Bear96

See my above post.

It is not at all unusual to have mixed crews on int'l flights between two bases (i.e., HKG / LHR to SFO / ORD). There is a "base" crew that may make up the majority of the crew, but F/As from other domiciles are frequently part of the crew as well.

They are all paid the same AFA-negotiated wages and are covered by the entire AFA collective bargaining agreement, whether based in the U.S. or outside. The F/As at the non-U.S. bases ("domiciles" in UA-speak) have the same union representation and rights as AFA members at U.S. domiciles. Each one also has its own local AFA chapter (or Local Executive Council in AFA-speak) and are managed just like U.S. locations. F/As have the contractual right to transfer to any domicile, inside the U.S. or out, based on their seniority (and subject to local immigration and residency rules which of course neither UA nor AFA have any control over).

t325

Funny you mention Quebec, there's something I've always wondered. I've flown both UA, DL and AC between the US and YYZ several times, and AC is the only one with billingual announcements, which I'm sure is mandated by the Canadian government since they are a Canadian company. Neither UA or DL made announcements in French, or even said if there are French speaking crew on board (compared to a recent NRT-DEN flight on UA where at the start they listed off like 8 different languages spoken among the crew. I remember Norwegian was one of them, which seemed completely random on a Tokyo-US flight, especially since UA doesn't even fly to Norway).

I'm both surprised and not surprised by the lack of French on those flights. Toronto is very much an English speaking city, and if you don't speak it, you're going to have a rougher time than most, so French announcements don't seem necessary. But I also know how big of a deal bilingualism is to the Canadian government, and I'm surprised they don't require any company who wishes to do business in Canada to provide their services in both. Because while English might be the unofficial language of Toronto, it's an airport - connections to Quebec are a thing. Are flights to Quebec on UA and other American carriers staffed with French speaking crew with announcements in both?

fumje

They do require products sold in Canada to have French-language labeling, but it might be untenable to require French announcements on flights going to/from Canada. As far as I know, no country has any language requirement for flights announcements, in fact.

The inventory of languages among the crew on your NRT-DEN flight is nonstandard as well, although I wouldn't mind if it were normal practice.

hirohito888

Canada's Official Language Act only applies to federal institutions in Canada. Air Canada even has a Linguistic Action Plan.
So bilingual announcements are not applicable for UA/DL/AA or any foreign carriers for that matter.

I'm also not sure what the big deal is regarding multiple languages on a flight. Sure it's a nice courtesy to have, but if anyone flies FR, U2, W6, on something like OTP-ATH, it's doubtful you'll find any Romanian/Greek FA. Even on LH, a lot of flights to Middle East and Caucasus, they'll just use a pre-recording in Arabic or Russian or Georgian.

Ber2dca

That's kind of a silly point. Connections are a thing for most routes and once you get beyond flights departing or arriving in your language zone you can't expect to receive service in your own language anymore. I can imagine that this element presents a problem especially for older people when traveling but there's just a practical limitation to language provision.

username

I don't think UA consistently staffs YUL/YQB flights with Quebecois-speaking crew - once a while you get French speaking crew but quality varies. In the 90s, I was on a CO flight out of YUL that was code-shared with AC. A couple spoke only French and got frustrated as they were expecting an AC flight with bilingual crew.

Language is a sensitive issue in Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office...fran%C3%A7aise The whole French/English thing in Quebec can be tourist-unfriendly. Even in Montreal, once you leave the airport, everything is in French. Metros all over the world have English but not in Montreal.

username

Sometimes edited to be less offensive: Less Than Polite Language Lost In Translation?

kale73

Am I the only one who interpreted the thread title to mean AA flight attendants?

JVPhoto

1P

On UA TATL flights I have fairly often encountered American FAs from other ethnic or llinguistic backgrounds whose English is almost incomprehensible and who clearly do not understand me either (I speak with what used to be called a BBC newsreader accent). Not usually too much of a problem except when trying to order wine, or when said FA pours wine all over you and doesn't understand when you say you'd like to speak to the purser....

Miles Ahead

Once you leave the airport? There's more French in YUL than there is in CDG!

Now that that's been confirmed, the answer to the OP's question is "they don't". We can't establish why something is true without first establishing if it is true.

I am a native English speaker, so I may not be the best judge, but I have never had trouble with UA German or French. (Maybe a little from a former Paris domiciled FA who spoke very, very quickly) Indeed, on a IAD-GVA flight, the FA spoke Swiss French: vol neuf cent septante-quarte instead of soixante-quatorze (I am glad on ZRH flights they don't try Schweizerdeutsch!)

ricktoronto

Who said native Japanese speakers could not be US citizens?

KDS777

In my experience flying to Brasil the FA's on UAL with the badge speak fluent Portuguese.

Many are native Brasilians who immigrated legally to the US and are immediately given away by their regional accents, whereas a few are of Portuguese background.

So, no complaints here.

CP@YOW

Bilingual announcements are technically not required by Canadian carriers other than Air Canada either, although Westjet and Porter do it as a customer service. Only Air Canada is subject to the Official Languages Act as a condition of its privatization (hence the reference to the Air Canada Public Participation Act).

3Cforme

They could be, and if UA cared about native-level fluency these potential employees could really clean up if they wanted to work as FAs for United. Somehow we don't appear to have a confluence of those two streams.

The reality is that UA thinks it has found a level that is 'good enough' much like Air France finds a level of English proficiency that is good enough for flights CDG-USA. Employment requirements are readily found, among them, these relating to U.S. employment rights and freedom to travel:

• Must possess and maintain a valid United States passport or foreign passport with applicable visas and eligibility to work in the United States
• Must pass the FAA-required ten-year work history review, a criminal background check, complete DOT fingerprinting, physical exam, drug screening and submit to random drug and alcohol testing throughout their career
• Must be able to travel freely within the United States and without restriction to all countries United serves
• Some countries place entry restrictions on foreign visitors. For instance, Canada prohibits entry to people who have been convicted of criminal offenses or who have criminal charges currently pending against them. Some convictions that make a person inadmissible for entry into Canada include theft, driving while intoxicated (DWI) and a number of felonies and misdemeanors. There are procedures to seek special permission or waivers from Canada to permit entry, but these are not automatic.

https://united-flightattendants.jobs/chicago-il/flight-attendant-bilingual/F03A9FD5652446DEB6F86F28A6928278/job/