Heartwarming story about 54-year veteran AA Flight Attendant Retiring
Feb 2, 2013, 9:27 pm
#1
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Heartwarming story about 54-year veteran AA Flight Attendant Retiring
I searched a bunch of keywords and am surprised no one has posted this article yet... what an inspiration to the next generation of American flight attendants. Great picture on the new 777 ER engine, too (how did they get it so low to the ground?)
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/a...n-airlines.ece
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/a...n-airlines.ece
Last edited by goldengate; Feb 2, 2013 at 9:28 pm Reason: link not displaying...
Feb 2, 2013, 9:59 pm
#2
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Thank you for sharing
Feb 2, 2013, 10:09 pm
#3
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Great story, would love to know how many miles she's flown over her career! (I didn't get past the paywall of the story, apologies if it's mentioned there)
Feb 3, 2013, 5:07 am
#4
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Amazing, really.
Feb 3, 2013, 5:52 am
#5
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A great article and proof that love of the job does not always diminsh with age.
Feb 3, 2013, 6:42 am
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Thanks for sharing!
Feb 3, 2013, 1:53 pm
#7
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Great story.
One that would not be possible here in Europe - she'd have had to retire at the legal limit of 65 no matter if she (or AA) wanted to or not.
And the engines being so low to the ground seems to be normal: according to Boeing specifications, ground clearance below the engines on a 777-300ER is a minimum of 70 cm (2'4") and a maximum of 88 cm (2'10") - see here.
Out of curiosity: She worked at AA for 54 years. That's 648 months. Assuming about 100 hours per month of in-flight time (that's what the average unionized legacy airline pilot does), that's 64,800 hours. At 500 mph that equals 32,400,000 miles. Hmmm.....
One that would not be possible here in Europe - she'd have had to retire at the legal limit of 65 no matter if she (or AA) wanted to or not.
And the engines being so low to the ground seems to be normal: according to Boeing specifications, ground clearance below the engines on a 777-300ER is a minimum of 70 cm (2'4") and a maximum of 88 cm (2'10") - see here.
Out of curiosity: She worked at AA for 54 years. That's 648 months. Assuming about 100 hours per month of in-flight time (that's what the average unionized legacy airline pilot does), that's 64,800 hours. At 500 mph that equals 32,400,000 miles. Hmmm.....
Last edited by bhomburg; Feb 3, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Feb 3, 2013, 2:46 pm
#8
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http://airchive.com/blog/2013/01/19/...ugural-flight/
And the engines being so low to the ground seems to be normal: according to Boeing specifications, ground clearance below the engines on a 777-300ER is a minimum of 70 cm (2'4") and a maximum of 88 cm (2'10") - see here.
Additionally, AA has claimed that in recent years, FAs have averaged fewer than 60 hours a month but, like pilots, have been paid for far more (same reasons as the pilots). FA flight hours aren't limited by the FAA, but not many fly 100/mo. And their paid hours include delays once the plane has pushed back like long taxi-outs, so on average, pilots and FAs probably don't average anywhere near 500 mph for their block hours. My guess is that her flown miles are less than half of your estimate.
Feb 3, 2013, 3:09 pm
#9
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Not so far off from Valerie in the Pam Ann skit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uR2707C818
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uR2707C818
Feb 3, 2013, 4:40 pm
#10
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She's lucky that her fingernails were short. Otherwise, she would have been hired by TWA and stapled to the bottom of the seniority list in 2001.
Regardless, with her mother and sister along for moral support, she visited Trans World Airlines Inc., which was hiring.
“It was jammed with people. It was a pretty intensive interview,” DiSalvo said. “But then they said, ‘You know, we like you, but come back when your nails are longer.’”
She left the interview and told her mom that she wanted to go by American Airlines’ offices at Chicago’s Midway Airport. DiSalvo walked into a hangar and learned that a personnel person was on site.
The man met with her, then said, “I’ll be right back,” DiSalvo remembered. “He came back and he had the overseas cap in his hand. He put it on my head, and he said, ‘You’ll do just fine. You’ll hear from us.’”
Originally Posted by The Dallas Morning News
Regardless, with her mother and sister along for moral support, she visited Trans World Airlines Inc., which was hiring.
“It was jammed with people. It was a pretty intensive interview,” DiSalvo said. “But then they said, ‘You know, we like you, but come back when your nails are longer.’”
She left the interview and told her mom that she wanted to go by American Airlines’ offices at Chicago’s Midway Airport. DiSalvo walked into a hangar and learned that a personnel person was on site.
The man met with her, then said, “I’ll be right back,” DiSalvo remembered. “He came back and he had the overseas cap in his hand. He put it on my head, and he said, ‘You’ll do just fine. You’ll hear from us.’”
Feb 3, 2013, 9:18 pm
#11
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And she still would have had a great career!
Feb 3, 2013, 9:52 pm
#12
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I am jealous because my retiring colleague is entitled to wear the beautiful five diamond service pin.
Feb 3, 2013, 9:58 pm
#13
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Also, I could only hope to look that good at 75. If I make it to 75.
Feb 3, 2013, 11:02 pm
#14
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So, will she start working for UA now?
Feb 24, 2013, 9:15 am
#15
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AA FA retires after 54 years...a good read as to how it used to be...
This FA's recollections as to how it used to be.....
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/a...n-airlines.ece
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/a...n-airlines.ece