 2nd 2012 8:56PM
Interesting article. Those old and weary flight attendants may have started out young and perky. They may have been hired as Heather states because airlines discovered it would save money in the long run when retirement time came around.
However, not all young women these days will put up with what is often dished out by passengers during flights where things go wrong. The new generation is outspoken. They are feminists and they are the me generation, too. I flew with a few of them before I retired. Some were wonderful and some didn't give a hoot. However, the younger ones were the ones who also not as interested in service as the older generation flight attendants. The older flight attendants refer to themselves as "old style." I was one. I cared about YOU. I wanted your flight to go well. I cared about your complaint about your seat and tried to move you. I cared for you if you fell sick. It was mothering, it was simple caring and good customer service. The old style flight attendants are almost all gone now. Most of the flight attendants on the line at my airline are top-notch people to this day. But, they take a hammering from a larger crankier crowd who want more for less each and every flight. One of the standard statements I heard before I retired was, "is it free?"
They get weary. Try to be kinder when you are riding around in the sky. It will pay off for you more than complaining all the time. For those passengers who are looking for eye candy while flying. All I have to say is that you are not living in the modern world.
Savvy Jeff May 2nd 2012 12:48PM
Very senior F/As, who are mature in age, tend to be polarized: Either they are excellent service providers and safety professionals who love what they do (& have done for many years) and are great with pax. OR they are bitter, victim-like, and angry (& probably unpleasant not just on the plane). This latter group needs to either assume a new attitude, or make some serious changes in their lives.
Sully May 2nd 2012 4:00PM
Heather,
I agree with everything you said. As someone just entering the aviation world as an aspiring airline pilot I now have a better understanding of what you all put up with. Passengers today believe they have every right to be rude to you, complain and moan about delayed flights, or crew who are over the legal time limit. I would love to be able to ask them have they tried working a three day trip, with four legs a day, crossing time zones like its nothing. No they haven't and they don't understand. Do they really want their pilots and flight attendants taking a multimillion dollar piece of equipment 37,000ft into the air if they are exhausted and not fully focused, I don't believe so. Passengers do not understand the work load that goes into a flight getting from point A to B, continuing on to points C, D and maybe E.
Also pilots and flight attendants are a group of highly trained people. We spend thousands of dollars to get our ratings and training and in return we are not paid nearly what we should be paid for what a we are doing. To add to that the airlines are cutting pensions plans and pay in order to survive. This goes back to asking the passengers would they like if they worked for a company for years and then they decided to cut pensions and pay raises, again I don't think they would like that. So why do they think its fair for pilots and flight attendants to take the cut. They should be paying more to fly, but rather they complain about high ticket prices. They don't understand this is what we making a living doing.
So to everyone out there who thinks flight attendants are cranky, tired, and don't care. Think that they might be missing their kids graduation, wedding, or family holiday in order to make sure you make it to your destination in a safe, timely manner to see your loved ones or make that crucial business meeting.
Just remember a smile and thank you can go a long way.
ChingyintheSky May 2nd 2012 6:32PM
Hahahahah LOVE the sarcastic humourous respond to cow-ard-ley heather!!. Give him a piece of your mind!!!(in a FA classy way of course). It's human psychology, you will never know the stress and pain of a job until you WORK in that job field. That's why I always treat everyone the way I wanted to be treated. I respect people who are good and passionate at what they do. SURE, there are lots of time when gate agents and flight attendants treated me not so nice but I still smile, say please and thank you, and of course hold my tongue but there's always a reason behind their action. Maybe a passenger pissed them off or maybe many years of abuse by passengers and mistreatment by their boss who knows? These angry people still get me ON a almost full flight on standby just because a "I really appreciate your help and I hope you have a wonderful day" I always buy crew gifts not because I wanna bribe them (I sleep the whole flight anyways) because I wanna thank them for their hard work because not alot of people DO appreciate for their work. I go out of my way to hopefully make a difference that maybe the sky can be friendly once again.
P.s. some of the nicest FAs I met were the FAs that were flying in the 50's on AA. Those ladies had seen EVERYTHING and just amazing:)
brian s May 2nd 2012 7:05PM
i am a frequent business traveler and i also say "please" and "thank you" because i understand that it can be a frustrating job. i also send in compliments via the service channels when i think they deserve it and i let them know too. what customer facing job isn't? i'm customer facing as well so i understand the pains of irate customers.
however i've still yet to bark at a customer, yell or anything. even if i'm not smiling, i'm always patient and courteous. the rational ones who bite at me in heightened emotions tend to understand that's what it was and they tend to stay as long term customers. those who don't, well, i don't want them as customers anyway.
the issue i have with US based flight attendants (not "as a whole" yet, but i'm seeing a disturbing trend moving towards that) is not necessarily the age or gender, but it's about attitude. i've encountered both men and women, both young and old who will snap at me when i ask them, "could i get a glass of water, please?" and i understand that safety is the primary duty of an FA, but FA's are also the face of the carrier to the customer. it's a common sense rule of service. if your management is creating problems for you, that's your issue with them. you do not take it out on the customer. i see it to a lesser degree on european carriers and to a far lesser degree on asian carriers. i'm not sure what our overseas counterparts are doing, but my experiences have always been much better than here in the states.
everyone's got problems. but in my opinion, and the rule i follow myself, is that we don't take it out on the customer.
