Originally Posted by
Dave Fitzgerald
Be careful with that attitude. Once in a while the company starts searching FA's bags. Yes, they can do that.
As pilots, we buy our uniforms and bags, stuff. UAL tries to look in my bag, I'll call ALPA and a lawyer. They look in an FA's bag?? Here's the kicker, UAL pays for their uniforms, and bags. That's right. Their bag is UAL's property, so UAL can search them. In slow times managers get a burr up somehwere and decide to search FA's bags for "stolen" items. It's serious and you can get fired over a coke. Mainly liquor is what they are looking for but the precedent has been set for decades. That goes for left over crew meals and snacks too. Eat it on the plane is ok. Whatever you do, don't take it off the plane for the layover. Is it really worth your job??
Newbies beware......
BTW, yes, the bottled water was a thing during bankruptcy. It was eventually defined in the contract to fix that. Thanks to Glen......
For clarity, these dangers/threats of bag search and termination only apply to flight attendants. No pilot has ever had a bag searched, and never will. (Other than maybe a suspected drug mule and the DEA shows up with a search warrant). It’s a double standard, yes, but that’s the way it is. We can walk off the airplane as we eat the kind bar from our breakfast tray while taking a drink from the water bottle we got in flight as we pass the SVP’s of infight and flight ops on the jetway, and they can’t do squat. Now, a flight attendant takes a cocktail napkin? They can get fired. It’s stupid, but that’s how it is.