"Airline work loses luster"

Sunday, February 6, 2005

Airline work loses luster
Long hours, pay cuts take away the glamour for pilots and attendants.
By Karen Dybis and Joel J. Smith
The Detroit (MI) News


In the early days of air travel, the people working on the planes enjoyed it
as much as those who were flying. 

A job as a pilot or flight attendant meant cushy wages and benefits, free
travel to exotic lands and generous retirement packages rivaling those in
the automotive industry. 

Today, that picture has changed. The major airlines are in financial
turmoil, losing $7.5 billion in 2004. The industry has shed 127,000 full-
and part-time jobs since September 11. And most airlines have eliminated
defined-benefit pensions for employee-funded 401(k) plans. 

Employees are taking the brunt of cutbacks. Last year, more than 8,400
pilots remained laid off. Northwest Airlines just reduced its pilots' pay by
15 percent. Entry-level flight attendants aspire to make as much as the
workers at Wal-Mart, often earning $13,000 in their first year. 

While airline employees say it is a labor of love, the glamour of flight has
faded. Working for an airline has gone from a profession to brag about to
just another job. The industry's financial uncertainty has experts
predicting the industry faces a revolving door of job candidates and soaring
turnover rates in years to come. 

"It's not as good a job today as it was a few years ago," said Kit Darby, a
United Airlines captain for 20 years. "I've been furloughed five times and
worked for three airlines that went out of business. I know what it means to
start over." 

United pilots are in process of approving an 11.8 percent decrease in pay on
top of a 30 percent reduction a year ago. As a result, Darby's pay will go
from about $230,000 to $150,000. 

"This is not a cheerful time to go into the airline industry," said David
Kameras, spokesman for the nation's largest flight attendant union, the
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA in Washington, D.C. 

Pilots and flight attendants say the biggest changes include: 

   . Layoffs at the Big Six airlines -- American, United, Delta, Northwest,
Continental and US Airways -- have resulted in many workers facing
demotions, which they had to accept to keep their jobs. 

   . With airlines cutting employees, there is less flexibility in selecting
where they want to fly and flight times. And that translates into making it
harder for working mothers to juggle jobs and childcare. Long hours are
standard. Joseph Belotti, a US Airways captain with 27 years of experience,
said he spent 192 nights away from home last year. 

   . Sudden decreases in income have caused stress at home. Darby said he
and his girlfriend, a first officer for United, had to sell their car after
she was laid off in 2003. She found a new job with a charter airline making
$70,000 less than before. The pair's household income has shrunk by at least
$150,000 a year, forcing them to rely on savings to pay the bills. 

   . More customers have gone from respecting the profession to treating the
on-board staff like hired help. Also gone are the days when planes served
in-flight meals of roast beef and champagne. Now, butter-flavored pretzels
tend to be the only thing on the menu, said Holly Morgan, a flight attendant
for Pinnacle Airlines Inc. 

"I think a lot of people forget that flight attendants are there for one
reason and that's your safety. A lot of people think they're only there to
serve you drinks," said Belotti, president of AirlineCareer.com, a Web site
and job board devoted to flight attendants. 

Larger airlines are suffering the most as they try to reduce costs to
compete with low-fare carriers. Most of the layoffs since the September 11
terrorist attacks have come from the major airlines. 

Northwest Airlines, the largest carrier at Detroit Metropolitan Airport
didn't hire a single pilot or flight attendant during 2004. Since early
2001, Northwest has eliminated 13,000 jobs. During the same period,
Northwest has lost $1.4 billion. 

Meanwhile, low-fare airlines such as Southwest, Spirit, Jet Blue and America
West are growing, adding more employees monthly to their payroll. These
carriers represent 27 percent of all bookings, up from 15 percent a decade
ago. 

In response, big legacy carriers such as Northwest have adopted some of
their rivals' labor policies, cutting wages and benefits for their pilots,
flight attendants mechanics and others. 

"It's not a job you do for the money. Because it's not there," said Morgan,
a flight attendant on Pinnacle, a regional commuter airline that operates as
Northwest Airlink with hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis. 

Locally, smaller airlines such as Pinnacle, Mesaba and Spirit are attracting
new hires despite the dire job outlook. At a recent Pinnacle job fair at
Detroit Metropolitan Airport, more than 50 people showed up to apply for
about 25 openings for flight attendants. 

Yet some left the room when they learned of the lean starting salary, long
hours, drug tests and 10-year background checks the airline requires of all
candidates. And if they agree to all that, they must undergo four weeks of
unpaid training before starting to collect $15.11 per hour -- but only for
the time they are aboard the aircraft. 

Applicants varied. Mandy Witte, a stay-at-home mom from Ann Arbor, said her
sister is a flight attendant, and she wanted the travel vouchers to make her
family's vacations less expensive. Empty nester and Sterling Heights
resident Wendy Bartolomucci said she was looking for a job away from a
traditional. 

Morgan was in the first class of Pinnacle flight attendants. The Highland
Township woman joined the company in March 2001 after completing an unpaid,
three-week training session in Memphis where she studied all day and could
not go home on weekends. While Pinnacle flew her to Memphis and provided her
with a bed, she had to pay for her food. 

In her first months on the job, Morgan was on reserve, which meant she
either had to sit around the airport or home in case she was needed. Pilots
and flight attendants are paid only when the airplane is moving. When out of
town, they do receive a small per diem that ranges between $1.30 and $2.60
an hour when they are not flying. 

Morgan remembers she brought home $1,500 monthly at first, in part because
of large contributions she was making to her 401(k). 

The hardest part of her job now is the "high speeds," a term used for one of
the toughest flight schedules at Pinnacle. On a high speed, flight
attendants take the last flight out at night, get about four hours of sleep
and get back on the 6 a.m. flight for home. 

"It's like a rite of passage," Morgan said. "You just do it." 

Like Morgan, pilot Brent Mauntel said working at Spirit Airlines may not pay
as much as the big airlines, but it has other rewards, especially when it
comes to his young daughter, the Hartland man said. 

Mauntel, who is based in Detroit, makes about $100,000 annually. He once
dreamed of working for the Big Six, but now says he would not trade his
position. 

"I don't make the money I would at a major airline, but to me, money isn't
everything. It's more quality of life," Mauntel said. "I'm married with a
7-year-old daughter. She likes it when Dad can get home and spend time with
her. My daughter likes telling people what I do." 

Attached Photo's/Graphic:

Pinnacle Airlines flight attendant Kristi Morkert greets passengers at
Detroit Metro Airport. Pinnacle, a regional commuter airline, is attracting
new hires despite the generally dire job outlook for flight attendants.

"I don't make the money I would at a major airline, but to me, money isn't
everything. It's more quality of life," Spirit pilot Brent Mauntel says.

Graph: Pilot Hiring and Firing

airways1.jpg

airways2.jpg

airwork.gif