A United Airlines flight attendant claims she was forced to file bankruptcy despite taking on a second and third job due to “abysmal” pay for her work, which led to insurmountable credit card debt. While her story is probably not that simple, there is an element of validity in pointing out the vast difference in pay between junior and senior flight attendants at United and other US carriers.
United Airlines Junior Flight Attendant Opens Up About Her Bankruptcy
Taking to reddit to share her story, the flight attendant claimed that “abysmal” pay at United forced her to take on extra work and run up credit card debt, ultimately leading to a Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy filing:
First few years pay at UA is so abysmal that’s I ended up filing chapter 7 bankruptcy and it’s been the best thing to ever happen to me. I got a substitute teaching job and I was Instacart on the side but it’s overwhelming and I’ve just hit burn out. I hate interacting with people at this point.
I maxed out all my credit cards and took out a loan on my old 401k trying to survive on probation (too fearful to work another job and not be available). And for the last year I’ve been working my ass off trying to beat the interest on the credit cards but to no avail.
In my state you can qualify for chapter 7 up until 75k annual income so I did it . I surrendered my car and it even wiped some of my student loans. I sleep so much better at night. Now I can go to the job and worry about sh*t that doesn’t matter like “sparkling water ” and where coworkers that I’m never gonna see again commute from.
I’m no longer filled with anxiety and resentment. I cried in relief the first time I had a day off from flying and was able to sleep in until my body woke me up. 2 year pay is nothing to write home about but at least now I’m at an equilibrium.
I know bankruptcy will prevent me from buying a house for the next two years or so but it might take that long to get this new contract anyways so the grass is still substantially greener.
I don’t speak in judgment here. Sometimes, we get ourselves in trouble and I am so thankful that there is not a permanent stigma over those who are forced to reorganize under bankruptcy protection. It’s an important part of the American system that the Founding Fathers carefully considered even in drafting the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8).
But is she just a victim? I don’t think so…running up credit card debt is a choice, even when we feel backed into a wall. No one forced her to become a flight attendant.
The Flight Attendant Seniority System At US Airlines Is Complicated
The seniority system at US airlines may be like democracy (as Winston Churchill famously put it, “The worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”), but there is no denying that senior flight attendants can live a very comfortable middle-class life while junior flight attendants barely survive…or in this case, don’t…while doing exactly the same job. Unions and veteran flight attendants argue this is necessary for retention and to reward labor, but I think a more even playing field is appropriate. Yes, junior flight attendants (and all US workers who work an honest day’s wage) should not have to go on government assistance or run up credit card debt to survive.
I don’t think that is a simplistic analysis…equal pay for equal work is a reasonable demand and while the vast majority of junior flight attendants are able to survive and even flourish by living in crashpads or with friends and family and living frugally, there is a rather wide inequity that I wish the latest round of flight attendant contracts had better addressed. Sure, let seniority dictate route assignments and vacation days…that’s reasonable…but when one flight attendant is making double her colleague and they’re both pushing the same beverage cart, I do wonder how that makes sense…
CONCLUSION
I neither applaud nor condemn the United flight attendant here who shared openly about her bankruptcy experience. Life can be tough and I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life. I do think her struggles point out that junior flight attendants should not make a fraction of what senior flight attendants earn for the same work.
image: United // Hat Tip: View From The Wing
Blame your union who constantly throws juniors under the bus so the select few seniors who waited it out get to enjoy all the benefits.
Comments like this make me roll my eyes as if unions are the reason the industry is seniority based. If Delta dropped a seniority based pay scale, heads would roll…and they’re not unionized.
@Andrew … +1 . Also , unions are not the problem ; the corporate officer’s greed is the problem .
Yeah, because the airline industry is so profitable, we never see them declaring bankruptcy. Blaming corporate shortsightedness on poorly designed incentives is a great observation. Claiming they’re greedy and pretending their compensation is a larger percentage of expenses than it is is lazy exaggeration.
Those in the executive suite are quite happy being overpaid for cutting back on the “services” we receive .
And this makes your illogical comments valid?
Sens Sara Nelson the bill for your attorney. She has stood in the way of every solution every time. When you elect feckless leaders don’t be surprised with the result.
