Crew members at AWA fly seperate... US together

[NYCDelta]

I had a block of PHL-SJU turns on the A330 once. It looks pretty good on paper but, I will never do a block like that again. What good is it when you work only a few days but for the rest of the month, you simply can't speak?

I agree-the less time on a plane the better to me. But, everyone has different goals/objectives.
Look at hospitals-some staff work 3 12's a week; while others only want 8 hr shifts. Still others work 4 10's. It just depends on the person.

You and I aren't young whipper-snappers anymore.

 

[hula-flyguy]

I had a block of PHL-SJU turns on the A330 once. It looks pretty good on paper but, I will never do a block like that again. What good is it when you work only a few days but for the rest of the month, you simply can't speak?

It's ONLY 1110 and 8. A mere easy out and back, lol

 

[USCREW]

I agree-the less time on a plane the better to me. But, everyone has different goals/objectives.
Look at hospitals-some staff work 3 12's a week; while others only want 8 hr shifts. Still others work 4 10's. It just depends on the person.

You and I aren't young whipper-snappers anymore. lol

True. I have a family. They need to see me on a regular basis. Being gone for a long time on a plane or at the hospital is detrimental to my home life routine.

 

[hulagirl]

I think it would be ok if we split up as long as AFA negotiates certain protections. I for one would LOOOOVE 10 hour one days, PHL- PHX turns, etc. There are FA's that still live for their layovers as well, so I guess it would be good for the AFA to have the Company guarantee a balance of trips.

Doesn't HP have a lot of PHX/LAS- East Coast turns?

Our senior mama's out West do turns. The credit can range from around 7 to 10:30 hours per day. They refer to it as "power flying" which allows them 22-23 days off a month. The pilots, obviously, cannot fly that block. I haven't heard of anyone out West wanting to pilot-up flying--way too restricted, with little time off. Even our pilots #### about the schedules they fly.
I believe that if you all did it out East (independant flying) you would find it allows you more time off with much more scheduling flexibility.

 

[Tanker]

I'm confused here. It was my understanding that most airlines kept crews together except Jetblue/AWA and that is what caused the recent winter problem for Jetblue. My information and contact must be off base here.

WN is another airline that doesn't keep crews together. SWA would love to schedule the crews together, but the differences between the F/As contract and the Pilot's contract doesn't make that possible.

 

[USCREW]

Our senior mama's out West do turns. The credit can range from around 7 to 10:30 hours per day. They refer to it as "power flying" which allows them 22-23 days off a month. The pilots, obviously, cannot fly that block. I haven't heard of anyone out West wanting to pilot-up flying--way too restricted, with little time off. Even our pilots #### about the schedules they fly.
I believe that if you all did it out East (independant flying) you would find it allows you more time off with much more scheduling flexibility.

Like I said...we do have trips like that, so it's not like we've never experienced "power flying". I don't want the company to be able to force us to fly those trips though. The contract needs to stay at eight hours max domestically. If a person wants to fly more block hours in a day, then they can choose to fly international. The more important point is that I don't think it is safe to fly more than eight block hours in a day. I would not want to have to evacuate an aircraft or handle a medical emergency at the fourteenth hour.

 

[Itestwell]

Like I said...we do have trips like that, so it's not like we've never experienced "power flying". I don't want the company to be able to force us to fly those trips though. The contract needs to stay at eight hours max domestically. If a person wants to fly more block hours in a day, then they can choose to fly international. The more important point is that I don't think it is safe to fly more than eight block hours in a day. I would not want to have to evacuate an aircraft or handle a medical emergency at the fourteenth hour.

I think we should be able to fly 24 hours continuously..I mean, some walmarts are open thru the night now, right?

 

[USCREW]

I think we should be able to fly 24 hours continuously..I mean, some walmarts are open thru the night now, right?

And since we can drop down to 40 hours a month now, that means that I would only have to work less than two days in the whole month. Emergencies be damned!!!! I can do that!
Come to think of it...I have done a 24 hour duty before!!! Remember CRAF, roundtrip middle east flights? You've never seen a crankier group of flight attendants. OMG!

 

[BuffaloJoe]

I think we should be able to fly 24 hours continuously..I mean, some walmarts are open thru the night now, right?

Great! Just what I need, to ask a FA on their 23rd Hour for a Can of Coke!

 

[USCREW]

Great! Just what I need, to ask a FA on their 23rd Hour for a Can of Coke!

And this is exactly what you would get...

 

[Itestwell]

Great! Just what I need, to ask a FA on their 23rd Hour for a Can of Coke!

My response after the 23rd hour:

"Right away sir. With pleasure...." :wacko:

Although I bet there would be some FA's that would knock out there 40 hours in a row!

 

[USCREW]

Although I bet there would be some FA's that would knock out there 40 hours in a row!

 

[BuffaloJoe]

And this is exactly what you would get...

OK, I won't ask for a drink then. I most likely be sleeping anyway.

My response after the 23rd hour:

"Right away sir. With pleasure...." :wacko:

Although I bet there would be some FA's that would knock out there 40 hours in a row!

I wouldn't do that. I generally don't eat or drink on a flight, as to I do not want to get up and use the lavatory. Plus if the trip is over 4 hours, I would pop an Ambien CR. My last flight, the FA had to wake me up after 30 minutes into the flight, I was snoring up a storm.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Correct me if I'm wrong here but, the pilots and F/As have almost identical flight and duty rigs on the East. I believe the pilots can go one hour longer than the F/As for duty. I'm getting the impression that some people are suggesting that the pilots go illegal earlier than the F/As and I don't think that that is the case. Splitting up can improve utilization of the F/As because they are qualified on more than one type of a/c. We've stuck together for many years due to the "me too" clause. As to flying more than eight flight hours...you can forget about that. I know that the high time turns go senior on the West, but I really don't think that they will be all that popular on the East. We do have some very high time one days, and they generally go junior because they work you like a dog. On the East, if you're on a 13+ duty day, you're totally dead by the end of the day. Fourteen block is ridiculous and unsafe.

I think you have touched on the "most correct" answer to the question as to why the US F/A's stay with the pilots. Their duty rigs are identical to the pilots, and I don't believe that is the case at other carriers.

If the F/A's have different duty rigs, then the computer will spit out entirely different trip pairings than the pilots since "efficiency" would be differently defined to the computer.

Duty rigs pretty much set the parameters for how efficient a trip pairing is built...at least efficient in the eyes of management. Put different parameters in the machine for pilots and F/As, and they don't stay together any longer.

 

[PHX-F/A]

The big difference is that the East F/As can only fly up to eight flight hours domestically. I hear that the West can go to fourteen.

But legally, you have to be pulled from the trip if you are projected to go over 16 hours. I've had that happen twice.