
Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots - onetimemanytime
https://www.businessinsider.com/icelandair-fire-all-flight-attendants-make-pilots-do-job-2020-7
======
hindsightbias
This article is confused. The cockpit crew will not be handing out drinks.
Other pilot-rated employees will be acting as attendants.

You can’t operate in the EU, US or Canada w/o someone attending in the back.
You have to have so many attendants per passengers.

Pilots are well qualified for any cabin duties. Many US pilots who have lost
their rating or are going through a health issue that keeps them out of the
cockpit serve as attendants to keep their benefits or wait to be medically
reinstated.

[https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-
advice/coronav...](https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-
advice/coronavirus-icelandair-pilots-cabin-crew-passengers-a9626041.html)

“From 20 July pilots who are currently not required for flying duties will be
assigned “responsibility for safety on board”.”

~~~
ornxka
>The cockpit crew will not be handing out drinks.

The mental image this gave me was amusing:

>"Hey man, can you steer for a few minutes? I've gotta go push the drink
cart."

>"Sure thing dude, I'll get it next time."

~~~
cam_l
I remember the first time I flew in the mid eighties. The plane was a twelve
seater, the pilot asked for one of the passengers to sit up front and 'be' the
copilot. When it came time to hand out the refreshments, he would get the
copilot to pull drinks out of the eski, and pitch the plane up so they could
roll the drinks down the aisle.

~~~
centimeter
It makes me sad that we've sacrificed many genuinely human moments like this
to modernity.

~~~
Waterfall
What do you mean? I remember the pre 9/11 days, and they were fun. I was a kid
that would sit with the pilots on the jumbo jets and take pictures with them
and the flight attendants, who would give me extra tomato juice. Didn't happen
after 9/11 though.

~~~
WildGreenLeave
When I was young (before 9/11, I was 12 or so) the pilot crew of my EasyJet
flight from Amsterdam to Geneva invited me to the cockpit to see. I was flying
with my grandma and it was my first flight ever. I love flying and the
machines, being in the cockpit as a 12 year old boy was so staggering and
inmense.

Then I didn't fly for years, and about a year ago (while being 24) I started
traveling more. Suddenly while being delayed at Amsterdam airport the cockpit
crew of my EasyJet flight to Split invited people to the cockpit if they
wanted to see. I waited 2 minutes to see if any children would come up and
then decided to relive my childhood memory and go to the cockpit.

Another time while on a KLM flight to Bangkok I gave the cabin crew a bag of
chocolates as a thank you gift for the good service. I did the same thing when
flying back from Bangkok to Amsterdam as a thank you to get me home during the
pandemic (this was end of march). Both of the times they personally thanked
me, the first time I even got one of the little houses they give away to
business class passengers [0].

My point is, those human moments do exist. It is just that most people don't
'want' them anymore because that means that it should come from themselves.
(No one was standing up to go to the cockpit, nor was anyone else giving candy
to the cabin crew). I am sure something changed after 9/11, things like being
in the cockpit while flying isn't an option anymore. But with what is going on
these days, I can't complain about that.

I have to admit, maybe I am a bit biased. If it weren't for my small stutter
in intense situations I would've probably been a pilot. :-)

[0] [https://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-
ever...](https://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-everything-
you-need-to-know/)

~~~
Waterfall
That was a beautiful image you painted. Thank you. I must seek them more
earnestly now, being in the cockpit during the flight was so cool but I would
still like to see it even not in flight.

Unrelated but when I started drinking kombucha my stutter went away. Try
probiotics!

~~~
WildGreenLeave
I assume most pilots will let you into the cockpit if you are delayed and
while being on the ground. But I have to admit that the last time it happened
was a complete surprise for me. I didn't know they were allowed to do that.
But maybe they aren't or it is up to their own discretion? I guess, if you
really want it you could ask the cabin crew if it is possible to check it out.
I don't think a pilot would have anything against it personally because they
are proud of their jobs too.

Haven't tried Kombucha and didn't know about it. I will look for it and try it
out. Thanks! :)

------
lemmonii
This is already outdated. Just now the cabin-crew union and Icelandair signed
a new contract.

I couldn't find an article in english but in another article they say that all
layoffs will be reversed.

[https://www.visir.is/g/20201992741d/flugfreyjur-og-
icelandai...](https://www.visir.is/g/20201992741d/flugfreyjur-og-icelandair-
undirrita-nyjan-kjarasamning)