She has a bad attitude . ” now I can go to my job and worry about sh*t that doesn’t matter like sparkling water”. Well that is the job you have chosen. The pay plan was known as well as the debt (loans) carried into her employment so it’s difficult to have a lot of sympathy. Of course the union structure is unfair, but it was also a known factor.
It appears airlines are paying a good deal of money to train poorly suited candidates.
The ancient Egyptian executives in charge of building the pyramids , told the thousands of heavy block draggers that this is their entry job , they ought to be more appreciative , and if they continue to drag the blocks they can be promoted to block-fitter .
There needs to be a Barbara Ehrenreich to write an expose such as “Nickel and Dimed : on ( not )getting by” as a new FA .
The airline executives ought to answer because Delta is not unionized and has the same system of low pay . It is the greedy executive MBAs’ responsibility to help their employees .
My point being you must be able to afford the work you choose. Many artists and musicians would love to pursue their passions but before that can be considered we must first have money to do so. Flight attendant work is a foolish choice for someone ALREADY in debt. When you’re in a hole stop digging. Common sense.
In Holland artist painters are subsidized by the government , and now the government has warehouses filled with artists’ works which the taxpayers paid for . I don’t know how it turned out , but in the U.S., Nancy Pelosi was once mentioned as wanting the artist painters given some sort of benefit .
Inflation is a government-sponsored or government-tolerated economic force , caused by government wildly over-spending and over-subsidizing sectors or interest groups , with the side benefit for government of reducing the real value of the debt .
Delta FAs are not union represented , so Delta cannot blame a union contract for the pittance wages paid to valuable newer FAs .
Please tell me what your reply relates to my comment as always. You owe money and yet you take a low wage job. That is a selfish personal problem. Or maybe you would like to pay her debt by requesting she lift her skirt for a photo as you suggested yesterday? Good night.
I plead innocent .
I do applaud her coming forward . She ought to come forward to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times , as well . It is an unfair pay structure , and everyone knows it .
Not only that , the more senior and well-paid employees would likely give the most onerous tasks to , and lord it over , the newer and less-paid employees .
My take is she realized that this was the right time to eliminate debt she didn’t want to pay before her income exceeds the statutory threshold. That said, the unions love to cater to the old timers at the newbies expenses. And, Delta is forced to do it, because if they didn’t, unionization is next.
Nothing has “forced” Delta to pay pittance wages to new hires , certainly not a non-existent union contract .
Nothing has “forced” any airline to ignore the FA’s fair wages for their work .
I read in the press that California raised the minimum wage , and employers are wailing they cannot pay . If employers cannot pay wages , then there is something very wrong with their business plans .
Maybe read my post? I argue DL has a top heavy FA pay structure because, if they didn’t, the FAs are more likely to unionize. I typed this very slowly so you might understand.
Maxing our credit cards to survive? 1st mistake. Why not apply for a loan at 5-7% instead of credit cards at 18%? Why not move to a cheaper state and commute to work. Many FA and Pilots commute. Senior FA do not care about Junior FA, because they were all junior and survived the first 5 yrs. its conditioning and seniority rules. It work. No one cares anymore.
Sounds like another American blaming everyone else for her bad life decisions. Admittedly not going to go through that reddit link, but who here thinks she picked a useless degree here? I mean it’s definitely a school with worthless guidance counselors and no financial education.
i’m not sure that solving the issues for this flight attendent is meant for using judicial resources.
Same thing applies to those working at a grocery store… why should a brand-new hire get paid the same, as someone that’s been employed there for 20 years?… doesn’t work that way, sadly.
I think a therapist is more in order then bankruptcy…
You only go bankrupt if you are spending more than you make. So you have two options: 1) Make more money or 2) Spend less money. If you cannot make enough money working for United but want to continue spending that much, find another job that pays you more. Free market, United is not holding you hostage. Get out and stop complaining.
@Santastico … Inflation is a cruel tax on the poor , because they need to buy stuff . Because of inflation , the FA spendable pay is actually going down . It is not a free market if the government accepts or encourages inflation .
Because they can get away with it , stores set prices by flipping a coin : heads , raise price by 10% , tails raise price by 20% .
And airlines raise prices whilst cutting services , and ignoring FA pleas .
Or maybe pay people a living wage, even at the entry level?
@Aaron … +1 .
