Spiff

I'm at the DFW A AC and there is much horn-honking going on outside.

There's about half a dozen cars driving around with Pay Us or CHAOS sprayed on the outside, along with American Eagle Flight Attendants and the word STRIKE rather prominently painted too.

AAND

You have to doubt they're going to get paid much more at the moment, so I'm hoping "CHAOS" includes nicer, younger, more attractive flight attendants. (flame away on those last two, if it makes you happy )

That kind of FA tends to demand less money too, for some reason, which is funny because I would pay more to have it.

JDiver

OK, I will.

HolidayRoad

What does a full-time AE flight attendant earn annually? Is this less than an AA flight attendant?

freeupgrade

In all fairness to AE FA's, they have not had raises in 7 years...

pinniped

How cute. AE flight attendants driving around the airport acting like kids.

Absofreakinglutely adorable.

I agree with AAND, by the way.

MJonTravel

Can't remember how much, but it used to be about 12 grand a year to start. I'm sure it's a little more now. But still not enough to live off of in any meaningful way. I know, I used to work there, but not as an F/A.

They're in a bad spot. Some get hung up on the fact that DOT technically considers American Eagle Airlines to be a major airline because of the 1 billion in revenue marker that DOT uses. Unfortunately, that 1 billion or 2 billion by now probably is earned on high seat mile cost regional jets. They just happen to fly so many of them that the revenue multiplies itself up to 2 billion. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the cost/revenue per seat mile equation all that much. The seat/mile economics of the airline are still the same as Chautaqua, Republic, Air Wis, Mesaba, whoever. In short, Eagle is a regional airline and the employees are going to get paid regional airline pay. If they strike, it'll be a pain for a little while, but AA will simply farm out the flying to any of the number of RJ providers out there and that will be that.

pinniped

I'll ask because I don't really know...does the current employment market for FA's require AA to give raises to keep the best employees? AA isn't in any kind of position to overpay for labor.

My suspicion is that it will in the next couple of years, but doesn't right now. Purely a guess based on my perception of the supply/demand of people capable and willing to do this work.

HKG_Flyer1

I good friend of mine just went to work there as an FA. She said it was pretty competitive, and she was thrilled when she was hired.

kleeman

I know you all care about your AAirline making it and surviving but it seems only fair that they pAAy a fair wage to their employees. I don't work for AE and I'm not a flight attendant. I think airline employees are being treated atrociously and its not their fault that the conditions have deteriorated in the industry. American employees have suffered enough considering their actually doing okay compared to other airlines (like delta, United, and US Airways).

johnep1

I would go out of my way to fly AE if that happened.

Blumie

I'm a little confused by the FA's message. How would the chaos they are threatening differ from AE's current operations?

ajacpril

Intentional vs. unintentional

FWAAA

If flight attendants can learn all they need to learn about "being there primarily for our safety" in several weeks, there's no real benefit to the passengers or the airline in having flight attendants make it a career. The only beneficiaries are the flight attendants themselves and their expectations of high pay and comfortable pensions, and those expectations have vanished recently.

Society didn't really advance in any meaningful way when flight attendants "won" the right to work in what is essentially a no-skill, entry-level job until they retire or die of old age.

Perhaps the position of flight attendant can revert to a position someone does for a few years rather than a "career."

Not every job is "career-worthy," and it is about time that our society faced that fact.

AS Flyer

competitive for a regional airline perhaps, but even at that, they are not as competitive as other regionals of their size. AA Eagle is one of the 10 largest airlines in the U.S., and it is the largest regional airline. They are probably one of the more profitable arms of AMR. They could stand to pay their F/A's more than food stamp level wages. They already work them ragged, it's time they compensate them fairly now.