January 28th, 2006
Ask the Readers: Was it Too Harsh for American Airlines to Upbraid its Flight Attendants After 30-40% Salary Cuts?
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Every now and then we like to throw the questioning open to our own readers. Today’s topic: Travel. I travel a lot for work, and enjoy reading travel horror stories, or great rants like the one we posted about the Greatest Complaint Letter Ever Written To An Airline (a must read!) Anyway, today I found an internal memo from American Airlines yelling at flight attendants over their bad attitudes.
So, here’s my question: I fly American all the time and have noticed almost all of the items detailed in the memo. My last flight from LA to San Francisco in fact had the attendant chatting with the row in front of me for most of the flight about how she only works for the benefits, and wine they pour is so awful, and so on. Everyone just looked embarassed. So my question: Is there a point where you cut so much from someone’s pay that you get what you pay for, or should the flight attendants suck it up and do their jobs? Disucss!
From the Internal Memo:
The following is a sampling of comments and feedback we’ve received from two of our bigger corporate accounts in the Northeast, one of which, came on board as a corporate account one year ago following a long relationship with United Airlines.
–Flight Attendants are not enthusiastic, friendly, or helpful.
–“Galley-talk” is distracting, annoying, and makes it difficult to sleep. As a customer, we do not want or need to hear AA’s dirty laundry. All companies have internal issues. However, it is inappropriate to discuss internal issues with your customers that have to do with minimum rest, crew meals and salary reductions.
–Salary cuts – all businesses have had them. Why do your F/A’s think it’s appropriate to discuss with customers?
–A response to a customer’s request is that we are unable to accommodate the customer due to cost cutting by AA.
–After the service is accomplished the Flight Attendant disappears.
–Making a positive impression when you first board an airplane is really important.
–We are afraid of your Flight Attendants and afraid to ask for anything, as they seem annoyed when we do ask for something.
–We’d like some personal recognition, such as being greeted by name.
–First impressions are very important. As you board the airplane, you want to feel welcomed. Often you feel as though you’re imposing on the Flight Attendants.
Read the Complete AA Internal Memo Here
Source: Internalmemos.com
jb says:
I understand their unhappiness — but abusing the customers is a going-out-of-business business, lose your job scenario. You GOTTA be nice to the customers to keep your job, and those flight attendants wouldn’t be there if they could find a similar or better job for more money. Now as to the airline execs — shame on them.
January 28th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Alice says:
well said
January 28th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Daniel says:
I fly American twice a week, every week. I can definately see the attitudes and examples from the letter above. I think in the three-four months I’ve been doing this I’ve gotten maybe a handful of genuine smiles or greetings. Every other time it’s as if I’m impinging on their precious work time.
Everywhere you look there are cutbacks, re-orgs, etc. If the FAs are that unhappy with their company they should look into working for another or find a new profession. Being locked into a sardine can with other people for extended periods of time is sometimes painful enough… having to deal with the FAs attitudes just makes it even worse.
January 28th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Martha Hoffman says:
I fly fairly frequently and for the most part have found
the attendants to be professional and responsible in their
job. There are some who are less than friendly and have
a difficult time smiling - but I also have those days and
pass it off as their having a bad day. On the other hand,
I have encountered many who go the extra yard, are very
helpful and friendly. I think American is a top notch airline
and seldom have a complaint.
January 28th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Mike says:
On the flipside of the argument, if the airlines can find FAs who will work cheerfully for minimum wage plus benefits, without galley talk and poor attitudes, then let them hire them.
I think you’ll find the same problems with FAs as with any near minimum wage situation (see: fast food), you just can’t get enough “happy” people to fill the slots at those wages, yet the slots need to be filled.
Certain parts of Miami, Florida are downright hostile to be in - the entire upper east side can’t find a decent store clerk, waitress, or drive thru window attendant to work there, and I believe it all stems from the disparity between the cost of living and the wages paid. These people are living 8 up in 2 bedroom apartments to make the wages meet the rent, the honest ones, that is - there are other ways to get rent money, and that’s not terribly good for the neighborhood either.
Ultimately, you do have a choice in air travel, and I don’t know if the airlines have noticed or not, but if I can drive it in less than 8 hours, I’ll do that rather than fly these days - years ago my limit was 4, and if it was really a pleasure to fly my limit would be 3.
