Flight attendants at American Airlines, frustrated by lack of progress on a new contract, have gone online to commiserate and share how much they’re struggling day to day with a raise. Some don’t have money for gas to get to the airport, or to pay their bills and buy food so they make up for it pocketing snacks from the first class snack basket. Some of the stories are heart wrenching.
American Airlines Flight Attendants Haven’t Had A New Pay Deal In 9 Years
Cabin crew flight attendants have been working under an agreement that ran December 2014 through December 2019.
This was the agreement that went along with the acquisition of American Airlines by US Airways. It was the default agreement if union members didn’t vote for a negotiated contract. They didn’t, so this agreement was imposed, though American Airlines voluntarily gave higher wages than they were required to.
The contract became ‘amendable’ in December 2019, right before the pandemic, and that delayed negotiations. But those negotiations have now dragged on and flight attendants are frustrated. They asked the National Mediation Board to release them from negotiations into self-help, allowing them to strike. This would have meant a Christmas strike. But the Board, dominated by Biden Administration appointees, sent them back to the bargaining table instead.
Cabin Crew Are Sharing Their Struggles – And Confessions – Online
The airline’s flight attendants have been sharing stories online about how tough they have it under the current contract, which is now nine years old. Inflation has eroded the value of their wages around 16% since December 2019. Here are some of their stories.
Our FAAmily- Our Times of Struggle
I completed a 3-day domestic trip last month with one flight back to Dallas. We were coming in late that evening and once we arrived at the gate and deplaned, one of our New Professional Flight Attendants working the trip appeared to be in a state of distress with tears in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong? Did something happen? He shook his head for no.
He then went on to say that when he started the trip, he barely made it to the employee parking lot because his car was nearly empty, and he did not have any money for gas. He then went on to say that he had not eaten at all during the trip besides snacks from the airplane. My heart immediately sank! I asked him why he did not say anything on our layovers? I thought he was just a slam-clicker and didn’t want to socialize. He shares a place with some people that he is renting a room from in Dallas, that is an hour’s drive away from the airport. He did not want to sleep in the crew room at the airport and was too embarrassed to ask for money for food and help.
He was crying and let me tell you I cried and my heart completely broke. I told him once we got to the employee parking lot, I would follow him to the nearest gas station, and I filled up his car and then I gave him money for food for a few days.
I would like the Nation to know, THIS IS OUR REALITY here at American Airlines.
This is the HARSH REALITY of 5 years (9 years since the last contract was initiated) without a significant RAISE, mixed with outrageous crippling inflation and the sad toll that it is having on our FAAmily.
We have been waiting for a NEW CONTRACT and have been in negotiations since 2019 when our contract expired. What corporate is doing by dragging out these negotiations, is absolutely maddening and disgusting to say the least. I am so hurt and beyond that, I am ANGRY at the way this company is treating their largest workgroup and the face of their airline, the Flight Attendants.
What American Airlines is carelessly doing is having a great effect on the mental, emotional and physical health of our FAAmily; more than people know.
I want to let the public know, how cruel American Airlines is and that something needs to be done NOW to stop their blunt mistreatment to their Flight Attendants.
Flight Attendants sleeping out of their cars, having to go find 2-3 jobs just to make ends meet and applying for government assistance is an outrage. None of these things should be happening. Our job is not part-time. This is a FULL-TIME JOB. This is modern day employee slavery.
We are a FAAmily of 28,000 Flight Attendants.
FA’s sleeping out of their cars, having to go find 2-3 jobs just to make ends meet and applying for government assistance is an outrage…Our job is not part-time. This is a FULL-TIME JOB.
If it weren’t for my husband’s second income, I would not be able to survive. The fact that I’ve been at this job for almost 8 years and I’m still struggling is so ridiculous. I feel so bad for these new hires! it’s unlivable wages!!
I’m a year and a half in. I’m 50 years old and can’t afford to live on my own. I rent a room with wonderful people. I’m truly grateful. But I work 3 jobs just to pay my bills. I struggle and I should not struggle at this time in my life. ..We deserve a worthy contract to be paid for our worth. I’m tired of working multiple jobs just to live. I would have to work 5 jobs to live on my own. I don’t have a husband…I have barely been able to buy anything for Christmas…just a little present for my kids and my parents and it’s not much.
I flew with a newbie that looked so tired and hungry. Literally. She had holes in her shoes. She was working another job along with being an FA and told me she has to pick between paying her bills and food. I fed her every leg I could and the crew shared food with her. SO MANY FA’s are STRUGGLING. A couple dollars to their name after they pay bills. Selling their cars, moving in with parents etc.
I had to call out sick on reserve on month because I didn’t have money for gas and toll to get ot the airport or to get any groceries to make food for the trip. Snacking from the first class basket has helped, but only does so much.
