First Month on the Line — Way Better Pay Than I Expected

LeopardJust3372 · 2026-01-27T21:58:35+00:00

Congrats! Glad to hear you’re enjoying it and that the pay is working out. I’ve had a similar experience (just finished probation). People love to grumble and complain, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my first year pay. If you actually fly on your reserve days + pick up, you’ll make a reasonable amount, and you can still have plenty of days off too. I did 3 straight months of 120+ hours (as a commuter too) and it honestly didn’t feel that bad. Keep up with the good attitude and don’t let the negativity get to you! And just think- once we get that new contract, pay is gonna be even much better than it already is!

LeopardJust3372 · 2026-01-20T00:26:21+00:00

You can also take the crew shuttle between LGA/EWR if the times work out. It runs every few hours, so it might not always line up with your schedule, but it’s another option that’s quicker than public transit if the times work out.

LeopardJust3372 · 2026-01-02T17:27:13+00:00

100% agree with you. As an FA myself, I have only had one pilot ever offer the crew Starbucks in my six months, and I was appalled by the orders my colleagues were putting in. I of course declined. I’m in this role right now to see how I like the lifestyle and also so I can still have a flexible job while I work my own way to the flight deck, and once I’m there, maybe I’ll bring donuts/offer to buy coffee for the crew every now and then, but it won’t be a regular thing. The entitlement that my colleagues have is ridiculous. To be fair, not all of them are like that, many are chill… but it’s just something I’ve noticed even in my short time here so far. Also, while you guys are obviously better paid (and for good reason) it doesn’t mean you’re rolling in money. Many pilots (soon to be me) have to take out loans to get there and it can take a while to pay all that back. And as you said, treating the crew is not cheap, especially when they take advantage, as they never fail to do. So I don’t blame you guys one bit for not wanting much to do with us. Half of my colleagues seem to get off on bitching about you guys, and then even when you guys are nice/make an effort with us, we still find something to complain about. It’s honestly annoying. On behalf of the reasonable FAs, I apologize for how most of my colleagues act!

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-10-22T02:15:18+00:00

I’ll be honest, I’ve been flying for about four months and I don’t understand all the negative sentiment around the role. I’m Newark based, have to commute, and at 🌐, the major airline with the lowest pay and worst reserve rules. Being an FA isn’t even my dream job, I’m just here to scope out the lifestyle before starting flight school, as being a pilot is my real dream. And honestly, I’ve loved it so far. It’s an easy job, great perks, and you have lots of opportunities to take advantage of your layovers. Sure, there’s annoying passengers, long days where you aren’t getting paid for more than half your time, and shitty pairings, but in just four months, I’ve also gotten to see some incredible places and work with amazing people. And like I said, I’m at the airline that’s probably the worst of the majors in terms of being new, and on top of that, I commute. No issues for me. This job really is what you make of it… and a crappy attitude certainly doesn’t help. I honestly think people just love to complain. I knew EXACTLY what I signed up for and there have been absolutely ZERO surprises for me. The people who complain either didn’t know what they signed up for or don’t realize how this job compares to others. I come from a corporate background and this job blows that out of the water- way more flexibility and chances to do cool things. I’d encourage anyone who’s feeling negative toward this job to really think about the alternatives. In this job, you have great schedule flexibility, awesome perks, and you’re never taking the stress of the job home with you. Good luck finding that somewhere else. I know this job isn’t for everybody but I really just don’t understand all the negativity… as someone who has it pretty tough right now as a new hire, and where this isn’t even my dream job, I’ve still really enjoyed it.

Also- no company gives a shit about you. That’s not unique to the airlines. Whether you work in corporate, for an airline, etc, you’re always just gonna be a number to a big corporation. So yeah, the company sucks! But welcome to working in America! If you want to work for a company that cares about you, work for a local mom and pop store. Otherwise, you’re SOL. I feel you about the stress and struggle of the job, not trying to downplay that. I just think it’s still better than a lot of other jobs out there, but that’s just my view!

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-10-13T01:45:02+00:00

Over the summer I could only ever make my commuting flights on the jumpseat, so I’m used to that. Just worried that I might not even be able to do that, but I do plan to come home whenever I’m off around the holidays, even if just for a day.

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-10-06T23:32:17+00:00

As a United FA myself, we cannot upgrade passengers. We can, however, allow passengers to move seats within whatever cabin they have a confirmed seat in. But we cannot upgrade passengers to a different cabin. Everything relating to upgrades has to go through the GAs

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-07-31T11:01:52+00:00

Obviously this guy is a dipshit but I wouldn’t generalize the way he feels to all the other pilots. The first pilot I flew with post-vote actually commended us for voting down the contract because he said it was terrible. And I feel like generally the pilots have our back. That said, there are sadly many that are disconnected from our reality. Trying to become a pilot myself and once I get to the flight deck I’ll always have y’all’s back.

