Well the PHX base was a hold over of America West "Cactus" so I would not be surprised if most of them actually lived in the area. A lot of the AWA FA's had been with the company for decades so having to pickup and go to some less than appealing area probably isn't a choice they would want to make. AA always seemed to manage with a "take it or leave it because we don't care" attitude. It just gets worse as they merge with another airline and use unique "tactics" to get rid of whatever segment of employees they want gone. The favorite is to reassign to another crewbase. The ones they don't want get BOS, LGA, DCA, LAX or ORD. All the cities that have horrid weather, high cost of living, or are a nightmare to commute to.

jim..I do know that flight attendants with aa prior to the merger,had worked out a deal with the union and the company regarding "reserve" or "ready reserve" status..the old way was newly hired flight attendants were on a reserve status for approximately 2 years or more before being able to "hold" a schedule,and those employees generally did not commute for that reason,as they had to be as you said within a couple of hours of the airport where the flight began. with some input from the union and a new contract,it was then changed to be more accommodating with a one month on,one month off reserve status..i don't know if or how long you were with a carrier (maybe us air or hp),but the 2 "tiered" a or b staus was not a long standing existing policy for American,and there was a lot of flack as it affected pay scales and bidding for flight crews and ground personnel when it was implemented,and it was based upon your date of hire..i can only speak to the "old" american airlines,when they used to be "something special in the air"!best wishes...