Working As A Flight Attendant Can Be Rough
Working as a flight attendant can be a rough life. Here are 9 reasons why, 8 of which aren’t even the pay.
- 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.
There’s no question that it’s tough to live on $30,000 a year at the start. In inflation-adjusted terms that’s what the $21,000 I made right out of school is worth today. It’s fine if you’re not trying to support a family, but there’s not a lot of space for luxuries. Many flight attendants work a second job.
If you live somewhere other than where you’re based, things are tougher. You need to chip in for a shared “crash pad” so that you’re available at your ‘base’ city when you’re scheduled to work, especially when you’re on reserve.
But It’s Not ‘Modern Slavery’
Let’s dispense with the notion that this is ‘modern day slavery.’ Working as a flight attendant for American Airlines is 100% voluntary. It’s not even indentured servitude, crewmembers can leave whenever they wish.
Any ‘lock-in’ effect in the job is the result of union-led seniority. A flight attendant can’t just go get a job as cabin crew at another U.S. airline without taking a pay cut, since they’d start at the bottom of the seniority list.
Crewmembers take the job knowing what the pay scale is, and can leave for other work. A flight attendant job at a U.S. commercial airline will never not be tough financially (as many jobs are tough financially). One binding constraint is that the value of the wage can’t exceed the value of marginal product.
- Knowing what the pay scale is, I’m not sure why someone is surprised by what they’re making eight years in
- Or why doing the same tasks at the same job will mean materially more money in the future
Much of the allure of becoming a flight attendant is seeing the world, not high wages, though for some it’s better pay than they’d get elsewhere. But the overall pay from the job isn’t likely to materially change.
This Won’t Suddenly Become Lucrative Work
The main value add to their employer is that they satisfy the 1:50 regulatory requirement, that an airline can’t fly without at least 1 flight attendant per 50 seats on their aircraft. That’s not true everywhere! Service can drive a revenue premium, but that’s not how American Airlines is set up.
And there are long lines of people interested in becoming flight attendants, even at these wages. Airlines frequently say they’re more selective than Harvard when it comes to getting into a training class (though I wonder how good a job most airlines do at the selecting piece).
The Best Bet For Improved Pay Is Realistic Expectations
I wonder if flight attendants realize that their employer has offered them a contract that would equal top pay in the industry already?
Every day that negotiations drag on is costing them money, since they won’t get a pilot deal with an up front bonus equal to all the back pay they would have earned as if whatever final deal they reach were effective the day their contract had become amendable. (The longer a deal takes, the more money the airline saves.)
With flight attendant union officer campaigns in full swing, their leadership cannot appear to be soft on the company and cut a deal for less than members have been told all along to expect.
And American Airlines, the financially weakest of the large U.S. airlines, isn’t in a position to pay more than peers.
A Path Towards Better Pay At American Airlines
There are basically two ways to get paid more as a union worker at American Airlines. One is to wait until other airlines pay more, and engage in pattern bargaining. That’s more or less what happened for pilots. And the American Airlines union could wait to see what kind of deal United flight attendants get. But they’d be delaying any raise in the interim, and improvements are likely to be marginal.
The only way to actually transform the pay structure is to deliver more value to the company. A starting place is to ask why American Airlines is financially weakest? They have high costs and low revenue. Unlike Delta, people don’t pay a premium to fly their product. The airline needs to be better.
For years American kept saying if they could become reliable that would solve everything. But their reliability has improved and their financial performance hasn’t. Reliability is table stakes, necessary but not sufficient.
American actually should pay flight attendants more but they should get something in return. It shouldn’t be more pay for the same people to do so the same (or less) work. They should insist on accountability in executing service standards, and those standards should be higher than they are today, so that customers enjoy the product more and are more willing to pay a premium to get that product over others.
That’s how flight attendants can create more value, earn more money for the company, and justify higher wages.
Please !!! Someone block Walter ! He has NO idea what he’s talking about He is RUDE !! Hope he’s flying another airline !!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Some of the stories are heart wrenching.”
Which suggests they are more accomplished in the art of creative writing.
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.
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!!
22 year FA here JFK based. Pulling in well over 100k a year. I’m not broke!
“Please !!! Someone block Walter !”
Why, because he wrote something you didn’t agree with? Is this your first day on the internet?
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.
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.
Why do so many apply for in flight jobs if this is the reality of a flight attendant?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That math isn’t adding up; $30 an hour is about $60k annual, not $30k.
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.
@Anthony – they only are paid for half those hours
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.
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.
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.
What about those inflights who are work with jetblue, Frontler, spirit.. they are struggling to survive with minimum hours and salary
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.
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
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.
@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.
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.
@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.
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
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.
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.
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.
“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…”
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.
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.
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.
its sad that grown adults do not know how to manage their money so they do not have to feel like victims.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
23yr Commie – cry me a river. Your jealousy is showing. You want more? Do more. They did.
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.