Open letter from italian cabin crew
Please read this letter that an Italian Cabin Crew wrote to passengers talimg about Alitalia sitautuions.
Dear Passengers,
today I don’t want your attention on the emergency exits or on the oxygen masks, I would like to talk about something else and I would really appreciate your full attention this time.
everybody talked about the Alitalia questions, about the wonderful life of us cabin crew, everybody, except US.
Please allow me to say something and please forgive me if I sound too proud but this is really mine and most of my colleagues point of view.
I am a cabin crew for Airone and today I’d like to tell you what we have done before you passenger of Milan –rome flight at 7.00am come onboard, with your blackberry mobile phone and with your financial newspaper under your arm.
We got onboard and check that all emergency equipment work perfectly that all the smoke hoods were full and ready, that all the oxygen masks were perfectly located, life vest on their own place, smoke alarms in the lavatory ready, then we checked that nobody had left something suspicious. We’ve done everything in 10 minutes because today flight was full and we have the same slot.
Now everybody ready to board: smile and “buongiorno” sometimes at this early you reply with a “GRRR” ,but it’s fine, we are cabin crew we are always smiling. I would like to tell you my duties on board today after take off. I will have to be ready to fight a fire in the event that someone of you will have the bad intention to smoke in the lavatory without turn off the cigarette properly. Then may even occur that some of you has an Hearth Attack and then here I am ready to try to deal with this terrible emergency. and if the pregnant lady on row number 4, at his 7 months of the pregnancy, will have water break or something I will be prepared to help here giving the birth. I can even be a psychologist if some of you will panic where the door will be closed. Then Remember that if we crash out the runway during take off or landing WE WILL BE THERE, Ready to open to door and let you out with the emergency slide
Would you ever said this? We “hostess” have to do all those things? Yes, because if we would not doing this we will be in a court room in front of a judge, this is the reasone why we are here, dear passengers. Its after all thise that comes your coffee or your orange jusice. Is this hard to belive?. Today onboard we are 4, one supervisor or purser and then 3 cabin crew seasonal workers, someone is waiting for his permanent contract since 1 year someone else since 4 years and now with this new Alitalia / CAI plan everyone on board will end up lose his job.
Do you know that mosto f Airone Cabin crew are seasonal workers? Till few months ago we were most likely to have another seasonal contract at the end of the old one, then after 4 years we were called for a permanent. Today this is not happening, Cai will take away our job without a “thank you” or a “good bye”. This is WHY we don’t like the “CAI” Plan, because we will lose the job or will reduce slightly our salary.
Ladies and gentlemen I think that this job require a lot of professionalis from the coffea to the heart massage, if you might ever need it.
And now to the salaires, first off all you have to know that we don’t earn that much of money, maybe a little more of the average, but still normal salaries. Please consider that about 20 days in a month we are outside our house and we have to suppor ourself, these are life’s choice, I know just like the 16 Cai investitors that now are attempting to save the Italian flag carrier, but WOULD THEY DO IT FOR HALF OF THEIR OWN SALARY?
and what about a lawyer, would he keep with his “Life Choice” if his fees will be cut?
some seasonal workers are in a worse situation than ours, I’d agree with this, but I can’t see this as an excuse to cut our basic salary from 1100 to 635 … and please don’t talk about our benefits…
If you talked about our discounted airfares, Am I wrong if I say that Treinitalia staff have discounted fares for their family? We should cut their “benefits” too them. There are too much rumors about the job of a cabin crew, witch is a wonderful job, but it’s also very very hard.
I would like to have been a cabin crew in the 60s where we really had lots of privileges and lots of glamour,when we had the chance of travelling around the world and every single passenger was just a passenger and not a potential terrorist.
Today is not like this anymore, I could keep talking for hours and tell you about the downsides of my job, but I know that mosto f you will never listen to me and I think I’ve talked enough for now. I would like that these words would come straight to you, dear passengers but I don’t think this world will ever be published.
Anyway, Thank you for your attention.
A Cabin Crew