Nutty flight attendant Slater leaves JetBlue, claims he wasn’t fired

by Tom Johansmeyer on

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For JetBlue, at least, the Steven Slater saga appears to be finished. The flight attendant who couldn’t handle his passenger safety cart-pushing responsibilities any longer resigned from JetBlue last week, according to his attorney. Initially, the delusional employee wanted his old job back. JetBlue has said that Slater is no longer an employee but didn’t mention whose choice it was.

Following his ride to fame down the emergency slide, Slater was suspended by JetBlue, which was planning to investigate. Internally, the company referred to Slater as being as “dangerous as a gun.”

This is the end of a career that may have lasted two decades, depending on how much of Slater’s math you trust, and he spent the last three years at JetBlue.

Of course, Slater isn’t out of the woods yet. The flight attendant, lauded by airline employees as a show of customer contempt envy and solidarity, still has to contend with criminal charges, including criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. His next court date is today.

Ryanair CEO questions the need for the co-pilot – wants to replace them with flight attendants

by Scott Carmichael on

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary is making the news again. And as usual, the news is controversial and absurd. O’Leary is apparently fed up with paying for two people to fly his planes, and wants to convince safety regulators that one pilot would be more than enough. In a magazine interview, O’Leary had the following to say:

Why does every plane have two pilots? Really, you only need one pilot. Let’s take out the second pilot. Let the bloody computer fly it.

When asked what would happen in an emergency, leaving the plane without a pilot, he replied that specially trained flight attendants could assist:

If the pilot has an emergency, he rings the bell, he calls her in. She could take over.

Of course, pilots and their unions are furious, as it tries to paint a picture that planes fly themselves and don’t really need anyone at the controls. A spokesman for the British Airline Pilots Association said:

Are there no lengths to which he will not go to get publicity? His suggestion is unwise, unsafe and the public will be horrified.

After O’Leary made the news with proposals for a paid bathroom, standing room and long haul flights with free oral sex, you almost have to question his sanity. Still, he can’t be all that crazy, as his airline is one of the most profitable in the world. Earlier this year, British Airways took a reverse approach when they retrained some of their pilots to work as flight attendants during a strike.

What do you think? Is this another publicity stunt, or could his airline actually save millions by removing the co-pilot?

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[Photo from AFP/Getty]

Five reasons flight attendants should become Wal-Mart greeters

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Flight attendant complaints about compensation are not unusual, but they’ve certainly gained momentum with the recent admission of food stamp use by one. Sure, it’s a low-paying gig – the average income of $35,000 isn’t what newbies to the friendly skies are pulling down. Some make less than $20,000 a year, which is tough in just about any part of the country. The work isn’t easy, especially for the thin comp. So, it does make me wonder why more haven’t quit and picked up easier jobs for the same pay.

Maybe it makes more sense to become a greeter at Wal-Mart? If the pay is comparable and the life isn’t as hard, why not?

Based on federal minimum wage of $7.25 and the 70-hour work week I’ve heard flight attendants claim, that comes to $507.50 a week and $25,375 a year. This assumes two weeks off unpaid (for mental health) and no overtime, since the work may have to be split across two Wal-Mart locations, because of shift availability.

How do the two gigs stack up? Well, becoming a greeter might just be the perfect alternative to pushing the beverage cart.1. The financials
While a 70-hour work week at Wal-Mart, at $25,375 (with no overtime pay), does fall short of the $35,000 or so average flight attendant compensation, it does stack up against starting pay at some carriers reasonably well. And let’s face it: you can’t expect to start at the top, right? Now if you build in some time-and-a-half, you’re looking at $39,875 in greeter pay at minimum wage. My advice: flight attendants choosing this route should opt for a Wal-Mart location that is short-staffed.

2. No prolonged customer exposure
While a flight attendant can be trapped working on a plane for hours with the same loathsome people, the greeter only deals with customers on the way in and may notice them on the way out. The interaction is fleeting, making it difficult to become annoyed by the personality types that can stand out in the cabin three hours into a trans-Atlantic flight.

3. Still responsible for safety
As any soldier will tell you, it’s tough to move from a job where people’s lives are on the line to one in which what is considered a high priority doesn’t involve the risk of fatality. I’m sure this is an issue for flight attendants, as well. The good news is that Wal-Mart greeters can see their share of life-or-death action, especially when there’s a big sale. Think back to the 2008 Black Friday death at the Wal-Mart in Queens if you need proof. Also, there’s always a chance one of the “people of Wal-Mart” will have a heart attack before making it through the door. Time to spring into action!

4. No union nightmares
Flight attendants who lament insufficient union protection won’t have to worry about that at Wal-Mart, which isn’t exactly friendly to organized labor. If you think something of value is lost in this arrangement, look back to point #1 above. Flight attendants looking to trade one polyester uniform for another will get by just fine with federal minimum wage protection.

5. Nobody’s griping for an upgrade
Why not? Well, I have no idea how you could possibly be upgraded in any Wal-Mart transaction. So, you can be sure the usual collection of white-collar business travelers won’t be bothering you at the door for priority of entry or a better shopping cart.

What can flight attendants in Manhattan do? Wal-Mart is conspicuously absent from this borough, making it one of the few places in the country that isn’t home to one of this American institution’s stores. Well, there are countless Starbucks locations, and they’ll even teach you how to make a latte!

[photo by FaceMePLS via Flickr]

Galley Gossip: How much do flight attendants get paid?

by Heather Poole on
In 1995 I made $18,000 a year working for a major U.S. carrier. Nowadays most newly hired flight attendants make even less than that. This is because right after 9/11 the majority of flight attendants took huge pay cuts in order to help keep the airlines up and running. Not only did I lose 30% of my salary, I’m still not making what I did before the terrorists did what they did that day in 2001. The only reason I bring this up is because flight attendants that are hired today work harder than ever before, are paid less to do so, and may never make what I do now because salaries are capped after a certain number of years on the job.

