757 Crew Rest

[FA Mikey]

Hmmm, guess I'm the only one to find it ironic that Jersey and I are being told we're miserable, old, and need to get out when we are the only ones who still get enjoyment out of the job and don't have the 'been there, done that' attitude that is prevalent throughout the posts of our detractors.

So you are the ONLY ones. It must be so lonely for you.

There are ways to be productive without taking away the enjoyment and benefits of being a flight attendant. The people who should leave aren't the ones who are enjoying themselves, it is those with the been there done that attitude who want to whore themselves out for more and more hours in less and less time. If you need money that badly you should find a different profession because you're not going to make it here even if you slept on the jetway.

Good F/A works one leg a day. Bad F/A works two or more. Thanks for clearing that up for us.

For many of us, who have friends and family outside of work, we want to be home. Its a great job, but some people have lives outside of AA and airlines. Some of us chose to work high time two days to be home with family. Dont assume just because people who want to be home or want to maximize their time on the job, that they are somehow not as good, or as professional as someone who wants to be away for long periods of time.

 

[nbmcg01]

And we continue to eat our young..

 

[galleyguy4u2]

Nancy, LOL

For me getting my hours in as quick as possible makes me a "Whore." I flew 85 hours max because I wanted to be home with my partner and my family?

I have seen enough malls and bad hotel food over 22 years. I did my job and I did it well as my orchid letters speak for themselves. Also, when TWA had a furlough we were asked not to pick up OT and just fly your line. Most of us did that and we had everyone recalled within a year. Sure can't say that for AA f/a's who are flying 120 hrs when their colleagues are on the street and some are even flying higher time than that.

I loved my west coast turns and my all nighters back to back and NO I was never haggard. I remember flying STL-SEA with a full dinner service and a two hour sit in SEA then return to STL and repeat that the next night and still having 13hrs rest before check-in. But you see, I was done in 9 days. Because of the way I bid these lines I could have over 30 days off. Sweet!!!

So, in this business everybody has different needs. Many have husbands,wives,partners and children. For those of you who are single, perhaps a long l/o works for you and I certainly do not begrudge that. We all did it at one time.

 

[eolesen]

I still find it funny how some people can't imagine working the 757 to Europe when not all that different from the 707. If the 70 was good enough for JFK-LHR 40 years ago, it's certainly good enough today.

 

[galleyguy4u2]

Yes Eolesen, and hand carry Y meals and drinks. On TWA on the MD-80 from STL-SEA we had a choice of four entree's in F and a choice of two in Y. The 707 and the L-1011 back in the day were all hand carried. I am not sure about the 747 service.

And these f/a's complain about a 757 with minimal service? Give me a break.

 

[nbmcg01]

Eric, old days 707, more f/as, less pax. No contest. Besides the 707 was the "Queen of the skies"..lol

 

[jersey777]

Besides the plane being a step back for the flight attendants, how would you like to be the pax squeezed into 24F that has a 2 ft by 2ft area to move in and has to go to the bathroom. Oh...wait...there are carts ailse on both ends of the single ailse aircraft AND there are are already 3 people waiting in line. The last time I worked BCN-JFK the flight time was 8:45. There real misery will be for those who have a seat.

 

[eolesen]

Besides the plane being a step back for the flight attendants, how would you like to be the pax squeezed into 24F that has a 2 ft by 2ft area to move in and has to go to the bathroom. Oh...wait...there are carts ailse on both ends of the single ailse aircraft AND there are are already 3 people waiting in line. The last time I worked BCN-JFK the flight time was 8:45. There real misery will be for those who have a seat.

Can't be any worse than being in 40E on a DC10 flying HNL-ORD, stuck between two French-Canadian couples who somehow managed to chain smoke in their sleep....

 

[HottootrotNyc]

I want to thank all of you who jumped in and agreed with me. I also want to say sorry because I in no way intended to offend anyone. I was only sharing opinions and a few people who love to attack, did just that attack. I am glad I am not the only one that loves money and high time flying. It is something I have grown to love even more since coming to CAL. My co-workers are all about the money, we have good work rules, and a great pay scale. We have alot of F/A's that rake in 6 figures and still have atleast 10 days off a month. I find that amazing since a 9-5er has 8 days off and in NYC, add in about 4 hours each day of commuting. We just have alot of options here at CAL, if you want to make money it's there for you to make, if you want to fly zero hours or fly 80 hours and have a layover 5 days a week, thats there to. The problem is we have people who commute and big LAX/SFO turns work 8 days and are done for the month. They would not be happy about anyone wishing them away.