January 28th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Raisa says:
As a flight attendant for American, I find it old news that you would publish a letter that is over two years old. Yes there may be galley talk occasionally, but for the most part I think we are a group who truly enjoys what we are doing and are willing to make the sacrifices to make our comapny surivive without hurting the customer. Flight attendants have not only given up wages but work rules, vacation, rest time and sanity. Most of us do it because we love what we do. I love my passengers and I make sure they want to fly American again after any flight I work. Please find something a little more current to write about.
January 28th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
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January 28th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Fred says:
“Was is” too much to ask for someone to do a spellcheck? Just “upbraid” your computer if you need the ability…
January 28th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Alice says:
Sorry Fred - I corrected it. Spell checker does not check the title field.
I fly American about every week and I have to say the FAs are some of the best in the bsuiness, but I have noticed a change over the last year in the overall services you get. I’m not talking about big smiles and calling people by name - I have no need for that. I like to hunker down and get the flight over with. But the overall pace is either too fast or to slow, and on routes that have been covered for decades, that should not be the case.
For example, I fly long international hauls and sometimes now you get on the plane, have a drink and before you finished it they bring out the meal, clear the plates and go, and you are left with 6 or 7 more hours to kill, often without any water. Then you never see the FAs again until morning (sometimes they come down the aisle and hand out water bottles), and if you use the call button, let’s just say you only do that once. And I am talking a $9,000 ticket.
It used to be that you had to beg them to stop re-filling your wine and water glasss, or they would serve you the meal when you were ready, but now you either are trapped with your tray and an empty glass and no way out for a long period, or everything is whisked out and cleared up before you have time to think.
Getting to fly busness class is still for me one of the greatest perks you can ever have, but a lot of that came from the way the hours would melt by. They would hand you champagne, then little grooming kits, then cocktails/snacks as long as you liked, hot towels (now they are made of paper), then a nice dinner with multiple courses, then after dinner drinks or coffee, (more hot towels), personal video players with an entire case of DVDs, and it would be this non-stop pampering.
I still feel the American FAs are amazing and good at what they do, but it’s an awful situation for the traveller. The best FAs are in probably business class and they have been with the company for decades. They aren’t going to leave and lose their benefits, and they are very upset, as I would be. Meanwhile the tickets are obscene in price and the passenger just ends up feeling bad. My ticket to Africa in March is close to 13,000 and it will take me three plane changes and 35 hours. You can bet a little care is key, and asking for an extra water bottle or some more champagne should not be an imposition.
Every company has to manage costs and services, but this is a mess that airline management has to address. Otherwise, it’s the FAs and the passengers that suffer and no one is winning anything - not even profits.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Old News says:
You wrote: “Spell checker does not check the title field”
So, what’s your excuse for “embarassed” and “Disucss” in the body of your original message. And “busness” or “bsuiness” as well as “glasss” in your 10:36am post?? Between writing like that and the cracker jack research of yours that unearthed an internal memo that (as Raisa pointed out) is nearly two years old, I’m afraid your credibility suffers more than a little.
You place the onus on airline management to take care of this situation but the true responsibility lies with the very workers to whom the original letter was addressed. My reading of the letter suggests that management WAS trying to address the situation by providing direct customer feedback to the front line employee. Daniel summed it up when he wrote “unhappy with their company they should look into working for another or find a new profession.”
My cracker jack research turned up this little diddy- Now Accepting Resumes: http://www.southwest.com/careers/flight_attendant.html
January 29th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Alice says:
Old News: There is no need to be hostile. I have explained that the spell check add-in for Word Press no longer works. We tried make a guy a copy editor but could not get him the right level of permission to access the threads so we try our best. I will admit that I cannot type one bit and when I proof, I miss things. I apologize. I will try and take more time to get the spelling in order, it is sloppy to see I know.
I have also explained that this site is not solely here to cover four alarm breaking news. We do have major news and previews (Like the new Nokia N70 I posted on Friday) but I also find things here and there that I find interesting even if they did not happen four seconds ago. Did AA fix the problem since that memo? No way. Did I just have an experience this past week with a PA complaining an entire shuttle flight? Yes. So to me the issue is still valid and unsolved, and worth raising
And again, I am not claiming to have the answers. I feel for the PAs. I understand the vise grip the airlines are under, which is why I wanted to hear other viewpoints on the topic.
So my question to you: what is your take? Aside from the Southwest application. I place the onus on management because they own the company - they can fire everyone or get tough, but that’t not the whol;e of what I am asking. My other question was: do you get what you pay for? And is it fair?
