over the past couple of years, the airline industry has started to bounce-back… many have crawled out of bankruptcy and all have “restructured” contracts with their employees as a method of self-preservation. the future’s so bright, you gotta wear shades. or at least that’s what they want you to think. the spike in hiring over the last few years is evident of better days to come… but for who?
it is definately not going to be better for the pilots and flight attendants. here is how i found out the truth…
with previous flight attendant (FA) experience, i turned back to the industry after figuring out desk jobs are just not for me. i missed the excitement, ever-changing atmosphere of working day to day flights, and of course i missed the travel. of course, from my previous experience with two prominent airlines, i knew the reality of the once glamorous career. needless to say, i was not jumping back in with my eyes closed… or so i thought.
the long list of airlines currently hiring FA’s pretty much leaves the decision up to you. which airline is the best to work for? an endless debate. so, i picked the one i most respected, had previous experience with, and obviously paid more.
the interview: different than before. perhaps a result of restructuring? whatever the cause, this time it was a piece of cake. what happened to the relentless screening, poke-prodding and psyc analisis from the past? who cares, i got in. so did a few other people. at the end of the process, they give you some paperwork and tell you that training will start in 4-6 weeks after your background check is clear. “don’t call us, we’ll call you” routine.
the wait: so i’m thinking that the whole 4-6 week bit is just to keep you patient for a little while. surely it won’t take that long to get you in a training class. i quit applying for other jobs and settled in for a long winter’s nap. the first week seemed promising. i spent every day on the phone with their background-verifying-people (outsourced to a different company). i sent them over 20 references, literally, and even had to fax them every W-2 form from every single job i have ever had… from my whole life. i had to get references for any periods of time i wasn’t working… even from when i was in high school. but alas, i thought progress was being made. hopefully it wouldn’t be long before training started.
3 weeks later: hmm, shouldn’t i be doing something? oh yeah, TRAINING!!! so i start to get a little nervous and decide to call the airline. they assure me that they are still working to get me in a class and they are still waiting on my background check to come back. ok, ok… i ‘ll wait.
4 1/2 weeks later: called again. same answer, they are still working on my background check and once it is completed they will send me for a physical (their dr.’s) and then they will place me in a class. still waiting on my background check? man, it didn’t take me that long to get security clearance at NASA!!! so, i start to think something fishy is going on here.
research: i start emailing folks i know and jump on the www to see if there are others like me out there. one good thing about FA is they network like crazy. just google it and billions of forums, blogs, news boards, etc. pop up. once you weed out the trash, there are a ton of legite sites out there about FA. it turns out there are many people like me… sitting at home by the phone just waiting for this airline to call. some have been waiting months. months and months. in fact, i find very few that have actually been assigned a training date and even then it is far in the future. so i start to wonder about the other airlines that are hiring. what’s their story? so i start talking to friends in the industry and of course turn to the www network. the top airlines (all of whom are hiring) are full to capacity on trainees and aren’t even promising to train new hires until sometime next year.
just how many of us (new-FA hopefuls) are there out there? it turns out that my airline has hired 600+ last fall and will hire up to 1500 during this year alone. with no increases in flights (or very little) where are they putting these people?
the lie: when you interview they promise you a yearly salary of around $17k. that’s at $17ish an hour for flights with a guarantee of x# of hours. (the average is 75-80 hrs per month). at first this sounds scary, but they tell you about yearly increases and if you want to pick up more flight hours you can. from previous experience, i know that i am going to be poor and probably have to live in a crash pad for the first few years.
the truth: logic kicks in and tells you that an increase in workers and a decrease in working hours does not add up. the truth is, $17k a year is a pipe dream compared to what you will actually be taking home. imagine living on $300-$400 per month! that’s IF you get your promised minumum number of hours. not to mention you have to take out fees for union dues, insurance, uniforms, etc. the truth is a single-income household can not survive on that salary. i’ve talked to FA’s that are down to one meal a day in order to save money. they have been living in a 2BR apartment with 8 people for the last 5 years! and they are just holding on until they can get a better job. the truth is, only well-established Mrs./Mr. SugarDaddies can afford to be FA’s. Those only willing to work 20 hours a month and only care about flight privileges. adding more hours to your month is simply not an option due to the vast amount of FA’s fighting for more hours. so when you compare their salary to a 40hr/week worker… they are getting paid less $5.00/hour.
who’s the best airline? it turns out that mine has the better contracts. other airlines have not given yearly increases in almost 10 years. and when they do, the contract changes and the FA’s get short-changed. as far as reserve? in the interview/training getting off reserve takes about 2 years. reality is it could take up to 10 years, depending on the airline and hub. one airline, a very popular cheap-fares company, is paving the way for an even more decrease in available hours. they were recently awarded an exception from the FAA that allows them to substitute pilots for FA’s at certain points. other airlines are expected to follow this practice. so now there are more FA’s than flights and even pilots can take your job?
conclusion: airlines are hiring thousands of FA’s so that they can pay them less (per person) and even go as far as denying benefits due to working only a small amount of hours. the newly restructured airlines are completely destroying an American livelihood.
so what about me? everything in me is telling me to call the airline and tell them where they can stick it. the other part of me is saying wait for them to call and then tell them where they can stick it. regardless, i refuse to work under these conditions. so it’s back to the drawing board. right now i am still mourning the loss of my dream. long gone is the glamorous life of the flight attendant. it is extinct. i am so disgusted with the industry that i am tempted to drive, take a train, board a boat, or even walk everywhere i go. third times the charm? let just say it took three times to figure out that i was simply not meant to fly.