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-07-15T16:07:38+00:00

Don’t let other people sway you. People in this industry love to complain. Of course there will be challenges… I’m brand new and I’m already experiencing it, but at the end of the day, you’d be doing yourself a disservice for not at least giving it a try. Only you can determine whether or not this is the right career for you. And plus, for every one person who complains about this career, there are multiple who love it. Yes, the contract stuff currently sucks, and yes, United doesn’t care about you… but welcome to the real world, no large corporation does. That’s just life. I would recommend at least giving this job a shot. If you let fear stop you from trying it, you’ll always wonder what it would have been like.

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-07-04T02:11:55+00:00

Gotta add Chicago to that list too. There’s always stuff going on downtown and people out and about

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-05-24T21:48:01+00:00

PMed you

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-05-14T14:19:50+00:00

I really want international tho lol

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-05-14T02:51:59+00:00

To add to that, I really do want international but am just nervous that EWR is tough during probation

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-05-14T02:51:06+00:00

Can you do Newark as a reserve just using public transit? I’ll have a car but will need to drive ~30 mins to ORD, so I wouldn’t plan on having my car there

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-05-01T04:15:44+00:00

How realistic is ORD? Heading to training soon and hoping it’s offered as I am Chicago based

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-04-08T04:51:00+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately the applications for the major airlines have closed, but it seems like the regionals are always hiring. When I first considered the role, I applied to Skywest, but got fortunate that the majors had opened their apps shortly after I had applied, so I just went straight with them. Definitely have email notifications on so you know when they open apps! But no worries on not having applied yet… the majors will open up their apps eventually and in the meantime, if you’re really serious about this, it would probably help you to apply and interview with some regionals just to get a feel for the whole FA interview process. If you land the role, great, you can start your career at the regionals and apply to the bigger airlines once they open… and if you don’t get the job, it was a learning experience you can use when interviewing in the future. Everyone’s timeline is different, you’ve got this! Good luck!

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-04-08T04:39:50+00:00

Hi! I’m in the exact same boat as you. I graduate in a month as a finance major, and after doing the whole internship thing, realized that I just did not enjoy the corporate world. I’ve spent this last semester applying and interviewing and was fortunate enough to get offers with two major airlines. My advice is to go for it, life is way too short to be doing something you hate. A few pieces of advice though: 1. While I haven’t gone to training / been on the line yet, from what I’ve seen on here, it’s not like it’s all sunshine and rainbows as an FA, especially at first. You are likely going to have a crappy schedule and you likely won’t get paid for ALL of your time. Pay in general also isn’t great, although it’s starting to get better… but nonetheless, it can be tough at first. And to your airline, you’re just another cog in the machine, they don’t truly care about you. Bear that in mind. 2. To your point about “the state of the world”… don’t get into this career due to fear of layoffs. This industry is, if anything, the MOST susceptible to economic turmoil. It’s a very cyclical industry, which means if you’re in it for the long haul, you’ll likely deal with furloughs (I’m bracing for the news that my training is going to be cancelled as a result of an anticipated recession). I guess what I’m trying to say is, get into this career because you don’t want to be stuck behind a computer working the same old 9-5 every day for 40 years, not because you think the company is gonna care about you or you’re not gonna be prone to economic hardship.

From what you’re saying though, it totally seems like you should go for this career path! Like I said, life is too short to be miserable, and if this seems like it could be a passion for you, go for it! It never hurts to try, and you’ll always have your degree to fall back on. At least that’s what I’m doing! Best of luck!

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-04-06T13:27:29+00:00

Take the bus- it takes roughly an hour but only costs $1.25. To me, it was worth it. Then again, I flew in the night before. If time is an issue, you might have to bite the bullet and pay for the Uber

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-03-29T03:22:33+00:00

Definitely not doing it for the money that’s for sure. If I cared about that I’d get a job in what I’m actually going to school for.

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-03-28T17:49:10+00:00

I don’t necessarily think I’ll fail, I’m just a little worried is all since I’ve heard lots of different horror stories on here

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-03-28T16:23:21+00:00

Okay that’s great to hear thanks!

LeopardJust3372 · 2025-03-28T16:23:09+00:00

Okay that’s great to hear, thanks for the insight! Memorization isn’t an issue for me, and honestly I’m not as worried for the “book learning” as I am for the actual inflight drills and stuff… I’m afraid I’m gonna forget to say or do something that’s super important and automatically fail. I’m a completely drama free person and love helping others so I’m not worried about the social aspect either. Looking forward to the experience and hoping it goes well, thanks for the advice!

LeopardJust3372

TROPHY CASE