7mo ago

American Airlines flight attendants say their pay is so low, they fight for airplane meals to save money and sleep in their cars—and they're ready to strike

fortune.com American Airlines flight attendants say their pay is so low, they fight for airplane meals to save money and sleep in their cars—and they're ready to strike

American Airlines and their flight attendants’ union will head to Washington for negotiations next week.

Work Reform @lemmy.world

fortune.com /2024/06/08/american-airlines-flight-attendants-say-their-pay-is-so-low-they-fight-for-airplane-meals-to-save-money-and-sleep-in-their-cars-and-theyre-ready-to-strike/

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11 comments

I hope they start getting paid based on how many hours they work instead of their time in the air.
- Wow 😮 How is that acceptable🤯
- Everytime I hear this I get more and more pissed off. Boarding is work, if I can be reprimanded for not helping people board then I should be getting paid. The airlines charge is for every little thing and cram us into these flying safety hazards they can spare some coin for the person helping the wheelchair bound elderly person into their seat.
- How many hours do they work when they're not in the air?
  
  Hard to know if you're not a flight attendant, but pretty sure there's plenty of work to do before and after a flight is in the air that they're not being compensated for.
  
  At least an hour and a half if the flight doesn't have any issues.

"American CEO Robert Isom this week sent a video message offering a 17% wage increase, just enough to push new Boston and Miami flight attendants above food stamp eligibility."
So... wait... they need a 17% raise to just barely beat the food stamp threshhold?
In my state, for a single person, that's $29,160 a year or $565 a week.
Their income would have to be 24,924 a year for a 17% raise ($4,237.08) to put them barely ahead of the food stamp line, $29,161.08.
479.31 a week to 560.79 a week.
So right now they're making $11.98 an hour? The new wage would be $14.02 an hour?
Should we be tipping them now?
- I'm not in the know so Im not sure if progress has been made in this regard, but traditionally they also have HOURS on HOURS of unpaid time, IIRC only paid for flight time basically.
  Edit: https://viewfromthewing.com/why-flight-attendants-dont-get-paid-until-aircraft-doors-close/

"...they fight for airplane meals...", now we know what goes on behind the curtain, a Mile-High Fight Club!

Until they are senior the pay SUCKS ass, especially if they are on reserve. Sit around for hours and hope to get paid. The are only paid once that aircraft door gets closed to the time it gets opened at the destination.
Source: Used to work for American Airlines, not as a FA, thank Jebus

But I was told it's just people freely entering into work agreements with their employers completely by choice. 🤔

11 comments