Is Cabin Crew on the way to becoming another “McJob”?
The current crisis would at least make some people happy now that big airlines can force new contracts on cabin crews and they have nowhere to turn to. Just another example is the 50% pay-cut offered by British Airways to their staff. But they aren’t the only one, little by little this profession seems to lose a bit of its prestige every year. Is it on its way to becoming a “McJob”?
Granted, travelling the world is maybe more desirable than working at a junk food restaurant chain but is it changing? Aeroplanes used to make us dream, travel, experience new things but that was in the past. Now it seems we experience things down on Earth instead. If we look at the history, flight tickets used to be quite expensive, they still are if you travel international first class, but on average cheaper than before. With this revenue, airlines could pay their staff well and there was a true need for service as the customer paying a thousand pounds a ticket had to be satisfied. A few decades later, that’s not the case anymore, at least for a big part of the market. Low-cost airlines entered the arena and flying became more and more a commodity rather than a privilege. It is still a privilege for a big part of the world though, just with less prestige. And cabin crews became salespersons for a lot of short-haul flights, bringing their salary down on the way.
However, a lot of cabin crews that entered the job market when legacy airlines pockets were full are still working and these airlines tried their best at trying to make the most out of these contracts over time all the while making sure they never happen again. More flying hours, shorter layovers, multiple fleets, fewer allowances… Just look at Air France who tried to launch a new airline back in 2017 with new cabin crew contracts being 40% less advantageous than the mainline ones. They also had to sell food and beverages to passengers. It eventually failed after some protests. But we can clearly see the new Ryanair standard here.
Is it still glamourous to do a 7 hours flight, stay at the destination a night, jet-lagged, come back and start a two return flights shift after minimum rest all the while earning just enough to pay rent? Now, it’s not only a low-cost standard anymore the difference being that working conditions are going down but customer satisfaction targets remain the same for legacy carriers. Will we see a horde of cabin crew changing careers? There’s no denying that this is a terrible time for the industry.
