Comments

1. FAAke news from lazy, lying trash that think they’re more than they are. You’re airborne waitresses that do something more than that once or twice in a career at most. You’re paid what you’re worth.

2. I call BS…

3. Zero sympathy! While I respect FAs and appreciate their work it is a job that is easily filled with minimal training. Also, they knew the salary before taking it and, as you noted, they are free to quit and find another job that pays better. There are also non-salary benefits (like travel) that is attractive to many FAs. Finally, there are many people struggling worse than FAs so, again, zero sympathy.

4. Ditto Dave, My neighbor who is an AA FA lives in a newly built $500K home, in a golf course community and drives an Infinity. I haven’t seen her begging for $ or food on the street corner.

5. What a load of bull. The average family (FAMILY) income in the US was around $38 per hour in 2022. Maybe they need to take some financial management classes. Or better yet, get different jobs. My sympathy. Too bad.

6. $30.35 in the first year…is this boiled down to a 40 hour work week or is this flight hours only pay?

7. I get it. I’m a flight attendant at the low cost carrier. We have a mess going on with our negotiations with the supposedly our vote election hack, which isn’t all true. Been with the company 22 yrs and have to bust my ass missing holidays etc. Just to make ends meet and pay the bills and gad. No matter what airline, we are all family. And family stick together.

8. Babblespeak the $35-$42 is per FLIGHT HOUR, so on average flight attendants if they fly 1000 FLIGHT HOURS per year is only $35-42K. Flight attendants, pilots, etc are not paid based on a 2080hr pay scale unlike 9-5 cushy office jobs. They are only paid door close to door open. All time spent checking in, going through security, etc is unpaid.

   Sunviking82 a $500K house could have been affordable if she had a well off partner or had assistance from family. In some areas that’s a “cheap” house.

   Walter your comment is despicable. Go take greyhound or amtrak if you don’t want to fly.

   Note: I am not a FA but I work closely with them and have several FA friends. Most barely make $40-50K per year (maybe $60)

9. Well, if supposedly they aren’t making any money, there are other opportunities elsewhere.

10. The per diem rate also seems low at $1.50-2.50 per hour while on a trip. In 24 hours, that’s about $50 per day. If they can get a hotel breakfast and food prep, it’s reasonable, but on an international destination, there’s generally no food you can bring after the first leg. Early fights flights tend to leave before breakfast is available. Unless on a layover, the place they can get food is overpriced airports. Even on a layover, there isn’t always a reasonably priced food option nearby, and delivery charges can really add up.

    While there are a lot of people applying to be a flight attendant, it’s definitely a difficult lifestyle at a company who is trying to keep their planes in the air as much as possible. During the pandemic, there was a big push for a $15/hour minimum wage, and flight attendants at the beginning of their career are barely paid that if averaged over their duty hours

11. They’re paid for flight hours only (and some for reserve). My wife averages about 80-100 hours/month depending on what she has going on. So they don’t make 40hrs/week type pay. That’s what everyone is missing.

12. Minor quibble, Gary but they’re working off wages from 2017. AA unilaterally raised Flight Attendant wages without Union negotiation.
    https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2017/04/26/american-airlines-offering-raises-of-up-to-8-percent-for-pilots-flight-attendants/

13. I think a key point Gary made is that the non-portability of this job from one airline to another is of the union’s own doing with the seniority-based wage scale, and used for work assignment purposes as well. The unions negotiate to keep the senior folks, who after a certain point are not going anywhere, happy.

    I think it is a shame that more airline don’t do like some of the LCCs and when they hire for F/As, they hire for specific bases. They tend to get a lot more people who are not commuting, or have a more manageable commute, which saves the employees money.

    I have many friends who are flight attendants. Probably 200 at least on social media who I know from working together at various airlines. Plenty who live in their base, make an effort to pick up extra work, don’t live above means (which let’s be honest airline benefits kind of encourage it), do just fine. Others commute, like one who is MCO based but lives in FLL and basically drops her entire schedule (or pays other crew members $50-100 to take her trips) and tries to pick up trips out of FLL (which that airline, they can pick up out of base after a certain point in the month). Then complains about not having gas money. And makes grilled cheese with hotel irons. But non-revs to Hawaii or Mexico or the UK all the time with the rationale that the flights are free.

    I’ve had airline flight benefits, and I think any frequent flyer appreciates this point as well… Even if the flight is free, travel costs money. I used to have a friend at Delta who would say “Let’s go to Ireland this weekend!” Okay, well by the time I add ticket taxes, hotel, food, all that, the “free” weekend flight to Ireland just cost me $400-500 at the end of 3 days.

    It is interesting what’s occurring at many regionals with the pilot shortage… hiring people in directly as Captains who have the requisite experience. And paying hefty bonuses (read the link in the Round up post to the interview with the CEO of PSA). But then again, possessing type ratings and enough experience is in high demand and can command a high premium. Flight attendants will not be in that boat, probably ever. Closest is some overseas carriers who may hire in people as a senior crew or purser directly based on past experience – but that’s meaningful experience like being a concierge at a 5 star hotel which is not dime-a-dozen.

14. So many questions. Are the FAs limited from working and earning 40 hours a week? Do the FA;s believe their union actually represents them?

    I believe AA wants the flying public to believe that the poor return that we receive on our travel tickets are the result of bad FA’s. It is not difficult to see that FA distress has devolved into their militarism toward the passengers.

    The story suggests that FA’s have no where else to go but only cite continued airline work as their option. We all have options and owe it to their families and themselves to make the best choices.

    If their contract and wages have not been improved in 4 years, then I don’t see how their latest request for wages will even be enough. So, to all of those FA;s out there trying to use the passengers for demands, I suggest they take it to the Union and demand better representation. I doubt any union leader is crying in a corner with no gas in their car.

15. “…so this agreement was imposed, though American Airlines voluntarily gave higher wages than they were required to.”

    Not sure it’s voluntary if they were required to.

16. I normally shy away from these things, but I agree with nonrevexpress. I’m no FA but I was a ramp agent, now an aircraft mechanic. I’ve seen what they are required to do, even helped on occasion as to help them catch their next flight or ride home. They deserve better pay for what they do, their job and the requirements of such are a mile long. But do any of you care? You just see a “waitress” or “server”. You don’t see the tasks required of them prior to flight, post-flight, mid-flight. You just see an object deigned to serve you drinks and snacks. You forget (or choose to deny) that they are another human being like you. For all the garbage people and nonsense they deal with, they deserve better.

17. Imagine what it would be like if an airline required all FA applicants to have successfully passed Econ 101.

    Or almost any union business for that matter.

18. The union negotiators are corrupt. They should not be allowing more than double pay after 13 years. FA’s with 13 years of experience can be marginally better at best. The entry level pay should be increased and the top pay should be decreased. The federal government does that to Medicare. An experienced doctor is not paid more, they are paid the same. The pay is cut many years including 2024. I do not like to see Medicare cut. The politicians should admit that they are cutting Medicare.

19. @Thing 1 – the JCBA was an imposed contract, what flight attendants got as a default if they didn’t approve a better deal. Flight attendants voted down a better deal. But then American unilaterally raised their wages anyway.

20. @MaxPower – I wrote that AA unilaterally raised wages! I don’t think we’re disagreeing here.

21. @Meh – flight hours

22. This is a very good post with very valid assertions and responses.
    1. FA is a client-facing job that likely attracts and retains very sensitive individuals who are very sensitive to passenger needs, and very sensitive to their own feelings. (Although I occasionally feel like I am being served by a prison warden matron.) I don’t deny their heartfelt feelings.
    2. Their union leaders have to look out for them.
    3. Temporary inflation of the past few years have thrown payscales and making a living out of whack. Pilots make their $600k+ salary and benefits, and everyone else makes whatever they can.
    4. Of course, there’s some NDA or freedom of speech parameter.
    5. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a straight answers from union bosses and other bosses about tipping policy in Air Travel. It’s ridiculous enough that I have to tip the barmaid and barman at an exclusive aiport lounge. And the ubiquitous charity partners, ok. Let’s get back to talking about tipping policy on domestic airlines.

23. I’m curious, the male “New Professional Flight Attendant” who was crying and said he has no gas money or food to eat (very beginning of this article), how much does he and other similarly qualified Flight Attendants earn?

24. The whole industry needs a makeover.
    Flight attendants should have a mandatory retirement age – mirroring ATC and Flight station.
    And my passion: rename to Inflight First Responders followed with more stringent training….

    What do these suggestions have to do with money? Nothing. Its about credibility and helping the public see us in a different light – that we deserve more money.

25. My bad, Gary. My reading comprehension is off today. Sorry. I was too trigger happy on the keyboard (not the first time that’s happened…) 🙂

26. The Union Free FA have the best pay. Dump the union and use the dues for gas.

27. Just reading some of the nasty comments is disgusting! Maybe trolls are everywhere and just say things for reactions but still! You never really know what another person’s struggle is. I’ve been a flight attendant for also 30 years and while the stories of the struggle to make ends meet that are in this article and I have heard throughout my career have never been the case for me is because I’ve been extremely blessed and fortunate enough for them not to be! Rent and gas are far more expensive now than they were when I first started to work for the airline as well as food so I’m sure the struggle is real for many! This is a career choice but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be properly compensated for it! Many of us work hard giving quality customer service to many thankless,entitled people who always know more about our jobs than we do but for the most part,people are sympathetic because they are human and they have jobs and they know the struggle! Just be kind even if you don’t agree for goodness sake!

