In-flight sales descrepancies

[sweety]

Just wanted to find out how many airlines take sales descrepencies out of CC pay? How do you feel about it?

[GARDENER]

My girlfriend works for MYT they (CC) pay 50% company 50%.
Don't really know what she thinks but my feeling is that they should not have to pay. I am unsure what current practice is but at one point crew were to check bars before service- not always possible on a quick flight but I think they are now supposed to take Bonds word for it. Either way not always fair. I currently run a bonded warehouse in the UK (unemployed pilot) and can't say we never make mistakes.My feeling is that each bar should be independantly checked by a company rep moreso at bases with a problem. If this was done then I think it would be fair to charge the crew.

[TightSlot]

Things that you may not have known about this issue.

• Bonded store performance/accuracy varies enormously from airport to airport
• Post Flight analysis of the bar by the data analysts (who process the bar paperwork) will usually show what percentage of the discrepancy is down to missing cash, and what is down to missing stock - assuming your corporate redundancy program hasn't already removed the analysts! Stock errors are usually attributable to the bond - cash to the crew. That's one way of resolving the discrepancy.
• Some Bonded stores take on seasonal staff for the Summer, just like airlines do cabin crew. As a related rule of thumb, packing errors tend to be higher therefore during the first month(s) of the Summer, and during the last month(s) (when they've been given notice).
• Cabin crew sometimes assume that stock is stolen from their bars by packers. If a packer was going to steal, then it would more likely be from the cage (the warehouse or stock storage section) where stock checks may not reveal the missing items for some weeks/days, rather than from the packed bar, where Cabin crew checks may discover the discrepancy within hours.
• Every year at most airports, a story will do the rounds of Cabin Crew that somebody's boy/girlfriend went to a pub where somebody told them that they knew somebody who can get them 5000 Bensons and a barrel of gin for £20 - this story is usually told to demonstrate that bar discrepancies are down to the Bond rather than Cabin Crew. It is usually untrue, and if it is true, it is stock removed from the warehouse, not from the packed bar.
• Analysis of "Cash" shorts will always show that over time some Cabin Crew have significantly more than others - more in volume, and more frequently. It's always hard to believe, but some of our colleagues are thieves too - thankfully a very tiny percentage.
• Airlines are skating on very thin legal ice by removing money from Cabin Crew wages to account for bar discrepancies, unless it can be proved beyond doubt that the discrepancy is the fault of the specific crew member.

[sweety]

Looks like we'll have to pay every single penny, though! Just wondering how things are in other companies..

Please, share your views with us!

[Thunderbird One]

All the crew at the company I work for are fuming
Nothing has ever been done about it and I can believe that we don't have a campany rep at bond to agree and cross check all bar discrepancies correct. We have to take bonds word for it and that's that! Where is the insentive to sell - to be quite honest I don't really care whether sales are made on the aircraft or not - you do not take commission of a salesman, end of! I know we're not just in this job for the commission but it's the companies attitude that annoys me more and the fact they just go in your wallet and take the money out without your permission.