~~~
smnrchrds
What kind of deal did they get? Did they meet in the middle, or did the
airline force them to sign a terrible deal?

~~~
abstractbeliefs
Doesn't look like the one they were hoping for:

The bargaining committee of Flugfreyjufélag Íslands and Icelandair have signed
a new wage agreement. The new agreement is expected to be valid until
September 30, 2025. It is based on an agreement that was recently rejected in
a vote.

------
codestic
That’s a ballsy move that paid off for them. Want more money? Not gonna
happen. Here’s your termination letter. Oh, now you want to negotiate? Ok
let’s do it.

Hahaha. Gotta hand it to Icelandicair on this one.

------
xenospn
"In May 2019, 419,000 passengers flew on Icelandair. In May 2020, just 3,100
hopped aboard."

I mean, yeah.

------
BrandoElFollito
Stories like this one remind me how flying was diffrent when I was a kid in
the 70-80's.

It was better, except for the cigarettes smoke which was supposed to
miracously dissapea between rows 15 and 16.

And the price, it was way more expensive.

Beside that: light to no security, real food, a sense of excitement. A flight
was something a kud remembered for a long time (I still do, after 40 years).

My teenage children, after 50 flights, treat this as an extended and
cumbersome bus ride.

------
jacquesm
Flight safety concerns will likely nix this. But regardless, that's a bad way
to end a labor dispute in these times. But with Wow Air bankrupt there isn't
all that much competition to and from that airport. Over half of all
destinations reachable from Iceland are flown by Icelandair.

~~~
noncoml
Will they even be allowed to operate in EU like this?

[https://www.easa.europa.eu/the-agency/faqs/minimum-
required-...](https://www.easa.europa.eu/the-agency/faqs/minimum-required-
cabin-crew)

>when establishing the number of cabin crew needed for each aircraft and
flight (...) by either applying the number established during the
certification process or by a calculation of 1 cabin crew member per 50
installed passenger seats.

~~~
freemonster
Having extra pilots act as cabin crew should be ok with the numbers as long as
they don't drop the count. The concern is are they qualified to act as flight
attendants? When I read the article, it doesn't say the pilot and co-pilot
would be cabin crew, it was additional pilots filling in. If so few people
fly, there should be enough pilots. Not saying they want to do this or legal,
but it would be possible.

------
aj7
What a nightmare. Icelandair was a well-run airline that was a pleasure to
fly.

------
dolmen
That makes sense if there are almost no passengers in planes. And if they have
too many idling pilots as many flights are not scheduled.

------
ashtonkem
I would actually be surprised if that’s legal. Flight attendants perform some
critical safety functions, they’re not glorified wait staff that can be
replaced on a whim.

~~~
jbob2000
I don’t mean to be ignorant, but what are these _critical_ safety functions?
The closest thing to safety that I’ve seen is they give the speech at the
beginning about oxygen masks and remind you to buckle up.

Given that the inflight safety demonstration is on video now, what’s the
critical safety role?

~~~
tgsovlerkhgsel
First aid, detecting issues in the cabin, firefighting, checking the emergency
exits and opening them or directing passengers elsewhere in case of an
evacuation, ...

~~~
dnautics
Dealing with passengers that have an sociopathic entitlement complex who get
violent..

------
gbronner
People Express used to do similar things

------
lsllc
Who's going to sit with the pilot when the co-pilot goes to the bathroom (and
who's going to block the isle with the cart while that happens?).

Seems like they're using COVID19 as an excuse to solve their labor dispute:

    
    
      Services "will continue to be at a minimum, as (they have been) since the impact of COVID-19 started," the airline said.
    

Pilots need to be aviating, navigating and communicating, not worrying about
what's going on in the cabin!

~~~
ThrustVectoring
There will be a pilot, co-pilot, and additional pilot-rated staff performing
cabin safety duties.

------
jb775
> _the airline said it planned to have its pilots temporarily assume flight
> attendants ' roles_

Excuse me captain can you top off my orange soda and fetch me a bag of
peanuts?....this isn't what their pilots signed up for, expect a Icelandair
pilot strike next

~~~
Swenrekcah
It will be pilots otherwise unemployed performing minimal cabin duties ('cause
covid dictates minimal interaction) while collecting a pilot's salary.

This isn't a cost cutting measure but a stopgap due to failed negotiations
between the airline and flight attendants.

------
LoSboccacc
we gonna hear these decisions again in a 2022 mayday episode

------
jcahill
Is this an EFTA loophole?

> It's also not apparent if such a setup is legal in the regions in which
> Icelandair flies, including the US and the European Union.

