Look a bit more closely at your United Airlines gate agent, flight attendant, pilot, or other customer-facing employees and you might soon be able to tell how many years they have been with the company. It is part of a new initiative by United to more visibly recognize employee longevity.
United Airlines Updates Employee Longevity Recognition
As noted by JonNYC, United plans to introduce a new stone sequence this month that will offer a visible reminder of an employee’s longevity. Stones will be rewarded every five years, up to 55 years of service.
- Sapphire – five years of service
- Diamond – 10 years of service
- Emerald – 55 years of service (represented by five emerald stones)
These gemstones will appear on the wings of pilots and flight attendants and below a rectangular pin with the United logo for other employees.
UA; new pins, i think kinda neat: pic.twitter.com/VrOK6QMOeu
— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC) April 9, 2023
I think initiatives like this inspire pride in both the company and in dress and appearance and therefore view them as a net positive. When it comes to service onboard, some of the very best flight service I have ever received has been from the most senior of flight attendants. Remember “Princess Diana” of United Airlines? 2023 marks her 55th year as a flight attendant and I hope to see her on a flight this year sporting those five green pins. In fact, I hope she makes it to 60 years and United has to add a new color for 60 years of service.
> Read More: Princess Diana Of United Airlines
But of course sometimes the most senior flight attendants are also the most miserable and deliver the worst service, going through the motions only to collect their paycheck (which is quite attractive after decades of service). That’s just life and I wholly reject any definitive link between longevity and service. You simply cannot predict it. I am firmly against mandatory retirement ages.
Interesting sidetone: One Mile At A Time notes that Emirates flight attendants used to have flag pins on their name tags representing their country of origin. This very visibly demonstrated how international a typical Emirates crew was. But that practice ended after Mainland China became enraged that some employees were wearing flag pins from Taiwan. Too bad United does not do this as well, because I just flew with a lovely flight attendant born in Taiwan, which is not part of the People’s Republic.
CONCLUSION
For all the jokes people make about how old US flight attendants are, some of the best flight attendants I’ve ever had the pleasure of flying with have been in the USA and quite…mature. United’s new initiative to recognize longevity is a nice move that hopefully will lead to more pride, regardless of current contract negotiations.
Emerald doesn’t really go with their color scheme though, aside from Oscar the Grouch. Kind of like passport plum never matched Delta’s–always seemed odd to me, glad that uniform is being retired.
Are these just for customer facing employees? If you work in corporate or on the ramp for example you wouldn’t get?
@Jared Houser. Good question. I would hope so!
“I’ve been working on the ramp for fifty five years…” lol but seriously seems like that may be a thing now or in the future https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/travel/retirees-part-time-travel.html
A cheap and meaningless trinket made in China instead of an industry leading labor contract that has been promised for the last two years. Just another example of how out of touch United bureaucrats are and who have no idea what real work is and how hard ramp, customer service and other employees work every day.
Until the pin programme was paused and there was uproar from all groups. Nice try to hijack the gesture.
It’s a lovely gesture. I cannot understand the joking about US flight attendants being so “mature”. One would think that’s a good thing. Burnout and laziness occur at any age, as a positive attitude and good work ethic can also.
Nice touch, although that’s a byzantine combination of jewels, hard for anyone in the flying public to recognize what it actually means.
right.. simplicity was not the goal lol
I believe Delta has been recognizing employee service milestones with gem-embedded ‘wings’ for decades…all employees, not just customer-facing roles.
This programme has been in place at United for years as well. It paused during COVID and the addition of year 55 is new.
My dear friend was an FA in the 1960s. Back then she had to agree to leave at age 28 and not get married or pregnant. Rather amazing that now they have a 55+ years of service pin.