How much do flight attendants make? It depends on the carrier, company seniority, and number of hours worked each month. On average flight attendants make $35,000-$40,000 a year. What most people don’t realize is newly hired flight attendants in the U.S. start out only making between $14,000 – $18,000 a year. While some flight attendants manage to top out near the end of their careers at $60,000 (I’ve even heard rumors of flight attendants making as much as $80,000) the only way to do this is to work a killer schedule picking up incentive pay along the way for things like speaking another language and flying the lead position (or both).

Beginning salaries vary by carrier with major airlines paying more than smaller ones. Regardless of experience new hires start out at the same hourly rate and each year are given a raise based on an already established pay scale. It’s important to note that most flight attendants max out on pay after ten to twelve years on the job. Flight attendants are paid hourly, not annually, for flying time only. This means the time clock doesn’t start ticking until the aircraft door is closed and the airplane has backed away from the gate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, flight attendants generally work 65-90 hours each month and spend another 50 (unpaid) hours on the ground preparing planes for flights, writing reports following completed flights and waiting around for planes to arrive.

Working 75 hours a month probably sounds pretty great. Well I’m here to tell you it is. That’s why many of us took the job in the first place. I can usually get 75 hours worth of flying by working just twelve to fifteen days a month. But due to pay cuts after 9/11 most flight attendants are forced to work high time (100 plus hours a month) or take on second jobs in order to make ends meet. I met one such flight attendant at a restaurant near Times Square who told me he worked for Delta AFTER I mentioned he’d make a wonderful flight attendant because of his outgoing and friendly personality.

So why don’t we just work more hours? Due to FAA regulations flight attendants can only work so many hours a day and so many days in a row without a day off. 150 hours is the most I’ve ever heard of a flight attendant working in a single month. How does one get that many hours in just 30 days? They only work high time international routes, which means they must have enough company seniority to hold the most desirable trips. After six days of flying, flight attendants are required to take a 24 hour rest. The way around this is take a day off on a layover – that is if there are any trips with 24 hour layovers available to work. Trips must be scheduled NOT back to back, but overlapping, meaning a flight attendant will land at 5 a.m, sleep all day, and then take off again twelve hours later on a flight departing after 6 p.m. And passengers wonder why flight attendants are cranky.

Now let’s break down the hourly rate. Take a flight attendant whose been working twelve years on the job. Let’s say he makes thirty dollars an hour because he works for one of the top paying carriers. If that flight attendant worked a Los Angeles – New York, two-day trip worth eleven hours and change he would only get paid about $339. But when you take into account all the time he’s away from home, at least twenty-four hours, and add that into the equation this flight attendant is making about $13 an hour. That’s not bad, but the flight attendant is working a good trip, meaning a trip that only the most senior flight attendants can hold. Now let’s take a more common 15 hour, 3-day trip and that same flight attendant now makes less than $10 an hour. Sure that’s better than minimum wage, but don’t forget this flight attendant can’t do laundry, run errands, hang out with friends, or tuck his children into bed at night when he’s away. He’s also working weekends and holidays and missing important events for the rest of his life – unless he’s off reserve. With fifteen years seniority at my airline I’m still on reserve at the most junior base in the system. Is that worth $9 an hour? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the person I guess. Keep in mind this same flight attendant is making top pay. If a first year flight attendant were to work the same trip and you were to take into account all those unpaid hours on company time, this flight attendant will make less than minimum wage. Flight attendants are a lot of things, but overpaid is not one of them.

After I graduated from college I actually gave up an opportunity to work for a well-known clothing line in New York City because they only offered 50K to start. I didn’t think that was enough to live on in one of the most expensive cities in the world. A year later I wound up living in Queens with so many roommates I have no idea how so many of us lived in the house while working for an airline that paid less $20,000 a year. I figured I’d do the job for a little while and eventually move on. But like so many flight attendants the job got into my blood and, well, I never moved on and I wound up having the best time of my life! For me life is about experiences and that’s one thing the job still offers, lots and lots of amazing and unusual experiences. Even though the job has changed drastically over the last few years and the pay isn’t all that great, whenever someone tells me they want to become a flight attendant I still say go for it! But I also explain how important it is to have a college degree and a back up plan in case the job doesn’t work out or the airline goes bust.

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Photos courtesy of Heather Poole and Davity Dave

Some flight attendants worse than drunk passengers says survey

by Tom Johansmeyer on

“Surly demeanor” is what bugs passengers most about flight attendants, confirming any suspicion anyone’s ever had about customer service in the airline industry. More than 5,100 readers weighed in on a USA Today survey, with 38 percent saying that attitude was the worst part of dealing with flight attendants.

What else can’t we stand about flight attendants? According to USA Today, 21 percent of respondents can’t stand flight attendants “gabbing together in the back”, with 20 percent irritated when they won’t deal with “unruly passengers.” Twelve percent of passengers are annoyed by the “schoolmarm attitude” and 9 percent by drink and food service that isn’t fast enough. I suspect the 9 percent result would have been higher if so many amenities hadn’t been cut during the recession … which has effectively eased the workload.

The results were surprising, according to the article, which thought passengers would be irked by flight attendants who won’t deal with problematic passengers, but it seems we don’t like flight attendants more than we don’t like our fellow fliers:

I thought refusing to deal with bothersome passengers would come out higher; that’s what irks me most. I rarely have seen an FA challenge an obnoxious drunk, the person who hogs more than his or her share of space or the loud talker who clearly is making the flight miserable for anyone within earshot.

[photo by alexindigo via Flickr]