Compass FA Whisteblower Story

[ImbracableCrunk]

I don't know anything about this story, but for those of you who are interested:


Thursday, October 28


Listen

Subscribe to Podcast

Recent Programs

Contact The Story

AIRLINE WHISTLEBLOWER

This summer Kirsten Arianejad discovered the real cost of blowing the whistle. She lost her job. Kirsten worked for Compass Airlines, a regional carrier. Kirsten loved the job and the travel, but she says the pay structure is set up in such a way that she was earning about $17,000 a year for full-time work, so little that she qualified for food stamps. Kirsten spoke out to a local TV station. When her company found out, she was fired.



http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_1155_Kirsten_Arianejad.mp3

 

[G2T]

Pretty old story. Maybe she should have voiced her opinions about the wages she made (and knowingly signed up for, as wrong as they may be) through her newly elected AFA instead of the local media. Here's another idea: When you make crap for wages, maybe commuting to a crashpad in MSP from PHX isn't the most logical choice.

 

[Abernathy]

If nobody applied for these jobs that paid so little, the pay would go up.

 

[CX880]

If nobody applied for these jobs that paid so little, the pay would go up.

yes... it would

 

[Jar Jar]

I think part of it is that they lure people in with "16.50/hr" and the people who don't figure out how that works are the ones who take the job.

 

[Flyprdu]

Pretty old story. Maybe she should have voiced her opinions about the wages she made (and knowingly signed up for, as wrong as they may be) through her newly elected AFA instead of the local media. Here's another idea: When you make crap for wages, maybe commuting to a crashpad in MSP from PHX isn't the most logical choice.

heh... I was going to type up a long rebuttal to your insensitive and naive outlook about this woman... I'll leave it to you another way...

You're a d*uche.

 

[G2T]

heh... I was going to type up a long rebuttal to your insensitive and naive outlook about this woman... I'll leave it to you another way...

You're a d*uche.

Good call. It's much easier to call me names than to type a logical argument against the facts.

 

[bri5150]

Good call. It's much easier to call me names than to type a logical argument against the facts.

Quote of the day. Thank you for the chuckle.

 

[WMUSIGPI]

I think part of it is that they lure people in with "16.50/hr" and the people who don't figure out how that works are the ones who take the job.

This is a big part of the problem right there. The company loves to talk about the $ amount, not that you are only going to get 10 days off and are on call 24 hours a day the rest of the month.

 

[Raoul Duke]

First of all it is not whistelblowing when you are simply too dumb to understand what you are signing up for. Last time I checked, the NMB still requires carriers to post copies of their CBAs to its website. Event if the Compass agreement was not posted, asking any FA how they get paid would have gone pretty far to clear things up. To say that her going to the constitutes whilstleblowing is absurd and is a slap in the face real whistelblowers. Second I am guessing that Compass (and any other airline) has a policy against discussing the company without its permission. She obviously violated that policy and got disciplined. I do not feel bad for her.

 

[DrewBlows]

She also accused Compass of not doing required maintenance; something that she was not in the position to know and, as far as I can tell, completely false.

 

[LearLove]

not that I agree with the pay but how is this "whistleblowing"?

 

[DrewBlows]

not that I agree with the pay but how is this "whistleblowing"?

They needed something to rally around and this is the best they could do. It has actually worked; there is no way they could have gotten any publicity with no story. "We are negotiating for better pay and work rules" doesn't sound as good as "flight attendants are forced to collect welfare."

 

[bizicmo]

She also accused Compass of not doing required maintenance; something that she was not in the position to know and, as far as I can tell, completely false.

I don't know if compass is or isn't doing required maintenance but to claim that she isn't in the position to know is a bit false.

 

[CX880]

We should be praising this whistleblower instead of calling her an idiot. What if this was a pilot whistleblower? They would be called a hero by ALPA and be allowed no less than half a page article on the ALPA magazine.

 

[wmuflyguy]

We should be praising this whistleblower instead of calling her an idiot. What if this was a pilot whistleblower? They would be called a hero by ALPA and be allowed no less than half a page article on the ALPA magazine.

What wrong doing was she reporting? Low wages? Not exactly reporting wrong doing as no one is forcing her to work for them. As far as it is a safety issue, lets debatable.

As for her reporting that they don't do maintenance, not sure how she would know that.

Most pilots who talk to the press are smart enough not to put their name out there. Most companies have rules about talking to the media, mine specifically prohibits it unless authorized to by the company (union officials are exempt from that). If she violated the rules, then she has to deal with the consequences of her actions. Just like a pilot, dispatcher, or ramper would.

 

[bizicmo]

Why wouldn't she know that they don't do maintenance? She is trained to identify broken items in her area that would require maintenance. If those things are broken, are reported as broken and then are not fixed, I would call that not doing required maintenance.

 

[WalterSobchak]

Why wouldn't she know that they don't do maintenance? She is trained to identify broken items in her area that would require maintenance. If those things are broken, are reported as broken and then are not fixed, I would call that not doing required maintenance.

Sure, she was trained to identify broken items, but was she trained to understand the complexities of carrying forward certain deferred maintenance items? Did any of those broken items impact the safety of flight?

 

[rene]

This is a big part of the problem right there. The company loves to talk about the $ amount, not that you are only going to get 10 days off and are on call 24 hours a day the rest of the month.

I must be missing something? Who is on call 24 hours a day for 20 days? Someone posted earlier, if nobody applied for these jobs pay and benefits would improve. The problem is that people do apply and the "company" hires them. The company has a right to determine how much they will pay for each job. Each of us has a right to decide what we are willing to work for. Thats the free market folks. Don't accept the job and then complain about it to the media.

 

[wmuflyguy]

Why wouldn't she know that they don't do maintenance? She is trained to identify broken items in her area that would require maintenance. If those things are broken, are reported as broken and then are not fixed, I would call that not doing required maintenance.

She is most likely not trained in deferrals or other mx processes. I know a few pilots at Compass and they have never complained about mx being an issue.

Something may be broke, deferred properly, and the a/c deemed airworthy by the pic, but all she knows is the item still doesn't work. Some items could have been deemed quite a while, 10 days or more, and with a relatively small fleet she might have flown the plane on one rotation, then 8 days later flown the same plane with the same broken item and all she sees is the company didn't fix it, even though it is still legal and safe.

I'm curious if her accusation had any specifics as to what mx wasn't performed.