r/flightattendants

Hey everyone!!

I’m currently a flight attendant on reserve and looking to pick up a second job. I just got offered a cocktail server position at a 24-hour casino and I’m trying to see if this is realistically manageable.
My main concern is balancing unpredictable reserve scheduling with a job that has flexible but still demanding shifts. I’m also considering switching bases soon to hopefully get a line, which might help.
Has anyone here balanced airline reserve life with a second job like serving or bartending? Is this actually doable or does it turn into a scheduling mess fast?

Any advice or experience would be appreciated.

Back in 2009, Japan Airlines was hit with severe financial strains. Instead of protecting his own pocket, CEO Haruka Nishimatsu slashed his salary to a modest $90k—less than his pilots made. He traded his corporate limo for the public city bus, tore down his private office walls so any employee could talk to him, and regularly ate lunch in the staff cafeteria alongside flight attendants.

Yesterday we we’re leaving Atlanta in some heavy storms and had a ground delay of about an hour. When we lined up in the taxi queue and we were number 36 and while we never shut off our engines, we creeped. About halfway through while we were moving, someone got up to use the bathroom and the flight attendant didn’t say a word. Is this typically allowed? I was surprised. Do they only make people sit once the captain says “flight attendant prepare for departure”?

I have been flying with a legacy for 4 years now and just recently got diagnosed with rumination/unwanted thought OCD. I am realizing that my mental health has been SOOO much worse since starting this career. I want to love it and be grateful but I think my only option is to quit at this point. The sleep deprivation/constant disruption to my circadian rhythm definitely makes it worse. Not to mention just the unhealthy lifestyle in general. I am a line holder but I still have a hard time feeling mentally healthy without a set routine. Anyone quit because of a similar situation and how has life been after? My soon to be husband is also a FA for the same airline so I will always have my flight/health benefits. I just find it so hard to pull the trigger after putting in 4 years.

and the best thing that’s ever happened to me as an FA of 5yrs at the dorito, is FMLA. They’re gonna have to pry that benefit from my COLD. DEAD. HANDS.

I’m kind of freaking out. I’m brand new and got a missed assignment. It was absolutely my fault.

Should I be worried? We’re allowed up to 3 points in probation and this is just 1. I guess I just need to be more diligent so it doesn’t happen again.

I’ve been a FA for two months. I know I sound dramatic but this is what it feels like. I’m so used to going on trips and doing things WITH people. People I know and trust I can have fun with. I grew up loving to travel. I didn’t realize how different it would be traveling as a FA alone. It’s just not….fun. I can only walk around and do things by myself for so long until I want to share the experience. I call people and send pics but it isn’t the same.

I try to bond with my crew and go out places, but everyone always wants to do their own thing. I figure the only way to hangout is to forfeit what I want to do and just join in on someone else’s plans. It’s so hard to become close enough with people in a day or two, to where you want to spend your layovers together.

Don’t even get me started on dating. I’m a commuter so I’m in between cities. I don’t even know what place I should be dating in. Online dating is atrocious in itself, I’m in a new city trying to get out there and find the right spaces but that’s a lot in itself.

So my main question is, how can I start enjoying layovers with crew mates even knowing them a minuscule amount of time? Any tips? How do you navigate commuting and dating? I just feel like I’m on this big grand hill but I’m myself so i can’t even enjoy it.

Has any of you dealt with bad breath problems? It seems like a long day of work comes inevitably with this issue. I try to stay hydrated (not always successfully) and I wonder if you’ve ever been through this. Is it the recycled air? Altitude? Or whatever? I would love to read about your experience

I recently went down a TikTok rabbit hole of a girl who is moving to Afghanistan, and me, being the avgeek that I am, looked at how she would fly there. I found that there are a few major international airlines that still fly to Kabul (Turkish and Etihad) as well as two main Afghan airlines. I am assuming that these flights operate as a turn, but maintenance issues and any number of things could force a crew to layover overnight in Kabul. So, that got me thinking, has anyone worked one of these flights (or any flights to a super dangerous destination)? If so, what's the flight like? Where does the crew stay if they have to layover overnight there? Do they have more rules or special assignments for who works these flights?

It's always United lol. I've been dealing with toxic coworkers on almost every flight and can't take it anymore. I think what prompted me to post this is that it recently came from someone a lot more junior than me (I have 3 years and this person had 1), and another only a few months senior. Just making negging comments and being generally bitchy, speaking to me in a tone like I'm dumb.

I have ADHD which might get annoying, but we are working the same job, you're criticizing me while being slow and making mistakes yourself which makes you a hypocrite, it drives me crazy.

