ND76

Sandy is the Vice-President of Inflight Services. She has been with Delta 20 years, the first 5 as a flight attendant. Her presentation was shorter than that of Richard Anderson; she took a number of questions from the FlyerTalk gang; her answers are integrated into these bullet points. I'll use SG as shorthand for Sandy.

1. SG finds that she has to focus on things which are either compliance related or basic in flight items, like making sure ice gets on flights.

2. Another focus is to get consistency out of flight attendants, with attention to graciousness and warmth of personality.

3. SG reported that DL just finished a 2-1/2 day training session for some 3,000 pursers.

4. SG indicated that DL was going to "invest more into food and wine", but didn't specify how much this would be.

5. SG indicated that Delta changed caterers at the beginning of the summer of 2010 [I witnessed a Sodexo truck on the DL campus, but was unsure whether Sodexo is now the caterer, or whether Sodexo's role is limited to the DL employee cafeteria, which is in a building south of the building housing the auditorium where this presentation took place]

6. SG discussed pre-departure beverages (PDBs) in F; acknowledged that they have been inconsistent; stated that Delta's policy is that a PDB is to be served unless there is a delay in boarding and the boarding is through Door 1L. She stated that Delta will work on making sure that PDBs happen every time.

7. As to the issue of FEBO, SG indicated that Delta's service policy is to serve from front to back; she said that Delta FAs try to get a majority of people on board what they want in terms of meal choice. If a passenger is unsure as to what meal to choose, the FAs are to subtly influence him or her to take a meal that they have more of at the time.

8. The issue of NRSAs came up. SG reported that Delta produced and showed a video to employees explaining what behaviors are expected of non-revs; this includes holding off on meal choices until all paying passengers are served first.

9. With respect to the breast cancer research fundraising drive which has been taking place this month, SG reported that Delta is trying to raise $1.5 million for this charity.

10. Jeff Robertson chimed in that his belief that Diamonds "deserve" first choice on meals.

Wiirachay

"I heard the meals in Y are really delicious tonight."

Thanks for the summary.

I have issues with airlines in general regarding this policy. Crew isn't paid until the door is shut and the parking brake is released! I believe crew should be paid the regular rate the minute they step on to the aircraft until they leave the aircraft. (I have a stronger belief that they should be paid the moment the step in the aircraft of their first flight until they step out of the aircraft of the last flight.)

Wiirachay

duplicate

iamhereandthere

She was working a flight I was on a couple of months ago. Quite pleasant.

Understandbly (IMHO) a bit flustered but humbly and comicly so. I was in 18D of exit 18D/E on the 757...she was working coach. I was like ooooh a VP served my drink! I used my "have one on us coupon" (gave my FC seat to my better half) and she was very apologetic that I didn't get my upgrade (I did, I just gave it to the silver in the house). I thought that was a nice acknowledgement.

iamhereandthere

+1

jimrpa

That's absurd - they should be paid the way the rest of us are - from the moment they arrive at the office (the airport) in the morning, to the moment they hit the hotel shuttle bus.

Actually, they should just be paid a flat salary and be done with it.

thesaints

That's Communism!

3Cforme

If any airline and respective pilot/service union mutually wanted it that way, it could happen tomorrow. It seems it isn't wanted among U.S. carriers.

TTT

I believe some (many?) foreign carriers pay their pilots a flat salary (maybe the FAs too). I am not sure how bidding and scheduling is done with those carriers.

Scott6067

Hourly pay is door closed to door open. Starting out you are between $17 to $20 an hour depending on airline. The stipend usually between $1.70 to $2.00 an hour is from the time they check in for first flight to the time they check out for the last flight except the flight hours I believe (ie I don't think they get the stipend and the hourly for flight hours). In addition, there is additional pay for purser and speakers. These are standard accross the board. The difference betwen cockpit and cabin is huge.

These pay rates are also based on a 80 hour a month quaranttee and the FAs can work more hours than that within the government requlations but will make no less than 80 hours a month.

BusTrav8yrs

$20/hr for serving peanuts and sodas seems a more than fair wage to me, especially when at least half the FA's on my flights disappear for more than half the flight most of the time.

FLLDL

Indeed, essentially the compromise that has been reached over the years is that they are overpaid inflight to make up for the lack of pay elsewhere in their day.

DLroads

They are the best front line employees...

Yes, there are some glitches, but they are there for your safety. I feel much better on board, knowing that the DL trained FA are there. And for that, $20 is not enough. I think it is barely a minimum for their roles and responsibilities.

ND76

We saw first hand much of the training the FAs go through, which includes CPR and emergency preparedness. We didn't get to see other aspects of training, which includes security procedures and FAA rule compliance. I never appreciated fully the various skills the FAs must maintain on our behalf. I have the highest regard for Delta FAs. Whatever it is they are paid, it probably is not enough.

Gargoyle

DL had leaflets in the training center, designed to convince FA's to vote against the union. They showed comparative PMNW and PMDL wages, and the seniority wage scale. Top scale for DL FA's after about 12 or 14 years was well north of $40/hr.