28. Let’s get to the real issue here.
    Delta moved first among the big 4 in agreeing to a pilot contract and that was a very rich contract. AA and UA had no choice but to match for their pilots but WN is still dragging it out w/ its pilots although a contract proposal is supposedly read, hung up because of the FA negotations.
    DL turned around and raised pay for most of the rest of its (non-union) workforce at rates that are not what the pilots got but reflect what DL is willing to pay for labor esp. given its higher non-transportation revenue (amex, Delta Tech Ops) and lower fuel costs due to the refinery.
    AA has said it will match DL’s raises for its FAs including for boarding pay which will disproportionately benefit lower seniority FAs; WN is also agreeing to boarding pay.
    There is no reason why AA or any other airline needs to or will agree to pay rates close to what FA unions are asking and FA members think they should get.

    But no union wants to take back a deal that is just matching what a non-union company is doing – and THAT is why all of the FA contracts have been dragged out. Some FAs think they should get pay like pilots while FA unions can’t bear to tell them that won’t happen. Throw in union leadership elections and this is all a recipe for tens of thousands of FAs never being able to recover what time is costing them.

    As usual, Delta mgmt is having a field day w/ unions and already preparing the cards it will send out to employees as soon as any workgroup – including the FAs – get anywhere close to suggesting a union can help them.

29. BULL. SH*T. Let me button up my shirt so my heart doesn’t fall out.
    Anybody have a gun to their head forcing them work as a flight attendant? If you don’t make enough money, get a new job that pays you more. These really aren’t very intelligent people are they? If enough people aren’t willing to work for what the company is offering, then they’ll adjust the pay to attract more people. Even Wawa figured that out. You now have two choices: continue work for less than what YOU feel you are worth and continue to bitch about it, OR quit and get a higher paying job. How is this so difficult to understand? Airlines don’t have a problem with people applying to be a flight attendant because many people are willing to work for the pay offered coupled with the travel benefits.
    As a very frequent passenger who often experiences their abysmal service, I couldn’t care less about their “plight”. There are plenty of people out there who work a hell of a lot harder for a lot less money in much worse conditions.

30. Being an airline pilot I see how it is. BUT these are very acute problems with the FA group. It’s easy to walk away from a job that is not paying what you need to live.on. I get it bills and loans rent/mortgage etc but it’s about managing finances and the budget. If the job or career doesn’t make you money time to go.

    Let’s talk about pilots for a minute: here we spend money for training (civilian cost is from $150,000-200,000 for a 4 year degree flight program), or come from military and get our first job back in 2015 making $16,300 gross first year (regional level) and that’s flying the plane! Just saying welcome aboard!

31. Getting a college education online is easy today and with only about 1,000 paid hours plus putting up barricades so as to not interact with customers while getting paid, time should be available. Then the flight attendants doing this would be able to go out into the rest of the workforce and work 40 to 80 hours a week making less per hour. A nice stable job within an hour of work, driving there each day. I would be impressed if I actually saw a flight attendant studying for a college course.

32. Darin – ” Been with the company 22 yrs and have to bust my ass missing holidays etc. ” — are you really that stupid? Why SHOULDN’T you work holidays? It’s a /service/ industry FFS! Thanks for making the very point about sky waitresses – you’re lazy, ignorant, and entitled.

    BC – “BOO HOO”. Your wife has a part-time job, then. So stop expecting full time pay.

    AircraftDoctor – No, they don’t.

    Chel B – “inflight first responders?” What utter, utter entitled BS. They/you are nothing of the sort.

    R.F. – want some cheese with that whine, bootlicker?

33. I will disagree that flight attendants have “minimal training”. Our flight attendants have a 12 week course. If they fail more than 3 tests during the 12 weeks, it is “thank you very much but…hasta luego”. The flight attendants are the first and last lines of defense on board. As far as the unions go, when one works for a decent company, unions are not necessary. However, unions are like herpes… once you get it…you have it forever. Non union employees usually get better treatment because the company knows that by better pay, bonuses and incentives, there is no need for a union. AA is was once a proud airline that, due to poor management, greedy unions and a disgruntled workforce has dropped to the point that they are lower than whale crap on the bottom of the sea. Pathetic.

34. The problem is that seniority is supreme in any union shop.
    Newbies get six legs (3 round trips) but only accrue 6 hours of pay in one day with the equivalent of 11 hours of effort (turn around, boarding, etc). The FA who bids on Rome or London (most senior) gets paid 6 to 8 hours for one trip and then paid again on return at a rate 25% to 40% greater than the newbies.
    When it comes to contract time, the most senior are the ones sitting at the negotiation table and end up with the biggest effective raises versus those at the bottom tier.
    In addition, union contracts have a “Last Hired, First Fired” clause. The new kids on the block are the first to go.
    Should have joined about 6 to 8 yrs ago when all the Baby Boomers hit retirement and made significant movement up the food chain and seniority.
    Starting from scratch today as a FA would be a difficult challenge considering the chances of any airline lasting 25 yrs. If in doubt, think TWA, Pan Am, Braniff, or Eastern plus all the deregulation casualties.
    Might be better to go back to school and get an accounting degree….

35. nonrevexpress…I too know a bunch FA’s for the big three, all with 10-15 years of experience (er seniority), most of whom make six figures and those that don’t are really close. While their base flight hour pay is low, they also have the ability to easily pick up additional trips and do really well with overtime time and holiday pay.

    Rather than complaining on the internet hoping that people feel bad for them, they should be screaming at their union leadership to get a deal done. This isn’t AA delaying a new contract, its on their very own union.

36. Welcome to America lol. More Americans are working two jobs than ever in history, as recorded by the department of labor. Almost every single person at my overnight job has a second job to make ends meet. Maybe flight attendants need to learn how to budget and live within their means. Idc if they get a raise or not but complaining you can’t afford your lifestyle isn’t how you get it. Whenever I’ve asked for a raise at work I usually list my accomplishments and what skills I bring. Nothing here made me want to give them a raise, it made me want to find the world’s tiniest violin.

37. First of all, someone can disagree with their position they deserve higher wages without ad hominem attacks on them. That kind of nastiness is unwarranted.

    Second, there is no way that being a flight attendant is ever going to be a high paying job. They knew the pay scale when they joined. Further, many professionals doing far more important jobs such as teaching don’t make great money. Yes, flight attendants know something about safety procedures. So do school crossing guards. A flight attendant’s primary job is customer service. While I think most do a decent job, there is very rarely evidence of outstanding customer service.. It is definitely true that earning only $30,000 a year is not wonderful pay. However, if you take a job that pays that you better learn some good budgeting skills.

38. What was also failed to mention is the fact that the head of American Airlines just got a substantial raise & makes at least $1,000,000 a year, yet there’s no money for raises. The airline also spends money on monograming napkins, cups, bags, etc. Do they really need to spend money on those things?

39. Modern day slavery. Slaves used to be provided with food and a roof over their head in return for labor. Now paper money is given to the slaves which can in turn be exchanged for food and a roof over their heads.

    I still wish passengers would be courteous to FAs. It’s amazing how some passengers turn from grownup to helpless child as soon as they’re on a plane. Put your bag in an over head bin sit down and shut up. Don’t ask someone where seat 20D is.

40. Most of your readers are heartless a-holes. F them all. It is easy for the well off to try to shame your FA’s. Please don’t fly, you have so much animosity toward those who can save your self righteous worthless lives! I’m on the FA’s side. Really.

41. Well then..I guess only employees of any airline are the only ones that get it. Oh and by the way, we flight attendants are here to “save your asses, not kiss it” remember that in an emergency. And when you or your family member is choking or having a heart attack, be glad we know what we’re doing.

42. The time spent complaining about their job would be better put into a job search. No one should endure a job that doesn’t pay the bills or makes them miserable. There are a multitude of jobs out there in this surging economy, find one you’re happy with.

43. Some of the negative comments about flight attendants are really not called for. I think we have all experienced bad service but these are people like you and me. Why would we wish them anything but success. I agree with you Garry that American Airlines can improve their flight attendant service levels. Have been flying a lot of Air France and I have been amazed by the consistency of good service. So it’s not just asian or middle eastern carriers that can do an amazing job in the cabin. Clearly Air France has invested in training and holding attendants to high standards. So I wish AA flight attendants a good raise and that they also receive training in delivering an experience just as good as other airlines. Internationally I’ve had some good flights with them.

44. Wow- A lot of remarks here. Not sure from whom because nearly everyone uses a fake name. Unless you put your name behind it, you are just a ChatGPT bot to me.

    I don’t.

    I just returned from Houston for a large family reunion yesterday (12/17/23… these posts hang around for years, lol). Took UA 1st class on the way there, AA on the way back. UA trip was a disaster- I was told there was no pre-flight beverage. AA was wonderful. Liam from IAH-DFW took care of everything, and then Joshua (23 years old? Maybe?) was awesome too.

    I also have several friends who are pilots at JetBlue.

    Here’s my suggestions to both give and get:

    1) Pay FA’s for GATE open time to when they leave the plane. I’m a computer guy by profession, and the airlines are *notorious* for bad computer systems, so I can see why one of the main reasons they only pay for door close-open, is because they are required to track that for the FAA. Folks, it is not that hard to put in a time clocking system- even for tens of thousands of FA’s every day- where it measures this time correctly.

