Originally Posted by
SFTNYC
I think the priority to work these routes is based on seniority... not sure anything in the APFA contract gives the company the right to award trips on any other basis (including this "optional" training). I think you'd see a major backlash if there was.
Don't all airlines have something stipulated in their contracts that they can award trips to FA's based on their fluency in a foreign language?
I knew an FA who spoke Greek, and when US started PHL-ATH, he worked it quite often.
Years ago (back in the mid-1990s), I interviewed with United Airlines to be a flight attendant. I was living in Arizona, they flew me to ORD and I spent a day at their HQ near ORD. I had recently been out of the US Army, where my job required some fluency with the Korean language (I went through the military's language school in Monterey, CA), and they actually asked me about my ability to work their flights to Korea (SEL at the time).
In the end, I didn't make the cut, which was probably for the best, so I don't know exactly how the language is factored into the equation, but I know that it was, at least for United.
That said, I think this training would be a great addition for any FA. Certainly those who work trans-Atlantaic, trans-Pacific flights, along with those with Flagship service (JFK-LAX/SFO).