Attn: Flight Attendants -You’re Aging, Making Less, and There’s More

June 9, 2009 | Posted in: Flight Attendants

Flight attendants know this far better than me, but I’ll quote a recent study that says between 1980 and 2007, flight attendants’ real hourly wages dropped more than 25%. That hurts. So does this: Although this is still a female dominated profession, males now have slightly higher wages (again, according to the study). Plus, Newsweek is now blogging about how much “older” you’re getting. They cite the same study as above, which notes that because of a variety of factors (including seniority and civil rights legislation that overturned age discrimination policies), flight attendants are aging faster than the general work force. While flight attendants were among the youngest workers back in 1980, in the intervening 27 years the average median age of all workers increased 6 years, while the flight attendant age increased by 14 years. Nothing wrong with age and experience though – as those clear-thinking flight attendants of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame so capably demonstrated. Give me age and experience in a flight crew every time. Too much gloom and doom? Head on over to our sister-blog Standard Upright Position to see their goofy list of “flight attendants names through the decades”.

3 Responses to “Attn: Flight Attendants -You’re Aging, Making Less, and There’s More”

1. Linda says:

   June 11, 2009 at 7:22 pm

   You got the “males make more” thing wrong…..at least not at AA. The job is all about seniority, not whether you are male or female. The pay scale stops going up after about 15 years anyway. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone left with fewer years that that anymore. I’ve been flying 30 years, and I’m considered JUNIOR! And yes, we did take a pay cut of over 30% back in 2003 and have yet to see a raise, (although all the executives have taken their millions in bonus’ during that same time frame). Our contract’s up over a year ago and yet they still refuse to negotiate!
2. theflyingpinto says:

   June 12, 2009 at 10:27 am

   Ditto to comment number 1…male and female Flight Attendants make the same, it’s all contractual and it’s all seniority.
3. Chris says:

   June 12, 2009 at 1:55 pm

   I also fly for a major carrier in the U.S. I’m also confused by the studie’s findings that men earn a bit more than women. The pay rates are based strictly on seniority. The only way men could earn more annually is if men tend to fly more than women (more “overtime”). When I was hired by my first airline in 1990, I was 22 and the majority of my classmates in training were in their 20’s. When I was hired by my current airline, in 1998, I was 30 and was in the dead center in age in a class of 64 trainees. Airlines came to realize that older workers were more mature, professional, reliable, etc. My mother is a cabin crewmember for my airline and at 63 y/o she’s only been flying for 9 years. So next time you fly and one or more of the crew are passed middle age, don’t assume they’ve been flying their whole lives – they may actually be more junior than the 29 y/o they’re working with.