Planetrain

That’d be hilarious.
Before you leave the gate, make an announcement, “the screen in front of you has just a few questions for you….”

Do you want to tip [15%] [20%] [25%] [Custom]?

And then come out of the cockpit and look at every screen and make some judgement smirks while their receipts print.

Str8 Cash Homie

And the moral of the story is….. they’ll always put the extra costs back on the consumer.

overqualified52

Yea, to most pax we are just glorified bus drivers . Only a few of the in the know pax really appreciate what goes into making a successful flight . Everything from MX, ATC , Etc… But spot on . Just make a few announcements from Cockpit keeping everyone updated on the Chaos at hand ,LOL, and that’s it . Go home and dump all things flying until it’s time to come back and do it again .

Speed Select

Bingo.

I think our negotiating position IS strengthened by operational leadership and customer experience. Add “gratuity” language to the contract, or pay us for leadership and engagement directly proportional the the experience scores the company wants to achieve. Pay = performance.

All this “we’re not a family” talk hurts our standing in the company. We are the operational leaders of the company. The company flat-out showcases our leadership with every Ops newsletter. Fellow frontline employees look to us for team leadership, respect, and to keep the operation moving. The “we’re not a family” mentality damages relationships with the other employee groups and in the end undermines our negotiating position.

There are plenty of other cattle car airlines to work for if being part of a family isn’t your bag. Heck, the industry is in the middle of a huge “pilot shortage,” right?

CBreezy

First, GTFO of here with adding gratuity. Are you serious?! There is NOTHING that devalues our worth more than allowing effing tips as compensation..

Second, no. We are not family. Stop saying it. There is not one single person here that I would go out of the way to miss birthdays or holidays for. You're my coworker. I'm paid to spend time with you. That's literally the end of the relationship.

Hubcapped

It’s about the people. If I can go out and make 160 people feel like they finally know what’s going on wrt when the missing piece is going to show up and we can get out of here, then I’ll suffer through my own embarrassment to do so. Gate agents don’t know ****, and they don’t tell the pax ****. The pax just sit in limbo up there. To the few keyboard warriors that responded negatively, I would counter that you should find some humanity. A couple of succinct data points can at least let people start the 7 stages of grief for the 3 hour delay they are about to endure. I don’t care about the company, it’s about empathy and being the one dude in that moment that can provide clarity and make other humans feel just a touch better

AirbusPTC

Yikes, you’re correct sir. But hey, at least we have ice cream in the crew lounge!

Speed Select

Ha! You think I’m serious? No way we’re going to devalue our profession by accepting tips. BUT, it is a negotiating position. “Delta, either sign the best contract in the industry, or give us a means to collect what we’re worth.” If we’re not willing to get funky in negotiations we’re never gonna budge the company. We’ll see where customer experience scores, advanced bookings, and the stock price settle when we’re asking for gratuity at the end of the flight (per the hypothetical contract language).

I’m not on any committee, but until we signal to the company we’re willing to fundamentally change the customer experience through radical contractual changes, they've got us cornered.

So yeah, when I’m at work, I treat fellow employees like family. If you don’t, fine. But you are flat out hurting our negotiating position: operational leadership and customer experience. These two things are how we (majorly) contribute to Delta’s fare premium and “record” profits. You’re paid to fly airplanes and be a leader, not merely spend time with me. “Spend time with coworkers?” That’s your negotiating position? Please tell us you’re not on any committee.

Nobodys asking you to miss your kid’s birthday party. As long as you can bid that day off.

Speed Select

This. Thank you.

This is how we drive up (scrape what’s left of) profits and strengthen our negotiating position.

Plus, it’s just a decent thing to do.

TegridyFarms

Lol. This is pretty much how I feel. I just had a probationary pilot ask while we are sitting there eating dinner if the captain will foot the bill for his dinner at CQ. I bought him some hot chicken in Smashville. Didn’t sit right with me wondering where next free meal comes from. Followed by “where are we going for dinner tomorrow?” I said who is we? If you want a dinner date tomorrow night call an escort, I have plans with my actual family on our next layover. So hopefully on your $100k a year salary you can find some food that fits your budget.