Our flight attendants have always loved their work, but they are concerned about some aspects of flight safety. Margo Nosanik, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, outlines the biggest issues for flight attendants on the new podcast she started, “Ride Along with Margo.”
The greatest concerns they face include:
Health care reform: What is the cost of hiring more flight attendants? What is the cost of health care for flight attendants? Who will pay? These are very pressing issues today for flight attendants.
Employee jet fuel costs: Approximately 50 percent of the total cost of every flight to the airline is to fuel the aircraft, whether you are flying in business class or coach. Currently most of our work is related to fuel. Flight attendants must monitor the fuel levels, and the passengers are consuming a high percent of the fuel. Fuel costs are increasing at a significantly higher rate than flight attendants.
Flight attendant wages: Our current pay scales are not keeping up with inflation. Let’s not forget these flight attendants are keeping our nation safe. They are the first line of defense, first responders to disasters. Airlines have increased ticket prices, but none of that money is going to our flight attendants. The airlines are actually pocketing all the profits, no matter how much it costs.
Ride along with Margo Nosanik, author of “Ride Along with Margo,” on the new podcast “Ride Along with Margo.”
What else should people know? People really should know that the most important cargo going up the front of the airplane is the food, we all think, but the jet fuel tanks are filled with food and the seats. What’s inside those food boxes? They contain goods like whole vegetables and cheese and fresh fruits and meats, all commodities that are also expensive to fuel.
We think there is a need for more real-life flight attendants on planes. Today, if a passenger gets ill, they are concerned about how the sick passenger will be handled by the crew, how she will be addressed when an Ebola patient is on the flight. We think that could be done in a very humane way. We are not trying to run the airline, but it’s difficult for us to handle those situations. It’s like having doctors on the Titanic. We think it’s important that we have a full complement of flight attendants.
In addition, we need a 2 percent raise for this year. We are a top-15 flight attendant job. This has been an ongoing struggle.