Airline Attendant Fired After 57 Years Of Service. Lawsuit Follows

WhatInThe

Well-known Member
A 79 year old airline attendant was fired by Delta Airlines after 57 years of exemplary service. Her salary was over $200,000 a year at the time of firing. She is suing for wrongful termination. Says other workers harassed and wanted her gone. Says they wanted her privileges she had earned such as choice of flights and/or extra flights.

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-r...termination-suit-2019-11-20?mod=mw_quote_news
Sound like Delta wanted to get rid of that salary.
 

I don't know when this happened, but I had heard about this a few months or so ago. There are definitely two ways to look at this, one way would be me wondering how long was she planning on staying working? I would think that she would want to be out there enjoying her money and her pension. Even making $200,000.00 a year, I would be making use of the travel benefits offered by Delta and my pension money to travel, visit any old friends that may still be alive and just try to enjoy what's left of my years.

The other way is that since no airline that I know of has a mandatory retirement age for F/A's, she should be able to keep her job as long as she can do her job. I was told that she has received several commendations for doing her job, including working beyond her job description. I was also told that she makes $200,000.00 a year and had first dibs on flights and vacation dates, which with her 50+ years of seniority doesn't surprise me.

Pilots, OTOH, must retire at age 65, not one day more. I knew a fellow pilot that flew international and got trapped by flying overseas and then found out that because he had turned 65 while he was in the foreign country, he wasn't able to fly the plane back home, or even sit in the cockpit for that matter.
 
Apparently she did her job and passed yearly training and/or certifications. The troubling thing here seems to be some of the younger employees harassing her to leave the job. They seem envious of her position. Just making to 79 let alone staying in one industry/job for 5 decades is a feat those younger employees need to respect.

Granted many of her classes/required training sessions could've been rubber stamped because of her age but that type of time doesn't come from someone who just mails it in. Some of those employees might find themselves crying just because they might find themselves working until 79.
 

I wonder about some things. First, the system Delta has in dealing out these "perks". If perks prove disruptive to operating your business as these perks sound, why use even use the perk system? And if you have been submitting scads of "written complaints", which were not addressed by management, maybe the writing was on the wall. No matter how you view the situation, and from what is written in that article, there doesn't seem to be a lot of employee happiness at Delta.
 
If I was a betting man, I’d bet that her fellow F/A’s were jealous of her getting first dibs on what trips she took. Get her out of the way and that gives others a chance to fly elsewhere. Many of the F/A’s that I had spoken with over the years, said they wanted to fly internationally to go to Paris, Rome and London. Most all F/A’s dream of flying to Europe, the Mediterranean and parts of Asia.
 
I wonder about some things. First, the system Delta has in dealing out these "perks". If perks prove disruptive to operating your business as these perks sound, why use even use the perk system? And if you have been submitting scads of "written complaints", which were addressed by management, maybe the writing was on the wall. No matter how you view the situation, and from what is written in that article, there doesn't seem to be a lot of employee happiness at Delta.
Delta is a huge airline, like United, but they fly to more international destinations. Not many more, but more nonetheless. I would have thought that her union would have taken up the fight for her if she submitted a lot of complaints.

As for perks, I’m not sure what all she may have been getting. I’m sure that she was a Purser, or head F/A, but other than extra pay for that position and the ability to chose her routes and vacation days, I don’t know what else she may have received.

According to everyone that I spoke with at Delta, most were content.
 
I'm sure there is a lot more to this story. The question I would have is why is a 79 yr. old person still trying to work as a Flight Attendant? Obviously she has plenty of money, but I would question her ability to perform her job, at that age. From what I've seen on various flights, an attendant has to be quite physically fit....helping with overhead baggage, etc. If she can do all the tasks a much younger attendant can do, I would be quite amazed.
 
I'm sure there is a lot more to this story. The question I would have is why is a 79 yr. old person still trying to work as a Flight Attendant? Obviously she has plenty of money, but I would question her ability to perform her job, at that age. From what I've seen on various flights, an attendant has to be quite physically fit....helping with overhead baggage, etc. If she can do all the tasks a much younger attendant can do, I would be quite amazed.
Don: By rule at United, not sure about Delta, but the F/A does not "have" to place the luggage in the overhead bins. They can tell the passenger to either put it in, move it or check it. They do it themselves out of courtesy to the passengers. Some of those carry-on bags are heavy. If airlines ever start to enforce the size of the carry-ons, I would bet that some of them would have to be checked.
However, you are correct. F/A's must be in good physical condition, especially in case of an emergency. If a plane would have to make an emergency landing or even a ditching, they must aid in getting all passengers off of the plane and to do that does require some physical conditioning. F/A's go though some very challenging training and if she is passing her training exercises, then she is listed as qualified to do her job. I just keep wondering why she is continuing to work.
Did I hear right that one of the reasons the French are protesting and on strike is because the government wants to change their retirement rules and that the French can now retire while in their 50's with very good benefits? Is that correct? I wonder how much and what all they receive?
 
