82 year old flight attendant won't quit

flying pops wrote:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci...s/15434728.htm

More work, less pay. But quit? No way

NWA's longest-serving flight attendant loves his job, even after 55
years.

BY JULIE FORSTER
Pioneer Press

Longer hours, pay cuts and strike threats. Those could be good reasons
to quit your job.

Bob Reardon will need several more. At 82, he has no intention of
giving up the title of Northwest's longest-serving flight attendant.

After 55 years of working the aisles of Northwest Airlines planes,
Reardon keeps a full-time schedule as purser in charge of the cabin
crew on the airline's international flights.

Sure, his job gets under his skin sometimes. Yes, he's dismayed at
cuts and work-rule changes that require him to work more for less pay.

But Reardon finds the rewards of working Northwest's Pacific flights
too alluring to surrender.

"If I didn't like the job," he says, "I would have quit 20 years ago."

Grumbling about work, for many, has been raised to an art. And who
hasn't tossed a few bucks into the lottery pool with an eye on sudden
retirement?

Evidently, not Reardon.

His affinity for his job is fueled by some basic factors widely viewed
as keys for a fulfilling work life: control over your schedule, a
sense of responsibility, a job that complements your personal life and
the ability to walk away if you want to.

As purser, Reardon is the lead flight attendant on Northwest's
747-400s, its largest aircraft. They seat 403 passengers and require a
cabin crew of at least 12.

In his job, he communicates with the pilots in the cockpit and makes
sure the cabin service flows smoothly. He smoothes over disputes,
extinguishes potentially hostile situations with passengers. He tends
to ill passengers. He prepares incident reports and customs documents.

He also tries to keep morale up, imploring workers not to take out
their frustrations on each other. He does a lot more morale boosting
these days as flight attendants are mired in a labor war with
Northwest.

As the most senior flight attendant, Reardon can bid on exactly the
trips he wants. The sense of control over his schedule gives him the
feeling of being his own boss.

"There's a certain freedom," he said. "You can build your time to suit
yourself."

Lately, Reardon's monthly schedule includes two six-day trips. He
flies from the Twin Cities to Tokyo. Once his plane touches down,
Reardon doesn't hunker down in the hotel for the night. Instead, he's
off for dinner with his friends who live there and who are a major
part of his life.

He stays in Tokyo overnight and flies the next day to Hong Kong or
Manila. After a 36-hour layover, he returns to Tokyo, then back to the
Twin Cities the next day.

Reardon's time in the air keeps his body at a trim 160 pounds. Working
a flight is like a workout: more than 12 hours of remaining tense and
braced, twisting and balancing much of the time.

The job is a lot more physical than the public realizes, said John
Murray, a Northwest flight attendant for 37 years. Just being in a
pressurized cabin for a 12-hour flight takes a toll.

"That's what amazes me - that he could still do it," Murray said of
Reardon.

Being a flight attendant at Northwest is becoming more of an endurance
test.

Before the most recent work rule changes and pay cuts imposed upon the
flight attendants in July, Reardon typically averaged 72 to 74 hours
per month of flight time. To meet the new minimum requirement of 75
hours per month, Reardon had to add another flight to his monthly
schedule: roundtrip to Honolulu, boosting his flying time to 82 hours.

Attendants could be scheduled with as many as 100 hours a month.
That's just time in the air. Time on the ground, including boarding
and deplaning, or any ground delay, is unpaid. The increased hours
eventually will have to change, he says. "It's got to or people will
just drop over."

Reardon doesn't have to work for the money. His salary - though
recently cut 21 percent - will come to $36,000 to $38,000 per year.
Like many in his era, he receives a nice pension, which, after taxes,
amounts to $2,300 each month. Federal law allows people to collect
their pension at age 70½, working or not.

Unlike many of his co-workers, Reardon has no mortgage. He has no
children. Nor does he have car payments. A cabin cruiser he owns is
paid off. The rent for his Highland Village apartment runs $625 a
month. He doesn't worry about saving for old age because he's already
there.

"You have a stress-free existence," one flight attendant told him.

Stress free, perhaps. Persnickety definitely.

Before each of his trips, he goes to the neighborhood barber for the
minutest trim of his short gray hair, which he keeps combed into place
and shot full of hair spray on his trips. Halfway through the 12½-hour
flights to Asia, he changes into a fresh shirt. His garment carry-on
bag is packed in the same precise manner, with four days' change of
underwear and an extra change of clothes - in case his luggage doesn't
make it. His attaché case is packed the same always: with four types
of currency, traveler's checks and his passport.

His exacting manner leaves little room for suggestions or negotiation.

"He knows exactly how he wants things done," says his friend and
co-worker Lori Rothmund, who also is an international purser. "He
knows his job and how things should be done, and he does it
consistently. He is just a perfectionist."

Reardon began his career with Northwest in 1951 with a mind to take a
year and a half break from his post-graduate studies in French and
Spanish literature at the University of Minnesota. Studying was
getting tiring and he needed a change of pace.

At that time, the plan was to return to school after his break and
then pursue a career as a foreign-service officer. Plans have a way of
getting derailed.

"I liked the job so much that I didn't want to quit," he said. "A year
would go by, another year would go by. After 20 years, I said, 'Well,
I guess it's permanent.' "

The job becomes a lifestyle, particularly for someone who lives alone.

"That is part of the reason Bob is still there," said Wanda Murray, a
flight attendant, who is married to John Murray. "He has a lot of
friends in Asia. His co-workers - in our own way - we are family."

Maybe it's living the life he loves that keeps him young and healthy
and on the job. Maybe it's passion for the work or the uncomplicated
life he leads. For one, while he hears his job described as high
stress, he doesn't consider it so. Not yet, anyway. If that changes,
so will he.

"If I don't feel well," Reardon says simply, "I'll quit."


he's the oldest??? I swear we have one at Delta (based in NY, ex-Pam
Am) who is at LEAST 82.

Cassie wrote:
flying pops wrote:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci...s/15434728.htm

More work, less pay. But quit? No way

NWA's longest-serving flight attendant loves his job, even after 55
years.

BY JULIE FORSTER
Pioneer Press

Longer hours, pay cuts and strike threats. Those could be good reasons
to quit your job.

Bob Reardon will need several more. At 82, he has no intention of
giving up the title of Northwest's longest-serving flight attendant.

After 55 years of working the aisles of Northwest Airlines planes,
Reardon keeps a full-time schedule as purser in charge of the cabin
crew on the airline's international flights.

Sure, his job gets under his skin sometimes. Yes, he's dismayed at
cuts and work-rule changes that require him to work more for less pay.

But Reardon finds the rewards of working Northwest's Pacific flights
too alluring to surrender.

"If I didn't like the job," he says, "I would have quit 20 years ago."

Grumbling about work, for many, has been raised to an art. And who
hasn't tossed a few bucks into the lottery pool with an eye on sudden
retirement?

Evidently, not Reardon.

His affinity for his job is fueled by some basic factors widely viewed
as keys for a fulfilling work life: control over your schedule, a
sense of responsibility, a job that complements your personal life and
the ability to walk away if you want to.

As purser, Reardon is the lead flight attendant on Northwest's
747-400s, its largest aircraft. They seat 403 passengers and require a
cabin crew of at least 12.

In his job, he communicates with the pilots in the cockpit and makes
sure the cabin service flows smoothly. He smoothes over disputes,
extinguishes potentially hostile situations with passengers. He tends
to ill passengers. He prepares incident reports and customs documents.

He also tries to keep morale up, imploring workers not to take out
their frustrations on each other. He does a lot more morale boosting
these days as flight attendants are mired in a labor war with
Northwest.

As the most senior flight attendant, Reardon can bid on exactly the
trips he wants. The sense of control over his schedule gives him the
feeling of being his own boss.

"There's a certain freedom," he said. "You can build your time to suit
yourself."

Lately, Reardon's monthly schedule includes two six-day trips. He
flies from the Twin Cities to Tokyo. Once his plane touches down,
Reardon doesn't hunker down in the hotel for the night. Instead, he's
off for dinner with his friends who live there and who are a major
part of his life.

He stays in Tokyo overnight and flies the next day to Hong Kong or
Manila. After a 36-hour layover, he returns to Tokyo, then back to the
Twin Cities the next day.

