^ Extremely well said and spot on in my opinion.

Does the more experienced FA do a better job? If so, is it worth double the pay?

If you are the one getting the pay, you obviously want more pay.

If you are a company, particularly a small business, can you afford to pay more for only marginally better work? In some cases, younger employees have better attitudes, better work ethic, and better stamina. If that is the case, the older workers are a drag to the company. If, however, more experience brings a smoother customer experience, better employee experience is worth it.

From my experience, the younger employee with a few years of experience is the best worker.

FA is a tough job. Too many fast food meals, or worse, airplane meals. Too much time away from home. Too many nights in bad hotels. Too many difficult flyers. Too much "security" and worries.

It is a responsible job as well. It is about passenger safety not just serving drinks or meals.

That said, their pay scale likely got pushed over the top and it is time for a readjustment. If they keep acting as they are and trying blackmail tactics, there will soon be a time when mostly foreign FAs are flying USA domestic routes.

Isn't there anyway we can outsource the jobs to China, that would save airlines a ton of money?

I completely agree, provided by "pursers" you mean "pursers-supervisors."

I know that many FAs will scream bloody murder at this one, but it really makes sense. Pilots are monitored constantly during flight by people on the ground. Their job performance is measured by the absence of accidents and successful journey. ATC and the airline will quickly learn of any discrepancies in their expected "by-the-book" performance. So no real need to put someone from management on the flight deck.

FAs and their job performance are not so monitored, and IMO, that has lead to too many cases of "we're untouchable unless you go to the effort of complaining, and nobody wants to be a serial complainer, so we're pretty safe" among the jaded FAs. Not too many are cosistently like this, but we've all seen some of them in our travels.

Many passengers are lazy and/or busy once back on the ground and service deficiencies are never really addressed. And you really don't want to become known as a serial complainer - especially if you fear that the FAs will figure out who you are.

You can bet that if the senior FA/Purser was actually a supervisor/management person you would see a lot less People, Vogue and US Weekly reading/chatting in the galley and more walking up and down the aisles checking on and waiting on the passengers.

Very few other jobs in the entire world are performed almost exclusively out of sight of a supervisor. And as we all know, the current "purser" is not a supervisor or in charge.

So those FAs who go the extra mile and receive consistently above-average reviews might be considered for promotion under my scheme. Those who don't are given an "up and out" reminder so common among young professionals (think junior lawyers or accountants - perform well above average and we'll make you a partner. Don't and you're outta here after a few years). Combined with the low pay for young FAs, the underperformers would be happy to leave.

That's a very difficult question. The lazy answer is "well, lots of industries have seen upheaval and employee dislocation. We should just chop the pay to something nobody can live on (as an independent adult) and let the chips fall where they may."

What's more likely is that this transition (assuming it occurs) will happen slowly as concession demands arise every few years, pushing more and more senior ones out the door.

The Memphis CA a few years ago (pre 9/11, obviously) noted that NWA had FAs w/o high school diplomas. Don't recall GED but I believe not... So it's very clear that the employers believe this is a low-skill job.

The whole 'there for your safety' thing is silly - how many hundreds or thousands of flights have we all been on when no safety maneuver was required? And if it had been required, would you have wanted a NWA Pacific route FA of a certain age leading the way?

You are either making this up, or that ca didn't know what he was talking about. All FA's must have a high school diploma minimum. GED does not qualify. Some higher education is recommended. Also all must have several years experience in the service industry. Most also have some medical background.

All of which are known factors going into the job. As I wrote earlier...it's not like they hire you and then tell you you'll be doing overnights, that you don't always get a solid meal, etc. I don't think anyone has been suckered into the job.

Oh please. :rolleyes I don't remember the last time I boarded a plane, looked at the cabin crew and thought to myself "yeah, I can count on these people". I trust the pilots to fly the plane and myself to get out the door in the event something bad happens. The FAs can drive the drink cart. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that the majority of air travelers feel any different.

It's a constant pendulum swing...supply vs. demand. And it's changing with the development of a "global" economy. We no longer live in the 50s, and like it or not people had better get used to that.

Serious question: How does one determine the "economic value" of any job? Yeah yeah yeah, "the market" determines it. But isn't that what is happening right now with airline jobs (pilots, mechanics, F/As) -- "the market" is working through a period of transition and at some point the "market value" of these jobs will be established? So does it matter what any of us think the market value of the F/A job is, if we can just wait a while for the dust to settle?



Another question: Could all of the participants on this thread please post their job title and yearly gross income? That way we can all chime in as to whether or not we think you are "overpaid" based on our understanding of your "economic value."

LOL! That will never happen. You see, the job of most everyone here is waaaay more important than any Flight Attendant job on any day of the week.

But the funny thing is, that big important plane full of big important people cannot get off the ground without the useless Flight Attendants.

True story: I was boarding a flight one night, greeting passengers, answering questions... a woman with a baby comes aboard looking all discombobulated.
She hands her baby to me, not a problem. I've held more babies than I can count, and she disappears. I'm assuming that she's gone to her seat to get settled and come back for her child. All the while I'm having a little fun with the baby and joking with passengers. Future Flight Attendant in training. Who is more senior? Bring your grandkids to work day, etc. I'm even making my announcements with this baby on my hip.

Now it's getting close to closing the door. The mother never returned. The other Flight Attendants working upfront during boarding couldn't remember what she looked like. So I had another Flight Attendant take over for me at the boarding door.

I went to look for the mother. I found her nice and comfortable reading a book. I smiled and said to her "I think we might have forgotten something."
Her response: "You don't expect ME to hold that baby for the entire flight do you?" I said. "Yes I do. It's your child." Her response: "It's YOUR job to take care of the baby." Still being pleasant, I reminded her that we don't offer babysitting services on board our flights. With each of her responses, she was getting louder.

Her next response: "The nanny couldn't make this trip and I am not going to hold a child all the way to Europe."

The other passengers had noticed by now that this woman was refusing her own child. Some were even commenting upon her lack of mothering abilities.

Now play time was over. My final response: "Madam, you will take your child and care for it on this flight. If you refuse, I will contact the Gate Manager who will decide for you."

She took the child. She wasn't happy. She also didn't bring diapers, milk or all the little extras that one needs when traveling with an infant.

Luckily for this woman, the Flight Attendants were able to locate parents who were willing to give this woman diapers, milk, bottles and extra baby blankets for the baby. One other mother was so digusted with this woman that she offered to hold and change the baby while her husband held their child.

The woman with the problem of taking care of her child, complained to the company about the poor service on the flight. The whole crew was called in to explain what happened. None of us recieved any negative feedback in our files and left the manager shaking her head at the whole situation.

The point of that story shouldn't be how people think they are more important that FAs....it should be a reason why some people shouldn't be allowed to have children

I am paid at a set percentille of the national pay range for my job description. The range is published yearly. I get paid the going rate, not more not less.

Maybe NW should do the same.

How are the "national pay range" and "going rate" established?

In any case, that's kinda vague. Job title and gross salary please!

All employers are surveyed and a national range is published.

The fact is that my salary is based on supply and demand. Also in consideration is the state of the industry.

You do not need to know more than that. You asked how do you determine the economic value of someone's job. I just did.

I'm not a fact-checker for the Commercial Appeal. There are people designated for such duties. I recall being surprised at the absence of diploma but I'm not motivated to check five years of CA archives.