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Old Nov 23, 2002, 4:33 pm
  #1  
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Bye Bye Singapore Based Stews

I have been fying UA since '85 and have been 1K since they started the program. My chief UA flights are to Asia.

As part of the givebacks -- United's Friendly Grandma club (also known as the Flight Attendants Union) received the concession that if there are any layoff's then the non-union attendants (ie. the SIN based stews) would be the first to go. This means the closing of the SIN based Flight Attendants.

Looks like another concession to rotten service. The SIN based group were the best and lowest paid of UA's flight attendants. They would always have a smile and call you by name. When was the last time a UA stew called you by name????



------------------
Paul Mayo
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Old Nov 23, 2002, 4:45 pm
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This clause was actually present in the original AFA contract signed in the mid-90s. Additionally, SIN base was closed over a year ago and all FAs there were terminated.
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Old Nov 23, 2002, 5:21 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PaulMCO:
When was the last time a UA stew called you by name????

</font>
Actually, It was on LACSA and TACA 3 months ago and on TWA's service to Egypt. That said - I am lucky to even be acknowledged on United's domestic routes.
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Old Nov 24, 2002, 3:29 am
  #4  
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PaulMCO:
When was the last time a UA stew called you by name????
</font>
If you count "jagoff," it was yesterday ORD-LHR in F.

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Old Nov 24, 2002, 6:59 am
  #5  
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B747 is correct-- both the SIN and BKK bases were closed over a year ago now. So any flights you have had to those locations for the past year have been staffed by the Friendly Grandmas already.

Maybe you haven't really noticed the difference?
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Old Nov 24, 2002, 9:15 am
  #6  
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Paul,

While I was waiting to board a LAX/JFK flight during the SFH, a flight att who I flew with 6 months earlier, who was also waiting to board said, "Hi Dan Hammer."

We had a nice chat on both of those flights. Her name is Lisa. She went to Central America every year, along with other F/A, bringing donated toys / clothes etc to the poor children. United donated the freight space.


Dan
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Old Nov 30, 2002, 5:36 pm
  #7  
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Actually actually, terminated is kind of a
strong word ... on our SFO-HKG-SFO last
December the upper deck staff were ex-SIN
now based in (I seem to recall) HKG, all
except for one guy who had for some arcane
reason originally worked for SQ and then
come over to UA. They were all younger
middle-aged, and they were all excellent.
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Old Nov 30, 2002, 6:23 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Bear96:
B747 is correct-- both the SIN and BKK bases were closed over a year ago now. So any flights you have had to those locations for the past year have been staffed by the Friendly Grandmas already.

Maybe you haven't really noticed the difference?
</font>
My UA intra-Asia SIN flights in September and last week were staffed by friendly, mostly-under-30-and-all-under-40 NRT based crew, who addressed my wife and I each and every time by name.

Things spiralled rapidly downhill on NRT-SFO on the 28th, with glowering 250lb prison matrons fully in attendance.

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Old Dec 1, 2002, 2:10 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PaulMCO:
When was the last time a UA stew called you by name????
</font>
On the second leg of my OAK-ORD-FLL flight on Thanksgiving day in First Class. Unfortunately, on neither flight was I served my meal first. On the both flights, orders were taken from the rear forward. On the first flight, the meals were distributed back to front as well.

On both flights I was forced to watch "Signs" (which I hated). I wish instead of assigning movies just east-to-west or west-to-east, they would also do it to-a-hub and away-from-hub (so a total of four different movie segments). That would lower the number of people who have to watch the same movie twice.
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Old Dec 1, 2002, 4:23 pm
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Seeing many overseas based crew, on many airlines, losing their job, often after only a very short period of service. I am wondering why would any one want to sign up with these airlines? Do these FAs look for another job on another airline? Or do they change career?

I understand the fierce competition for SQ FA positions. But I am having a hard time seeing why anyone would want to eagerly work for a foreign airline with discriminatory union rules in SIN.
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Old Dec 1, 2002, 6:06 pm
  #11  
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FYI on the meal delivery, on the 757 it should go back to front. Mainly this is to keep the people in rows 1 and 2 from wanting their plates and/or trays picked up before we even have a chance to hit row 4. So if you want meals first, sit towards the back.
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Old Dec 1, 2002, 6:22 pm
  #12  
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MillionMiles:
Seeing many overseas based crew, on many airlines, losing their job, often after only a very short period of service. I am wondering why would any one want to sign up with these airlines? Do these FAs look for another job on another airline? Or do they change career?
</font>
I've heard that SQ and CX promote FAs that wish to move on to office jobs at their request. Even if they didn't, FA pay is so much higher than other jobs with the same skill requirements, that the money alone may prove to be a pretty good draw. For example, I recently read that Thai Airways has been recruiting FAs in Sichuan and is offering Y10000/month to qualified applicants. This is a huge sum, especially considering the reduced living expenses that go hand-in-hand with the job.
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Old Dec 1, 2002, 9:36 pm
  #13  
 
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by moondog:
...especially considering the reduced living expenses that go hand-in-hand with the job.</font>
In what conceivable way are living expenses reduced for FAs?

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Old Dec 2, 2002, 9:07 am
  #14  
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I'm far from an expert on this subject, but perhaps the airline pays for food on layovers? And provides uniforms? That reduces the need -- not to zero, I realize -- to buy your own food and clothing. And you have much lower commuting costs, not having to drive to work every day. You may even be willing to live in cheaper housing than you would if you had a "normal" job, because you are away so much. You may also be more willing to share housing with roommates, another way to reduce your costs.

Other people may have better information, but these seemed pretty obvious to me.

Bruce
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Old Dec 2, 2002, 9:46 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bdschobel:
I'm far from an expert on this subject, but perhaps the airline pays for food on layovers? And provides uniforms?</font>
No, the crews are paid per diem based on time away from base. Maybe $1.50 an hour or so? Varies by airline and is often more in international trips than domestic. The per diem is for meals and other unreimbursed travel expenses.

Uniforms vary by airline as well. Some provide the first set of uniforms and that's it while others provide a uniform allowance for replacing items.
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