Flight attendants at American Airlines are being trained on de-escalation…with each other, with particular emphasis on calming tensions between new hires and senior flight attendants.
New American Airlines Flight Attendants De-Escalation Training…With Each Other
As noted by PYOK, flight attendants must now undergo training on how to minimize tensions within the workforce:
Flight attendants at American Airlines are being made to complete an online training course in how to de-escalate arguments between veteran crew members and new hires – especially when it comes to newer flight attendants getting assigned ‘premium’ international trips.
And because it’s relatively rare for younger crew members to be assigned these kinds of favored European trips, a common question asked by senior crew members is: “How did you even get this trip?”
It might seem like a relatively simple question, but it can sometimes be loaded with undertones that result in tension and animosity.
That tension has become so apparent, even to AA’s training teams, that they are now requiring crew members to complete an online training module to try to address this type of questioning.
This is certainly a bit of “inside baseball” but some senior flight attendants have reacted in a very hostile manner to new hires being placed on long-haul flights, traditionally the bastion of veteran flight attendants in a seniority-based system. These placements have led to conflict, even though there is no easy way to “steal” such assignments: they can only be gained by being on reserved and being assigned to this flight due to a sick flight attendant or through a trade with another flight attendant.
Perhaps the anger is rooted in a pray-to-trade scandal in which senior flight attendants sell their assignments to junior flight attendants in a “black market.” But the new contract promises that the union will work closely with American Airlines to put an end to this practice.
There’s also the issue of pay disparity…while senior crewmembers do quite well, juniors are just scraping by, even with a recent bump in pay. The latest contract does give junior flight attendants a bump in pay, but senior flight attendants received an even bigger bump not just in absolute terms, but proportionally (ironically, even though the union used the “poverty” of junior flight attendants as a rallying cry for a new contract).
So yes, there are tensions that passengers often do not see, but sometimes do bubble over into public view.
Of course, there’s nothing new under the sun:
I’ll take “toxic work environments” for $200, Alex!
Maybe if the newer hires would actually, you know, WORK instead of ignoring the pax and being on their phone all the time…
Or the older ones actually, you know, treat the pax with respect and dignity and not be put off that they dared to board your plane…
But it’s AA, so that’s obviously too much to ask.
The simple solution is to only hire flight attendants for a 5 year contract and ban the hiring of anyone who has ever served as a flight attendant before. That way there is a constant flow of new flight attendants in the training pipeline and flight attendants can’t threaten to go on strike and blackmail airlines. Flight attendants should be fresh and eager to do the job. It shouldn’t be a career. People could use the 5 years to see the country or world, utilize benefits, and move on to more appropriate jobs after 5 years.
Airline management keeps doing the same thing that hasn’t worked in 50 years.
I guess I’ve been in an inappropriate job for many many years David. Very funny!!!! Hopefully you’re in a very appropriate one yourself, have a pension waiting for you, a 7 figure 401k on top of the pension and have been to more countries than you can even imagine and let’s not forget all 50 States. I’m glad that has happened for you because it has for me. Now let me run back to the airport and jet away to my next destination in my inappropriate little job. My family just had our good belly laugh for the day.
Agree but only if this becomes a trend. Let’s do it for teachers, cops, firemen, all public sector employees. Hey while I think about it how about for elected officials as well!!
When that happens, then I am down with your idea!
Really if you think airlines have a difficult time crewing trips now, imagine how “ dependable “ these short term employees will be. Be careful what you wish for
Senior FAs should receive a pay cut and junior FAs should get a larger pay increase. The quality of work does not get much better with experience. In fact, it often gets worse.
I had one of the very active UA flight attendants of Instagram (who attends their social media conference and UA shares her content on official channels) as purser recently. I almost didn’t recognize until I saw the name. Was not the best service I’ve had at all in domestic First on a meal flight. I was in row 1 and could hear the complaining about “getting pulled off my Lima and have this f-ing horrible three day.”
Girl wears a lot of make-up in her Insta pics… and she was certainly not on that day. That time on the phone must be applying filters.
“Can they film me with that lens they use for Barbara Walters?”
Senior Mom an Daddy FA at $50per flight hour plus per diem and cranky over a junior on the same flight? I’ve heard a lot of grumbling lately the FA are on board for safety primarily. What does it matter if you have 40 yrs versus a 3 yr? You bet your old saggy bum you will sppreciate that junior FA helping out as they are required to, during an evacuation. Time a lot of senior FA retired. But they can’t they never saved their money. Get along or retire!
Two major problems here – the new recruits aren’t being taught the job properly, and the veterans think they somehow get to “own” certain routes. Perhaps the entire training-school staff needs to be sent to Singapore Airlines to complete their cabin crew training course, and perhaps they might come back with some new ideas.
As for the seniority problems, well, the entire seniority structure is a problem. If the youngsters aren’t being given the opportunity to work the long-hauls with veterans, then they aren’t being appropriately mentored. The vets should welcome the opportunity to train the next generation, rather than being obsessively possessive about “their” routes. They should also have finely-honed de-escalation skills after decades of flying, and be able to put themselves above petty squabbles.
An issue fraught with peril…
I recently was on a UA Papeete-SFO service with a truly lovely crew, a mix of older and newer FAs who seemed to work well together. I asked the purser about a couple of the “newbies” who were delightful and I wanted to compliment them. The purser explained that one spoke fluent French and was always available for this flight and was assigned to this service because of her fluency. The other was a Cook Islander and had an affinity with the Polynesian passengers who valued the “extra touch” of an islander being visible and helpful. Sometimes younger crew fit a niche which more senior crew don’t or arent available to fill. Conversely, I recently flew UA’s Havana-IAH service and was frankly appalled by the two FAs (both senior), in First. No one aboard spoke Spanish nor were they polite in addressing the Cuban passengers; service was perfunctory at best. I get that we may not like Cuba’s government, but all paying passengers deserve a minimum of courtesy