I can handle myself if the negativity is more overt because I can call them out, but it's harder to handle the subtle, passive aggressive bitchy that the west coast is so skilled at. I'd appreciate any advice on how to deal with coworkers like that.

🤔 I've noticed the rumor mill is kind of dry since the contract was accepted, so I am looking for some tea and maybe a sweet or two. 😉😂

I know this is a pretty niche question, but I’m hoping someone here has experience with it.
I’m a flight attendant based in Chicago, and I’ve been thinking about picking up some nightlife work on my days off midnight ballerina.I’m just curious if anyone else has managed to make both jobs work.
If you have, I’d love to know what your experience has been. Is it hard to balance with flying? Are clubs pretty understanding when your schedule changes? Has it been worth it financially?
Just looking to hear from people who’ve actually done it. Thanks!

i need genuine answers, is anyone a newer flight attendant and absolutely miserable? I’m about 3 months in and I really don’t think i’ve felt this level of misery with any job. I’m depressed, drained, and burnt out. I don’t like the job, don’t love my base, and definitely can’t stand the company I work for (🔺). I literally call out one day because I was genuinely so fatigued and could barely even get up and they extend my fly right 6 more months and try to say “it’s nothing personal” bs. After expressing to them how much I’ve been struggling mentally and trying to adapt to not only this job but a new location and life. They don’t care. As a flight attendant we’re just numbers to the company. Don’t even get me started on the ones saying “oh it gets better” like no. I genuinely do NOT see it getting better. I’ve only had one person be honest with me and I appreciated that over any lie to glaze this airline. I should’ve known this wasn’t for me from the beginning but as majority of us were, I was star stuck by the benefits and “glamorous” life. There is nothing glamorous about this job at all. Period. please tell me what other jobs there are that might be a better fit. I have the potential to graduate with my bachelors in business in 2 years. I literally stopped working on it to pursue this job and I have so much regret.

maybe this is an uncommon opinion, but I feel like it should be common decency.

you try to trade someone’s original position or trip and they are happy to trade = YAY.

you try and they don’t want it / don’t accept it = NOT THEIR PROBLEM, not something they need to bring up and apologize for. if anything, feel free to bring up that you wanted it but understand they wanted to keep their thing and THATS OKAY. it’s THEIR ASSIGNMENT, you were asking them a favor.

at the end of the day, this is a job. we don’t always want to go to work. sometimes the trip / position we get is what works best for us. last thing we need is to be treated bad all because we didn’t trade into something that we were never given that doesn’t work for us.

if others reading this disagree, idk, maybe i’m the crazy one but I feel like this should be common decency 🤷‍♀️

I was reading the e-mail from AFA announcing the new Master Executive Council. I read the new MEC President's Scott Pejas's profile. It mentioned his advocacy to change the company's Canada admissibility policy.

I learned the new contract includes language that will allow United flight attendants to place themselves on a registry that will shield them (without requiring any explanation or proof of necessity for inclusion on such a registry) from operating flight to Canada. Of course, the need for such a registry centers entirely around Canada's DUI policy. The Canadian government considers DUIs (within the past ten years, I believe) a felony, which triggers a denial of admission to Canada for any flight attendant who has not successfully completed Canada's criminal rehabilitation process. In the past, all UA flight attendants were required to be "worldwide qualified" without exception.

I realize this policy change affects relatively few flight attendants. However, it is a huge victory by AFA for flight attendants who are affected by Canada's admissibility requirements. I believe United may be the first US carrier to offer such amnesty. I assume the company will publish something about the registry soon, announcing its creation and how to place oneself on it. This policy shift has to be formally commented at some point in time by management. Naturally, the creation and implementation of such a registry by IT is surely months away.

This post is not meant to minimize the severity of DUIs or celebrate flight attendants who now have amnesty after committing a serious crime.

I admit I did not read TA1 or TA2 in its entirely before voting. My main point is, how did I miss this policy change? Is this new registry widely known and I just missed an e-mail? When I read about Canada admissibility in Scott's profile, I had to actually google the phrase to understand the reference.

Can I take a poll? Completely unrelated to a flight I recently had, of course. How many of you, flight attendants, and lurking pilots or passengers (but please identify yourself as such) would want to know if you were on a flight with confirmed bed bugs in the cabin? And what are your thoughts on the airline not communicating the exposure?

For me, it’s a toss up between AA since it doesn’t let nonrevs check in online and JL because it asks you for everything before it gets around to asking for your PNR…and then it won’t let you check in online.

Our flight advance has just hit! Were you surprised by your first check? Hoping the second one is looking better 😂