Russian Speakers Hard to Come By?

[kirkpatrick]

It sounds like the APFA needs to sit AA management down and demand bonus pay for language skills as well as secure promises that just because you are fluent, you won't be chained to one route for the rest of your life.

Years ago, at another airline, the FA union convinced the company that there were a lot of language speakers who would not qualify because they didn't want to be drafted (bid denied) and locked in to a single destination. The company agreed to a test over several months. You could qualify, bid other destinations if you chose, and if the company later decided not to keep the new rules you could opt out.

A LOT of speakers came out of the woodwork, and the company decided they had better coverage than before and the new rules were kept.

But That Was Another airline.

MK

 

[IORFA]

Recently, I was told only 3 people qualified to be a Russian speaker. Then today, they put out a proffer for 10. I bet they won't get 10. That sounds like they hope to have one speaker and then one FSD onboard. Sounds like poor planning to me.

 

[L1011Ret]

?????.... You are mistaken .... Noboy has the ability to bid for DME flights. We dont even fly that trip yet. Do you mean some people have quAAlified as Russian speakers , hoping to fly DME trips ???? That is the only way TWAers will hold that trip ( as a speaker).

Corerct they cannot bid them but they are language qualified and have been transferred to ORD to fly the flights.

 

[s80dude]

no one has been proffered to IOR yet who is a RU speaker.... the proffer just opened today.

 

[IORFA]

no one has been proffered to IOR yet who is a RU speaker.... the proffer just opened today.

Correct sir/maam. No one has "been" transfered to ORD to fly DME yet. Someone may have transfered there on a posted transfer and just happened to speak Russian. Either way, the company didn't send them there out of seniority just because they might have spoken Russian. Sometimes facts are hard to come by on here. Besides like you already said the IOR proffer was just posted today and doesn't even close till 23 April. Plus, again according to ORD management, only 3 people system wide qualified to speak Russian as of 2 weeks ago. Remember again, AA dropped ALL languages that weren't being used in the system, Russian being one of them. I still don't know why they would lie about that, maybe they did.

 

[s80dude]

A newly qualified Russian speaker posted on the 4m some more info about the FSD position:

======================================================================
============
The following information was obtained directly, face-to-face, from
Debbie Carvatta:

The FSD position is not a FA, and will not sit on a jumpseat. They
will have one M/C seat reserved for them during take-off and
landing. Also, the FAA is requiring the company to send them to
training to obtain the minimum safety quals on the 777, similar to
what a new FSM would go through, if the FSM had not been a FA in the
past. The FAA requirement is new, because there is a liability issue
involved, and in order for the FSD to be standing, when the seatbelt
sign is on, they need some training, i.e. medical situation during
turbulence. When I was based at JFK, the Haiti FSDs sat on a
jumpseat, so I'm not sure why the FAA has changed this rule, but
apparently it has. But that was years ago. I left JFK in 2001.

All of the current Russian speakers will bid accordingly at IOR, then
the remaining sequences that does not have a speaker, will have a FSD
assigned to it. Concerning whether they get to eat or not, that was
not addressed. Neither was the issue of riding to the hotel in the
van with the crew. I'm assuming they will. As of the time of
speaking to Debbie, she had received 37 applicants for the FSD
position, a level one manager position. She said specifically, that
the FSD position was strictly a temporary position, and would be
phased out as soon as we were able to hire new FAs, and she would
only be hiring FSDs that could be hired as new-hire FAs, with a
Russian qual, once AA was able to start the hiring process.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

she would only be hiring FSDs that could be hired as new-hire FAs, with a
Russian qual, once AA was able to start the hiring process.

And once again, as I stated above, AA steals the language skills without compensation or any type of premium pay specifically targeted towards the extra-personal skill.

Never give an employer anything for free. Once you start doing so, you end up on a slipery slope of the employer taking more and more for granted, including your pay.

 

[Skymess]

I can think of several, but only one that I know of intends to qualify. It means moving or commuting to ORD and flying one flight for the rest of your life, unable to trade or drop, for very little more money.

I myself am qualified in three languages (Spanish, Portuguese and German) but won't exercise them because I'm not willing to give up what little scheduling flexibility I have for so little in return.

MK

If you want to qualify for Portuguese you wouldn't be bothered. You couldn't even hold Brazil if you wanted to and we don't fly to Portugal. Most junior Portuguese speakers are lucky if they hold London.

 

[Skymess]

And once again, as I stated above, AA steals the language skills without compensation or any type of premium pay specifically targeted towards the extra-personal skill.

Never give an employer anything for free. Once you start doing so, you end up on a slipery slope of the employer taking more and more for granted, including your pay.

AA pays language qualified flight attendants. All FA's qualified in language of destination get paid for the flight.

Haiti has always had FSD's on the flights and as Eolsen stated they have always occupied the jumpseats. I am assuming AA will give them a seat because they can't require them to work nonstop without a rest break and I highly doubt the FAs would be willing to give up bunk space for them. They get away cheap with giving them an uncomfortable rest seat while doing the thankless job of helping an entire 777 fill out their forms and meeting all their needs. From what I have heard from Delta FA's this is one of the destinations where speakers are MOST DEFINITELY needed.

 

[skyhoosier]

as I stated above, AA steals the language skills without compensation or any type of premium pay specifically targeted towards the extra-personal skill.
Interestingly enough, at That (W)other Airline, back in the 60s a language was required in order to be hired for international. No language = domestic, language qualified (ANY language) = international = higher pay. So, actually, premium pay was given for extra qualifications. One particular senior lady tried multiple times to learn and pass the language qualification test without success. She then quite successfully ran for union president. The result was that in the next contract, international became biddable by seniority. (but the pay differential between domestic and int'l was not lost) Once the numbers of language qualified flight attendants dwindle to the point of it becoming feasible that no one on board might speak a necessary one, the Language of Destination pay was negotiated and implemented, wherein 1 or 2 bid positions were reserved for speakers if no one qualified bid the trip by seniority.

 

[kirkpatrick]

... 1 or 2 bid positions were reserved for speakers if no one qualified bid the trip by seniority.

I held great lines for years because of that. And pursers had to have two languages other than English. I became a purser in 1975 with German and Spanish.

MK

 

[IORFA]

Nonsense, some TWAers have already bid DME flights.

Proffer closed today. AA wanted 10 Russian speakers, they got 6. The big surprise, NO ex-TWA F/A on the list. I wonder what happened to all of them? I am curious how many FSD are going to get hired. Any clues out there?

 

[skyhoosier]

Proffer closed today. AA wanted 10 Russian speakers, they got 6. The big surprise, NO ex-TWA F/A on the list. I wonder what happened to all of them? I am curious how many FSD are going to get hired. Any clues out there?

The ones I knew are either still out on furlough, or retired while waiting to come back.

 

[jimntx]

The ones I knew are either still out on furlough, or retired while waiting to come back.

I know the former TW f/as have an Internet bulletin board. Do you know if anyone posted the FSD jobs? Someone on furlough could apply and be hired without jeopardizing their recall rights.

 

[nbmcg01]

I know the former TW f/as have an Internet bulletin board. Do you know if anyone posted the FSD jobs? Someone on furlough could apply and be hired without jeopardizing their recall rights.

Yes it was posted. Many choose not to proffer. I was one who dropped my language quals the minute AA "took over". A good % of our f/as had at least one other language, many two or more. Personally, I liked domestic flying. It fit my family dynamics better. I held much better trips with better time off and as a Purser (FSM for us) I wasn't crazy about the Intn' paper work.