Originally Posted by
BenA
I'm excited for what this means for the Seattle-based flight attendants. Both groups - premerger Northwest and Delta - are fantastic folks, and I love flying with either.
This is great news for the PMDL attendants in particular: my understanding is that their presence in SEA is very small (~<75 F/As) and they had been stuck more or less only grinding out SEA-ATL round trips, since the PMNW group was so much larger and flights couldn't have mixed crews. Now, they'll be able to bid for other routes and work together on the international flights with their PMNW colleagues.
And of course for the PMNW folks, I imagine the payraise will be a welcome "enhancement" too
Some of my best stories of F/A professionalism come from the SEA-based crews. From various conversations, both groups seem legitimately excited to be able to work together with the other, and politics of union organization aside, I'm glad to hear that can finally happen now.
This is great. I think some of the flights have been mixed, but might be mistaken. Long story I will try to make short.
A few months back was flying a morning SEA-ATL. Boarding was continuously delayed because one FA had not yet shown up. An off-duty FA agreed to help so we could board ^ (she was I a PMNW as you will realize in a moment).
We boarded and she helped with taking coats and offering PDB. After boarding was done and we were still waiting for the FA, another lady stormed onto the plane (I'm not exaggerating), took the off-duty FA into the front galley and the first words out of her mouth while pointing her finger to the off-duty were, "I want you to listen and not talk. No, I said I want you to listen and not talk." It just went downhill from there and was in clear view and audible to some of the passengers, as well as rather unprofessional. I was in 1B.
One of the other FAs came over and stated that "She did the right thing for the passengers so they could board." She then continued on that "this is what we do at Delta. This is what we have always done at Delta. We do what's right and help each other." The lady who came onto the plane (union manager?) literally just ignored what she was saying and didn't even bother to look at her. That gave me the impression that this other FA was PMDL, but could be mistaken.
As you can imagine, it left a very negative impression on me regarding their union.
And I agree, some of the best crews I have flown with have been in and out of SEA.