Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Flying the Couch

Yesterday was my first day of duty as a flight attendant! I am "on reserve" from 12:01AM Monday through 11:59PM Saturday. I received my first call on Sunday evening telling me that I was assigned to "ready reserve" on Monday from Noon to 6PM (also known as "flying the couch"). That meant that I had to be in full uniform, with my bags packed (for a possible 3-4 day trip), and sit in the crew lounge at DIA waiting for "the call."

There were three of us flying the couch yesterday, and right as we checked in, we were given our first assignment! We headed to a gate and pre-boarded a flight to San Francisco. We each took a position, did the safety check of all the equipment and then set up our stations and made our announcements. About 15 minutes before departure, the real crew showed up (they had just arrived on a flight from the opposite end of the concourse). So, we pulled our bags down from the overhead bins and rolled em back to the crew lounge!

We didn't get any more calls, but I actually enjoyed my time - I visited with other crew members, did a little research on the internet, etc. It was fun to watch the "waves" of crewmembers coming into the lounge. The captains would walk around calling out their destinations in an effort to find their crew..."Austin! Chicago! Seattle!" I'd keep responding by saying "Is it an overnight?" But alas, the couch is where I was meant to be yesterday...I was released from duty at 6PM and was officially on "rest" until 4AM. But now I'm up and at 'em, but I have no assignment so far for today - not even to fly the couch...but "all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."

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