Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
I have an ad for you. And this one is real.
The scene, a long line at the Starbucks counter, it's about 7:00 AM. I am in my uniform and a Flight Attendant working the JFK flight is behind me. The other patrons are all travelers. It is taking some time for the line to move so I turn to the FA and ask which flight she is working. She replies, "The JFK trip." She goes on to tell me that technically she had a 9 hour layover. But only got 6 hours rest. We are talking quietly. She says she hates these short layovers and will write it up when she gets home. All she wants to do is get home. I tell her I want to go home too. At this time the woman in front of me turns and asks me, "Where's home?" I politely tell her, "Anywhere but here." Both the woman and FA smile and the woman asks, "Why's that?" I simply answered, "Because I HATE this place." Now there's a Kodak moment!
Well, the few people in front and behind us have perked their ears up at my comment. I did not speak loudly or with a heated tone. It was a matter of fact answer. The woman in front of me had a quizical look on her face so I explained that the reason I feel the way I do is because of the way AMTs have been treated. (I know we all have been treated the same but since I am an AMT Crew Chief I answered about what affects me on a daily basis.) I explained that we had 6 AMTs that wanted to take the Stand -in- Stead recently and retire early and take the 13 weeks pay that came with it. But our supervisor's boss would only let 4 take the Stand-in-Stead because the other two were planning on retiring soon anyway so he would save the 26 weeks by not giving it to them. Each of these two AMTs, both Crew Chiefs, have given over 30+ years of their lives to this company. (What's that saying Dangerfield had? Oh yea, I GET NO RESPECT!)
I went on to say how AMTs just don't care any more. SYSTEM WIDE! How AMTs are leaving the industry and NO ONE is coming into it. How I voted NO to concessions but was force fed concessions anyway by the unelected ATD leader jim little AFTER I was promised a FULL REVOTE! I also informed this kind traveler how we took massive pay cuts to save jobs only to have the lay offs anyway.
By the time we made it to the counter I paid for the FA's coffee and told her that regardless of how much the morale sucks at AA that NO ONE would ever allow an unsafe aircraft leave the gate. It's just that you can only beat a horse so many times. People would rather leave the industry than let an aircraft go that was not airworthy. And people are leaving the industry!
Now that's a commercial for you!
The scene, a long line at the Starbucks counter, it's about 7:00 AM. I am in my uniform and a Flight Attendant working the JFK flight is behind me. The other patrons are all travelers. It is taking some time for the line to move so I turn to the FA and ask which flight she is working. She replies, "The JFK trip." She goes on to tell me that technically she had a 9 hour layover. But only got 6 hours rest. We are talking quietly. She says she hates these short layovers and will write it up when she gets home. All she wants to do is get home. I tell her I want to go home too. At this time the woman in front of me turns and asks me, "Where's home?" I politely tell her, "Anywhere but here." Both the woman and FA smile and the woman asks, "Why's that?" I simply answered, "Because I HATE this place." Now there's a Kodak moment!
Well, the few people in front and behind us have perked their ears up at my comment. I did not speak loudly or with a heated tone. It was a matter of fact answer. The woman in front of me had a quizical look on her face so I explained that the reason I feel the way I do is because of the way AMTs have been treated. (I know we all have been treated the same but since I am an AMT Crew Chief I answered about what affects me on a daily basis.) I explained that we had 6 AMTs that wanted to take the Stand -in- Stead recently and retire early and take the 13 weeks pay that came with it. But our supervisor's boss would only let 4 take the Stand-in-Stead because the other two were planning on retiring soon anyway so he would save the 26 weeks by not giving it to them. Each of these two AMTs, both Crew Chiefs, have given over 30+ years of their lives to this company. (What's that saying Dangerfield had? Oh yea, I GET NO RESPECT!)
I went on to say how AMTs just don't care any more. SYSTEM WIDE! How AMTs are leaving the industry and NO ONE is coming into it. How I voted NO to concessions but was force fed concessions anyway by the unelected ATD leader jim little AFTER I was promised a FULL REVOTE! I also informed this kind traveler how we took massive pay cuts to save jobs only to have the lay offs anyway.
By the time we made it to the counter I paid for the FA's coffee and told her that regardless of how much the morale sucks at AA that NO ONE would ever allow an unsafe aircraft leave the gate. It's just that you can only beat a horse so many times. People would rather leave the industry than let an aircraft go that was not airworthy. And people are leaving the industry!
Now that's a commercial for you!
