NYT - Ask a Flight Attendant: Middle-Seat Etiquette, Drunk Passengers and Jet Lag
Sep 2, 2022, 9:52 pm
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NYT - Ask a Flight Attendant: Middle-Seat Etiquette, Drunk Passengers and Jet Lag
I definitely didn’t realize that FAs are only paid when the plane doors are closed. I always believed that my colleagues should be paid for their travel day including wasted time at airport for delays. The idea that a FA isn’t paid when they’re on plane and enduring MX is a shocker.
That means if we show up to work on time and our flight is delayed for three hours, we are not paid for that time. If we board up, have a full plane of passengers and then have a maintenance issue or an air traffic control hold, we are also not paid for that time. However, if we get out on the taxiway and are number 27 in line for takeoff, we do get paid for that.
If a flight cancels, most airlines have cancellation pay that protects us, so we get the pay that was scheduled. Some airlines don’t have that protection, though. So trust me: We hate delays and cancellations as much, if not more, than our passengers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/t...e=articleShare
Is it true that flight attendants don’t get paid until the plane starts moving?
That is true. Each airline is slightly different. I am paid as soon as the door closes, and we stop being paid when the door opens. It is also true for pilots.That means if we show up to work on time and our flight is delayed for three hours, we are not paid for that time. If we board up, have a full plane of passengers and then have a maintenance issue or an air traffic control hold, we are also not paid for that time. However, if we get out on the taxiway and are number 27 in line for takeoff, we do get paid for that.
If a flight cancels, most airlines have cancellation pay that protects us, so we get the pay that was scheduled. Some airlines don’t have that protection, though. So trust me: We hate delays and cancellations as much, if not more, than our passengers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/t...e=articleShare
Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 pm
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I definitely didn’t realize that FAs are only paid when the plane doors are closed. I always believed that my colleagues should be paid for their travel day including wasted time at airport for delays. The idea that a FA isn’t paid when they’re on plane and enduring MX is a shocker.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/t...e=articleShare
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/t...e=articleShare
Oct 21, 2022, 6:46 pm
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Not Delta. They changed recently to pay Flight attendants for boarding time
Jan 12, 2023, 1:20 pm
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Wow. Flight gets delayed for hours or canceled and they waste their whole day at the airport and get paid nothing? Amazing that people tolerate being treated this way.
Jan 15, 2023, 12:43 pm
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Unions negotiate over things like this and hourly rates are negotiated accordingly. They have to pick a time to start/stop the clock. Some airlines use the door closed/open time. Some use the release 
f the brakes or a rotation of the wheels. This data is all transmitted by ACARS.
f the brakes or a rotation of the wheels. This data is all transmitted by ACARS.