Aggressive Reserve

As a reserve flight attendant, we have very little input into what, where, and when we work.

Each month, we put in "a bid" asking for specific days off for the following month, or specific days that we want to work, how many days in a row we want to work, etc. I've limited my bids to asking for specific days off. But...being 18 from the bottom shows in my bid result as long as I ask for weekdays off. But...if I ask for a weekend off, all bets are off. That's what happened this month. I have four vacation days and I tried to get a few days tacked onto the end, but, you guessed it. They are weekend days. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but Jen is having outpatient surgery on the last day of vacation, and I'd like to be home to care for her after surgery. But I guess that's what sick leave and/or FMLA is for.

Once my schedule is published, I have the ability to trade reserve days with other reserve flight attendants. I periodically browse the "trade board" to see who wants to trade days. If someone's request works with my schedule, I will trade. Sometimes, I look at all the reserve awards and go to specific flight attendants to ask for a trade if it's a situation where I need a day off. Most of the time I can find someone who is willing to trade.

After we've gotten our schedule set, the next thing we do is wonder what the heck we'll be doing each day. It's becoming increasingly harder and harder to sit at home and wonder if "the call" was going to come calling us into work. So any chance we get to set our own schedule, we'll take! For example, we have a thing called aggressive bidding. Each day, at 1PM, all the unassigned trips for the next day are "put up for bid" - the first person who bids for a trip (with certain restrictions), gets it. That's how I got the trip that I am currently on.

And it's a good one. First night was in Minneapolis, tonight is Canton/Akron, tomorrow night is Chicago and then we have a Chicago turn on Sunday morning. I will still have one day of duty on Monday, but I hope that they don't use me, just like they didn't use me this past Tuesday...

Something that's really nice on this trip is that the hotels are either Hiltons or Marriotts. Nice! I am so spoiled now...I don't know how I'll ever enjoy Days Inn or Econolodges ever again.

Our crew changes a lot during the trip - only one flight attendant and I are on the entire trip. We had one CPT and FO for Minneapolis, now we're on our second set. We'll have another set for the Chicago overnight, and yet another for the Chicago turn! I much prefer sticking together for several nights/turns - that way you get to know their preferences and are able to work well together. The way that it is, though, surely keeps me on my toes!