United Flight Attendants Are Sent Long-Haul to Rome… But Are Being Banished From the City Itself
- United Airlines unilaterally found a new hotel for flight attendants working international services to Rome but it's nowhere near the city center–a decision that has left crew members riled.
Flight attendants at United Airlines are once again up in arms about their failing contract–this time, it’s over a new layover hotel in the Italian capital, Rome, which is nowhere near the city center.
This isn’t the only premium international destination where United’s flight attendants don’t get to stay in the center of the action but are despatched to hotels that the airlines like to describe as “downtown-like.”
First, United moved flight attendants out of a central hotel in Amsterdam, followed by London, and now even the Eternal City has fallen victim to United’s hotel procurement department.
From an outsider’s point of view, it might be difficult to see what the fuss is about. After all, United is the one that is paying for the hotel rooms, and flight attendants are at work. This isn’t that far removed from what many companies already do for employees on work trips.
What the casual observer has to remember, though, is that being a flight attendant isn’t a profession that allows someone to climb the corporate ladder and make big bucks.
Instead, flight attendants are attracted to the role in the first place and largely stay doing what they love for so long because of the lifestyle.
“They are letting United walk all over us! First Amsterdam, then London and now FCO [Rome]! This is some BS and enough is enough.”
United Airlines flight attendant
And when it comes to big global carriers like United, that means being able to work internationally and stay in destinations that many people can only dream of visiting.
Back in the day, a city center hotel close to all of the main tourist attractions like the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Vatican City was non-negotiable.
The existing contract between United and its flight attendants, however, allows the airline to choose ‘downtown-like’ hotels, although what that actually means is open to interpretation.
In London, downtown-like means that flight attendants now stay in a sleepy little town 24 miles southwest of Central London, which takes at least 45 minutes by train to reach the lights of Picadilly Circus and other popular tourist hotspots.
Earlier this month, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which represents United’s crew members, said the airline had gone out and decided upon a new layover hotel close to Rome without its involvement. The decision has led to an official complaint being filed.
One of the issues facing United is that it recently started a new service to Rome from Denver. Trying to find a hotel in central Rome that is both willing and able to accommodate so many flight attendants is no easy task.
Given that Italy is still feeling the buoyant White Lotus effect on inbound tourism, many hotels that would typically contract with airlines probably feel like they can make more money by taking regular bookings.
The union warns that the hotels United has been choosing for flight attendants is starting to become a “great concern” and could be a sticky issue to resolve in long-running contract negotiations.
Many flight attendants are now lobbying the union to make hotel choices a much bigger focus in ongoing bargaining in an attempt to get them back to city-center hotels.
One solution might be to tighten the definition of what downtown-like actually means, while others have called for flight attendants to always be placed in the same hotels as pilots as their contract is a lot more generous when it comes to hotel locations.
As long as Kirby and the rest of the United bigwigs are willing to spend their vacations staying in the same hotels as the FA’s then I see this as a nonissue. If the brass is not willing o do so then this is a huge problem.
bottom=line it is all about cost savings . If have someone bidding for a contract you going to go for the cheapest one . United is no different in that matter. They say there is a hotel committee that goes and inspects hotels and make sure they are within the contract guidelines. but where is this committee and who is on the board ? it is easier to find “Waldo” than the hotel committee. Flight Attendants has always taken a back seat when it comes most everything , and to change anything that benefits flight attendants is an act of God . They want flight attendant to do their job and be silent, if you don’t like it then quit. there are thousands of people that want to take your place that is what is told to us. Also management will say if we give better hotels then you have give up something else to us . They will say a hotel is for rest only not to enjoy , your layover is not a family vacation . You want to see Rome buy ticket and go on your vacation time not on the company’s time . This what is told to us all the time . I overheard someone tell someone you don’t like the trip then don’t fly it.