United Airlines Flight Attendant Claims Bankruptcy Was Necessary Due To “Abysmal” Salary

A United Airlines flight attendant claims she was forced to file bankruptcy despite taking on a second and third job due to “abysmal” pay for her work, which led to insurmountable credit card debt. While her story is probably not that simple, there is an element of validity in pointing out the vast difference in pay between junior and senior flight attendants at United and other US carriers.

United Airlines Junior Flight Attendant Opens Up About Her Bankruptcy

Taking to reddit to share her story, the flight attendant claimed that “abysmal” pay at United forced her to take on extra work and run up credit card debt, ultimately leading to a Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy filing:

First few years pay at UA is so abysmal that’s I ended up filing chapter 7 bankruptcy and it’s been the best thing to ever happen to me. I got a substitute teaching job and I was Instacart on the side but it’s overwhelming and I’ve just hit burn out. I hate interacting with people at this point.

I maxed out all my credit cards and took out a loan on my old 401k trying to survive on probation (too fearful to work another job and not be available). And for the last year I’ve been working my ass off trying to beat the interest on the credit cards but to no avail.

In my state you can qualify for chapter 7 up until 75k annual income so I did it . I surrendered my car and it even wiped some of my student loans. I sleep so much better at night. Now I can go to the job and worry about sh*t that doesn’t matter like “sparkling water ” and where coworkers that I’m never gonna see again commute from.

I’m no longer filled with anxiety and resentment. I cried in relief the first time I had a day off from flying and was able to sleep in until my body woke me up. 2 year pay is nothing to write home about but at least now I’m at an equilibrium.

I know bankruptcy will prevent me from buying a house for the next two years or so but it might take that long to get this new contract anyways so the grass is still substantially greener.

I don’t speak in judgment here. Sometimes, we get ourselves in trouble and I am so thankful that there is not a permanent stigma over those who are forced to reorganize under bankruptcy protection. It’s an important part of the American system that the Founding Fathers carefully considered even in drafting the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8).

But is she just a victim? I don’t think so…running up credit card debt is a choice, even when we feel backed into a wall. No one forced her to become a flight attendant.

The Flight Attendant Seniority System At US Airlines Is Complicated

The seniority system at US airlines may be like democracy (as Winston Churchill famously put it, “The worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”), but there is no denying that senior flight attendants can live a very comfortable middle-class life while junior flight attendants barely survive…or in this case, don’t…while doing exactly the same job. Unions and veteran flight attendants argue this is necessary for retention and to reward labor, but I think a more even playing field is appropriate. Yes, junior flight attendants (and all US workers who work an honest day’s wage) should not have to go on government assistance or run up credit card debt to survive.

I don’t think that is a simplistic analysis…equal pay for equal work is a reasonable demand and while the vast majority of junior flight attendants are able to survive and even flourish by living in crashpads or with friends and family and living frugally, there is a rather wide inequity that I wish the latest round of flight attendant contracts had better addressed. Sure, let seniority dictate route assignments and vacation days…that’s reasonable…but when one flight attendant is making double her colleague and they’re both pushing the same beverage cart, I do wonder how that makes sense…

CONCLUSION

I neither applaud nor condemn the United flight attendant here who shared openly about her bankruptcy experience. Life can be tough and I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life. I do think her struggles point out that junior flight attendants should not make a fraction of what senior flight attendants earn for the same work.

image: United // Hat Tip: View From The Wing