In the United States, flight attendants generally get paid a basic wage and an hourly flying rate, which, as the name implies, is only paid from the moment the plane pushes back from the gate to the moment the plane arrives at its destination.
The problem with flying pay is that flight attendants don’t earn anything for long periods they spend on the ground but are still at work. And some of this time is the busiest and most stressful for flight attendants, like boarding or during extended ground delays when passengers are still on the aircraft.
In addition, flying pay generally benefits flight attendants working international long-haul trips with lots of time spent in the air but only one period of boarding passengers for the entire duty day – a privilege commonly reserved for senior flight attendants who are already better paid.
In contrast, new-hire flight attendants on lower salaries lose out even more because they’re likely to work…