    2) By matching the value of the FA’s service with customers to the money they get paid = reinforced positive behavior for the customer. This is business 101.

    3) There is plenty of AI tools that can look for fraud or suspicious behavior… these are anomalies and likely already happen *today* anyway, but just in other ways.

    4) FA’s should consider giving up seniority protection in exchange for these concessions. Having talked to hundreds of FA’s in confidence, and seeing this in other industries, everyone knows who is good at their job and who is skating along. And this frustrates the high performers so much, they leave, or worse! They degrade their service to match the average so they are not singled out by their peers.

    Again, this is the perspective of a customer flying 20 times a year. Luckily now (mostly) in 1st class after 20 years in coach.

    And American Airlines is sooooo much better than United, at least in two head-to-head flights in the last 3 months.

    -Jon

45. Well I guess this explains why most of the AA flight attendants are so grumpy and rude.

46. BigTee, your pilot pay figures are way off. I am a 767 Captain at a top-paying major airline, and I made less than a third of your quoted figure last year. My annual pay is average for my airplane and longevity with the company. This coming year my pay will likely decrease slightly because of decisions at my company outside my control to eliminate my aircraft from my base, leaving me with the choice to go to a smaller, lower paying aircraft type or to pay to commute cross country (all hotels and ground transport, time spent away from home doing so are on the crew member’s own dime). When I started as a regional airline first officer I made $19.10 per flight hour pretax and my hours were capped at 1000/yr by the FAA. In reality as a reserve pilot I received a 72-hr/mos guarantee meaning I made $16,500 pretax pay for the year. This is after investing $50k into my training, which these days is likely double for new pilots. My pay went up marginally each year but year 4 flying a 225pax A321 I still only made $39/flight hour. ($39 x 72 x12mos= $33,696 annual pretax pay). Many pilots like me have student loans to pay off, and we are not in a position to do so until we are finally at a major maybe 5-7 yrs into the career, finally not committing, finally able to upgrade to Captain.

    FAs do hard work dealing with disgruntled, sometimes verbally abusive people in physically tight spaces for long hours. I deal with this too, especially when situations escalate and I need to step in to counsel a passenger who is yelling, grabbing a FA’s body, aggressively slamming overhead bins causing them to break (true story), being unwilling to follow crew instructions etc. Crews seek to de-escalate and resolve situations while being fair and professional but also potentially recorded on cellphone camera.

    Walter, in my experience as widebody Captain, we deal with various medical emergencies about 2-3x month on average. Some are obviously more serious than others, but the FAs are critically important especially at these times. I’ve personally dealt with a heart attack, fainting passengers (Xanax plus alcohol ordered on flight, then failure to disclose) turbulence related injuries, etc. Thankfully these issues don’t occur more frequently but then they do, a well-trained FAs is important. Setting aside administering meds or a defibrillator, just simply managing the communications with ground-based doctors to assist me in my divert decision and helping me free up mental bandwidth so I can focus on getting the plane safely to the airport are valuable FA functions.

47. Shame on some of you commenting! Y’all are disgusting. Karma will surely find you that I’m sure of

48. Union and government distortions notwithstanding, wages are still dictated by supply and demand. If AA is able to staff their FA positions, then the FAs are being paid what they’re worth.

    This is why pilots earn so much more pay their FA peers. It has nothing to do with the responsibility or work rules of the job. Pilots are in very short supply, and therefore they will earn higher pay than FAs (who are not in short supply).

49. Walter is obviously a moron who has no real idea of what the job entails. Initial training is an intensive 7-week course, NONE OF WHICH PERTAINS TO FOOD SERVICE OR “WAITRESSING”. Even if it did, half the workforce is comprised of men so his vernacular is off-base. I would like to see him resuscitate an unconscious casualty using the onboard defibrillator, fight a fire or successfully evacuate 300 passengers in 90 seconds from a charred wreck of an aircraft. Yes. THAT’S what they do, you jerk. You’re obviously the oblivious, annoying type of passenger who barely looks up when offered said service or thanks the crew upon deplaning. We don’t want people like you on ANY flights.Too bad I forgot to hit you with the evacuation slide on the way out

50. This topic is very controversial. Hourly pay rate looks pretty on paper, but that is only a small part of the equation. Basically working a 12-14 hour Duty Day with only accruing 5-6 hours of ACTUAL Flight time, makes for a long day and not a lot of pay. HOWEVER, I have seen MANY FAs live way above their means. Many drive luxury cars, but can’t afford to eat – that’s a bad choice on them. Most of them need a class on financial planning and budgeting.

51. Please !!! Someone block Walter ! He has NO idea what he’s talking about He is RUDE !! Hope he’s flying another airline !!!!

52. Anecdotally, I found AA FA’s to be generally the worst among its peers in terms of service quality and attitude. I would love for the good ones to double or triple their pay because I think they impact customer satisfaction more so than any other metric. But it’s hard to empathize with a group where the deserving constitute such a small minority.

53. Walter you get no respect from me for your trashy comment. Learn how to speak in critical terms without being rude / disrespectful and then maybe someone will give you the time of day.

54. They’re not going to get what they’re asking. AA doesn’t care about being industry leading. As long as they’re industry standards. They don’t aim to compete with Emirates or other international carriers. Their FAs will never be like they’re flight attendants. As long as they’re paying them just how much Delta, United etc are getting paid. They will not give in to what they’re asking that’s why they said and to add salt to the wound “NOT INTERESTED”. Also the problem is why these FAs can’t quit because they make the job their identity. For most of them coming from Walmart or flipping burgers at Burger King or Disney worker or barista; this is their first serious job and make it their whole entire identity and So they can’t give up the job title. When in real life no one cares. If you’re unhappy, you’re not a tree. Unfortunately most of them don’t have a choice but to stick around cuz then what’s next for them . Work at Starbucks or something.

55. What a bunch of bs! We need to stop feeling sorry for people who don’t deserve pity and most people don’t they just don’t want to take responsibility for anything. I was a flight attendant and it was for a pretty cheesy Airline too it was a vacation Charter airline. Having Said that I will also say this the story is full of holes. They were on a 3-day run and this person never got to eat. Are you expecting me to believe that there are no crew meals for people who are working on a 3-day run? Because that’s a lie, I know because I worked for a very cheap airline and even they gave us crew meals. Not only that but if they served the passengers food there were always leftover meals. You could eat those too if you want to. This male with tears in his eyes because he doesn’t know how to manage his finances and comes to the airport on empty… who does that?.. says he doesn’t want to sleep in the crew room. We didn’t have a crew room but the operative word with this sentence is he didn’t want to. Somebody might feel gratitude that they have sleeping arrangements or someplace for somebody like him to sleep in he chooses not to do so. I was not even aware that was a thing.. He’d rather cry like a baby and take charity from someone else. Do I feel sorry for a person like this. What do you think? There are many people who have much harder jobs, make a lot less money with no perks and still live a happy and fulfilling life because they know how to be adults. Maybe they don’t travel whenever they feel like it maybe they don’t have two cars in their household maybe they don’t go out and eat all the time maybe they buy their clothes at Goodwill maybe they do a lot of things but they don’t go online and tell everybody what for me has to put up with by being a flight attendant. Believe me there are a lot of perks this idiot didn’t mention and in fact I think the whole story is just completely made up because if I worked for an airline. Mostly everybody is very b***** and only cares about their own selves. Also they would just feel no pity and say why would you come to the airport without gas money what did you think you were going to do? And they’d be right! People need to stop feeling sorry for everybody. These are grown ups they need to have a brain. And so do the people who feel sorry for them. Toughen up people and don’t be so naive recognize people lie.

56. “Some of the stories are heart wrenching.”

    Which suggests they are more accomplished in the art of creative writing.

57. I would also like to bring to attention, that American will no longer provide it’s employees with an essential app called mobile CCI on Android devices starting early 2024. This app is used multiple times a day to quickly keep track of the latest gate information, coworker information, flight time, city pairings to help find the next available flight for a passenger
    misconnect, passenger connection information, aircraft nose numbers, delays, cancelations, flight status such as DCN (a rare circumstance where a flight may or may not be canceled based on an aircraft mechanical). It is an invaluable app and the one used the most by legacy AA flight attendants. American is making a change early next year to only allow crew to sign in from their iPhone tablets, and to only release mobile CCi on iOS devices. Many of us that are struggling, cannot afford an iPhone. As someone who has switched to Android device in 2021, it has been a relief to find a phone that didn’t bottom out every 2 years. I’ve traded phones in for iPhones in the past to save money. I’ve even done payment plans around $50 a month for the iPhone x. Regardless, iPhones tended to malfunction, heat up, or drain battery super quickly before the end of my 2 year payment contract. I begrudgingly turned to Android and have never looked back.

    The reason American gave for this change is so that their IT department won’t have to make 2 versions. It’s very unfair that I won’t be able to use mobile cci on my personal android device to quickly look at my schedule and trip details . Please help the many of us who will grieve this loss. Thank you for all you do in reporting.

58. Base pay of $30,34 I assume per hour is not $30,000 it is $61,000++++ Depending on where you live (NOt Calif/NY/NJ and a few other states) you should be able to afford food,rent and gas!!

59. 22 year FA here JFK based. Pulling in well over 100k a year. I’m not broke!

60. “Please !!! Someone block Walter !”

    Why, because he wrote something you didn’t agree with? Is this your first day on the internet?

61. Flight attendants DO NOT GET 40 hours a week. They are paid by flight hours and work 85 a month for those severely miscalculating, then expecting the flight attendants to bend over backwards for them for 30,000 or less a year. Most would make more making “returning to fast food” as somebody posted. Most flight attendants come from hotel chains, the military, or emergency services such as police, firefighters, paramedics, and hospitals to whichever ignoramus posted that.

    This guy has always and will always hate American Airlines, but I thought he was above being a complete snob. Color me not surprised.

62. Sounds like Walter’s flight
    attendant career was short circuited when another flight attendant turned him for stealing liquor minis. He’s just a little bitter. It’s all good.

63. Why do so many apply for in flight jobs if this is the reality of a flight attendant?

64. Win Whitmire – “The flight attendants are the first and last lines of defense on board” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA

    YFR.

    Cindy Smith – he likely has a better education and works harder than the whiners.

    22yr Flight attendant <— you, your attitude? You are the problem.

    Avanti – you almost made a good case. Not bad.

    "Me" – lol. Keep on thinking about imaginary juju karma, bub.

    Ligita – again with the resus. You do that exactly how often? And you're using auto-defibs, right? Literally anyone can use one of those. Get me another coffee, yeah?

    Kathy – typical airline nazi demanding passenger silence. Did you happen to see that coffee Ligita was meant to be getting me?

    CMorgan – oh, I'm so depressed you don't respect me.

    Bunny – way hay, an FA that knows AA lies. Well done.

    James N – cheers bud.

    ATC – Walter takes over 100 hours of professional training a year to maintain quals in his field. Unlike the flying waitresses we're discussing here. Your airline literally cannot afford me at my rates. I never wanted to be a flying waiterss, pal, I actually understand how to get a job that pays what I'm worth.

65. Unions are a cancer. Emancipate all FAs to compete against each other as free agents outside of a collective bargaining agreement and watch service and pay improve. Socialism only brings misery to all.

66. I’d argue, they signed up for this job knowing in 9-11 years they would be making great wages, they’d just have to put in the time. The wage progression is spelled out in their contract, there are no surprises there.

    Until recently other airlines removed the 11 year progression because nobody wanted to sign on at level 1-4. If AA can retain them at poverty wages – they will! If attrition to too high, they need to find an alternative.

67. Wow its hilarious that you mention that their pay has been eroded by 16% due to inflation and then insinuate that they have to take a contract that only gives them an 11% raise. Why would any work group take that? Also the trope of “your work is replaceable” is pathetic and honestly quite stupid. No FA is pretending that they arent replaceable but maybe we should stop pretending that AA is making billions of dollars and has the money to pay FA’s a livable wage.

68. I may be missing something here, but just how may tentative agreements have been turned down over the past 9 years since the last contract? There is no such thing as a perfect contract and BOTH sides should be participating fully in the negotiations. Union negotiators always say they are not getting a fair deal and management always says they are being overly generous. Side one, side two and then there is the real truth somewhere else. It would seem to suggest that at some point either there has to be a contract approved so you can prepare for the next one, or if you really, truly cannot afford gas, rent or food, maybe another career choice might be in order.

69. You say “American actually should pay flight attendants more but they should get something in return.” Well flight attendants have been giving year after year with nothing in return and extra duties dumped on them, so this statement is way off.

70. That math isn’t adding up; $30 an hour is about $60k annual, not $30k.

71. First of all, f*** Walter.

    Second, to answer Dee’s question, flight attendants can work up to 15 hour days, but the payroll clock isn’t rolling until the aircraft door is closed.

    We sign in an hour prior to departure for free. We board all passengers for free. We deliver pre departure drinks for free. We hang up coats for free. We deplane passengers and thank them for free. We wait between our 2-3 daily flights for free. An average flight attendant works around 160-180 hours a month, but is only paid for about 85.

    We are also heavily discouraged from commuting from more affordable cities, so we move to our expensive base cities, where new hires make about $2600 a month before taxes. AA does not provision crew meals unless you are working to Europe, Australia or Asia. We pay airport prices for meals when our hotels don’t have refrigerators for the food we pack on trips that go up to four days.

    Our pay scale was comfortable in 2014 when it was negotiated, not so much anymore after 10 years of inflation.

    So yes, we deserve a raise.

72. @Anthony – they only are paid for half those hours

73. Part of the problem is that in order to do this job a new candidate has to be based in some of the most expensive cities in the nation.AA has hubs in BOS,NYC,LAX etc. Though more seasoned flight attendants who have been working for years and topped out may be doing well enough those who are starting out are indeed struggling to live in the costly cities in which they are assigned to work out of as home bases. There are also a number of costs that must be paid out of pocket to maintain appearance expectations. Health care costs have tripled in the last 5 years for the work group and it has to be noted that the nature of their duties take a physical toll on their bodies and the stress often affects mental health. This really isn’t about the older flight attendants who have had years to develop a measure of wealth so much as it is about new hires and those under 10 years who seemingly would have no incentive to keep working and hopefully will leave for greener pastures in large numbers . They should get out before they are physically and emotionally damaged and stop wasting their precious time and prime earning years at a job that demands so much. Perhaps the appeal of working long hours , being expected to do so while sick and a lack of respect from the public and employers as witnessed here will soon serve to turn young people off from seeking this type of work and the standards can drop lower. Let’s see how that works out.

74. It would be nice if you gave the same coverage to the customer service agents that are in the same boat. The offer submitted to us doesn’t cover the cost of living increases we have experienced since we’ve been out of a contract.

75. Learned one thing reading these comments… FA IS A PART TIME JOB!. 85 hrs a month is a 0.5 position in any other work place. So yes you need another job to live. There are very few part time jobs that pay $30 +/hr.
    The FA problem is they need more hrs & forget about the free flight perks.

76. What about those inflights who are work with jetblue, Frontler, spirit.. they are struggling to survive with minimum hours and salary

77. Is a lie, folks. Although not everyone makes the same amount, there are flight attendants for AA so make over $100,000.00 per year. Those not making much just don’t want to work/ don’t want to make the effort. No surprise, though. Typical these days– people wanting to get paid decent money but not have to do much besides show up to the job.

78. To the guy who wrote unions are a cancer if it weren’t for unions we would be working 60hrs a week for half pay I’d rather have a negotiated salary with raises and benefits than depend on some boss determining my worth

79. Did airlines quit paying per diem? That usually started at check in at your base and ended 30 minutes after disembarking (deplaning for those in NY and NJ) at your base. It was paid for TAFB which would be around 72 hours for a 3 day trip. International per diem was more.
    That reminds me of an old joke about a Captain, First officer and Flight Engineer on a layover.

80. @Jenna, sorry to hear that about your app. I know how short sighted IT can be in the large company world. I would keep on using Android and get an older iPhone that still had some battery life but was inexpensive. To make it last the longest, I would strip off all of the unnecessary apps so it was mostly bare bones. Then I would shut it down every chance I got. It would not be on any plan as I would route the data from my Android phone by making a hotspot with a strong password (settings – network- Hotspot and tethering or something similar). For battery backup I would carry a small power bank. I have helped out my seatmate with my power bank. I have also made a custom hotspot for a lady waiting to get on an airplane when she didn’t have service so she could call her family on a video chat app.

81. Flight attendants are amongst the highest compensated professions not requiring a college degree in the USA. The median flight attendant makes $ 63,760 a year, with enough time for a second job (e.g realtor).
    Source: https://data.bls.gov/search/query/results?cx=013738036195919377644%3A6ih0hfrgl50&q=Flight+attendant++inurl%3Abls.gov%2Foes

    American flight attendants don’t deserve raises — they make it clear that they’re there for safety and not to make flying enjoyable. It’s the only airline where they announce this in your face in their “welcome” onboard announcement.

82. @bea zrimas

    My comment you’re referring to states we work about 160-180 hours on average, but only 85 hours are paid. 160 is full-time at a 9-5 job.

83. Please !!! Someone block Walter !”

    James N says “Why, because he wrote something you didn’t agree with? Is this your first day on the internet?”

    No James because Walter is an uncompassionate vulgar bully who can’t get his point across without degrading others

84. to all the math majors:
    Airline crews (pilots and flight attendants) are paid differently than the rest of the working world. They average about 1000 hours of pay per year. So $30 per hour does in fact = $30,000 per year.

85. Airline pay is not the same as the easy if the world, you get paid block hours which is only when the aircraft is doors closed and parking brake released. 30.35 an hour with a minimum guarantee of 75 hours a month is barely over $27k a year. That’s barely liveable of someone wants to live in base. I have no idea what their per diem is but I get a 1.90/hr. That covers one airport meal per day for sure, maybe even two.

    That doesn’t make that a truly livable wage, they deserve better. Oh and I’m laughing at all these comments saying it’s not a full time job.

86. Don’t get me started on AA’s pay scale and treatment of call center agents. Fa’s are having a bad time with out a contract. So is reservations..I get it. AA has the worst employee treatment I’ve ever seen in my 45yrs in corporate America, contracts or not. I don’t know how they see fit after the merger to build a HDQ that strongly resembles a cruise line terminal made of glass! Guess living (or working) in a glass house should never throw stones. But they do! Never again.

