In Flight Attendant School we learn the skills that will make us into productive and great Flight Attendants.

During our Flight Attendant Careers, we sometimes unlearn what we learned in Flight Attendant School. We learn the tricks of the trade.

Computer shortcuts, trip trade moves, and how to get the most out of a short term disability claim. Just when you think you know it all, somebody more senior will teach you a new way to get out of the Airport Parking Garage ….  for free.

We meet all different kinds of co-workers. Some of our co-workers have varying work principals.

A few years ago I met this character named Jamie. This guy put the slack in the term “Slacker.”

Jamie lived to not work. He had made a science of how to get paid, for doing almost nothing.

Jamie’s Flight Attendant philosophy went something like this, “This job promotes non-work.”

Jamie explained to me that every day that he comes to work he hopes for a mechanical problem that will lead to a cancellation. If the flight gets cancelled, he goes home with the same pay as if he had worked the flight.

Jamie always wished for bad weather in his arriving city. Same case, bad weather, potential cancellation, equates to non work, with pay.

Jamie was very senior. He could combine his 5 weeks vacation with his sick days and possibly work 4 days a month, all while getting paid for a full month with benefits.

The more seniority we have, the better trips we hold, the less we work, and the more we are paid.

When Jamie did work, he prayed for a misconnection situation, at the connecting airport. Same case, less work, same compensation.

The last thing on Jamie’s list was the downgrade. When an aircraft is downgraded the crew usually gets smaller, the most senior Flight Attendant goes home with pay. Jamie is a very senior Flight Attendant.

The last time I had seen Jamie, he was bidding Florida trips, during Hurricane season.

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