Malaycobra May 2nd 2012 9:54PM
Brian,
I agree with you 100%.
I flew a little over 75,000 miles last year on US and international carriers. I'm always reading that if you are polite and understanding with FA's you'll reap the rewards. What utter rubbish! The best I can hope for on a flight (especially in economy) is that I won't somehow inadvertently piss off the FA. It seems to me I am the least of their problems; I can find my seat, deal with my small carry-on and I turn off my electronics like a good boy. I never press the call button, and I rarely ever leave my window seat and all done with smiles, pleases and thank you's. However, despite being a model passenger ( I hope) I always seem to get little better than disinterested service.
I now consider flying a chore to be endured, and all I hope to do is get off at the other end without being twisted up like a pretzel or led away in handcuffs.
I once flew Concorde London to NY and back. It's been downhill ever since. :-(
I
Jennifer May 2nd 2012 10:02PM
I apologize, on behalf of any of my colleagues, if you were treated less than courteously. I can tell by the tone of your email, that you are one of the many passengers we have that I, personally, love having on board my aircraft. I hope that those who have forgotten to be pleasant, will rethink this behavior and remember that we are a service industry. Even though our profession is so much more.
SK May 6th 2012 11:46AM
Dear MALAYCOBRA,
"I now consider flying a chore to be endured"
Me too, me too.
Love,
A Flight Attendant forced to put up with the ridiculous, BS attitudes of passengers like you.
Tom May 19th 2012 8:49PM
Hey SK....
You need to quit...there was nothing wrong with what he said! This coming from a true customer service rep.
DJ May 4th 2012 7:57AM
Best flight I ever had was a Northwest flight full of military people returning home from England. Every attendant appeared to be well over 55 (most looked like retirees in a second career) and they were great. They had a lot more patience, especially with young children, than the young attendants I've had.
Kim Jul 2nd 2012 1:24PM
Heather,
I'm an RN and have been for 28 years, and can identify with much of what you and one of the above posters said. I can equate nursing with being a flight attendant as we are kind of in the "service industry" as well, dealing with the public and with complaints and the like, albeit our clients are critically ill. (The complaints are mostly from family members and usually stress-induced and not valid, but that is beside the point--much of what you deal with is stress-induced as well, I suspect.) The newer generation of nurses are of a completely different mindset and work ethic than our generation. For the most part, they are there to do their jobs, get out and go home. They stand around and text and check Facebook on their phones all day (which, by the way, is not allowed). I work in a very large ICU in a metropolitan trauma center and have off and on for 26 years. A large group of us have been here for years and are like a family. We work long hours as well and sometimes have to stay over. We are very helpful to one another and would stay to help the next shift if needed. Some of the newer nurses would watch us coding a patient, clock out and leave because their shift was over. The "old, weary" nurses are the most knowledgeable ones and the best in a crisis. And all of us aren't overweight and dumpy--not that it should matter!
That being said, very rarely have I had a rude flight attendant when I have flown. I've actually had some very sweet ones (and they were usually always older). When I had a couple who weren't so sunny, I figured it was due to some passenger who was rude to her/him. I bite my tongue at work and never let it effect my disposition, but I only have 2 patients at a time--not a whole planeful. I've been appalled at the behavior of fellow passengers to the flight attendants. I feel for you and your co-workers because I know what it's like to be in the position of helping someone and having them treat you like an indentured servant. I love my job and the vast majority of my patients are enjoyable, great people but the few who are not can really ruin your day. The people who are saying "So just quit if you don't like it!" have never been in that position. There is no reason to ever treat a fellow human being who is there to help you like that. You are doing the best you can, especially with all the cuts that have been made, and it is beyond your control if the plane is delayed or you're out of peanuts.
Marlin Aug 20th 2012 7:55PM
Apologies to the author, but I'd rather not be served by an old, ugly, overweight and ill-tempered flight attendant. I've seen some female attendants who were so fat that it was impossible to pass them in the aisle and had the personal hygiene of a goat....at least they smelled that way. Part of the allure of flight is a hot stewardess and the teasing in my mind of "coffee, tea or me."