87. “No James because Walter is an uncompassionate vulgar bully…”

    I seem to remember some advice I learned about the time I was in third grade. It went something like: “Sticks and stones…”

88. It’s so sad that these flight attendants were forced against their will into this profession, and are now indentured servants, unable to leave their oppressive job that required no job skills and a couple weeks training in order to get 3x minimum wage to start. No wonder they have to sit and stare at their phones in the galley all flight, they are so famished and weary. They are truly heroes.

89. I just came off a long haul, absolutely lovely trip, with great crew and passengers. I wondered where the a@*ho*es were that usually rear their ugly heads here and there. I found them. They’re in the comment section above. Geez people! Grow up, get a life, make some friends and get off your Mom’s computer. There are also some great comments from people who aren’t rude and nasty. Thank you. As for Walter, no words other than what a sad person you are. I truly feel sorry for you. Merry Christmas.

90. I feel sorry for these FAs. Should they start bpassing out little tip envelopes they can collect at the end of a flight. Maybe a few bucks they can split among the crew might help the cause.

91. its sad that grown adults do not know how to manage their money so they do not have to feel like victims.

92. “I wondered where the a@*ho*es were that usually rear their ugly heads here and there. I found them. They’re in the comment section above.”

    and…

    “Grow up, get a life, make some friends and get off your Mom’s computer.”

    I can’t help wondering if he notes the irony.

93. To Bunny above: she makes some valid points, but she is 100% WRONG about one thing. As a former flight attendant for some carrier (she did not name who) she said that she knows it was a lie for an AA flight attendant to say that on 3-day trip that there are no crew meals. I am an AA flight attendant and believe it or not, AA DOES NOT provide meals for flight attendants – with ONE exception. For flights that are scheduled over 14 hours (mostly Asia), flight attendants are catered meals. For *ALL* other flights there ARE NOT meals catered for flight attendants. Period. Pilots, of course, are catered meals on most all flights, and Bunny is correct when she states that flight attendants can eat leftover meals once a service is completed. If there ARE meals left over. But Bunny needs to know that on the vast majority of AA flights (well over 98%), even long flights to Europe and South America, the ONLY people on the plane who are not catered meals are the ones who prepare and serve it. Bunny, you are WRONG.

94. To American above, who wonders how many tentative agreements (TAs) have been turned down in nine years. The answer is ZERO. There have been no tentative agreements reached, because this is the first time in those nine years that AA FAs have been negotiating. The current frustration with AA management is that they WON’T GIVE a tentative agreement. So we have had nothing to vote on.

95. aisle donkey – a) way to make my point. b) perfect name for you. As to “f***”, aren’t you all the ones spreading your legs in every hotel bar around the world? You deliver PDB drinks for free? Liar. No you don’t. You’re too busy screwing around on your phone and not providing service. Commuting? Cry me a river. You chose the job. Literally everyone on the planet makes the same decision. You’re not special. You absolutely do NOT deserve a raise.

    Nashiva – boo hoo. Were those hubs and locations unknown at time of hiring? As noted above, EVERYONE has commute and COL issues. You’re not special.

    Jenna / jns – Android is security garbage, and IT isn’t paid to pander to your bad technology choices. Jenna, if you stopped loading so many BS games on your phone to use when you’re supposed to be working, you wouldn’t have this problem.

    CMorgan – bite me, nazi.

    Mantis – LMAO. Nice one. But don’t forget, they’re actually planning their next free trip, not just messing around.

    Flyer1 – take your Fat B@stard in a red suit and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. If you can actually find your ass.

    Larry C – you pass me a tip envelope on a flight and I’m going to punch you out.

    James N – nailed it, once again.

96. As a former AA corporate employee who left for another company, I’m sympathetic to the FAs and understand many of the struggles. I know it’s easy to hate on corporate, but the vast majority of people there have only gotten 10-12% cost of living raises total since 2019. There’s no pay scale raise, and the only additional increase would be 12% from a promotion, with more responsibility. It’s not a complaint at all, but it’s just a reality for many industries and a misconception I’ve heard quite a bit. A lot of work groups (including the auto workers) compare their raise offers to CEOs (or pilots). Love or hate them, they are both special groups, and the rest of the world just doesn’t work that way. It sucks but especially when AA effectively lost money on record revenue, the high raise won’t happen.

97. Also the whole RLA bargaining process causes a lot of stress for the workers. Like Gary said, companies are incentivized to stall as long as possible since it saves (or at least delays) back pay and more expensive scheduling rules. Then, the unions (United too) aren’t being realistic by asking for things they are practically never getting. In part, they’re hedging against Delta. If they negotiate better Delta’s likely to raise, and they’re also accounting for future raises Delta (might) give above their contract. Meanwhile, management doesn’t want to be the first to commit to spending on an over-competitive (for the moment) contract. It’s just a giant game of hot potato where the FAs and customers lose.

98. Yet all those CEOs from a low cost airline got bonuses and raises after the meltdown while the passengers and flight attendants were left stranded on the floors of airports, because all hotel rooms were sold out. But I guess that’s how it is in every company. All the executives cash in, while the front line employees get nothing.

99. 23yr Commie – cry me a river. Your jealousy is showing. You want more? Do more. They did.

100. This was the agreement that went along with the acquisition of American Airlines by US Airways.

     Gary, someone needs to proofread your articles more carefully.

     It was US Airways that was acquired by American Airlines.

101. Sorry limited compassion. I know people with double masters that are paid less than your starting wage and have student loans on top of living expenses, without the travel perk of working for a major airline.
     Mass walkout, to hell with the union. Three days of grounded planes should get you a reasonable hourly that starts when you punch in and ends when you punch out. Maybe… $15-20/hour? Then you are right back where you are now but on past with everyone else in an entry level job. Yeh years later though, the double masters people will still be struggling and so will you… Oh… Wait… That’s the way it works.

102. American Airlines Reality Check for misinformed reader.

     *$30.35 per hour
     FULL TIME! NEVER PART TIME
     *75 paid hours per month as reserve
     *75-90 hours paid a lineholder (average awarded hours per month)
     *Work 7-15 hours a day BUT paid 5-6 hour only
     *1 to 1.15 hours hour required clock in before flight UNPAID- FREE
     Ex: 10am flight , fa required to be at airport and sign in by 8:45 or 9:00am depending on destination, but its UNPAID.
     *BOARDING- (35-55 mins) UNPAID
     * Delays, Cancelation, UNPAID
     * Sit time ( time between trips, 1 hour to 4 hours) Unpaid
     * No Crew Meals on all Domestic Flights
     * No Crew Meals on International flight unless you are base in Phl,Clt,Phx (US air base as they retain this deal)
     *Deplaning (30-45mins) UNPAID

     Working hours pay day: 7-15 hours
     Paid Hours per day : 5-7 hours
     Now do the math.

     Gross pay: $2400-2700
     -Minus
     Tax: federal tax Medicare Tax, social security tax
     State tax: depends on address
     Uniform: not free
     Health Insurance: not free
     Life Insurance: not free
     Dental: not free
     Eye: not free
     Injury or Disability:Not free
     Dependent insurance: not free
     Union dues: not free
     401k: 5.5% match only

     Net: $1,600-1,900 a month
     First pay 15th: $1,100- 1,200
     2nd pay 30th: $600-700

     Normal bills: rent, phone, car, car insurance, utilities, food, CRASHPAD or (sleeping pad to crash sleep in work base), gas or uber or train/bus, daily essentials, medicine, clothes, etc.

     1,600 to 1,800 a month cannot keep up in these generation and inflation.

     Yet company needs you to work and available for tye whole month otherwise if your out of base during reserve day, youll get fired right away.

     Yes they have days off, but after working 7-15 hours a day for several days, dont your body need some rest?
     Cant you spend time with kids or family?

     The prices a decade ago is not the prices now. Yet their paid is almost a decade expired.( 2014)

     They are giving their full time for work but they are only getting paid half of the time they work. So the $30.35 or more per hour has a value of less than half of it and its below poverty margine of this country.

     No leftovers of first class food most of the time. 20 pax = 20 meals per flight.
     No more or sometimes less if catering mess up. But never a spare.

     And not all flights has food meal in first class. Mostly biscoff and pretzels and snacks. Who wants to eat them everyday all the time??

103. What an awful union. It’s drawn its workers into poverty. This is what happens with unions. Everyone loses – and it’s all done on the backs of the workers. Unions should be banned except for the most dangerous of jobs.

104. I am a little confused by the math. $30 × an average 40 hour week is $62,400 not $30,000. Then tops out at $141,960. 10-12% COLA since 2019? Not judging, just a little confused about people starving and living out of cars.

105. @Joseph
     But being a flight attendant IS the most dangerous job……or at least they’ll tell you that.

106. I guess Walter is the new Troll on View from the Wing. At least he is good at answering each and every comment made toward him in a timely and organized manner. Lol.

107. The same with Etihad, the extremely reach Gulf airline. No pay rise in 20 years. The salary is the same since they found the airline, but they have plenty of money to waste on anything else but not their people. Terrible work and environment.

108. Say “slavery” and you lost your audience. I was an elementaty school teacher, full-time, taught after-school sports 5 days a week, community college 4 nights a week and 5 hours on Saturday, ditto for Summers…for 33 years. No whining from me and no ear for whining FAs.

