- Most airlines don't pay flight attendants for the time spent boarding a flight or taxiing on the runway.
- But as this summer's flight chaos rages on, some planes are getting stuck on the tarmac for hours at a time.
- "We just want to be paid for the time that we're actually at work," one flight attendant said.
Passengers aren't the only victims of this summer's travel chaos. Every hour a flight is delayed is another hour flight attendants are required to work "for free," an Air Canada employee tells Insider.
Most major US and Canadian airlines only pay flight attendants full wages for time spent in the air, and do not provide extra compensation for delays or unexpected hold ups on the tarmac. The companies argue that the time it takes to board and taxi an aircraft is already factored into hourly pay.
But as thousands of flights are delayed and canceled around the world, waiting multiple hours on the tarmac before take off has become increasingly common.
While some flight attendants have successfully pushed their employers to provide additional pay for boarding — most notably Delta, which announced it would pay extra beginning on June 2 — others at airlines like American Airlines, Southwest, and Air Canada remain in the throes of fighting for more compensation.
The Air Canada employee, who has been a flight attendant with the airline for over 20 years, said she worked for more than 16 hours straight on an international flight this summer after it was delayed 3.5 hours on the tarmac.
"We just want to be paid for the time that we're actually at work because right now a three or four hour delay is standard procedure at the airport," she told Insider.
"I don't feel that it is too much to ask, to be paid for the time that we are working," she continued. "I'm not asking to be paid to sit on my butt at home."
The flight attendant spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to protect her job, but her employment has been verified by Insider. Air Canada did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
'You cannot expect people to act normally anymore'
On top of cutting into flight attendant's rest times, mass delays exacerbate the risks of unruly passenger incidents and dangerous cabin temperatures, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents Air Canada flight attendants, told Reuters.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, flight disruptions caused by passengers — which hit an all time high in early 2021 — briefly spiked over Memorial Day weekend, as over 4,500 flights were canceled or delayed.
A variety of factors have led to a surge in flight delays this summer, including crew availability, ramp worker shortages, and pilot flight limits.
According to the Air Canada employee, the burden of explaining the often complicated reasons behind a delay to a plane full of frustrated passengers usually falls on the flight attendants, "which causes our passengers to get angry at us."
"It becomes like a bomb," she said. "You cannot expect people to act normally anymore because you don't know what kind of hell they've been through before they got onto the airplane or before they got onto into the airport.
'The whole system is not sustainable'
Flight attendant pay varies on years of experience and hours worked, as Insider has previously reported.
Entry-level pay for Air Canada flight attendants starts at $28.85 an hour following the completion of a 7-week, full-time training program that is paid at a "lower rate," according to the airline's website. Flight attendants work between 70 and 85 hours per month, bringing the median starting salary to approximately $27,000 per year.
The Air Canada flight attendant, who is paid the airline's highest possible wage of $62 an hour due to her seniority, said her entry-level colleagues are "not getting paid enough for what they're having to put up with."
"They're stealing food off the airplane to eat on the layovers because with all the hours that are accumulating right now that they're working for free, they don't have enough money to buy food for themselves," she said. "The whole system is not sustainable."
Are you a flight attendant? Have a tip or story to share? Email this reporter at [email protected] from a non-work email address.