United Airlines’ employees are not happy about the replacement of performance bonuses with a lottery. One even went so far as to start a petition to reverse course…only to be silenced hours later.
I’ve heard from dozens of employees over the last 24 hours and the response is unanimous: they are angry. There is not one single employee I’ve talked to (even one that is usually a United cheerleader…) that is in favor of this change.
One FA took it upon herself to draft a change.org petition, urging management to reconsider its latest move. Here is the petition in full:
Dear United Management Team:
First of all, thank you for all that you do. While we appreciate your work, we have some concerns. Some of my colleagues and I are feeling some frustration recently, after the recent (and quite frankly egregious) alteration to our quarterly on-time bonus program and everything leading up to it.
First we signed a contract and they didn’t offer retro pay or a signing bonus. Shortly after signing our contract, they announced the hiring of Scott Kirby and gave him a generous signing bonus, and bragged about how wonderful it is to have him on board. We rolled our eyes a little, but kept doing our jobs with a smile.
Next we were introduced to the “quick turn”, and we got reprimanded for complying with Scott’s fantastic new speedy-boarding ideal, and boarded the plane in 22 minutes, beating the 35 minute mark. But we still had a “documented conversation”, because that wasn’t good enough. It’s not the weather’s fault. It’s the frontline worker’s fault that the plane pushed late. Nevermind the fact that we could barely board the plane when there were bar carts and cleaners and bags of garbage blocking our way. We still did our jobs. And we did our jobs quickly. And we still smiled.
After that, they implemented a “point system” that restricted our flexibility with sick calls. We still do our jobs. (And for that matter, we probably do our jobs when we aren’t feeling great, because we can’t afford to accrue points. And now, we need to not be sick in order to be eligible for the new awards program. This is disconcerting. Flu season is in full force and we do see colleagues coming to work sick already, when they should be at home in bed.)
We watched our industry friends at Jet Blue, Southwest, American, Alaska, and Virgin America get $1000 tax cut bonuses. When we questioned why we too can’t have them we were told “United already had a tax break”. Oh yeah? So did American. Why did *they* get the bonus? Because they care about their employees? That’s why. Novel idea.
Then we saw a low profit-sharing percentage, which made us feel precisely like Clark Griswald felt when awarded the jelly of the month club membership. We made quadruple that amount 3 years ago in profit sharing. But we still keep coming to work and doing our jobs.
We are watching them strip amenities domestically, dispose of our galley and our workspace on the 757, remove lavatories, and add seats, creating more passengers and less room to move. But we still do our service with a smile and a friendly way about us. Internationally we received a memo stating that staffing would be reduced to match our competitors. We have been working off of two different contracts for well over a year and it is not only confusing, but inevitably frustrating not knowing what has and has not yet been implemented. On the legacy-CO side of the contract, we are working without duty rigs that our colleagues receive. Also, if we are not at top-out pay, on the CO-side, we receive our raises a month behind our colleagues with the same seniority. (We get ours the date we came online; they get theirs the date they started training.)
We watched an optional program “bonus bucks” become a mandatory program. We now announce and pedal [sic] card membership through the aisle. And we do it with a smile. The cheapened domestic plane has never felt so cheap, as we push this credit card on unsuspecting customers, who really don’t want to be bothered.
Last, they took away our quarterly incentive bonuses, and changed it to a deplorable new system that only rewards an elite few. (No surprise, since they are good at only awarding an “elite few”- aka the upper management, and not the entire population of frontline workers.)
Above all, we are still grateful to have jobs, and we still somehow manage to squeak by with this company. We do a thankless job. We cheerfully greet our customers, without so much as a response. We assist a nervous flyer who has never stepped foot on a plane before. We hold the hand of an unaccompanied minor, deplaning to meet his estranged family. We cry with the “Make a Wish Foundation” children, eagerly flying to MCO to fulfill their dreams. We walk an elderly couple to their next gate…….yet, our paychecks are wrong lately, and we wait for months, we go through red-tape, we are handed off to multiple departments, sent on a wild goose chase, to find out where our missing money is.