109. Yes, Gary, I thought the same thing that Vazir Mukhtar stated. US Airways acquired American Airlines? I would think that someone who blogs about the airline universe would know the difference between a merger and an acquisition. Do your research. Especially when you’re referring to the absolute worst business decision that AA ever made. It has been even lousier than expected to be managed by mostly USAir “leaders” that don’t know how to run an airline. Speaking to our Executive Platinum and Concierge Key customers on flights, I have never once – not one time – heard anybody say one positive word about the changes that came as a result of the merger. Not. A. Single. One. It has ruined a once-respectable airline. And it was not an acquisition.

110. People don’t understand the way that flight attendant pay works. Basically take that $35/hr. and divide by 2. $17.50/hr for the normal work week of 40 hours is $700/ week.

111. Im reposting what another commentor stated. It is important information that was not mentioned in this article amd that happens to basically each and every F.A. Other’s comment here obviously do not have these facts as thsy were not place within this article.

     The prices a decade ago is not the prices now. Yet their paid is almost a decade expired.( 2014)

     They are giving their full time for work but they are only getting paid half of the time they work. So the $30.35 or more per hour has a value of less than half of it and its below poverty margine of this country.

     No leftovers of first class food most of the time. 20 pax = 20 meals per flight.
     No more or sometimes less if catering mess up. But never a spare.

     And not all flights has food meal in first class. Mostly biscoff and pretzels and snacks. Who wants to eat them everyday all the time??

112. @An Actual AA Flight Attendant – in practice US Airways leadership took over American Airlines, and it was really the creditors’ committee in the American Airlines bankruptcy making the decision rather than American Airlines management.

113. This is so important to Understand taken feom a prior post that has the truth attached that many reader and the author of this article did not msntion.

     Lexus says:
     December 18, 2023 at 10:14 pm

     American Airlines Reality Check for misinformed reader.

     *$30.35 per hour
     FULL TIME! NEVER PART TIME
     *75 paid hours per month as reserve
     *75-90 hours paid a lineholder (average awarded hours per month)
     *Work 7-15 hours a day BUT paid 5-6 hour only
     *1 to 1.15 hours hour required clock in before flight UNPAID- FREE
     Ex: 10am flight , fa required to be at airport and sign in by 8:45 or 9:00am depending on destination, but its UNPAID.
     *BOARDING- (35-55 mins) UNPAID
     * Delays, Cancelation, UNPAID
     * Sit time ( time between trips, 1 hour to 4 hours) Unpaid
     * No Crew Meals on all Domestic Flights
     * No Crew Meals on International flight unless you are base in Phl,Clt,Phx (US air base as they retain this deal)
     *Deplaning (30-45mins) UNPAID

     Working hours pay day: 7-15 hours
     Paid Hours per day : 5-7 hours
     Now do the math.

     Gross pay: $2400-2700
     -Minus
     Tax: federal tax Medicare Tax, social security tax
     State tax: depends on address
     Uniform: not free
     Health Insurance: not free
     Life Insurance: not free
     Dental: not free
     Eye: not free
     Injury or Disability:Not free
     Dependent insurance: not free
     Union dues: not free
     401k: 5.5% match only

     Net: $1,600-1,900 a month
     First pay 15th: $1,100- 1,200
     2nd pay 30th: $600-700

     Normal bills: rent, phone, car, car insurance, utilities, food, CRASHPAD or (sleeping pad to crash sleep in work base), gas or uber or train/bus, daily essentials, medicine, clothes, etc.

     1,600 to 1,800 a month cannot keep up in these generation and inflation.

     Yet company needs you to work and available for tye whole month otherwise if your out of base during reserve day, youll get fired right away.

     Yes they have days off, but after working 7-15 hours a day for several days, dont your body need some rest?
     Cant you spend time with kids or family?

     The prices a decade ago is not the prices now. Yet their paid is almost a decade expired.( 2014)

     They are giving their full time for work but they are only getting paid half of the time they work. So the $30.35 or more per hour has a value of less than half of it and its below poverty margine of this country.

     No leftovers of first class food most of the time. 20 pax = 20 meals per flight.
     No more or sometimes less if catering mess up. But never a spare.

     And not all flights has food meal in first class. Mostly biscoff and pretzels and snacks. Who wants to eat them everyday all the time??

114. “Currently American Airlines flight attendant pay ranges from $30.35 in the first year, $54.75 after 10 years, and tops out at $68.25 after 13 years.
     APFA wants $41 – $92 per hour.”
     Air waitresses can’t survive on these “slave wages”? Somebody needs a reality check, or move on to greener pastures nobody is holding a gun to your heads. Unions are nothing but organized crime in the workplace and they are out for one thing, making themselves rich.

115. Rather than trashing AA FAs or the company, the real discussion should be a prediction of when AA and its FA union will settle on a contract and how much different it will be from what DL is paying its non-union FAs right now.

     All of the discussion in here about AA FAs not receiving board pay simply provides opportunity to note that AA has agreed to implement boarding pay – copying DL which led the US industry in adding boarding pay – when it is clear that boarding pay will help the lowest seniority and lowest paid FAs the most.

     No union can admit that they can only bring home a contract that is as good as a non-union company and THAT is why it will take months if not years, to the loss of AA FAs, to get a contract.

     WN and UA FAs are in the same position.

116. @JennD. Your confusion is because you assume they are being paid for 40 hours a week. In reality, they are only being paid for 75-90 hours per month.

117. The FA position is not one for everyone……many come into the job seeking the freedoms of the position, ability to travel and live what looks like a carefree lifestyle. Problem is that it takes MONEY to survive the position the first several years and many of the candidates attempt to live the lifestyle with previous debt (college loans/ reckless spending & debt/ and a Wish List of goods that would make a Kardashian blush). I have worked in the Industry 40 years and can tell you that I have seen EVERYTHING. Many live well beyond their means and they create their own struggles. Many have champagne tastes with limited cash to finance it. The position certainly has its challenges when you begin but it sure as hell is rewarding once you establish yourself. Sacrifices do need to be made and one of the biggest problems is living within your means. Many of them want it All Day One or what I have after putting in 40years.

118. Vazir & “An Actual AA FA”,
     You’re being a bit petty. Technically, AA took over US (it was definitely an acquisition, not a merger like UA & CO.. The AA Leadership fought the acquisition hard before US won)… but it was only after the AA Creditors/owners agreed that the US plan to take over AA was the better one and chose the US team to take over AA. Though, you’re right… in technical terms, after that decision was made (and the agreement with APFA was signed by the Union with US Leadership), then the US team took over AA and “took over” US Airways.
     Gary is write in terms of what actually happened though not the semantics of how the US takeover of AA happened.

119. Way to go Gary. Being the typical uncompassionate & uninformed MORON that you are! The Senior people no longer work for travel benefits. We typically buy tickets since AA stripped the Senior employees of valuable Seniority in traveling Standby. When a new hire can bump a 50 year employee down the list because they hit the checkin button quicker is BS! I didn’t choose to commute. After 33 years AA made my life a living hell making it mandatory to sit reserve 2-3 months a year, resulting in a pay cut. Now it is hell trying to commute to work with Junior Flight Attendants bumping me out of a seat/jumpseat at 38 years.

     We are tired of AA’s stripping us of everything we have been fighting for. They chip away at our dignity, leaving us struggling to even smile at work anymore. The sick policy is stressful & most employees have a FAKE FMLA to just not get fired for Attendance. However, New York and CA employees can’t be fired for attendance due to their state laws. They also get short term disability pay that we were stripped of & have to pay for it ourselves on a volunteer basis.

     You mentioned having to comply with consistency and make the service better. What a concept Gary. If only we were given the proper tools to do the proper service! I’m tired of making Jet Fuel out of soda water! Flight Attendants always have to be creative because we are not given enough or the proper tools to do “the proper service”.

     Now AA managed to give our Pilots a HUGE raise, where many are making half a million a year, for working the same schedules & we rarely get crew meals as the Pilots always do. We run on empty because there is no time to eat between flights or the flight is so long we survive on pretzels. So we pack our feed bags with junk, if one can afford it. I’m not saying we deserve the equivalency as Pilots……but spread the damn wealth to the front line employees that should be in peak Performance mode. The Pilots even got hundreds of thousands in back pay……and they can’t pay us a decent wage.

     I don’t even want boarding pay. That’s a waste! We started this job agreeing to be paid for flying time. The minute they give us boarding pay? It comes from somewhere in the contract, leaving Seniors with a pay cut, since we work the longer Flights and typically far less boarding than the Junior Flight Attendants.

     To the person that says you know people with masters making less and paying student loans off. That’s their choice. The majority of Flight Attendants have a college degree and also owe student loans. We took this job many years ago under lies and deception of the opportunities it offered. Then when you are fully vested into staying? They open the trap door. We can’t just move on to another job. Many, as myself, started this job in a 2 income family. Sh** happens and many of us become a single income. We have fought many battles and the airlines just keep padding upper management’s retirement funds with our blood, sweat and tears. We are the front line employees, that love our job & we used to smile until AA took that smile away. We only hope that we can live off Social Security. Only legacy AA and US have pensions…..

     “SHOW ME THE MONEY AA”

120. Nothing but a couple of “hard luck; empathy seeking, blame someone else” sob stories that deflect the genuine issues. (1) Like a herd of cattle, they are being led off a cliff by an impotent and dysfunctional union taken over and run by the cabal of self-seeking incompetents that were inherited from USAir who never could get contracts done. 2) Individuals who obviously cannot handle their personal finances and freely work in a job that cannot sustain them. 3) They have been dealing with a senior management group who have been able to take full advantage of the chaos and confusion to stonewall any contract for half a decade.

