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Flight attendants find flying is fun no more

First the passenger cursed Mary Sutphen for refusing to serve him another whiskey on the flight from New York to Amsterdam. Then he kicked her in the knee. Then he decided to get her attention by urinating on her jump seat. On arrival, he was met by local authorities at the aircraft door.

You think your business travels have become more stressful? Put yourself in the shoes of flight attendants (and even they sometimes have to take them off for the security guards). The free time they are allotted in cities where they stay overnight has gotten shorter. The list of security measures they must take, from watching passengers' behavior to checking for unusual bags, has gotten longer. The travelers they serve have gotten surlier. And their financial prospects have gotten bleaker.

For many, job security is issue No. 1. About 22 percent of all flight attendants in the US have been laid off since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to Pat Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, a union representing about half the attendants in the US airline industry.

For those still working, even seemingly minor changes can trigger a whole succession of annoyances, says Rene Foss, a flight attendant and author of Around the World in a Bad Mood" (Hyperion, 2002), which details the vexations of the trade.

For example, charging for meals invariably prompts grumbling by some passengers. That, in turn, forces Foss to put on her fake "flight attendant's smile" and thank them for their input, she said. Then, she has to make change for US$20 or US$50 bills, no small matter in a hectic schedule. "We're working with a minimum crew," Foss said. "We're not an ATM on wings."

Worst of all, the food can run out, forcing her into an unwelcome arbitrator's role. "If there are 200 passengers but only 25 meals, what am I supposed to do if 26 people want to eat?" she asked. "Who gets that last meal, the little old lady, the unaccompanied child or the grumpy businessman? When people are hungry, they're mean."
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