Re-why does her colleague get paid double what she does? Why does the CEO make 500 times what I make? Why do vice presidents make 100 times what I make?? Yeah they work longer hours and have more responsibilities. I get it but 100-500 times more??
@Batchcaloupe … +1 . Bingo !
Boo hoo! One KNOWS the salary before signing up for the job. I had a young new hire pilot come to our airline. He complained that he couldn’t live on $XXXX a year. Well, that first year, you are on probation. You know that going in. At one point, I asked about hobbies. “Oh, look at this.” He showed me a picture of a new Porsche. “Wait a second. Last week you told me you couldn’t afford to live on your new hire salary and now you show me THIS? Son, you don’t have a salary problem. You have a cost problem! You can afford the Porsche when you make captain…MAYBE. Ignorance can be fixed. Stupidity is forever
There is much more to this story. The new hire pay is crap but we have all been there and coped. Guess what, there are plenty of newer hires that persevere and cope. What makes them different from her??
There are a couple of red flags that tell me she is pretty financial illiterate and she has made some silly choices in life. She mentions student loan debt. What kind of dope racks up often times crippling debt and gets a job where that degree isn’t necessary?? It’s another topic but college is largely a scam. Perhaps she believed her professors (who are on big bucks) and advisors who told her she would easily make $80,000 starting per year with her lesbian dance theory degree.
She mentions she had to surrender her car. Why? No doubt she had a hefty fat loan on it and probably bought it new. Not a wise choice.
Her credit cards. You think the balance was zero or less than a couple of hundred bucks? No me neither another bad choice.
News flash-they don’t keep your hourly rate a secret. You can use your calculator on your I phone to figure it out.
By the way, she had the right to pick up trips on your days off. That’s a right I never had on reserve.
Why can others do it but she cannot? Probably because she never had to make tough choices or face consequences for her actions.
For the record, I would agree to take a little less for the higher pay rates to give the B scalers a little more but not much.
If not by seniority then what are we going to do enable new hires to have July/august vacations? Ensure that these precious dears get every holiday off?? Let them hold ewr-nrt or ewr- ath lines 4 times a year??
Yeah the first years pay sucks but I am sure she is to blame via her own choices. Take some responsibility and sacrifice IF you want to reap the rewards later.
Another thing she takes a 401k loan. I assume she is younger. This is stupid end of.
I try and coach the newer hires about the 401k and savings. The first couple of years they get about a 6 % raise. I implore them to take some of that increase and sock it into the 401k until they go a scale hopefully they will have reached 15-20%.
My line is if you think you cannot afford it, you cannot afford not doing it!! If that makes sense.
There are non-career jobs in our economy that don’t need to compensate for all of life’s expenses. A flight attendant job is one of those.
There are millions of people in America who are in a financial situation such that they don’t have to work, but they want to – to be engaged professionally and take advantage of the perks that come with the job. Flight attendant job perks are generous for those who like to travel. The extension of those perks to family makes them all the more appealing.
There is no shortage of flight attendant applicants. The airlines should hire those who prioritize the travel perks over the wage. A young college graduate with student loan debt – who needs a living-wage job to pay their bills – isn’t a good fit for flight attendant work.
maybe if she would live beyond here means…
as for the unions, they tend to hold back high performing employees
When I got my first non airline job, I didn’t get paid very much. After 6 months, I got a little raise. After another 6 months, I got another little raise. A year later, I got another raise. The people who had been working for the company for years were making quite a bit more than I was. With the first raise, I was able to use the air conditioning in my apartment. With the second raise, I didn’t have to be careful not to drive too much on the weekends lest I not be able to afford gas to get to work on workdays. With the third raise, I bought a coffee table.
When I went to work as a flight attendant, I had 5 roommates in a 2 bedroom apartment. Then I moved to a 1 bedroom apartment with 5 people in it. After 3 years of regular raises, I had saved enough for a down payment on my first house where I gratefully lived alone.
Isn’t that how any job/career works, whether you work at McDonalds, IBM, the Federal government or United Airlines? When you start, you get paid little. You get regular raises and are feeling pretty comfortable after a few years. This flight attendant has a spending problem, an attitude problem, and possibly was very misinformed about what this job and its salary were before she started.
I’m so glad that I as a hard working and responsible taxpayer who has worked hard and lived within my means can now pay for her profligacy and poor decisions.