121. As an AA fa myself, parts of this article are off, causing some of the comments to be ignorant. First, we don’t get paid till the door closes, and we’re off the clock once it opens at destination. $68.25/hr sounds high, but we don’t get paid when we get to the airport, or when we check in, or when we get on the plane, or even during boarding time! As a result, 70 hours of flying PER MONTH is the same time commitment as a 40 hr per WEEK job. I have to fly 105-110 per month to make it in this economy. I’m rarely home.
     Second, you mention we should provide higher levels of service that people will want to pay extras for…funny. In 43 years in this business the 1 things that’s proven is people want CHEAP. Bottom line is A-to-B CHEAP. Years ago they went to cheap airlines that offered nothing and delivered on it and the rest of us had to downgrade our product to match their cost of operation.
     Hope this better educates whoever reads it.

122. Babs – “When a new hire can bump a 50 year employee down the list because they hit the checkin button quicker is BS!” — do you even see the arrogance and bad attitude with that, and why your colleagues are saying GFYS to the seniority system?

     You are the problem.

     Pilots got a huge raise? They are highly skilled professionals. You… are not.

123. Its also very frustrating that the ones who deal with the passengers the most, the customer service agents, have also been waiting for a new contract. No one cares. We work alllll the hours and they finally shoved a proposed contract at us were most of us will now make just a dollar or two over minimum wage. It gets tiring that most people think flighf attendants do soooooo much. Half the time they barely want to give you a drink anymore. They arent rebooking mile long lines of mentally imbalanced people for hours with no breaks. We are. Never understood why they make all the money.

124. SHAME
     ON YOU AMERICAN AIRLINES AND THE REST’ IT OF THE AMERICAN GREED CORPORATE.. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.. HOW DARE YOU TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES THE WAY THE MAIN SOURCES OF THE ONES THAT THRU THEM YOUR HAVE YOUR PERKS AND THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS YOU POCKET IN YOUR POCKET … WHO ARE AT FRONT LINE REPRESENTING YOU YOUR COOPERATIONS …. HOW DARE YOU ?? JUSTICE BY THE UNIVERSE WILL BE DONE.. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE,, THE SYSTEM WILL REWARD YOU FOR YOUR GREEDINESS AND SELFISHNESS OF YOUR ACTS.. SHAME ON YOU!!!! WAKE UP WORLD!!!

125. For those having a problem with Walter I suggest letting it go. Although I may be wrong, I actually think Walter is the Troll Loretta. If not, they could be related. Walter is rude, hateful, angry, bitter and full of pain. Let him continue to be a crow. I’m an Eagle so will fly above and move on. I have a houseful coming for the holidays and am choosing not to wallow in the negativity. So many commenters on here love to push down on others to make themselves feel better. Inspiring others to do better is a free gift to give away. Peace.

126. I work 30hrs overtime every month. Don’t take trips anywhere. Nothing like flying for free! Lol….Bidenomics and pandemic killed off mortgages, lucky to rent! And PS a flight hour of pay totally different than eight to five 40hrs week hour. It’s flight block time, doesn’t include boarding, baggage, wheelchairs, kids, illegals, etc

127. @Bob
     So you’re saying that if your pay were doubled, you’d provide stellar service?
     I doubt that.

128. The purpose of the n.w.o. is to eliminate the Middle Class – in any way possible
     And
     Depopulate the rest of the world.
     They are not far behind schedule.

     Please….please….rely upon the Lord who was born in a stable and died on a Cross
     So that He could raise us out of our coming graves.+✨

129. “Service” really has no place in the conversation since some time ago the Unions shifted to the Paradigm to “primarily on board for your safety.” The more that was peddled, the more any semblance of customer service disappeared.

130. I’ll fo much part and no longer fly american

131. I’m sorry, but cry me a river AA FA’S… AA rampers/ Gate agents start out at 17.50 per hour and top out at 32.50 per hour after 9 years and that’s starting PT hours as well! While you all top out at 60.00 per hour. If my memory serves me correct you got your contract way before ours, in fact we are in pre-negotiations already because again I’m sure the company will drag their feet well beyond the normal timeline of negotiations, like they did last time. Another thing, Ramp should start at 25.00 but I highly doubt that will ever happen, especially since fast food workers make 20-25 per hour in CA. Plus a majority have better days off, and don’t have to park at the airport.

132. With everything going on with the economy and continued inflation that they fail to see, half of these FA’s will be lucky if they still have jobs by 2025. You can thank Biden for inflation and your adorable union for pretending like they actually care about you while you still pay them every month, that’s what ,500.00 per year in dues? . Y’all are really special. Keep driving yourselves into more debt and blaming everyone else for it. Going to be awhile before you get anything and hope you still have jobs next year without mass layoff as the economy continues to tank.

133. So sad there are so many hateful comments Gary. If you would have posted it correctly it strictly FLIGHT hourly wage (plane backs out til plane pulls in) vs assumption that all FAs get paid hourly like a full-time 40 hour employee wage, any compassion or respect wouldn’t have gone out the window!! BIG difference & you just stirred the pot so this cream of bad manners & disrespect could rise up. Doesn’t sound or feel good to be in any service industry when there’s self-inflated trolls out there. Corporate greed off the back of its workers sucks in ALL industries so thanks for adding to their misery. Shameful in every way.

134. @Mr Nonrever, if you work for an airline then you know that F/As don’t get paid 40 hours per week. How many hours per week do rampers/agents get paid for?

135. Dear Walter,

     You have zero clue! Front line employees are what brings return. Is it Junior Flight Attendants that you want boarding and deplaning while sitting and texting in a First class seat? I’ve seen Flight Attendants in galleys on the internet putting off service for over an hour. Is that what you want? Or perhaps those Flight Attendants that blockade galleys with straps to keep passengers out of their space? If this is what AA continues to hire, and trying to get the good, no…. GREAT Flight Attendants to quit from being treated like something off the bottom of their shoes, then enjoy your next Flight. Remember that old saying Walter….YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

     With Seniority comes the better Flight Attendant that has fought for a better Airline. So yes in a Seniority driven occupation (Every airline), AA is the only airline that continually strips employees of our benefits & seniority.

136. Thanks all for the information. And wow eye opener. I did make the assumption of a full work week. Maybe the argument should be for paid hours as well since so much time is spent not being paid yet working. Unpaid labor should not be legal as it is not a volunteer position. This would bring you up to and above a lot of other normal paying jobs. I won’t comment about the lack of benefits or taxes because since we are all in that spot. I hope things get better for you all and for the others working the crowds at the gates.

137. To all the unhappy flight attendants, we are tired or your whining & b****ing about everything. YOU ARE NOT A TREE. YOU ARE NOT STUCK. YOU HAVE A CHOICE. All the jealousy and comparing yourselves to pilots..we are not the same! Go to flight school and earn your degree get those flight hours. They are hiring pilots everywhere. You are a dime a dozen. No one cares about your job title. Get a high paying job and don’t hold on to that job title if you complain about everything. But of course it’s easier to whine and hate and b**** about everything than better your lives right?? Bunch of haggard whiny clowns

138. Babs – you continue to demonstrate your entitlement and irrelevance. I don’t care who brings me my drink. That’s worth five bucks an hour.

     You’re not.

     Now get back to your complete lack of service. Don’t you have a galley to block? Or a pilot to suck?

139. Wow Walter sounds like a perv . The guy who nobody wants to sit next to. FA major function is safety, and with all the fighting and nasty customers I don’t blame them for feeling burnt out. It used to a prestigious position. But it just seems like a thankless job.

140. Former 31 year AA HDQ employee here. It was not a merger in any sense. It was a hostile takeover and a race to the bottom. Senior Management that stayed were selected to stay and they ran out everyone that questioned anything on both sides.. The combining of USAirways/American began the real us vs them but it was already a shitshow prior to 2014. AA had pretty much turned every work group against each other.
     With regards to pay, American does not care 1 bit about anyone except the pilots. They drive the bus and without them they are dead in the water. But to drive the bus, you need teammates. Sadly those teammates are treated like garbage, work in some pretty lousy conditions with hostile work environments. Americans thoughts are that everyone is replaceable and by keeping the pay so low, they prove it day in day out. There are some great employees from all work groups who have been pushed to the limit and have no more to give so they start mailing it in. I left in 2021 and I have never been happier working at my new airline. I am actually paid a lot more, the company cares about the employees and backs it up, but they dont brag about it.

     I wish the AA employees good luck and better pay but I dont think that is in the cards as I can see another BK coming soon as they spend like drunken sailors, but hey the 3rd one will be the charm for those at the helm.

