It's pretty hard to remember to keep up this blog - at first, there were lots of new things to write about. Then I started traveling and I had funny, or stupid, stories to write about. And then slowly as the months passed, the reserves started working harder and harder. Our days of sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring were over. We started working on every single duty day...usually 19 or 20 a month! And to top that off, when we would work, crew scheduling would try and squeeze every last drop from us and work us between 14 and 16 hours! Exhaustion set in, and when I got to a hotel or home, I glanced at Facebook and email, and then went to bed!
But I'd like to announce that a NEW DAY IS DAWNING! A new class of flight attendants is graduating this week and about 27 of them are being assigned to Denver. WOO HOO! That fact reflected in my May schedule...I was no longer 35 from the bottom of the reserve list. I was more like 62 from the bottom, so I took my chances and bid for weekends off! And guess what? I got every single day off that I bid for. Oh my God.
There is another class starting on May 2 and another on May 28 - after those two classes graduate, I may be a lineholder! And what does that mean? That means that I can bid for the days off that I want, I can put in preferences for the position (A, B, or C) that I like to fly on the plane, I can avoid certain types of flights, and I can maybe even request a few trips that I'd like to fly. I'll be very junior. But what I'm hoping to do is get a schedule, drop everything I don't like, and then pick up trips that make me happy. I'll KNOW IN ADVANCE what I'm doing, where I'm going, and I won't have to answer calls from crew scheduling any longer! Halleluiah!
However, when it comes to the holidays, I very well may drop back down to reserve so that I can have the holidays off. Ah...to have a normal life again. Is it a dream?
For those who are wondering, I still love my job. It makes me happy. I am very good at it. I get to be me, act silly, but still convey messages about safety, help people who aren't feeling well, entertain passengers with stories, etc. I recently flew with two Milwaukee-based flight attendants who had been with the company about a year. It was so refreshing! They are still in the "I love my job" phase, and it showed. The passengers are upbeat and happy, the flight attendants are upbeat and happy, and everything goes really smoothly.
That's unlike what it's like to fly with DEN-based flight attendants. Most have had about 3 years experience now, and there are a lot of burnt-out flight attendants. I've witnessed rudeness, yelling, negativity, bad attitudes - all on the part of flight attendants. Then I have to work doubly hard to keep myself upbeat and happy. Recently, a more senior flight attendant came to me during a flight and asked, "Do you really love this job this much, or are you just acting?" And I could honestly tell her that I really do love this job.
With the new hire classes, my friend EC's new program on virtue, how can one NOT love it? Sure, there are things that can go wrong, but if you don't take it personally, just sit back and relax a little and enjoy the ride, it really isn't that bumpy!
So...as I head towards the end of April, flying at least 100 hours for the third month in a row involuntarily, I know that a better, slower life is just around the corner - I can hardly wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment