Pros
Travel the world.. that is, on their terms not yours. To elaborate, yes you can travel anywhere you like on your free time, however the company will starve you of your time, call you in desperation on your days off, and pay you a salary worth approximately $7 an hour. So when you do have the time to tour the world, you'll be way to broke to do so. Enjoy your 30 hour overnight in flyover America because thats your sightseeing. Great co-workers. F/As and pilots really have to stick together. We all know were abused by the company so we try to be kind to one another. The friendship value I've made here is way greater than the job itself. Fast track to grey hair if you like that sort of thing Good exercise, running all over terminals with 50 pounds of luggage in heels and a smile is enough to make you sweat. There is Air conditioning sometimes.
Cons
**UPDATE when the CEO finally decides to make way overdue improvements to our working conditions and contract, he makes sure they word things very specifically in the MOU to pacify the outrage. The changes made sound good in summary but READ THE FINE PRINT VERY WELL. They are experts at making it look like you have benefits but there are very specific parameters for you to actually recieve them. I LIVED IN MY CAR TO WORK THIS JOB. No, the company will not help you nor do they care. I told the company many times and tried asking for help and was only returned with "sorry, that sucks". Maybe try counseling.. Shift coverage is the only thing they care about and they don't care who they have to step on to get it. MONEY HUNGRY AND GREEDY CEO. This is his money making machine, you are cheap and replaceable as a flight attendant so he does not care for you. He will prove this every time he addresses the company with empty his statements and videos. Can't wait to see the pathetic pizza party we get for this.. eyeroll. Calculated income at less than 20K, don't let the hourly rate fool you. You can see my W2 Union that won't fight for our rights for a decent work cycle You will never have time for errands or a home life. Unless you live next to a major airport all of your off time is spent commuting to work, getting ready for the next trip, and attempting to rest your feet. You get to watch the pilots work too hard for less than they deserve Crew scheduling constantly calls you on your off time, makes every attempt to reduce you to minimum rest and is constantly breaking our contract. Whatever schedule you get you will have to take, NO MODIFICATIONS of your schedule will be accepted. Forget about your family and holidays, the senior attendants will take all of them so don't even try. Overall flight attendant morale is extremely low, but were all here to talk each other off the bridge. People will ask you if your partner abuses you. I collect so many random bruises here. Ive got a fist sized bruise on my thigh currently from being thrown in the turbulence a week ago. Buy your own overpriced low quality uniforms There is no such thing as breakfast, lunch, or dinner breaks, and the company will be mad at you for delaying a flight to get any sort of nutrition (you do not get meal tickets for the airport either, but a crew 10% discount will knock the airport prices to about where they were before they were hiked up) Have fun carrying around 5 days worth of foon in a 1 foot by 6 inch lunch bag that you will also have to buy yourself. Buy all of your own luggage-this adds up, you'll have to replace things often after being abused on every overnight, stuffed in overhead bins, etc. Passengers treat you like garbage, go be a waitress if you like this kind of abuse. At least that will make you some money. Calling out sick, among many things, counts as an occurrence (get 8 times and youre fired) if you didn't make your trip ON TIME and you didnt die pretty much, you get an occurrence no exceptions. Despite our complaints the company continues to put us in run down hotels, I could write pages of nasty things I've seen, but I'll spare you. Use your imagination, its happened. The company will not provide international cell coverage so if you're working on a trip out of country and you need to make a call (even if its to the company) you pay for it.. been here a lot. I feel like I'm leaving a lot out but this is most of the big stuff. Good luck on your search (go mainline if you want to fly)