Reardon's time in the air keeps his body at a trim 160 pounds. Working
a flight is like a workout: more than 12 hours of remaining tense and
braced, twisting and balancing much of the time.

The job is a lot more physical than the public realizes, said John
Murray, a Northwest flight attendant for 37 years. Just being in a
pressurized cabin for a 12-hour flight takes a toll.

"That's what amazes me - that he could still do it," Murray said of
Reardon.

Being a flight attendant at Northwest is becoming more of an endurance
test.

Before the most recent work rule changes and pay cuts imposed upon the
flight attendants in July, Reardon typically averaged 72 to 74 hours
per month of flight time. To meet the new minimum requirement of 75
hours per month, Reardon had to add another flight to his monthly
schedule: roundtrip to Honolulu, boosting his flying time to 82 hours.

Attendants could be scheduled with as many as 100 hours a month.
That's just time in the air. Time on the ground, including boarding
and deplaning, or any ground delay, is unpaid. The increased hours
eventually will have to change, he says. "It's got to or people will
just drop over."

Reardon doesn't have to work for the money. His salary - though
recently cut 21 percent - will come to $36,000 to $38,000 per year.
Like many in his era, he receives a nice pension, which, after taxes,
amounts to $2,300 each month. Federal law allows people to collect
their pension at age 70½, working or not.

Unlike many of his co-workers, Reardon has no mortgage. He has no
children. Nor does he have car payments. A cabin cruiser he owns is
paid off. The rent for his Highland Village apartment runs $625 a
month. He doesn't worry about saving for old age because he's already
there.

"You have a stress-free existence," one flight attendant told him.

Stress free, perhaps. Persnickety definitely.

Before each of his trips, he goes to the neighborhood barber for the
minutest trim of his short gray hair, which he keeps combed into place
and shot full of hair spray on his trips. Halfway through the 12½-hour
flights to Asia, he changes into a fresh shirt. His garment carry-on
bag is packed in the same precise manner, with four days' change of
underwear and an extra change of clothes - in case his luggage doesn't
make it. His attaché case is packed the same always: with four types
of currency, traveler's checks and his passport.

His exacting manner leaves little room for suggestions or negotiation.

"He knows exactly how he wants things done," says his friend and
co-worker Lori Rothmund, who also is an international purser. "He
knows his job and how things should be done, and he does it
consistently. He is just a perfectionist."

Reardon began his career with Northwest in 1951 with a mind to take a
year and a half break from his post-graduate studies in French and
Spanish literature at the University of Minnesota. Studying was
getting tiring and he needed a change of pace.

At that time, the plan was to return to school after his break and
then pursue a career as a foreign-service officer. Plans have a way of
getting derailed.

"I liked the job so much that I didn't want to quit," he said. "A year
would go by, another year would go by. After 20 years, I said, 'Well,
I guess it's permanent.' "

The job becomes a lifestyle, particularly for someone who lives alone.

"That is part of the reason Bob is still there," said Wanda Murray, a
flight attendant, who is married to John Murray. "He has a lot of
friends in Asia. His co-workers - in our own way - we are family."

Maybe it's living the life he loves that keeps him young and healthy
and on the job. Maybe it's passion for the work or the uncomplicated
life he leads. For one, while he hears his job described as high
stress, he doesn't consider it so. Not yet, anyway. If that changes,
so will he.

"If I don't feel well," Reardon says simply, "I'll quit."


he's the oldest??? I swear we have one at Delta (based in NY, ex-Pam
Am) who is at LEAST 82.


my bad. I just reread it and it said that he was the oldest at NWA.
I really do think that Delta has one that is older than he
is........and he too has no plans to retire.

Kontessa Fanfarria writes:

So is there some kind of competition between airlines to see which one
has the oldest, most decrepid flight attendants?

Nobody said anything about this FA being decrepit. He's just old,
which is not the same thing. If you are fortunate, you will
eventually discover this.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

In article ,
Kontessa Fanfarria wrote:

Mxsmanic wrote:

Kontessa Fanfarria writes:

So is there some kind of competition between airlines to see which one
has the oldest, most decrepid flight attendants?

