While the early days of aviation helped cement the image of the glamorous flight attendant, the reality often could not be farther from it.
Despite dealing with unpredictable hours and increasingly difficult passengers, flight attendants often have salaries that are nothing to write home about — Labor Department data shows that the average flight attendant in the U.S. earned just over $63,000 last year.
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A union that represents the more than 6,500 flight attendants who work for Alaska Airlines (ALK) , the Association of Flight Attendants Alaska recently released an annual affordability survey — 79% of the 52% of Alaska flight attendants who filled it out said they faced some form of financial insecurity.
The results of this flight attendant affordability survey paint a grim picture
A further 9% of respondents said they do not have a permanent home and live out of their car while 10% said they live with their parents to save money on housing. A further 43% said they live with more than one roommate while 71% said they do not have three months of savings put aside for an emergency situation.
The majority of the flight attendants who answered the survey live in Alaska Airlines bases such as Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Anchorage — each of these cities have dealt with housing and cost-of-living crises that have been particularly hard on those who earn close to minimal salary or just above it.
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All this comes at a time when flight attendants at both Alaska and other airlines are turning to job action to negotiate better contracts. Last February, 99.48% of the flight attendants represented by the Alaska union voted to strike.
Along with colleagues from airlines like United (UAL) and Southwest (LUV) , Alaska flight attendants have both been picketing airports across the country and working with mediators to avoid a full-on strike. Some of the requests made include higher salaries and better work conditions in which there are "significant improvements" to the way time on the ground or waiting for a flight assignment are calculated.
Not knowing how many hours they will be able to work and subsequently how much money they will bring in is very often a concern brought forward by flight attendants across the industry.
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Flight attendants have several reasons to be angry (this is how much CEOs make)
One of the other points of contention often brought up in negotiations is the disproportionality between worker and executive salaries. Alaska CEO Ben received over $6 million in total compensation at the end of 2022. Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett and Chief Operating Officer Constance von Muehlen also earned around $5 million each through salary and bonuses but flight attendants report frequently being told everything from inflation and the cost of doing business to the rising cost of plane fuel make salary increases impossible.
"While Alaska Airlines executives reward themselves with millions in bonuses, frontline Flight Attendants literally have to choose between buying groceries and paying their bills," AFA Alaska President Jeffrey Peterson said in a statement on the findings. “By dragging out contract negotiations, management is harming Flight Attendants. Enough delay. We demand a fair contract now."
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