Lifetime Career

When Air Products sent me off into the Wild Blue Yonder in the 1970s, flying

was, if not fun, bearable. Free hot meals were served on flights as short as 45 minutes. When landings were delayed as the plane circled a busy airport, alcohol was free. Best of all, flight attendants were, by regulation, female, single, under 30, and less than 130 lbs. Clearly, this was not a lifetime career. The stewardesses maintained good humor while putting up with a lot.

When flight attendants unionized in the ’80s, it became a lifetime career. It was disconcerting when the airline employee responsible for my safety in an emergency was older and more feeble than I was.

When deregulation hit, the airlines cut costs at the expense of their workers. A Washington Post article today noted that newly-hired flight attendants make only $27 K per year and cannot supplement that with outside jobs since they are always “on call”. Refuse a posting and lose your job. The max yearly wage after twenty years service is only $75 K

Planes are more crowded than ever. My guess is that passengers have not become better behaved. I am not going to become a flight attendant as a second career.

By Ed Dufton