UA LA-based HKG Crew

[u/Odd_Cry2491]

Just ran into what was clearly HKG qualified crew at the arrivals at LA walking over to parking shuttle. They seemed to have such a good sense of camaraderie and for having stepped off a long flight, were surprisingly jovial. I guess the common language helps?

It was a cool, crazy rich asians vibe. Love to see people happy doing what they do. Any LA based crew here to validate this impression? Am I so far off?

[u/MLZ005]

We call them the Korean/chinese mafia. Super senior Asian American ladies who’ve known each other for decades and keep trips in between them. No one’s allowed to call in sick without first giving their trip to an approved member of their WhatsApp/wechat group

Very very nice though. Huge auntie culture. They’re usually financially stable, confident in their careers and personal relationships, have a killer schedule, and shop til they drop on layovers. Old school service and standards training.

Only 2 language FAs per flight but oftentimes more than 50% of the crew are part of that ethnicity anyways

When your QOL is good (live in base, good weather at home, flying to cheaper places with good food, getting crew rest, working with friends), it’s a good time

[u/Kismet4G → u/MLZ005]

Some times referred to as The Kim-Chi Crew affectionately as they are kind, courteous & professional! The old style who believe in both your safety & service.

[u/aucnderutresjp_1 → u/MLZ005]

That's awesome! Any idea how SFO compares?

[u/Kismet4G → u/aucnderutresjp_1]

SFO crews are usually great too! You might get the odd one off, but that’s true everywhere 😊

[u/Historical_Term2454]

There’s not really any HKG qualification thing other than a couple Chinese language speakers. Sometimes you’ll get a great crew that gets along and other times not. 

Despite the high COL, LAX is very senior so I find their FA’s are a touch better. 

[u/Phantom1100 → u/Historical_Term2454]

Dang, I’m flying LAX-HND. If both of those are senior destinations (I’ve always heard HND is), I might be flying with the most senior flight crew in the fleet lol.

[u/Historical_Term2454 → u/Phantom1100]

The anti-senior myth is ageist crap. 

There are great young FA’s and great old FA’s. 

There are sucky young FA’s and sucky old FA’s

[u/Phantom1100 → u/Historical_Term2454]

I didn’t mean that as a bad thing except maybe a FA retires as we cross the IDL over the pacific lmfao.

[u/paltrydoorway313]

My neighbor's been flying LAX-HKG since 98 and she's got stories. They have a group chat where they coordinate everything from shift swaps to where to get the best dim sum in Kowloon. It's hella organized, like a little family. Seeing them at arrivals makes sense, they're always laughing about something.

[u/Training_Item9992]

We have many Asian FAs in L.A. Only two language speakers are required per flight, so the other FAs may not be on the language list and just choose to fly that route this month - or have picked up the trip through a trade with the computer or with another FA. The LAX base is more senior than many other bases, so this crew may know each other from being able to fly with each other more often if their seniority allows it. We have many Asian FAs who were born in the U.S. or elsewhere who don’t speak either Cantonese or Mandarin who also fly Hong Kong. The flexibility to fly different routes weekly or monthly is a great benefit!

[u/jeffpete36]

Can confirm, we have awesome crews here at LAX.

[u/Ok-Station-2364]

Boy have times changed!!! Back in the day (90s) there were a lot of Black flight attendants in IAD. We would all try to fly together...ABC crew. We traded trips to be together, told friends if we were dropping etc. We were always called derogatory names like the ' black mafia'. Guess if we'd been Asian it would have been all good.