There's a lot of weird setups in how the us flight attendant pay work, largely due to how the union negotiates them. FAs are paid only while the plane door is

There's a lot of weird setups in how the us flight attendant pay work, largely due to how the union negotiates them. FAs are paid only while the plane door is closed, so there's a huge incentive to fly long-hauls. Also, flights are allocated by seniority, so there is a pay-your-dues period of short low-paying flights done by workers with less experience, and high-pay long haul flights are full of older, more experienced FAs.