From: www.unitedafa.org

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Do you know what the cushiest job in America is?  According to AOL and CareerBuilders.com it's working as a Flight Attendant, getting paid more for working less than the average worker.  The article claims that a Flight Attendant works 83 hours a month on average and earns nearly $34,000 for that time on the job.  It further states that compared to a 40 hour work week "that's 1,084 extra hours to spend freely!"  Of course, it's basing the article on statistics released by the Bush Administration's Department of Labor (DOL) that fail to accurately compare our hours on duty or time away from home with that of a typical 9-to-5 work week.  These corporate spun statistics attempt to paint our work as frivolous, totally discounting the life-saving work we do as Safety and Security professionals.

The timing of this article is suspect since just two days ago AFA launched a media release about our Flight Attendant Negotiations Summit taking place next week with Flight Attendant Union leaders from nearly every airline in the country.  News agencies began reporting on the extraordinary number of Flight Attendant Contract negotiations scheduled to take place in the next two years and the fact that this summit signifies 90,000 Flight Attendants across the industry standing in solidarity to strategize and rebuild our profession.  Clearly, the AOL sponsored front page news article is a counter attack by the Bush Administration and airline management. 

We did a little computing of our own and found that Flight Attendants who simply work the 84 line average at United are generally spending 3042 hours on the job from check-in to return to domicile.  That's nearly 1000 hours more than the average 40 hour a week worker - and that's just for the average.  In order to survive on current pay levels we know many Flight Attendant work way more than that without earning anywhere near $34,000!

We called the CareerBuilder.com Corporate Communications Director Kate Lorenz, to set her company straight and get an immediate retraction of the outrageous misleading story.  We also advised her through voice mail that the story failed to recognize what our job actually entails.  Try telling the crew of our recent flight 291 who had to physically restrain a passenger threatening entrance to the cockpit that our job is cushy.  Tell any Flight Attendant who has worked to save a life using the AED that this is a cushy job.  Tell the crew of flight 836 who evacuated a full 777 at O'Hare after working the 13 and a half hour flight from Shanghai that this is a cushy job.  Tell any Flight Attendant who has to daily prepare for a security or safety threat - knowing that we are the first responders and the last line of defense - that this is a cushy job.  Better yet, ask any Flight Attendant at any given time on any given day if this is a cushy job.  It just isn't true.  This is a shameless PR stunt by the Administration and corporate America that won't fly.

For all AOL customers, take your service provider to the wood shed and let them know that providing a platform for this nonsense destroys their credibility.  Even if you aren't a customer of AOL, you can speak your mind about this blatant attempt to dismantle our legitimate stand for proper pay, benefits and working conditions.  View the article at http://jobs.aol.com/gallery/cushy-jobs.  Speak your mind on one of AOL's blogs and send an e-mail to Ms. Lorenz at kate.lorenz@careerbuilder.com.  Help us set the record straight.  No doubt you can share your personal circumstances to blow this malarkey right out of the water.

In Solidarity,

Greg Davidowitch, President
United Master Executive Council