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Horror Stories from the World of Flight Attendants
Well, every time we get on a plane, it's another adventure. And a lot of us are a little concerned because we're not having a good day when we get on. But think about those flight attendants. Are they having a good day? Well, Washington Post travel reporter, Natalie Compton, took a deep dive at what flight attendants go through. And I had to tell you, Natalie, I was shocked when I read about what their lifestyle really is, especially when they first get started. I think most of the traveling public would be in the same position, totally shocked to hear some of the stories that I found out reporting on this story. So the origin of it was, in May, the Alaska Airlines flight attendant union released a survey of its members. And 9% of respondents reported that they have been homeless in the last year or lived out of their car or in a shelter. And once I heard that figure, I ended up interviewing 18 current and former flight attendants. And many of them had similar stories of living out of their car at the airport, having to go to a shelter, not having anywhere to live, because their pay is so low. I mean, that is just unbelievable to think that the people that we're relying on for our safety once we get on that plane are sleeping in a car at the airport. One woman had been a flight attendant for 16 years. So she had plenty of experience on the job. She was living at LAX, even with her teenage son would have to stay in the car with her sometimes. And she was having threats that they were going to call child protective services. That wasn't an appropriate place for a teenager to live, but she had no other choice. She had already sent her other daughter to go live with her parents in another state. So I just heard so many of these tragic stories, flight attendants doing multiple jobs, staying up all night, driving lifts, then getting on a plane. And like you said, these people are there for your safety. And so if they can't afford to get a night's sleep because they have to work a second job, that's a problem for a lot of people. - Well, you mentioned that second job. And as you said, some of them go without sleep. Tell about some of the flight attendants you talk to and how long they were sleepless and they still would get on these flights to work. - The one person who really had a shocking story to me lives in Atlanta and she works for Frontier Airlines. She got this job after switching careers and was very excited with the prospect of, "Oh, I'm gonna get something like 20 something dollars "an hour pay," but what a lot of people don't realize is flight attendants don't get paid until either the boarding door is closed or the breaks have been released from the plane. They're not getting paid during boarding, they're not getting paid when they're at the airport. So their actual take on pay for this woman was $23,000 a year before taxes. And so to make ends meet, she was driving lift as much as possible, she was doing dog walking and she told me about multiple times that she has gotten up at four in the morning to drive lift, been in the car all day driving, then gets a call from Frontier. I need to show up for a flight. I'm on call 'cause I'm a new flight attendant, goes and flies for eight hours, gets home, gets back in the car and keeps driving lift because she has no other choice. So it is just a really shocking thing to hear because that means you have that person who was tired while they are driving you and tired while they're on the plane and it's just really heartbreaking. She'd already done everything she could. She had gotten rid of her apartment and was trying to stay rent by living with a friend. And still, it was just not working out for her on this one salary. - Well, I know in your article, you describe these crash houses that a lot of flight attendants stay in while they're waiting for their next flight. - Crash pods are an industry standard and not unusual for flight attendants. Some of them can be very nice and it's almost like a hostel or you can get one that is so nice. It's like your own little apartment. It's supposed to be this, in the name, crash pad for people usually if they are not living in that city. Okay, I glide out of this place. I can come here and get some sleep. But some of them are not great because people are trying to save as much money as possible. And the landlords want to turn a profit too. So they're cramming as many flight attendants as they can in bunk beds in a room. And the one flight attendant told me the one she lives in, nobody cleans it. There's not really a good structure there. Very cheap, it's in a bad neighborhood. She doesn't feel safe walking out, but she can't afford an Uber. So the story is that you hear once you start asking. So it's very shocking. And most of the flight attendants were very brave for even coming forward at all because they were worried that there would be retaliation from their airline for even speaking out and telling people about these problems. Well, has there been any feedback from the airlines about these conditions? There were no apologies from the airlines. They said we pay a competitive rate. Flight attendants know what they're getting into when they start this job. And over time, the pay gets better. That you can add more flights and try to boost that income that way. One issue is that a lot of airlines are in contract negotiations with their airlines' flight attendants unions. And these are years old contracts that haven't been updated because unions feel airlines aren't giving enough in these negotiations. Airlines are trying to save as much money as possible. So as a result, flight attendants are just waiting for their wages to go up. So there are a lot of people pointing fingers in the issue, but ultimately, it's the flight attendants who are suffering. So basically, why is it that so many people still want to be flight attendants in spite of these working conditions, particularly in the first several years they get started? It is still super competitive. As you mentioned, people like the perks of it, even though it's not just a free airplane ticket whenever you want, you're flying standby. And if you live in a place with a busy airport, that can be difficult to get on a standby flight and go wherever you're going. But they like the idea of those travel perks for themselves and their families. Over time, it is a very flexible job. Once you can start picking your schedule, once you have seniority under your belt, you can say, oh, I only want to work these days. And that is a appealing position to be in, especially compared to a traditional nine to five. And then over time, of course, the pay does get better. So flight attendants feel, okay, if I can suffer for the first 11 years, by your 12, it'll be great. And I should also say there are plenty of flight attendants who make this work if they're with somebody who has an income, you know, they have a spouse who has an income or they get money from investments, whatever, there are people who make this work and are not feeling the suffering from the low pay. But if you are one of the single mothers that I talked to or some of these people who don't have support from family, it is incredibly challenging. - Natalie, after doing all of this research on the life of flight attendants, do you have any regrets that you went into journalism and didn't decide to go into the airlines? - Well, I have an aunt who is a flight attendant and I have always admired how much she got to travel and that was very inspiring to me. She's also just one of the kindest people I know. And I know that that was the other part of what keeps flight attendants in the job is they love dealing with people. They love how friendly of a job it is and they love the other flight attendants they work with. So even talking to these people amidst their suffering, they had positive things to say about the job. It is tempting sometimes, you know, the job is glamorized on TV, but journalism, that's a glamor if you either. But I'll stay where I'm at, especially, 'cause I don't think I could start at the bottom of the totem pole to flight attendants and be okay. - Natalie Compton, Washington Post Travel Reporter, thank you so much for doing this story and for talking to us today.