March 17, 1999
ALPA, Intl
Committees
A single
mother at the time, Metcalf had trouble making ends meet on her training salary. But she
knew it was only for a short while and once her career with America West took off, she
would never need such assistance again. Now, a looming strike at the Phoenix-based airline
has Metcalf and other flight attendants worried about their future. Many have been working
more hours to put money aside. Others have secured part-time jobs just in case.
On Tuesday, the airline revoked the flight passes of flight attendants and other
employees, meaning that they will need tickets to fly while off duty. Strike negotiations
resume today.
For many flight attendants, the disenchantment goes deeper than their differences with
America West, piercing the heart of a profession that has seen better days.
“It’s a very scary time for many flight attendants,” explains Metcalf, who
has worked for America West for about 13 years. “Many people think that we have
exciting jobs and that we must get paid very well. That isn’t reality.”
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In fact, the job of a flight attendant isn’t very glamorous. The profession is
marked with low pay, stressful working conditions and uncertainty as airline managers
continue to find ways to cut costs and increase profit margins.
“It isn’t the job it once was,” laments Deanna Clarkson, who has worked
America West for 14 years. “It’s very sad.” From her home in central
Phoenix, Clarkson talks about the glory days. The pay was decent. The passengers were
mannerly and genteel. And the hours allowed her to spend time with her son, who is now 7.
But the times have changed. One big shift is declining wages. Clarkson says she now
earns 90 percent of what she earned in 1991. That’s because America West took a
financial nose dive and was forced into bankruptcy.
At TWA, flight attendants have seen their salaries drop about 25 percent since 1985.
Bankruptcy also was to blame. Steve Johnson, America West senior vice president of
corporate affairs, disputes any claim that flight attendants are paid 10 percent less
today than in 1991.
He acknowledged that all employees, not just the flight attendants, took a 10 percent
pay cut in 1991 when the airline went into bankruptcy. But he said that all employees had
their salaries restored to pre-bankruptcy levels in 1994 and that the flight attendants
and other employees have been receiving annual raises since then.
Johnson acknowledged that the flight attendants have sacrificed a lot for the company
and deserve higher wages. At America West, base salaries for flight attendants start at
$12,852, among the lowest in the industry, and peak at about $21,900 after 12 years of
service. TWA entry-level attendants must pay for their six-week training and then receive
base salaries of $13,212 a year. Base salaries peak at $25,000 to $28,000 a year for
flight attendants who have 12 years of seniority.
The best attendants’ wages are at United Airlines, which has starting salaries at
$17,154 and reach about $40,000 a year after 14 years of service. To make up for the lost
wages, Clarkson and other flight attendants pick up extra flights.
On an average schedule, Clarkson can earn $22,000 a year. But with the overtime, she
can make $35,000. But that isn’t without consequences. She doesn’t get as much
time with her son. Clarkson works a three-day trip. With her latest schedule, she arrives
at the airport on Tuesday at 5 a.m. for a 6 o’clock flight to Orange County. From
there, it’s back to Phoenix, on to Sacramento and then to Las Vegas. It’s
mid-afternoon by this time, too early to call it a day. So Clarkson and the crew head back
to Orange County and then back to Las Vegas before retiring.
The scene is repeated on Wednesday. But on Thursday, she finishes her day at 2:30 p.m.
and heads straight to pick up her son at her parents’ home. “It can be very
grueling and tiring,” Clarkson admits, adding that there are no lunch or dinner
breaks. With airlines eliminating hot meals, flight attendants must bring their own food
on the road. “That means lots of soup in a cup, baked potatoes and salad in a
bag.” With such low wages, many flight attendants find it impossible to save money.
Many find part-time jobs to save money for down payments on a home or simply to get ahead.
Clarkson recently found another job in case the flight attendants go on strike.
“On these salaries, you aren’t able to save very much money for these types
of emergencies,” she confesses. “So I had to find something to pay the bills if
the worst happens.”
In addition to financial concerns, flight attendants also worry about rising passenger
aggression. Ten years ago, flight-attendant assaults were extremely rare, according the
Association of Flight Attendants in Washington, D.C. The union studied the rising tide of
violence on United Airlines and found that in 1993, 54 flight attendants reported being
assaulted. Last year, however, there were more than 100 violent acts committed. There are
many reasons for the midair fracases, according to William McGlashen, president of the
Association of Flight Attendants chapter in Phoenix and an America West attendant.
One is the cramped passenger quarters that have been created as airlines have been
squeezing more seats onto planes, McGlashen explains. About 10 years ago, there were 106
seats on a Boeing 737. Now, there are 122 seats.
To make matters worse, passengers are getting less service. Meals have been eliminated
on many routes, and some airlines don’t show movies anymore. Add alcohol to the
equation, and flight attendants have an explosive situation on their hands, McGlashen
said. “I don’t like how things have changed. But it’s still a great
job,” he said. All those factors helped fuel a fistfight on a flight Metcalf was
working recently. She says the flight was packed and a woman on board was drinking too
much and getting unruly. When Metcalf refused to serve her another drink, the woman
petitioned the man sitting beside her to get one for her. He declined and she slapped him.
“It was horrible,” recalls Metcalf. “Just think about it. You can’t
kick anyone out. You have to diffuse the situation until you arrive at your
destination.”
Verbal abuse, however, is more common. Metcalf says she is shocked at the names
passengers have called flight attendants. “Lots of passengers don’t have as much
respect for the flight crew,” she says. Flight attendants attribute this to changing
opinions about their profession over the years.
In 1930, when “stewardesses” debuted at United Airlines, all were registered
nurses, with their primary purpose safety. Few are nurses today, but flight attendants
still focus on safety, and their training has been widened to handle other emergencies
such as crash evacuations and terrorism. Airlines, however, didn’t maintain that
image. For instance, the now-defunct National Airlines in the 1970s aired some racy
television commercials. One showed a flight attendant in a bikini sauntering toward the
camera and proclaiming, “I’m Jennifer and I’m going to fly you like
you’ve never been flown before.”
In another, flight attendants asked viewers to “Fly me.” And a Continental
Airlines spot highlighted flight attendants telling viewers, “We really move our
tails for you.” The image of flight attendants never completely recovered from such
ads. On a recent afternoon flight from Phoenix to San Antonio, flight attendants battled
some of the problems of their trade. The passengers in row 15 are having their fourth beer
after only being in the air one hour. Their shouting is starting to annoy passengers
around them and a flight attendant asks them to keep their voices down.
Up the way, an elderly couple is complaining about the snack—a bag of peanuts and
a beverage. They tell the flight attendants that they didn’t eat lunch and are
feeling very weak. “People expect so much from us sometimes,” a weary attendant
says. Even with all the problems, few flight attendants would trade their jobs for
another.
“I love what I do. I’ve gone to so many different places,” explains
Clarkson. “Yeah, you get some rude people and that was rare before. But you get to
meet so many interesting people and there are so many other people who are still
thoughtful.”
For instance, she says, the other day a regular passenger to Orange County brought all
the flight attendants ice cream sundaes. “People like that restore your faith,”
she says. “I don’t think I could ever do anything else.”
| Flight Attendants Recall Glory Days by Julie Amparano, The Arizona Republic |
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| During her early days at America West, flight attendant Mary Metcalf needed food stamps to support her family. |