Flight attendants are an airline’s most public face, and they play a key role in on-time performance: herding passengers on and off flights, helping stow carry-on baggage and conducting required safety checks.
United Airlines began boarding passengers using a window/middle/aisle system – known as WilMA – because it cuts down on the time of passengers jostling for seats. Frontier uses the traditional system of loading passengers back to front. Southwest has open seating, boarding in three groups, based on the time of check-in, including online check-in.
On-time discipline at Frontier starts when flight attendants begin six weeks of training. Arriving even a minute late for any class means being booted from training. The reason? A flight attendant arriving late for work can delay a flight, inconveniencing passengers and costing the airline money.
“My saying is, ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go,”‘ said Pam Gardner, Frontier’s vice president of in-flight services, who is in charge of flight attendant training and has been a flight attendant for nearly 28 years.
In society, people “do have a tendency to be a little late,” Gardner said. “It’s almost a re-education.”
Pilots have to hold up their end of the bargain by preparing their flight plan, checking the weather, coordinating with the crew and readying for takeoff. Jet fuel costs can make it less economical for pilots to make up for a late departure by flying faster, because increased speed burns more fuel.
If a delay causes passengers to miss a connecting flight, Frontier may be on the hook.
“If we misconnect them on the last bank of the evening, we may have to buy them meals and/or a hotel room, and that gets real expensive real quickly,” said Jim Sullivan, Frontier’s vice president of flight operations.
Before the cabin door is secured, airline employees must complete a series of checks according to FAA requirements, including verifying the passenger count and ensuring the crew gets the passenger list from the gate agent and weight and balance information.
On a recent flight to Los Angeles, flight attendant Christy Ordway said “it gets really bad this time of year – the holidays” because many passengers are traveling with presents. “It’s the carry-ons that slow things down,” she said.
