freshairborne

I occasionally bring some sweets for my F/As. Or make a coffee run (real coffee, not airplane swill) for them.

FAB

goalie

Every flight for me plus if the airport happens to have a Dunks, I always pick up a box of 25 Munchkins

SkyTeam777

Will the terminology change following the integration? Why does the lead FA sit up front but work in the back?

Also, is there a difference between business on two-class and three-class aircraft in terms of the service on international flights?

If an FA is "international," does this mean he/she only flies international? I often see younger flight attendants (not language speakers) flying international, which surprises me. I would think it would be the more senior crew.

LaserSailor

Thanks for getting me around in 2013!!



My three secrets to getting FAB service from FAs..

Big eye contact Good morning on boarding and and usually a joke about being let out of the asylum for the day. I tone that down spare that for the driver personality type.

Let them know I am flexible if they need to reseat families

Help anyone nearby with luggage or finding seat.

Help closing bins as they fill near my seat

Thank yous don't count without eye contact.....really.

JOSECONLSCREW28

I'll give my perspective from the CO side of the operation.

1. I'll believe the terminology change when I see it and it actually happens. Until we on the CO side are International Service Managers (ISM) (Lead FA on Intl flights equipped with a BF cabin) or Flight Service Coordinators (FSC) (Lead FA on domestic flights)

2. Depending on aircraft type dictates where the ISM/FSC works. Wide body we work up front in BusinessFirst, Narrow body we are back in economy. But that don't mean we can't help each other out. Example sCO 777s are staffed to 12 FAs, 7 work up front, 5 in the back. If the load up front is light I myself and more then likely another FA will help out with economy services in the back.

3. CO side we have 8 FA bases (Guam is also a FA base however that's only CMI FAs and they are on a separate seniority list then mainland CO FAs). 5 of these bases are satellite bases for sCO FAs (LAX, SFO, IAD, DEN, ORD)Furthermore 2 of the 8 FA bases are subdivided into International/Domestic/Speaker (Newark & Houston). FAs in EWR & IAH have bid packets for where they are based. International FAs (NTA/HTA) get their own bid packets, Domestic FAs (EWR/IAH) get their own bid packets and speaker FAs get their own bid packets (NLS/HOS). So when we get our bid packets it lists all the flights that each base works, aircraft type, position etc. So for an international based FA our bid packets have the flights we can bid on. example EWR - LHR, EWR - ARN etc. But that don't mean a domestic FA can't work an international flight especially when they are on reserve. Heck lots of domestic reserve FAs get called to work international flights...Some love it, some well not to fond of it lol. When CO did a big chunk of hiring years ago (2005, 2006 etc) a lot of us were in our early 20s - early 30s and most of us were sent to NTA (Newark international FA base) after training. Hence why quite a few FAs working international flights are young. Also the the young looking domestic reserve FAs will work international flights as well.

3. Most senior FAs tend to work the longer flights ie EWR - NRT, EWR - PEK, EWR - PVG, LAX - PVG etc as that is longer hours and most likely quicker for them to get their hours in for the month. Work a couple EWR - NRT pairings and your good for the month. EWR - UK flights tend to be more junior as they are really short flights, and to get the hours you need you basically need to work like what 6 of those trips or whatever. EWR - longer distance Europe flights ie EWR - ARN, EWR - FRA etc can be a mix of Junior and Senior FAs. International FAs also do work domestic trips from time to time just to get extra hours in. Some international FAs love working domestic transcon turns as they can fly EWR - LAX - EWR in one day get extra hours and be done with it. I being an international FA if I want extra hours and am looking for a domestic trip will try and pick up a EWR - Florida turn. (Leave EWR in the morning back in the afternoon).

Sorry for sounding so long winded just giving my views from the CO side.

1k-all-the-way

While I know that FA's are not well paid, and it must be really tough to see all kinds of executive pay packages and golden parachutes come and go - an FA on my PEK-SFO flight (in FC) said there had been no pay raises for FAs (including cost of living) for 23 years. Is this true? BTW- she was pleasant enough - very burned out - but not on any kind of rant or anything...Underpaid - sure. Nothing for 23 years? True or not?

ScatterX

This UA or another airline?

LaserSailor

Are there are FAs making the same as they did in 1991? Possible

Have there been no pay raises over this entire time span? I'll wager there have been.

AA2MM

Retirement funds...I was told by a very professional, warm FA from UA. That was before the CO/UA merger.

1k-all-the-way

Yes, UA.....

CALMSP

Completely false.

And I would disagree regarding not paid well. It may not be that great the first few years, but you can make some great money.

cosflyer

CAL,
dont go posting when you are a pmco person....i know 3 pmua f/a personally and numerous pmua c.s.r. that have lagged the industry standard for years....the folks on the ground that have been around in cos or den that i talk to have not had a raise since their 10th or 11th anniv and they have been with ual for 25-35+ years, the pmua f/a def did not make as much as pmco f/a but that was the pmua afa that made that happen before/during and after ch11....the s-co f/a have fared better than their counterparts at s-ua

kettle1

If this is true. What a great Union these FA's have been paying dues into for all those years. So these FA's paid dues for what? I guess to work for a fantastic "new UA". What a joke, if true.

I dislike UA currently, but I doubt FA's at UA or CO have not received a raise in 23 years. If so - the Union must go.

Surftel

It is likely true.....but it is true for much of middle class American. The typical American household’s annual income peaked in 1999 and has since declined by 9 percent. 15 bad years for the middle class

WineCountryUA

but you are referring to CPI corrected numbers, that appears different from the claim of "no raises"