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Galley Gossip: How do flight attendants survive on such a small salary? {Gadling}
Nov 30th 2011 11:53AM @Chris: What makes you think I didn't go to college? I graduated from The University of South Florida, and worked in the computer industry and the Health Insurance field for years before I became a Flight Attendant. Also, I do not recall stating that I wanted to be rich, I said I would like to be fairly compensated for the job I do. Most of the people I fly with all have college degrees, many have gone on and gotten their Masters and their PHD's. You should probably not make assumptions about people and/or professions in order to insult them, instead educate yourself before making random comments.
I do not know anything about JetBlue's Flight Attendants, but if they look beat up, I feel sorry for them.
Galley Gossip: How do flight attendants survive on such a small salary? {Gadling}
Nov 29th 2011 4:56PM Serge, cudos to you! You have finally realized the rewards of all of your hard work and perseverance! I am happy for you. Thankfully you can do what you want with your salary, regardless what bigoted people who have no place posting here write.
Doris Dey: Seriously? That's what you have to say? WTF? Get a life or get off of this blog. There is no room for that stuff here.
Galley Gossip: How do flight attendants survive on such a small salary? {Gadling}
Nov 29th 2011 4:47PM Becky: How long have you been flying? I too work for a major airlines and am based in ATL. I sometimes get to fly international, but I don't get overwater pay any more, not everyone can fly leader and there are only two slots for LOD F/A on those specific flights. If you are only flying 5 or 6 high time trips per month and you have no reserve days, you must have more than around 25 years in the industry, as well as being Leadership qualified and/or language qualified. Good for you! As you also know, it takes paying your dues to reach where you are today.
Galley Gossip: How do flight attendants survive on such a small salary? {Gadling}
Nov 29th 2011 4:38PM Thank you. It's people like you who keep us wanting to do a good job!
Galley Gossip: How do flight attendants survive on such a small salary? {Gadling}
Nov 29th 2011 4:32PM As a 15 year F/A, I have seen many changes over the years.
For SAM: You must not fly very often, or if you do, you must be in your own little world, not observing just how full flights are today. Yes, we do have the so called "perk" of flying for discount, but it is SPACE AVAILABLE. Meaning Stand-By. If there are seats open. Flights to vacation destinations are almost always full, even during off-peak seasons. So most of us buy our tickets because we also have time constraints. We are working more trips so that we can afford a vacation like anyone else in the business world.
Yes, we do sometimes stay at nice hotels (and yes, it's because the airlines have contracts with the hotels in which we stay), but that depends upon the layover time and/or the layover city. We also sometimes stay in shitholes. It's a trade off.
There are a multitude of things that make ticket prices and baggage fees what they are...not just what you pay the F/A's.
Now KELLIZI: The fact that we need a minimum amout of sleep per night is not what cut our pay. What actually cut our pay (in wage as well as in benefits) was a combination of things... to include 911 and the price of fuel. At the airline for which I work, that was about a total cut of about 48% total. We do not have a pay guarantee, even on reserve, but we do have the option of flying more trips. What the "sleep" thing did for us was inhibit the amout of flying we were forced to do in one day. I think working a 14 hour day is quite enough, don't you? We can be made to work up to 16 hours in a day. Now factor in the fact that sometimes we worked a 14+ hour day with a scheduled 9 hour layover (this includes, deplaining, catching the hotel van and checking in, not to mention the dreaded DELAY), in which you only get hopefully 5 hours of sleep, only to start again the next day and have anywhere from a 10 hour day, to again, a 14 hour day. Let me ask you, would you be nice, or even be able to function rationally if you did that day after day anywhere from 3 to 5 days in a row. I think not. What we asked for was 8 hours behind the door. This gives us time to eat, shower and sleep, basically. Keep in mind, also, that we are there primarily for safety duties.
Again, let me state that I LOVE my job, warts and all. It is a lifestyle that once it gets it hooks in you, you will not want to do anything else. We do have may times that I am amazed how awesome it is, but that is not all the time, and lately, not very often. However, that does not mean that I want to be abused AND poor! Just like any other profession, I want to be compensated for the job I am trained to perform. Thank goodness that most of the frequent travelers see the downside of our jobs as well as the upside and often commiserate with us, as well as congratulate us.
