As
you are contemplating entering a new realm of employment, it
is important for you to know exactly what the lifestyle of a
flight attendant
entails, and reserve is a big part of the initial flight
attendant life. It is totally unlike any other
job environment you may encounter, and you need to know just
what is looming ahead.
Most
airlines require that you begin and remain on reserve until
your seniority status will allow you to “hold a line”,
or bid for scheduled trips. Reserve simply means that you are
being held “on reserve” for the needs of the airline
crew schedulers. You will you’re your
days off for an entire month rather than your specific monthly
trips, and you will usually be scheduled for 10 – 14 days
off per month, depending on the airline. On your reserve days
you will cover vacancies in the schedule that result from sick
calls, vacations, medical or maternity leaves and emergency
situations.
These
days can be moved around at the discretion of the crew scheduler,
but many airlines have now incorporated some immovable days
into the junior flight attendant’s
schedule. This means that there are some of
your days off that cannot be moved, regardless of crew scheduling’s
needs. These are the days you should plan things like weddings,
important events, and anything that is extremely significant
and would cause a huge hassle to change. Many a bride will schedule
her wedding day on what she is counting on being her days off,
only to have crew scheduling change them at the last minute!
This usually either wrecks the wedding plans or terminates that
person’s flight attendant
career.
Reserve
days usually go from midnight of the first day to midnight of
the last day, and you will be on reserve for several days in
a row. It will be necessary for you to be available on an on-call
basis for crew scheduling 24 hours a day, with as little as
one hour’s notice. It is usually necessary for you to
live within 2 hours of the airport where you are based, so you
must be packed and ready at all times while you are on your
reserve days. You will need to maintain a permanent residence
and phone number in the base city to which you have been assigned.
Pagers and cell phones are usually permitted as secondary contact
numbers for crew scheduling, at the flight attendant’s
own expense.
Do not count
on having weekends off in the beginning, or holidays either.
You may not get a Christmas off for 2 or 3 years, or even more,
depending on what your seniority is within your base domicile.
But there are advantages to being off on days when most people
are not – stores are not as crowded, you can get business
such as doctor’s and dental appointments without having
to take off from work, and it is easier to ride standby on your
airline passes if you choose to travel on your days off.
Some airlines
alternating their reserve with scheduled flying, that is, you
may be on reserve for one month and then have scheduled trips
the next month, then back to reserve, rotating from month to
month. Other airlines integrate one reserve day per month into
ALL their flight attendant’s schedules, so that everyone
shares the responsibility of reserve briefly each month, regardless
of seniority.
When
on reserve, a flight attendant
receives a guaranteed salary, based on anywhere from 65 to 85
flight hours per month, with a higher rate of pay if the flight
attendant exceeds the minimum hours. This amount
varies depending on which airline you are with. Major carriers
can pay from $18.00 up to $22.00 per flight hour, with regional
and commuter airlines usually making somewhat less. Some airlines
pay by the trip or a flat monthly fee, no matter how many hours
you fly.
One positive
feature of reserve is that you can fly a lot of good trips even
if you don’t have a lot of seniority. And every day is
different - no more 9 to 5 routine. And you can find the trips
you may later want to bid for - reserve allows you to read the
menu before you order, so to speak.
Reserve
can be demanding, and your flexibility is of the essence. But
if you are up for the challenge and want a fabulously exciting
career, reserve can be the spark that will set off this wonderful
and rewarding job.
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