For many of us, caring for customers is innate. We back up the company, we learn and we promote and we follow United’s values. We do what we can to appease the management and do our jobs adequately (and beyond). Most of us have a background in customer service. We come from caring professions. Nurses, counselors, teachers, and even clergy. We do what they want us to do. We stand behind United. It is disappointing and quite frankly, downright disgusting that our caring for the company is not reciprocal.
Thank you very much for taking our concerns seriously and for reading this letter.
Sincerely,
United Airlines Flight Attendants
Writen by Laurie Vesalo, the voice behind all who have signed.
It’s a hard-hitting letter for sure. And while she may not have followed protocol in airing her grievances in such a public venue, I empathize with her concerns and share in her frustration.
But hours after posting the petition, it was removed and replaced with the following message:
I was told to take down this petition. Great job everyone but I’m sorry.
Over 1,100 had already signed.
I trust Vesalo’s job is not in jeopardy…
CONCLUSION
Part of me hopes that United will see the light and rescind this recent policy change. But Kirby has a proven track record at America West, US Airways, and American Airlines. This is what he does. We should have known this when he joined the United team.
> Read More: United Airlines Inflames Employees With Bonus Cutbacks
Dear United FA
After a decade of loyalty and more than a million butt in seat miles on UA, I refuse to fly United unless it’s the last and only option. (And I live in a United hob city!) Why? Several years of operational chaos, surly employees and a general attitude that a United emplyees just didn’t give a crap. I’m done with a United. Most of my colleagues are too. This the reason why Delta employees get much bigger profit sharing checks – more people choose to fly Delta and pay more to do so. Look in the mirror. Look around at your colleagues. If you were honest with yourself, the reason United sucks is because your customers don’t want to play the “poor me” and “union rules” bs game any more. And we don’t.
As an American airline employee I can so happy that United has taken Scott Kirby off of our hands. The only thing that makes me feel better is that soon, one day soon he will actually be the CEO of United. Then labor will have a lot to worry about. United labor will have so many problems that they won’t even know what a performance bonus was.
I can’t really emphasize with her from an employee perspective. If you don’t like it, leave, it’s a great job market out there. (My other half is an FA so I have a frame of reference to all this)
As for Kirby, he and Dougie are in a special club vying to be worst of the worst. Hell will rain fire upon United if he ever ascends to the top post. He is absolutely clueless or brilliant, can’t decide.
Hahaha. I couldn’t make it to the end of her rambling diatribe, but I got the gist. One thing that concerns me about her comments is United’s policy compelling sick employees to come to work and spread illness. It’s especially concerning given that United’s position as a passenger transport company may allow it to rapidly spread vectors over broad geographies, potentially damaging the American economy. Legislation and class-action lawsuits need to be introduced to address this. If you’re sick, stay home.
First of all, taking away bonuses and replacing them with a “lottery” is just plain stupid. Did management really think employees would jump for joy at the prospect of a $1,200 pay cut, just for a slim chance of getting something better? Then again, what do you expect from Scott Kirby, someone who’s an expert at spinning cutbacks as “enhancements”, a skill he undoubtedly perfected by learning from his old boss, Doug Parker.
That being said, I’m sure there’s an “official” process for filing a grievance on this matter, which is probably what both UA and the union want this FA to do instead. Though when she does, I would suggest to her that she ought to dump the rambling laundry list and just stick to the issue at hand…
Hahah, what a waste of a read. Bitter employee ranting about company she works for. Boo hoo, whoa is me, pity party. All jobs suck, some more than others. Every industry expects you to work when your sick, it’s reality. Every company expects more for less. I work as a server in the tourist industry and she sounds like every burnt out, over worked, non grateful employee there is. You don’t like your job, move on. Period.