I think it's crazy for a sentry-nine year old person to keep working, fulltime, much less as a flight attendant. The job is physically demanding, no matter what exact physical tasks one is required to do.

I have a feeling that, for this person, the job is her whole life. Otherwise, how in the hell could someone making those very major bucks, for years, not want to retire and enjoy the fruits of her very long labors, with friends and family?

The story has its pathos angle, no doubt, but I think this woman has got to be on the "eccentric" side, to say the least.

I do want to include, here, that if this woman is able to do the job, and keeps getting rave reviews from passengers, then, yeah, her termination was wrong, and I hope she nets a bundle, in her lawsuit.

A bit more information:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...-79-making-250000-fired-steal-milk-carton.amp
 
I think it's crazy for a sentry-nine year old person to keep working, fulltime, much less as a flight attendant. The job is physically demanding, no matter what exact physical tasks one is required to do.

I have a feeling that, for this person, the job is her whole life. Otherwise, how in the hell could someone making those very major bucks, for years, not want to retire and enjoy the fruits of her very long labors, with friends and family?

The story has its pathos angle, no doubt, but I think this woman has got to be on the "eccentric" side, to say the least.

I do want to include, here, that if this woman is able to do the job, and keeps getting rave reviews from passengers, then, yeah, her termination was wrong, and I hope she nets a bundle, in her lawsuit.

A bit more information:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...-79-making-250000-fired-steal-milk-carton.amp
Your last paragraph is what it’s all about, although I do not understand her wanting to continue to work when she should be reaping the rewards of her fruits. She surely has a wonderful pension and other benefits, so she doesn’t need to worry about healthcare. I think she may be one of a few of us that just wants or needs for some psychological reason to work. Whatever, I wish her well.

I retired before I wanted or had to, but was offered an outstanding early out package. It broke my heart to have to give up flying, but being practical was the rule of that day. I was lucky enough to latch onto another pilot’s job flying for a leasing company, which although wasn’t with the big jets, I still enjoyed continuing my career.
 
The story as presented is a little too one sided. A happy 79 year old flight attendant is throw out by a heartless conglomerate. That's a little too pat. Why do I get the feeling this woman was a Human Resources nightmare? There seems to be a lot of discontent swirling around this person. For me, there isn't enough information to form an opinion. Having a 79 year old flight attendant would appear to be a PR coup for an airline.
 
Here's my question - what kind of crazy union contract pays ANY flight attendant over $200K per year? I don't care how long someone has been at the job, the work is only worth X amount, and that X is well under $200K per annum.
F/A's get paid mostly the same way as the rest of the flight crew, including pilots. They get paid by the time spent in the air, so if she is flying international routes, she is in the air more than a domestic F/A. With having so much seniority and being able to pick her routes, I am sure that she is probably flying international most of the time. We also get paid by the size of the plane.
Legacy carriers, or the airlines that have been around the longest, pay above other carriers. United, supposedly, pays their flight crews the highest amount across the board, with Delta coming in second. A Captain that has been with United for over twenty years and flies a big plane like a Boeing 777 and flies international routes is probably bringing down over $300.00 per flight hour.
 
Ida Gomez Llanos 57 years...the "Wright Stuff"!👩‍✈️
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This woman should be celebrated!
 
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Some more info here: https://onemileatatime.com/delta-flight-attendant-fired/

Seems some of the other flight attendants were jealous of her perks, and the airline wanted her gone because of her high salary. 1 sad story.
I already stated that in my post. I think she appears to be capable. However, I still question her judgment, but that’s her decision.
I also think that this situation makes a very unfriendly work environment. It’s just not a good situation.
 
Yes, I know that you already stated it. I was just offering up this 2nd article as confirmation.
I spoke with a pilot today that is still working and I mentioned this issue was being discussed on a forum. He then told me that the complaint is either going to or will be going to arbitration. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it’s probably very uncomfortable for all of the F/A’s on any flight she may be working.
 


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