141. I think it’s tough for all but especially flight attendants this economy does not pay well enough if there where housing for them then may things could be better why can’t the company have an airport shuttle driver for them

142. The lack of sympathy by the author of this article Gary, and alot of commentators to me is appalling. So I want to set some things straight. First of all, the fact that you Gary make millions or however much you make off of your blog really gives you the right to talk about what it’s like working in a job like that. While you rest easy off your overinflated bank account these people are slaves! A job isn’t a charity or volunteer work. It’s to put food on the table and it needs to cut more than even. 20,000 after taxes in Modern times living in the USA is a joke. And yes these people are slaves! What other options do they have? Kill themselves? Plenty already do that! And for all the unempathetic commentators here saying well I chose to be an npc and go to college like a good boy while putting myself 360k in debt because everyone deserves an equal education, congrats you chose to shoot yourself in the foot. That is correct modern societal pressures aren’t the smart paths to take if only you chose to think for yourself a little back in highschool instead of letting yourself be brainwashed by others, that college in the USA is somehow smart and not a complete scam. And yes I’m qualified to talk my dad went to MIT on a scholarship and ended up being a lawyer anyways working for law firms or the modern equivalent of 19th century sweatshops. Just like most of the dead corporate world. And unions are super important! Not in protecting corrupt cops from facing justice but in protecting us from the raw power of corrupt corporations! Which in case anyone still lives under a rock or with their head up their own butthole is just about every single corporation nowadays. The bigger and more powerful the corp, the more corrupt and ruthless as a general rule of thumb. Want an example? Easy take the flight industry. Pre-pandemic years flying was once upon a time a place that encouraged healthy competition between competitors. That’s why you could find bargain deals and get good relative prices for a flight. Well in the past few years airlines banded together in secret and said well if we can’t fix prices for our own profits and all raise our prices because thats completely illegal, let’s just all agree to cover different routes so we can all individually raise our prices. That’s why my brother was flying Boston to Memphis a 2 hour flight with only one option at 600$ which is outrageously inflated. Modern companies are extremely corrupt and face little repurcussions for it if any and in some cases are almost always incentifized to do so. Wake up Gary, I don’t fear the facts.

143. Oh and awaiting moderation Is just Gary censoring through the comments he likes and doesn’t, like this one. “Awaiting Censorship” lmfao

144. Any idea about other Airlines are doing Delta ? United?

145. @Yonah
     You. Are. Deranged.
     You should be allowed anywhere near an aircraft because you are a security threat.
     Now. As for “What other options do they have? Kill themselves?”…..how about getting a better paying job. Even teenagers have figured that out.
     Don’t you have a protest to be at?

146. Albanypark – wow, you sound like an illiterate idiot. FA major function is safety? OK bootlicker. Prestigious? HAHAHAHAHA. Mommy slept with a pilot recently? Or was that you?

     Alex – “if there were housing for them”? Why? They have a job. That they chose. You want housing as part of the job? Try the military, not airborne waitressing.

     Yonah – a) blahblah. b) Jealous of Leff much? c) Line breaks are your friend.

147. No doubt there is need for a new contract and better pay. But the fact of the matter is, I know senior top-end pay scale flight attendants earning well over $100k per year. Yes they are flying more than 75 hours a month. Our ‘thought leader” author omits the facts about incremental premium pay for different qualifications and trips. (or he just does not know. Definitely this would be shared in a well-balanced report but balanced reporting is not red meat for the readers and hence not $$ in the blogger coffers)

     Anyone with less than 13 years is still getting incremental raises each year. So “haven’t had a raise in 10 years” is a prevarication of the truth. Furthermore, while I can feel some empathy for the Juniors at the low end of the scale, the best practice is to learn everything about a job before pursuing it. Ive known new hires who will brag about $300 shoes or drive luxury cars and then cant pay their bills. Granted, its not a lot of money in the beginning. It can be hard, no doubt, but a person has to want to be in that job and needs to use a little financial restraint until they move up the scale.

148. No one makes these people be a flight attendant. It is common knowledge that starting pay is low. You get a bump in pay every year until you get to the top of the scale. In addition you have the opportunity to work more if you wish to increase your income. FAs also get expense money and time away from base pay. Fly 100 hours a month and you easily clear 50k a year at the lowest step on the pay scale and make 100k at the top. If you can’t live on that the problem is you, not the job. And yes I know what I’m talking about my wife has been flying for a major for 32 years.

149. Gary, thank you for writing about this topic but please make it clear that the hourly pay is for FLIGHT HOUR. If we are on board with passengers and the door isnt closed, we get $0. Boarding- $0. Deplaning- $0. Delays- $0. Time in between flights- $0. New-Hires are making less than 30k, and thats working nights, weekends, and holidays, being at the company’s beck and call.

     To those saying other professions also do unpaid work- yes, but those people are salaried, not hourly.

     The pay used to be bearable when we at least enjoyed our jobs. Now, the morale is so so low. We work longer hours with less sleep. People think “they get to see the world!” Ha ha ha….. yes we see a lot of airport hotels. Hard to see anything with a 17 hour day, on top of the time to get to/from the airport. The only “rest” required by the FAA is 8 hours at the hotel… but we are human and need to eat, shower, wind down, and get up early enough to get ready the next day… so we are looking at 5-6 hours of sleep IF we are lucky enough to fall asleep right away.

     Many FAs, like myself, go to work with the intention of helping people. That is how we derive meaning from the job. What is most disheartening is not being able to be our best selves, and offer the best service, because our most basic needs are not met (sleep, food, enough money for rent).
     Happy employees and a healthy company culture provide the best customer service. I firmly believe that. While I am never rude or mean to passengers, I see a massive difference in my behavior based on if Ive had something to eat that day, and had enough sleep.
     Also, I understand that delays happen, and some days Ill get home hours or even days late. Fine. But please pay me for that time. It is really hard to keep a smile on and help others when I am trying to manage my own emotions about having to work hours more, having my plans cancelled, all without any pay! I am never rude to passengers, but my heart and soul is gone. My smile is fake, because my feelings are so far from happy.

     For those who say “you signed up for this!” The job was much different when I got hired just 7 years ago. I did not sign up for a merger, or this new robotic scheduling system, or all the changes that have come with new management. I, and almost every other FA, used to LOVE this job! We used to be passionate. Some of us still have a glimmer of passion left, which is why we hold on. Many, like myself, are waiting for a new contract to hopefully give us the conditions needed to love our job again. If not, we’ll unfortunately move on to work places that value us and appreciate us. Especially if we are hard workers who have valuable skills (I personally have a Masters degree, and many of my colleagues do too).

     Yes, I complain, and some people get annoyed at that. But it is not empty complaining. It is with a very clear goal of educating people and eventually CHANGING things. Because this is my life, and the lives of 26000 other flight attendants at AA. Why shouldnt we care?

     Thanks to anyone who read all that 🙂

150. Jenny – then quit. Businesses change. You don’t have a right for it to remain what it was 90 years ago when you started (because you sound like one of the ugly old ones that couldn’t rescue a wet paper bag if needed).

151. Flight attendants are an indispensable component to the success of the airline and just underneath the pilots. They are there for the safety of the public. If American can afford to pay the “C” suite executives millions of dollars per year, then they can afford to pay their flight attendants a decent living wage. I would wager that if the airline actually showed that they cared for their cabin crews via a morale boost in the form of a pay raise, they would see the effects in the form of less days calling in sick, more effort devoted to improved customer service and greater efficiencies. Management really does cut their noses off to spite their faces. The old saying that “You get what you pay for!” still rings true.

152. Yep not a high paying job at all they used to do side work and not need paychecks lol but now they have to live on whatever airlines feel like paying them .. and they should get hazard duty pay cause non of them are guaranteed they coming home each day and someone should make airlines pay Hazzard duty pay just like people get that work on buildings above, 3 stories not right .. yes should tip. Them or maybe put in self Stewart machines lol .. they are the backbone of the airlines .. take care of them american airlines before ya don’t have any ..

153. The airline industry is no different than other job right now. Everyone is hurting. The high cost of living is taking its toll on everyone. Flight attendants are not the only employees sleeping in cars, homeless and not able to afford groceries. Just remember this when you head to the polls.

154. Van – yes, flight attendants are often under pilots. Maybe the pilots could leave a twenty on the dresser?

155. Eric Wayne – illiterate hillbilly much? Hazard pay? GFYS. Tip? Sorry, thought you were arguing they were professional?

     They’re in flight waitresses. Talking coke machines as was mentioned elsewhere.

156. The get paid if they work. Sometimes they dont get 40 hrs. And to get a decent monthly pay they need to work extra hours like having 2 jobs. Probably all airlines flight attendants take snacks, drinks, first class goodies.

157. How many of you voted for Biden? You can thank him for the massive inflation.
     Government is paying billions in feeding/housing the constant flood of immigrants and it’s own taxpayers cannot survive. Wake up and stop voting for democrats. ( although there are now probably enough illegal freeloaders that will be allowed to vote for them!

158. I’m a flight attendant that works for air Wisconsin and we fly under America airlines and I’ve been homeless since I started working for the company April 2023.
     They made me move to Wisconsin from Texas and left me out here once I got hurt on the job… Only living on workers comp. If it wasn’t for my kids I really feel that I wouldn’t be alive.
     Becoming a flight attendant was a dream of mine and at the age of 55 I was able to live my dream job, so I thought. This is a field that give the pilots all the benefits, all the bonuses and all the money, they want flight attendants to look beautiful and cater to the passengers and keep a smile on our face but they are not the ones that put the smile on our face. Our union representative is two buddy buddy with companies management to get any thing done for us at Air Wisconsin

159. That’s what you get with a union. When will you guys learn. Delta is non-union and has the best combo of pay and benefits. Raises almost every year.

160. Lynette – liar.

161. Delta FA

     t’s not Non Union

     It’s

     Union Free

162. Why does everyone complain about a job they signed up for? Go get a different job that pays what you want.

163. The bottom line is AA F/A Union wants your union dues then they do nothing to bargain for more pay! It’s an awful representation! My ex and my daughter both work for AA. Weak union representation!