It’s not just Air Canada; it has been industry standard not to pay unless airborne. Do I think that’s criminal? Yes. Disgusting? Definitely! But is it “normal” for airlines? Yep. Their profits are just unpaid wages. 😒
Replies
I can’t believe people take these jobs knowing that. 😳😳
aug 19, 2025, 11:19 pm • 11 0 • view
I can’t believe companies get away with treating their people so poorly. There are lots of jobs where employees are taken advantage of. The fault lies in corporate and shareholder greed, not with the employees who need or want those jobs.
aug 19, 2025, 11:33 pm • 15 0 • view
I dated people who worked as flight crew- not one, ever, ever told me that the time they were at work not in the air wasn’t paid. I’d have been frothing mad.
aug 19, 2025, 11:35 pm • 3 0 • view
Another example of a job that is grossly underpaid is radio broadcasting. APPALLING wages unless you’re the morning or drive home show in a major market. Hundreds of unpaid hours doing promotional appearances and shows because “there’s a line of people waiting to take your job”. 🤦♀️
aug 20, 2025, 2:14 am • 6 0 • view
True- trying to make the ones way up the food chain in that industry is also atrocious.
aug 20, 2025, 5:23 pm • 1 0 • view
I feel like this is victim blaming. No one mentioned it because, as I said, it’s the norm in the industry. I find it utterly appalling, of course, but the job does come with travel perks and a certain appeal. How is this different than any other job/profession that is grossly undervalued?
aug 20, 2025, 2:09 am • 0 0 • view
Let me put it another way. When you’re dating someone for a while who presents like they have a wonderful job and you know they’re working long exhausting hours but you don’t know they’re not being paid for a lot of it- it makes those little micro misunderstandings make sense…
aug 20, 2025, 3:08 am • 1 0 • view
… like “why is he working 13 hours a day living in this small place but never seems to offer to pay their share on dates” etc that you think but never bring up because you don’t mind really but if you knew the truth you’d understand your potential partner better.
aug 20, 2025, 3:08 am • 1 0 • view
I assumed when he was working 10-12-14 hours he was paid for all that. I never ever knew otherwise and it makes things make sense in retrospect. A mask to hide pain I never knew existed.
aug 20, 2025, 3:10 am • 1 0 • view
Pain that is justified and I would have helped shoulder if I knew.
aug 20, 2025, 3:12 am • 1 0 • view
I see what you’re saying now. Ready for another example? Long haul truckers. They get paid a tiny flat rate fee for pickups and drops but the majority of their pay is per mile on the Hubometer. Highest rate I’ve ever seen is .69 per hub mile. Waiting in traffic and…
aug 20, 2025, 12:03 pm • 1 0 • view
…not moving? Unpaid. Waiting at the border? Unpaid. stopping to eat? Unpaid. Stopping to sleep overnight? Unpaid. Like flight attendants, they work excruciating hours just to make ends meet.
aug 20, 2025, 12:05 pm • 1 0 • view
It’s not victim blaming. I’m just wondering why they didn’t share this fact with people who were close to them who would have happily helped them fight to change it. Maybe non-disclosure? I find it tragic they were dealing with this and I never knew.
aug 20, 2025, 2:55 am • 0 0 • view
do you blame them: it's kind of embarrassing. My cousin worked for westjet 6 or 7 years ago and told me. she only worked 2 years
aug 19, 2025, 11:39 pm • 1 0 • view
They often bragged about how great their job was in fact. Seeing the world. Travel discounts. I’m someone who has always consumed a lot of information- the fact I never knew this until August 2025 floors me.
aug 19, 2025, 11:42 pm • 2 0 • view
Don’t even get me started on how underpaid pilots are in small markets. Pilots for discount airlines like Allegiant have tens of thousands of dollars of debt (even more than a hundred thousand) and make minimum wage or less when they start. Lots need 2nd or 3rd jobs to survive.
aug 20, 2025, 2:18 am • 1 0 • view
Same. I can’t believe this was the first I’d heard of it
aug 20, 2025, 12:27 am • 0 0 • view
Workers are no longer viewed as an asset by corporations but rather as an expense that hurts their bottom line. They only take care of profit and shareholders.
aug 20, 2025, 2:08 am • 2 0 • view
It’s the promise of the other perks -which most won’t see until they are higher in seniority & doing international flights. But even those perks have dwindled.
aug 20, 2025, 5:22 pm • 1 0 • view
The benefits of this work are well known. They only work 65-85 hours a month, and make more than other full time work, which works 40 hours per week. Please stop feeling “bad”.
aug 20, 2025, 12:01 pm • 0 0 • view
The downsides are what’s just coming to light for a lot of people and many are surprised. Hours and hours of unpaid work are shocking to those not in the know. It is another example of corporate greed preying on employee mostly made up of women & gay men. (not all but most) It isn’t okay!
aug 20, 2025, 12:10 pm • 1 0 • view
new found outrage isn’t warranted, specifically from folks who don’t do the job.
aug 20, 2025, 12:31 pm • 1 0 • view
Really? Sometimes you just need a job. Any job. I need a job. Willing to take a job underneath my capabilities and skills simply to get a paycheque. Because the alternative is bankruptcy.
aug 19, 2025, 11:58 pm • 4 0 • view
Do you know if British Airways, Lufthansa etc are the same? I'm not even going to consider USA 😕
aug 19, 2025, 11:41 pm • 0 0 • view