I also want to say the 757 is not for everyone but for anyone to say it should not be flown to Europe is sad. All that in my opinion is saying the planes should be parked and leave the furloughes where they are. I would rather make some productive changes, so that all my co-workers can come off of furlough. I guess I am one of a few that still thinks of myself as part of a group. I guess thats the saddest thing we lost in the airline industry, the family aspect. I will also agree with a few of you that I find you can make more money on the 757 and by time you finish with the duty free cart it's time for breakfast and arrival. The plane is smaller, comfortable, has room to stretch, and is F/A friendly, in my opinion. It allows you to be more personable with the pax and get them to spend more money and allowing the crew to bring home more money off of the duty free sales.


Thanks for listening guys!!!!


Hey galleyguy4u2, are you working or on furlough? We would love some TWA bodies here at CAL, anything that has been as well trained as a TWA F/A is CAL material in my book! We should be hiring soon enough!

 

[jersey777]

On the third day of arbitration, now in Washington, D.C., the case
was concluded. In his final ruling, the arbitrator adopted a 757 fixture
facility which preserves our industry leading crew rest on all
international “over 8â€￾ aircraft. In the interim, while the planes are
being retrofitted, we will have the use of two rows of coach seats
(6) with an added curtain and footrests. Second, the new retrofitted
system will allow our three rest seats to recline to 70º (greater
than the 60º recline guaranteed for the 767 crew rest seats). The
seats must have adjustable headrests as well as foot and leg
rests. Absent the adversarial proceeding and arbitration order,
without a doubt, we would have been resting in standard pitch
coach seats.
While this is not identical to the 767, it is much better than the 757
crew rest at any other airline. Additionally, it is far superior to
American’s original “sit in a coach seat, tough if you can’t get any
restâ€￾ position




Here is an excerpt from Skyword which answers my original question. The only question mark is how long will it take for the planes to be "retrofitted".

 

[kirkpatrick]

I still find it funny how some people can't imagine working the 757 to Europe when not all that different from the 707. If the 70 was good enough for JFK-LHR 40 years ago, it's certainly good enough today.

As a veteran of several hundred crossings on the 707 and dozens on the 757, the 707 was quite a bit more comfortable. Larger galleys and more room for crew. We had big soft jumpseats front and back. The AA 757 has a single jumpseat at the forward door; you end up setting up a makeshift bench with inserts and an oven rack in the forward galley.

MK

 

[Skymess]

The AA 757 is not comfortable for passengers or crew. It's a tight squeeze with nowhere for the passengers or FAs to go and stretch their legs or stand when they are tired of sitting down.

Any comparisons to flying 707s transatlantic is unhelpful too. Why don't we all jump in a time machine and make believe being stuck in the past is great? Why don't we bring the 707 back? Maybe I should throw out my cell phone and get a telegraph. My friends and crew schedule could just use that when they needed me...........

 

[FA Mikey]

What airplane does?

 

[Skymess]

Mikey,

The 777 and 767 have large spaces next to the doors, or in the middle area on the 767, that passengers can stand up in and wait for the lav or stretch without hovering over someone's seat. The line for the lav on the 757 is usually a nightmare, especially if you have the aisle seat, because passengers line up with their butt in your face and lean on your seat and jerk it around while they wait. The aft 757 galley is too small when they try to come in there and stand around too. How many times have you left the aft galley of the 757 only to come back and find it invaded with wall to wall people who are either leaning on your jumpseat, rifling through the bins, or reading your magazine? Imagine a 7-8 hour flight? I sat in 6E on a 757 the other day from LAX-MIA and had passengers hovering over me, even with the mesh curtain up, while they waited for the lav. Mostly the people hovering over me were the moms and dads rocking their screaming infants.

The Airbus also has a huge amount of space for people to stand around in. All of the narrow body planes are crowded.

Face it, we know they shouldn't congregate but it is awfully difficult to remain in your seat for a long period of time and virtually impossible to go 8 hours without using the lav.

 

[FA Mikey]

The 777 has no large area in M/C to stand and stretch. The only place is next to 4LR and there is also either a cart with snacks and water along with a FA on the JS and some gray bags filled with trash.The 767 has only the Mid Galley and that usually is curtained off.l No airplane has large spaces to stand and stretch, not the narrow bodies not the wide. The AA 747 coach lounge, the continental Pub service are the days gone by.

American Airlines 767 seat map


American Airlines 777 seat map