No, I don't believe it does (or certainly all the years I worked there!).

And for all those who think this thread is showing people in their true colours.. Imagine what it's like actually working there! I mean, everyone knows that the Captain looks after her friends, while the hostess with the mostess down the back upgrades his pals, and don't get me started on those with friends in Revenue Management, those who actually work at the airport and "diddle" check-in... The list goes on.

I jest, of course.

But let me leave you with these 3 facts:

1) Sometimes staff travel on Duty for business. This may well be in First if it's important to the business. Sometimes "important" might mean (for eg) an IT techie travelling out to fix a server at a remote site. It's cheap for an airline to send staff out by plane...

2) Staff travel with its onload priorities and date-of-joining conjugations is a rum and complex cove to say the least. Even for people who've worked there for years will sometimes get lost in its complexities, so don't believe anyone who says that the rules are simple and "should be" like xyz.

3) Staff can be just as bad tempered about perceived inequalities than passengers.

Oh - and don't forget that staff from any era will agree - "It's not perk it was..." ;-)