This announcement was made on a recent Spirit flight. It got me thinking as to what exactly the Flight Attendants do these days...

- The safety announcements are now mostly automated. With the video screens, they do nothing; with the audio automation, they mime the part. With none of the automation, they still do the spiel.

- As soon as the plane pulls out of 10,000 feet, out comes the food and beverage (if there is any). That seems to be a priority, like to get it out of the way early. No matter if it's a long haul flight, they want to get it done and be done with it.

- "Bistro" service, i.e. where you're handed a bag of snacks as you walk on the plane seems to further reduce the amount of work for the FA's.

So, as the gentleman from Spirit said, if they are there for our safety, what exactly are they doing? It doesn't make me feel any more safe or comfy as they sit in the back and chat, while the whole notion of service has evaporated. Heaven forbid you DO ask for a second drink. Heaven forbid if you don't have exact change (heard an announcement recently on TWA that if you don't have exact change, no tickie, no laundry).

Is this a union thing, or what's going on? I remember when not too long ago, the FA's in the aisles were always there, constantly refreshing beverages, etc. Now, it's one pass through, and that's it.

So, if they are there for my safety (which I don't deny they are highly trained in the case of emergency), and there are no emergencies readily present, what do they do?

This is nothing against FA's, but it seems that somehow they've leveraged a "less work", more attitude policy somehow.