300 customers is alot to please.. the job is demanding, nobody is denying that..

I certainly wouldn't want to do what the FAs do.. but certainly appreciate the service provided each and every flight..

Yes, A.M. Agreed.
I know we can't tolerate the F.A. that went "Postal" and deployed the chute, but who knows what he's been subject to in his career as he was sealed in that cigar tube shooting across the sky.

You gotta' love his rebel yell though. When he went out, he went out with fireworks.

Seriously?!?! What school system are you living in? My roommate is a teacher with a master's degree. She also coaches 3 different sports during the year to supplement her income. She's not even making $50k a year. She gets to school at 7 am every morning and is usually there until 5:00 pm. This doesn't include days where she is required to be at an after school event. She gets 2 months off in the summer in which she doesn't have to teach, but that doesn't mean she isn't working. She attends continuing ed classes and workshops to keep her teaching certification up to date. She also spends most of July working with her cheerleaders at camp and practice. I would hardly call that 2 months of lazing about. On top of all of that, she deals with classrooms that are supposed to have 15-20 kids with almost 30 crammed in. If you think you can even come close to comparing teachers to FAs, then you are sadly mistaken.

I'm not a frequent flyer by any means, but I've never had any problems with FAs. I tend to fly on the same airline every time and always have great service despite others complaining about them often. Maybe it is all in how you treat the FAs. After working in the restaurant business for 10 years, I understand somewhat how they feel. It is the golden rule folks "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

She works a ten-hour day, 30 weeks a year? How terrible for her. Perhaps she would prefer to work a twelve-hour day 49 weeks a year, like a lot of the rest of us.

Does she have to go out and drum up her own students / customers? Does her pay go down if her students do poorly on tests? Does she face any performance reviews at all that could affect her career? Does she have to work Christmas morning or the Fourth of July? Does she have to make strategic decisions, hire and fire personnel, meet quotas, or face having her job outsourced to India?

No?

Comparatively sweet deal. I wonder if she'd like to be put on commission: $200 a week, plus $100 every time a student aces the SAT. If the kids don't learn, she doesn't eat. I doubt she'd take that bet because her current arrangement insulates her from risk almost completely.

That cozy situation is one FAs and teachers alike are loath to give up. I will always remember the ill-fated employee buyout of United Airlines, years ago. Of all the worker groups, only the FAs wanted no part of it, even though the upside of the deal would have been dramatic. They wanted minimum risk and responsibility, even though it meant lower compensation. And they never stopped complaining.

With stratospheric unemployment, though, complaining ought to be going out of style. As this country goes over the falls, we ought to learn to start counting our blessings.

Wow, that is one of the best ideas I can recall hearing about on FT.

That is a big problem, and I never knew they operated under such a system. That almost makes you a captive of the first company you hire on with. Seems really problematic that a FA cannot go to another company to take a better opportunity, without losing all earned benefits.

Agreed - but if they're not able to carry out their tasks in a pleasant manner then they are not fit for duty. Take a sick day and stay at home in bed.

FAs are no different to any other profession - there are great people, and there are absolute a-holes that are not fit for purpose.

^
Actually, I'd be happy if they hired half registered nurses and half professional waiters to staff the cabins.

Agreed.. they signed up for it!

The way things are going with the US government, and now the world economy?
I may sign up for it too!
If anyone will afford to fly in a year that is...

Oh well, good thread. Time to move on.

No further debate. I've got to jump on a flight tomorrow morning. 10 days of travel. I wonder if my flight attendants will "hate me" ?

LOL!

FAs aren't working at Disneyland.. so long as the service is there.. why expect service with a smile?..

Funny, and I never heard that one. That album was one of Rolling Stone's top 200 picks of the 80s, so that needs to go into my Padora Song Seeds.



Sounds a little like Hooters Air; eye candy with the min FAs required.



Keep in mind that the annual income can also be skewed by union contracts that have no cap on the monthly hours flown, so you have FAs flying an insane amount of time to cover their financial obligations. Also, retirement payouts can be connected to the average time flown in the final years of service, so a senior mama that cruised along doing the minimum of 40 hours a month would be compelled to do something like 105/115 hours a month to maximize the payout. Would these scenarios put a FA that doesn't really enjoy their job anymore in front of the public much more than they want? You bet.

Wow. I think that's way over top. I realize that FA have bad days and such and may not like all passenger but kissing their arse just because of that (or getting 1 comped drink) isnt worth it to me and would never do.

hehe, I hadn't thought of that. All I had in mind really was that they were capable of serving me a drink or a meal with a minimum of fuss. They could look like Shrek for all I care, to be honest.

Ahhh but why not? In another thread I'm reading someone was talking about airline staff "sucking the pleasure" out of a trip with their attitude. Your comment might be fair in Russia back in the Soviet era, but not today in the western world.