January 29th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Corey says:
“Meanwhile the tickets are obscene in price and the passenger just ends up feeling bad. My ticket to Africa in March is close to 13,000 and it will take me three plane changes and 35 hours.”
Have you tried sailing? Safmarine offers berths on their container ships. I don’t know about the price but you can get from Newark to Cape Town SA in about 24 days. (bet that $13,000 doesn’t look so bad now)
January 30th, 2006 at 8:31 am
larry says:
My wife is a FA and a purser and is always professional. If people think that the airlines can cut wages, benefits and working conditions and not have it show up in the workforce you are all quite out of your minds. Yeah there are lots of people who would do this job, but it isn’t working at a mickeydees or being a flying waitron. You may not want to believe it, but your lives are in their hands and there are medical situations, security situations etc that do come up. They have to go to work with the thought of being killed by some terrorist or some kook. And don’t forget they had their coworkers die on Sept 11 a fact that was forgotten quite quickly and easily. Everyone remembers the brave passenger and the people at the WTC but there was not very much on the crews.
So, complain and piss and moan, but my wife and the others out there deserve the pay and better treatment not only from managment but you’all as well.
January 30th, 2006 at 10:10 am
Alice says:
Larry - I totally agree and feel for your wife. An FA is not a flying waitress and I have been amazed at how FAs stay awake and helpful during incredibly long and draining trips. Plus - being on a plane every day and not killing everyone is just beyond me. I have seen rude passengers that truly make you sad to be part of the same species.
But someone has to solve this. You have the airlines going backrupt, the FAs losing massive percentages of salary and benefits, and the passengers filled with air rage. Why can’t someone figure this out?
January 30th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
larry says:
First, let me say I didn’t mean to come off so cranky yesterday. There are bad FA’s out there just like bad service people everywhere. But the FA’s are the least cost to the airline in terms of budget. It has been the spot price of oil that has been hurting them right now.
On long International flights, when my wife flew overseas, she never failed to come back without a story about some weirdness, either from passengers or fellow crew members. She had to cut off liquor many times flying back into the US. And in a way, the FA’s literally walk from one end of the flight to the other. It may not seem that way, but there is always someone in motion if not curtailed by flying conditions.
Lastly, due to the cuts, FA’s have to fly more hours with less rest to keep up with expenses. Her pay cut was our family income loss. And she is gone more hours. So the strain on the employees goes way beyond what the passenger sees.
I don’t know the way out, but I do know lots of bad luck, bad managment, greed and plain stupidity sure led to the current impasse.
January 31st, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Casey says:
@10- Tell me what perfection is like as obviously you have attained it. It seems to me you would be better off (and happier!!) reading a grammar book rather than a site that is focused on tech first and perfect spelling somewhere further down the line. Guess you probably get a kick out of reading other people errors cause it’s probably the only thing that makes you feel good. I dunno and I no longer care. People that get caught up in trivial bs irritate me.
As far as the FA’s acting this way and that it is your opinion that they should go find another job, why immediately take managements side? Seems to me that there is a reason so many FA’s feel this way and since it is so prevalent, it is just common sense that it points to management being the one that has screwed up seeing as it is their job to manage those under them and part of managing is making sure the work environment is good enough to keep your employees happy and productive.
January 31st, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Alice says:
This is being written as we speak from JFK. Just got off flight AA #178 today (San Francisco to NY) and the entire FA staff was amazing. I mean it was like the old days. And they were all friendly and not hostile or anything. Hats off to them becuase it’s a long haul and they handled the whole thing with grace and professionalism.
Next connection: AA flight 116 to Heathrow. Will report in when I get there. Figured I may as well make use of this trip to realy look at the issue up close.
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MMR says:
While there are good FAs at American, there are a few lose cannons also. I think there are great FAs out there who do take pride in their jobs and hopefully will be rewarded, however, there are some with nothing but stewtude and these chicks need to head for the hills. AA is an arrogant, stuck-up airline anyway, so if some have stewtude it doesn’t surprise me. Some of these chicks appear to be living off the coattails of the pilots and, therefore, have a narcisstic attitude. If I ever fly AA again, I certainly will pick up an airdog and coffee on the way into the plane, so I do not have any reason to deal with any of its FAs. I was on a flight to DFW a couple of years ago and a stew broad just wouldn’t leave me alone. After having this chick follow me around for awhile, I learned that all she wanted was to have a pilot marry her and solve all of her financial problems. This type gives all FAs a bad name.
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