Epidemic?

My stand-up last night was horrid. (I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.) I say that because I got less than 4 1/2 hours sleep last night, the hotel was creepy (not the nice kind that we're used to), and I'm exhausted again (or should I say still?).

When I called in to crew scheduling to be released this morning, I was told that I was off duty until 7:44PM and that I should expect a call telling me that I am being sent out on another trip...well, that call came a lot earlier than I expected. At 11:34AM, they called and left a message (I knew better than to answer my phone...) that a trip to Vegas just popped up, and that if I wanted it, I could have it. It leaves at 9:10PM tonight - if I didn't take it, they'd still assign it to me and just delay the flight until I got there. Yes...they are THAT desperate for flight attendants. So, seeing as how I'm a team player, and I don't want 136 people to be inconvenienced, I'm shorting my rest time by 34 minutes. Woo hoo!

What is going on?!?!? As of yesterday, Frontier emerged from bankruptcy! *blows on a horn while wearing a party hat* It's been a long journey through the bankruptcy process. And when we emerged, we came out as a fully-owned subsidiary of Republic Airway Holdings, Inc. But for us flight attendants, it's business as usual.

But try and tell that to people in the crewroom. Rumors are running rampant. People are freaking out. The Teamsters union is licking its chops, waiting to pounce. The Frontier FAs are not unionized. Frontier flight attendants successfully fought off union efforts four times in the past 15 years. But now they're planting all kinds of seeds of fear - and the FAs are not using their brains and thinking logically. As a result, one group of FAs - the reserves - is being especially penalized.

It appears that there is either a true epidemic of some illness sweeping through the FA ranks, or possibly the FAs have been told that because of the Republic takeover, they're going to lose all their accumulated sick leave. I have a sneaky feeling that it is the latter.

As a result, FAs are calling in sick right and left. Reserve FAs are being sent out on ridiculous combinations of trips with no sleep, or made to sit on the couch in Denver between flights for up to six hours, just to cover the flights of the FAs who have decided to call in sick. And isn't it interesting that it's gotten worse today? A Friday?

Shame on them. Instead of researching and looking for the truth, they're listening to their union-loving fearmongers and jumping to conclusions. As a result, the reserve FAs are being totally overworked, the crew schedulers are trying to keep the planes staffed but have no FAs to call. One of my FA classmates wrote "F9 will be fenced while seniority list merging is worked out and even afterwards, how would that affect /reduce sick leave that's already been accrued?" People! Listen to reason!

Sheesh. So I am going to Vegas tonight, and I am rejoicing that it is a 16 hour layover at our new hotel - a Hyatt Place. Cause that means I'll be able to get a full night's sleep! No stand-up tonight! And two just popped up on the open time list for tonight.

Believe it or not, I bid on one for tomorrow night just because I know that the hotel in San Francisco is near the airport so it'd be more like 6 hours sleep instead of just 4.

But despite all this nonsense, upheaval, and misuse of human beings, the passengers continue to tell us how happy they are we made it through bankruptcy, how wonderful the we are to the passengers, and how they can tell that we love our jobs! THAT makes it all worthwhile.