Originally Posted By SCvARminter:

Isn't that why they signed up to begin with?

Originally Posted By JLPettimoreIII:
you say all that like it's a bad thing.

Originally Posted By Tboy:


There was a story years ago about a FO going on a rant while waiting to be cleared for takeoff.  He didn't realize his mic was hot and broadcasting for every aircraft to hear in the Houston area.  He was pissed because he became a pilot so he could hook up with all the cute girls but he soon discovered how many old, fat, ugly ladies and gay guys now work as FAs.  He wasn't wrong....

He was reprimanded by his employer so when the story/audio came out months later and demands for heads to roll, nothing happened to him (from what I recall).

I heard of so many stories about the FAs making it known to the pilots that they were ready to mingle on layover.

Originally Posted By odiedodi:
Not really. I'd imagine they burn a lot of hours essentially dead heading if they're only paid for in flight time. Sounds like bullshit to me. If you're 18 and single, it's an opportunity to travel internationally I suppose, but the flip side to that is that I imagine working towards another career path would be difficult. I couldn't imagine trying to fit college into that kind of lifestyle.

Originally Posted By Tboy:


Many flights you'll see FAs sitting down doing nothing a large amount of the time.  I'm hearing more of the short turns are now making excuses not to have cabin service so the FAs sit down after doing the announcements.  Long flights are much more desired because there's so much down time (while getting paid).

Originally Posted By AA717driver:
Welcome to 1980. Been that way forever. Used to be the same for newhire regional pilots and first year major airline pilots.

Originally Posted By tveddy:
Knew a gal that was a flight attendent for million air. She made decent money and very much looked the part. Honestly though in this day im not sure why we have flight attendents. Gate attendent can tell you to sit down and shut up and stixk your bag in the bin. Just put a vending machine by the head

Originally Posted By midcap:
they way they get paid is bullshit and make zero fucking sense TBH.

Pilot and FA pay only accounts for 1% of airline expenses.

Originally Posted By AA717driver:


No. There’s probably less fooling around between pilots and flight attendants than between men and women in a normal 9-5 office setting.

Originally Posted By sidpost:
Regional Pilots were paid so little they were crashing airplanes due to lack of sleep and reasonable accommodation on the road along with poor diets due to so little money.  Federal Legislation corrected some of the most egregious abuses.

Flight Attendants of the past and those of today have very little in common IMHO.  The glamour and SI Swimsuit model appeal of the past is not there today.  A lot of Flight Attendants today are little more than Walmart greeters or Fast Food workers in a better uniform.

Some FA's are really awesome people but, most are little more than Movie Theater ticket takers.

In terms of pay scales, older versus newer Pilots and Flight Attendants generally have radically different pay rates.  New hires for both are paid basically poverty wages like Walmart and Fast Food workers.  After a decade or two, they can rise up the ranks and earn better pay but, the beginning is pretty ugly with Food Stamps being the easiest of many hurdles in the beginning.

Like a Walmart employee who manages to rise through the ranks, Pilots and FA can do the same which is generally driven by Seniority versus Walmart which is often driven by personal relationships and personal favors at and away from work.

Union contracts and union issues in general seem to be more about WIIFM (What's In It For Me) which is why Union executives usually drive nicer cars and live in better areas of town while the Union Members suffer contracts that favor the company.  These contracts can cost Unionized Pilots literally $100K a year!  Flight Attendants are even more vulnerable to this Union malfeasance.

My company travel agent thought I was crazy driving to locations that had air service.  For a 2 hour flight, 1 hour to get to the airport, 2 hours to do the TSA and check-in thing, and anywhere between 30~60 minutes to get my rental car with airports taking over 2 hours to get the car keys in many cases.  Then I still had to fight gridlock traffic for 2 to 4 hours to finish the drive when in California.  I could drive the entire route in ~6 hours with most trips and I never had my DE safety razor confiscated and didn't have to take my shoes off or pay for $8~$12 cups of coffee or $6 sodas either.

Being a Flight Attendant to see the world is a bit of a false expectation.  If you are on Food Stamps while sharing an Apartment with 2 or 3 others, how do you think they can go see the sights at the nicer cities they go to?  Seriously, rent a car and blow your entire per diem on a single meal?

Originally Posted By Duke117:


This is largely correct.
The guys that kept their first wives that they had when they separated prior to going to the airlines were golden.
The ones that didn't, or were slaves to their dick, ended up supplementing the FA's pay in a never ending cylcle of marriage and divorce.

Originally Posted By ag04blast:


I fly a lot and didn't know.  I am always respectful and appreciative of them.  I make sure to leave my seat clean and neat.  In return out of who knows how many flights I have always had great service except for 2 or 3 rare instances.

Originally Posted By sidpost:

You are confusing JUNIOR FA'S with legacy FA's who have been there for decades.  That is a bit like comparing a medical resident with a Specialist with a 20+ year practice.

Regarding being a FA to supplement retiree healthcare costs, I call it complete BS too!  While a FA may not require a "Class A" medical, if they have medical issues, they aren't going to fly.

You realize the "BID Process" is based on seniority don't you?  Whether you are a 20-something SPRITE or a 50-something early retiree with dreams of seeing the world for free, they both have the same seniority and won't get the "choice" trips or schedules.

Originally Posted By tveddy:
Knew a gal that was a flight attendent for million air. She made decent money and very much looked the part. Honestly though in this day im not sure why we have flight attendents. Gate attendent can tell you to sit down and shut up and stixk your bag in the bin. Just put a vending machine by the head

Originally Posted By ag04blast:


That shit is litterally against labor laws.  I have no idea how the airlines get away with those types of contracts (I actually know....they lobby hard and grease up politicians).

