Please leave the Airbus 319/320 galley alone!

While the potential for profit is undeniable, the reconfigured MD/88 aircraft fosters a harsh and negative work environment for the Flight Attendants. We are a reasonably adaptable bunch. It's been three years with this new model; we still haven't been able to overcome its myriad challenges.

The response to this from executives has been, "Just drop it already, get used to it". To that, we'd say: Imagine that your office was entirely removed, and you had to conduct a full day's work from the waiting room in the lobby. Every chair in this room is full, all day long. There's no privacy, nowhere to take a breath, nowhere even to sit and eat a snack in peace -- for thirteen hours, sometimes more. Any tool needed to perform the simplest of tasks is inconveniently out of reach, all while the normal rigors of the job itself still need to be addressed -- timely, and graciously. Persistent frustration while being perpetually on display takes a heavy toll on the psyche.

Conversely, working a leg on the Airbus 319/320: suddenly the office is back. Things are where they should be. There is ample space to work, recoup, recharge the mental batteries -- to truly BE gracious, not just act like it.

Quite simply, if after three years we still cannot get past this change, that should tell you something. We are a group of sensible adults. Believe us when we say: it really IS that brutal of a working environment, that much of a drain on our morale. We too want Delta Air Lines to be the most successful, most profitable global carrier in the world! Just not at the cost of our own mental health.