Nobody said anything about this FA being decrepit. He's just old,
which is not the same thing. If you are fortunate, you will
eventually discover this.

No, on an airliner he is decrepit. And a huge safety risk as well. An
airplane is not a retirement home. I don't care what anyone says, an
82 year old cannot evacuate 500 passengers from a smoldering 747
wreckage like a younger person can. Bravo to the Asian airlines for
putting a cap on how old their flight attendants can be. This, and
many other reasons, is why they are always at the top of the best
airlines list.

Please. When a 747 goes down, there's not much call for evacuation,
especially on the long haul oceanic routes that all of these senior
attendants fly. What you need is a bucket to pick up the chunks.
For survival stats on 747's (all series), check out:
http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/boeing.htm

eggs.

Kontessa Fanfarria writes:

No, on an airliner he is decrepit. And a huge safety risk as well.

How do you know he is decrepit? And why would he be a safety risk?
He passes the same tests as everyone else.

I don't care what anyone says, an 82 year old cannot evacuate
500 passengers from a smoldering 747 wreckage like a younger
person can.

Why not? Passengers actually evacuate themselves, in any case; they
are not carried out by the FAs. The FAs direct them, they don't haul
them out over their shoulders.

Bravo to the Asian airlines for
putting a cap on how old their flight attendants can be. This, and
many other reasons, is why they are always at the top of the best
airlines list.

The Asian airlines hire FAs for beauty. But the main job of a flight
attendant (at least in the USA) is to ensure safety, especially in
emergencies.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

eggs writes:

Please. When a 747 goes down, there's not much call for evacuation,
especially on the long haul oceanic routes that all of these senior
attendants fly. What you need is a bucket to pick up the chunks.

Not all flights are 747s or over the ocean.

Correct, but you snipped what I was replying to: "I don't care what
anyone says, an 82 year old cannot evacuate 500 passengers from a
smoldering 747 wreckage like a younger person can."

eggs.

eggs writes:

Please. When a 747 goes down, there's not much call for evacuation,
especially on the long haul oceanic routes that all of these senior
attendants fly. What you need is a bucket to pick up the chunks.

Not all flights are 747s or over the ocean.

The most dangerous part of an emergency landing is the potential fire.
If everyone is out before the fire starts, or if there is no fire,
survivability can be very high. Look at Air France flight 358 in
Toronto: FAs got everyone off the plane, and there were no deaths out
of 309 people aboard.

Ocean accidents tend to be deadly simply because aircraft don't float
well and it's hard to get rescuers to the crash location before
everyone is in the water, leading to many drownings.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

eggs writes:

Correct, but you snipped what I was replying to: "I don't care what
anyone says, an 82 year old cannot evacuate 500 passengers from a
smoldering 747 wreckage like a younger person can."

I replied to it.

Evacuating people in an emergency is a matter of knowing what to do
and keeping a cool head. One need not be an athlete. If that were
important, all FAs would be large males.

It is important that the person next to the emergency exit be large
enough to open the door easily and help people through it, though,
which is why FAs allow only people meeting these criteria to sit near
emergency exits.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote:
Kontessa Fanfarria writes:

So is there some kind of competition between airlines to see which
one has the oldest, most decrepid flight attendants?

Nobody said anything about this FA being decrepit. He's just old,
which is not the same thing. If you are fortunate, you will
eventually discover this.

I do not care how old they are. So long as they do the job efficiently, I'm
happy.

What annoys me is people who will re-post a 7 kb post and add a one-liner at
the bottom. Faaark.


--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

Mxsmanic wrote:
eggs writes:

Correct, but you snipped what I was replying to: "I don't care what
anyone says, an 82 year old cannot evacuate 500 passengers from a
smoldering 747 wreckage like a younger person can."

I replied to it.

Evacuating people in an emergency is a matter of knowing what to do
and keeping a cool head. One need not be an athlete. If that were
important, all FAs would be large males.

It is important that the person next to the emergency exit be large
enough to open the door easily and help people through it, though,
which is why FAs allow only people meeting these criteria to sit near
emergency exits.

Do you reckon those people would hang around inside the aeroplane? I don't!
I reckon they'd be the first ones through it, galloping desperately into the
distance.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy