I’m developing an articulated robot arm that slides down the aisle on a rail. It will chuck cokes and pretzels at passengers and throw fat people out of emergency exits.

If the airlines want it to yell at passengers, that’ll be an added fee for the option.

I still haven’t figured out how to get it to ruin marriages or talk nonstop on 4 am van rides, though. It’s a work in progress.

 

Science will find a way, don’t you worry.

 

Add me to the list of No’s
Separate hotels/transpo & Implementation timeline

 

Forget It.

 

Man, you think you’re doing an excellent job at work only to get on here and be told you’re nothing more than a sentient soda machine, awful at customer service, and my mere presence brings y’all endless frustration. Ouch.


I’m a FA, but I like checking out this forum because, honestly, y’all have the best gossip and news about what’s going on. I care deeply about this company & my coworkers. I know what it’s like to work an office job in a dying Rust Belt city and only make $38,000 a year. I’ve been in the industry since March 2020 (great time to make a career transition btw!) and I fly 150-180 a month. According to my investment calculator, if SWA is still around a decade from now, I’ll be a millionaire by my mid 40s. To give you perspective on my background, my parents are retiring exclusively on social security. To say that I’m grateful for everything this job has given me would be the understatement of a lifetime. Southwest hasn’t helped me climb the economic ladder, it’s put me on an economic elevator in a high rise.

A HOU Captain and I chatted at the bar a couple weeks ago for about an hour about how much we love what we do, what I try to do for our customers, and how Captains like him - communicative, caring, and just plain happy - make my job even better. I’m an A flyer, and I really do care about y’all. If you’ve heard the phrase “You need anything? I like my pilots happy and hydrated” you know exactly who I am. The displacement situation, which I only learned about because of these forums, has me so mad for y’all, especially the Denver guys and gals. Living in a base while being forced to commute to another is cruel.



I’m not acting like every FA is as good at their job as me. In fact, I know they’re not. Trust me, I see the behaviors, y’all. My no fly list has some winners on there that should never have ever made it past the interview. It’s one of the reasons I try to fly A. I need to be the first and last person our customers associate with their flight. I’m one of the best Flight Attendants we have, and I’m not ashamed to say it because dozens of SWA pilots have told me so. I’ve had customers get off a 7 1/2 hour delayed flight smiling because that’s what emotional intelligence, a personality, and true hospitality can do. What makes me so different? I actually care about our customers. On this last trip alone two different customers hugged me as they got off the plane. Travel is stressful, and everyone could use some kindness.



If we’re being honest, I guess it just hurts to wonder if all the pilots I interact with in real life - the ones I shake hands with, laugh with, and engage in conservation with - actually hate my guts. As a dude, sometimes y’all are the only other guy coworkers I get to hang out with for weeks a time. The opinions I see frequently shared on here just don’t seem to match my real life experiences in the front of the plane, the walk to the shuttle, or ride to the airport. So, what’s the truth? Am I an unnecessary, unwanted part of the crew on your plane, or do some of us actually add value to Southwest, ensuring we have economic longevity for many years to come?



The only time I’ve ever clapped back at a Captain over the years is when the guy from BWI (that I since found out many other pilots dislike) told the FO within earshot of me that “you should go to Delta, their flight attendants are hotter.” I not-so-nicely reminded him my job description doesn’t involve being eye candy for men shorter than me.



I know y’all put up with nonsense from some FAs, but don’t act like I don’t have to smile through a lot of demeaning comments and behaviors. I’ve had a captain get angry with me because I was the A and not the two attractive ladies I was flying with. I’ve had a captain say “I expect a phone call at some point during the flight to see if we need anything, or is that too much work for you?” That doesn’t feel good.



My Captain on my last trip, who even after being corrected, couldn’t be bothered to call me by my actual, easy-to-pronounce first name, had to apologize to me after being condescending to me during multiple interactions. The thing that made him snap at me the most? I let him know the B’s emergency equipment had failed a check and would need to be replaced. I appreciated his sincere apology, but I’m not going to pretend I didn’t enjoy him having to wait around to shut down the plane and hear MANY deplaning customers laugh at my jokes and say how much they enjoyed the flight because of me. I think I even heard him laugh a time or two. That felt really, really good.



Okay, that’s enough from me & my soapbox. Hoping all these new changes return us to the record profitability we all deserve.



Stay happy & hydrated.

 

Has anyone noticed when they list for a non rev the amount of seats available are way higher than normal?
every flight on my commute tomorrow is only half full with many over 100 seats open. Never in the 8 years I've been flying this route have there ever been more than 20 open at time of listing.
Is this due to not having assigned seats?
if thisbis true its really going to be difficult to predict seat availability

 

The boys in the locker room will talk about the girls, and vice versa. It's mostly just venting and joking. If you wander into the wrong locker room I wouldn't take it personally.

 

as a collective there are things which drive us crazy, as individuals the vast majority are great to work with. Same as pilots for ya'll.
Everyone comes to work with baggage and life issues. I chalk up a grumpy person or bad experience to that.
Walk away knowing you made their day better or at least not worse and if that isnt possible know it wasn't you.
We care about the company also otherwise we wouldnt complain so much. Someone who isnt complaining about making it better no longer cares, and thats worse IMO.
dont sweat the small stuff. Keep your head high, apparently above most, and know we greatly appreciate what you do. God knows i couldn't do it.

 

We appreciate you, we seriously do. It's nice for us to work with someone who takes pride, I always try and go out of my way to acknowledge FA's like you. I'm happy our FA's make good money... but there's a ton who make good money and don't do a good job. They show zero respect for what it took to sit in those pilot seats, people who pay the bills, or really anyone they interact with.

It's the same FA's who flip out when shown an ounce of disrespect by a passenger but spend every second off the airplane treating other workers like dirt. When you get 3-4 people together that all share this mentality--it's not pretty, it's embarrassing.

I see it as the single largest hurdle we have to clear to make this transition as an airline, not installing ovens, first class or flying WB's. Most of us (pilots) just don't want to be associated with it. I mean look no further than sign in at some of our PM hotels when everyone is arriving at the same time. It's not a mystery why these hotels start to treat us poorly, leave us on the curb, or limit previous benefits. Personally, this is why I wanted different hotels. It's also why I don't buy tickets on SWA. It's a very different vibe when 2 pilots are in a town car.

I'm sure you've seen plenty of pilots do and say dumb things...but many of these types will be gone soon and frankly they usually do their jobs well and are not just overtly treating our customers/people badly. We don't look down on all FA's it's just a growing percentage that makes you question what we're doing here.

 

Same, I appreciate you. Keep doing a good job. My wife is a 26-year high time flyer. Your retirement assessment is correct, next year she will hit $1M in her 401K.

Keep the locker room banter as it is—just that. We have a lot of type A egos around here but yall know that one calculated remark from yall can deflate that sword pretty quick LOL.

If yall can bring back the initiations it would go a long way to making things better! J/K

This forum is only a small snapshot and not the big picture.