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Has it fallen that quickly from being a good job to a bad one, that nobody really wants? Maybe that's the difference. In China becoming a flight attendant is a very good job, and out of all of the people that apply and go through training, only the very best get the jobs.
Nobody wants to be an FA because it pays crap, even at the major airline level, who haven't hired in years. It's even worse for pilots who dump $40k+ on ratings and start at sub $20k/yr.
At my company the majority of the "old timer" F/A's (we're talking 25-30 years at the company) are current nurses. "Back in the day" it used to even be a requirement, back when flying was glamorous.
Yet now to start as an FA you make around $7-$8/hr, gone from home 20-22 days a month, commuting on reserve or on a crappy line, all for less money than you'd make as an admin assistant.
Passengers spoke with their wallets and what they want is cheap tickets they find on obtiz or priceline. Quality is not a factor anymore. The most popular airline these days (Southwest) is the airline that invented the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) movement.
Look up prices on flying vs. taking Greyhound. Greyhound is 99% of the time more expensive yet takes 5x-10x as long.
China's aviation industry is completely different from the US. It is regulated to the "T". My buddy operates the same equipment over there as me and makes 2.5x as much. There is no competition. Before deregulation here in the states flying was great, airlines made money, but tickets were expensive.
I haven't flown on the airlines since 03. That was when I inherited my Cessna T-310 twin engine plane.
I don't care how expensive it is to fly me and my family around, the convenience of not being a slave to the airlines hub-and-spoke schedule, not being felt up by TSA, having our bags pawed through by minimum wage crooks, come and go as we please is priceless.
Oh that's coming too, the TSA already has its sights set on GA. (General Aviation)
Last edited by Crew Chief; 06-13-2009 at 04:41 AM..
I tried not to laugh at the Budweiser story ... but damn ... He got what he deserved. Even had I been sitting next to him and got squirted a bit myself, I still would have laughed.
I'd hate to be a flight attendant. It's hard not to understand why they might be a tad surly now and again: The pay is insulting, the hours are awful, and they have to put up with self-absorbed idiots all day long. It's no picnic being squeezed into a teeny airplane seat for a few hours, but that's nothing compared with what the flight attendants have to endure.
Which might negate at least *some* of the convenience you're enjoying.
Whatever. Just be careful out there.
We poor slobs flying commercial will be careful too.
<opens my bag of pretzels>
A flight attendant's first priority is to save your dumb ass in an emergency. Serving your drink is just a courtesy.
No misunderstanding, and I'll let the TOS violation slide, although you should know better. That is their first priortiy when their IS an emergency, I agree. But what are we talking about? You are off topic. 99.9999% of flights have no emergency (overhead compartments that do not close, crying babies, luggage that doesn't fit in the plane, running out of peanute, etc do not count as emergencies) so I would say their first priority is customer service. But at this point I am not even talking about drinks (in coach I'm lucky if i get a bottle of water), I'm simply talking about service without a scowl.
Flight attendants actually delegate emergency situations to passengers in any event - for passenger control in some situations, and primarily to open up the exits. I sit in an exit row (when I'm not in first, as a frequent flyer I get priority seat choices), during an emergency it will be my dumbass that will likely save your @ss...or maybe not.
Flight attendants actually delegate emergency situations to passengers in any event - for passenger control in some situations, and primarily to open up the exits. I sit in an exit row (when I'm not in first, as a frequent flyer I get priority seat choices), during an emergency it will be my dumbass that will likely save your @ss...or maybe not.
And FA's are also the ones who make sure that passengers who are able to help in an emergency are the one in those exit rows. If it wasn't for them, we'd have the hard of hearing granny and her daughter with the four year old and one year old lap baby sitting there and refusing to budge.
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