Originally Posted By Into_the_Void:
I had no idea they were paid that terribly.

Originally Posted By DarkGray:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beg1RpWu048

Originally Posted By AR15Texan:
They know the wage before accepting the job.  They should be paid while at the airport between flights.  At 75-hours a month that is a part time job.

Originally Posted By nightstalker:
On a shorstring budget.  Can't help but feel they bought the glamour but what kept them in the job.  Meeting 1st Class folks?

Originally Posted By sidpost:

No cabin service is so they can sell $8 cans of soda and $20 sandwiches.  I am surprised there is no coin slot on the bathroom door ... oops that's a Ryan Air feature that got a lot of backlash!

Originally Posted By PeterPangenderPhD:
Companies should not be able to have their stocks traded publicly in the United States if they are using corporate welfare, including subsidies as well as having their employees need to use public assistance to live above the poverty level.

I'm getting pretty tired of this shit.

Originally Posted By Tboy:


Jet A is cheaper than diesel fuel since it does not have all the various road taxes built in.  Truckers got caught using Jet A in their rigs years ago to save money so the government started dying the fuel to catch the cheats.

Originally Posted By redfish86:
Fuck American Airlines

I’m platinum status with them. They gave my first class seats away becasue I supposedly arrived 2 minutes past some mythical 45 minute prior to departure policy.  They flight was way fucking oversold so they gave someone else my fucking seats We travel through an airport with about 5 gates. There are almost never more than two planes at the terminal at a time. The people in the security line with you? Yeah, they’re on your flight.   They might be the shittiest of the shitty.  

As a kicker, that particular fucking flight left 20 something minutes late.


Overselling flights should be illegal.

Originally Posted By BabaYaga22:
My previous neighbor is an AA Flight attendant

Super nice, but ya they get paid shit to do a shitty job

Originally Posted By Into_the_Void:
I had no idea they were paid that terribly.

Originally Posted By H1Mech:
AA will have the top pay/benefits once they get their contract renegotiated. It’s a never ending cycle of each airline jumping each other.

Flight benefits are what separate AA. It’s first come, first serve for non-rev flights. Pretty much everyone else is seniority based. So you book a non-rev flight, check in at the 24 hr mark, wait in the airport 2-3 hrs hoping to catch a seat, then get jumped by some blue hair retiree 5 minutes prior to boarding.

With AA the priority list goes by check in time, regardless if you’re a pilot or mechanic, or if you’ve worked there a week or 30 years.

I work 3 day weekends. (13hr shifts)

This summer I’m taking my 4 year old daughter to a ball game in all 30 MLB stadiums. This fall we’re going to Germany and/or Italy. And 99% of the flights are business class. They’re also completely free for domestic and international is free or a minimal tax fee.

I don’t make as much as pilots, but I also ain’t hungry. And I don’t live out of a suitcase.

Originally Posted By MattyMattel:

Just where/how would a trucker get this Jet A? Go right up to a KW Dart/Rampmaster and help himself to the fuel?

Originally Posted By Tboy:
Unions only purpose in the commercial airline business is collective bargaining.

Originally Posted By PeterPangenderPhD:
Companies should not be able to have their stocks traded publicly in the United States if they are using corporate welfare, including subsidies as well as having their employees need to use public assistance to live above the poverty level.

I'm getting pretty tired of this shit.

Originally Posted By MudEagle:


If it had to be whittled down to only one purpose, it would be safety...by a long shot.

Originally Posted By AR15Texan:
They know the wage before accepting the job.  They should be paid while at the airport between flights.  At 75-hours a month that is a part time job.

Originally Posted By Tboy:
Everything I have heard, witnessed, read, and understand always centers around compensation packages being the NUMBER 1 ISSUE with the carriers that I know.

Originally Posted By Morgan321:
Good thing they’re unionized so that they have to pay somebody to look out for their best interests.  

Originally Posted By MudEagle:

That's because the pilot unions are all established, and thus the potential safety issues without a unionized pilot group are already mitigated.

If you're actually interested in knowing what the potential issues are/were, I recommend reading Flying The Line volumes 1 and 2 both of which are available for free PDF download if you simply search for them. Those detail the conditions at the pre-deregulation airlines which inspired the formation of the pilot unions to begin with.

That being said, all of the airline management groups are more than happy to try and convince pilots to break FAA rules in order to increase speed and efficiency to benefit the airline's bottom line, and they're equally happy to throw that pilot to the FAA as bait if they're caught. I'm offered trips regularly at my airline that violate rest rules or duty period length rules.

Originally Posted By Tboy:
At least one competitor of AA actively hires retired LE and FFs to be FAs for obvious reasons.  Its great work if you're a people person that enjoys travel and constant sex with strangers (if you're good looking enough).  Years ago, newly hired FAs would use their "skills" to hook up with the rich captains so they could then quit and start a family.  That culture is rife with lewd behavior.

Originally Posted By Andrewsky:
That's probably fairly rare.  I've been on hundreds of flights, never seen it really.

Originally Posted By hoss622:
$30.35 / hour starting pay is pretty good, but they have a pretty shitty contract, if they only get paid from pushback to landing.  That's the part that needs to be changed.

Years ago (in college), I worked at UPS.  They required us to be early, do work preparation and even have a meeting before we clocked in.  It was bullshit.  I only stayed there a year.

Originally Posted By tc556guy:
Pushback to arrival ignores quite a bit of hours where they're doing work related tasks. I'm surprised that they haven't been able to fight that to include more compensated hours