scrubbedexpat091

They have probably been with the airline for decades, it's not a job with super high turn over in US and Canada, it's pretty hard job to get actually, so many applicants so few positions.

Leslie

Many therapies for Asperger's are similar to therapies for sociopathic narcissism. Have you or Trump tried to fix yourselves?

Pot ---> kettle ----> black.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/b...hs-and-sadists

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...91886914000324

scrubbedexpat091

Your in California with relatively low tuition at the community college level, not all states/countries offer such low tuition, if only all places offered such low tuition and you would be surprised that in some areas trade programs do require a level of academic ability as most have some level of academic requirements for entry usually math and English of varying levels, vocational nursing has math, English, and various science requirements for entry. Looking at the welding program at a school near me, you need pre-calculus with a B or better, and that is certainly an academic course.

I only want to take a 4 month long training program at a local public community college, tuition is $12,000 hardly a small amount, and not something I can afford, and because its a short term vocational training, it doesn't qualify for financial aid. Hospitals pay around $21-$23 per hour for that type of job (medical device reprocessing tech) which is not great wage and wont provide a comfortable life (wont buy a house, wont be able to save for retirement and such) but it's better than retail, but I don't have access to such large sums of money.

($21/hr here is about 34,000 after taxes but before any union dues/extended health, if you rent an average 1 bedroom apartment $20,000 will go to rent, leaving about $14,000 a year to live on.) Kind of sad really and that is assuming you can get a permanent full-time position.

(Practical/Vocational nurse would take home about $43,000 a year after taxes but before union dues/extended health, so leaving $23,000 a year to live on, so do a bit better, but still well below what is needed to own a home, RN's do better taking home around 52,000 per year after taxes but before union dues/extended health/pension and assuming full-time but most healthcare jobs are casual or part-time these days, taking several to many years to reach permanent full-time status but you can't buy a home on 52,000 a year take home (68,000 pre-tax).

spouse of scouse

Bloody old people working to earn a living, who do they think they are? I bet you're just miffed because the younger ones are better to perve on

Jerseygirl

Wow that’s a sexist comment.

How about grandad/great grandad? On a flight I was on...the flight attendant was celebrating his 70th birthday.

Steerpike

I've noticed two trends; the older airlines, like United and American, have a lot of surprisingly old attendants, while the newer airlines (like Virgin America and Jet Blue) have what look to me like teenagers in the role.

Given the nature of the job - on your feet most of the time and, expected to be very "physically capable" in an emergency - I am a bit concerned by the prevalence of older workers in this role. I have a friend in this role, and she's hanging on for dear life trying to maximize her pension. The pay is pretty crap, and getting crapper by the day, so she's not too happy about continuing with them but doesn't really have much choice.

It does seem to be a job largely taken up by women; I'm thinking this is a legacy of the fact that the pay is crap and only women were willing to take the jobs?

scrubbedexpat091

Flight attendants also have to undergo annual recurrent training which includes some physical tests like mock evacuations of aircraft and as long as they can keep passing the recurrent annual training and do their job, not sure why people care how old someone is.

American Airlines oldest and most senior flight attendant is 83 and started with now defunct Eastern Airlines in November 1957, and she typically works 3 trips per week on the same route doing short flights, after all at #1 spot in seniority she can choose any schedule she wants, I believe she is also the oldest flight attendant in the world, or at least was, maybe still is.

Delta a few years ago had a male flight attendant who "retired" at 90, I say retired that way as he it was not by his choosing and the company forced it, I think he had reach the point he could no longer do his job, but refused to retire.

Pilots of course have to retire at 65 in the US, they have no choice in the matter, but some pilots go onto other positions within airlines if they are not ready to retire from working, of course at a much lower pay rate.

I do think for some people working into old age keeps them healthy and living, some people don't do well in retirement.

Steerpike

Thankfully I can only judge what's involved in an emergency based on movies of such events, but I can't quite imagine an 83-year old or a 90-year old as being quite up to the task of helping to evacuate an airplane in an emergency. I can only surmise that the annual tests are not that exacting!

spouse of scouse

Yes, age doesn't matter a tinker's toss as long as the person is qualified to do their job. Good on the 83 year old flight attendant!

Yes again, retirement at the usual age isn't for everyone, people keep working for all kinds of reasons. One reason is that they have no choice, they need the income.

Jerseygirl

Agreed. The flight I was on was a 7.5 hr transatlantic flight...quite physically testing for a 70 yr old I would imagine.

spouse of scouse

I understand what you mean, but it's not as if flight attendants have to throw passengers over their shoulders in an evacuation. Calmness and knowledge would be key I think. But like you I thankfully have no practical experience of that!

scrubbedexpat091

The training includes mock evacuations with real size aircraft trainers, they re-certify for CPR and such, so I imagine if the airline felt they couldn't do their job they would force retirement on them, airlines take training seriously, they don't mess around with it. Even on the ramp we needed 80% on our re-current to keep our job and this re-current was every year, since I was also qualified in weight and balance, I had to do double training each year and needed 90% in weight and balance to stay employed.

We did get 2 chances to pass though.

Flight attendants both new hire and re-current always seem so stressed anytime I have been to an airline training facility, only other work group that looks more stressed are pilots, every other work group is pretty relaxed, you can always spot the flight attendants in training, always have their study books open reading and studying every spare moment they have.

moneypenny20

My issue with this discussion is that it's even being discussed. The fact that a human being has been made Person of the Year by an International publication should only mean that people discuss the merits of why they've been put there. We should not be discussing whether the President of the United States is justified in his abysmal bullying just because he didn't get the 'award'.

How has this become the norm so ****ing fast?

dc koop

I prefer to use the term "female appreciation". Back in the day, decades ago I liked to get an aisle seat and appreciate a nice pair of female legs withh heels passing to and fro. That was before there were onboard movies so it helped pass the time on a long boring flight. Also I didn't have a wife sitting beside me back then to give me a hard kick in the ankles

dc koop

Flying as a passenger, especially on domestic is stressful enough in itself these days. Los Angeles is a horrible airport to have to get in and out of. then there's the check in and fiddling around how to get a boarding pass using the machine in the jam packed terminal, the baggage weigh in and woe betide if you're a few pounds overweight. That's another hundred bucks right there. Shoes off, everything in a plastic box going through security, the body scan and then packed in like sardines in the 3 each side of the aisle narrow seating on the Boeing 737. No food of course, a bag of pretzels if you're lucky. Your luck or rather the lack of it seems to work two ways. Either your sitting next to a an overweight person or just in front of a howling infant. I haven't flown domestic in a number of years We're planning on visiting friends in BC this summer. I'll drive instead and very happy to do it

We were in New Orleans 4 years ago waiting to board a flight to LA. A nondescript looking lady passed by dressed in what looked like a work smock, orange in colour. I thought she was airport house keeping maintenance staff. She turned out to be one of the cabin crew on our flight. It's sad that the airline could not have fitted her out in a far better uniform. Korean Air and some of the middle eastern airlines seem to have the nicest employee outfits these days