Sunday, May 8, 2011

The bad part about holding a line

This is my first full month of line flying. I met my crew on Friday. This month I'm flying a larger plane that requires 2 flight attendants. The Captain I knew from recurrent training last year. The front flight attendant looked familiar, she recognized me as well. The rear flight attendant was new to me, and the airplane.

First day was easy. Six and a half hours of flying in just two legs. After the first leg we had a two hour break. I hoped to get dinner at a nifty mexican restaurant I liked. It closed 10 minutes before I got there. Eh. Mc Donalds it was.

On the way to the overnight I mentioned to my number one (front) flight attendant that there was a casino nearby. She got excited and wanted to go with me....when we got there.

Long flight. Chasing the sunset. Tired. I was exhausted by the time we got to the hotel. Thirteen hour duty day plus my 3 1/2 hour commute. Ugh.

The trip is all late starts. Day two started at 3PM. Three legs, another 6 and a half hours of flying. Delayed by 20 minutes. Three flights with 40 minute turns. We made up the 20 minute delay on the first flight. Lined up for 35L. A Southwest 737 came diving in fast enough for 35R to set off a TCAS alert. I looked over my shoulder and saw him. No issue.

On the flight back we were ahead on time and gas. Our ETA was 20 minutes earlier than planned. I hoped to have time to grab dinner. Due to traffic we were assigned the furthest runway from the terminal versus the "normal" one much closer. Eh.

My Captain is a nice guy, former cop who still works part time on his days off. He has one annoying quirk. Brakes. He's brake happy. On his landings...on my landings....taxiing around. I've mentioned it, he says that's just the way he taxis. My number one and him have known each other for years. She gives him a hard time about it as well. It could be worse....he could smell funny.

We blocked out 10 minutes early for the overnight. Captain was ready to go....because he was going home.

He travels very light. Just a backpack and kit bag. He commutes up on day one. We have one overnight then on the second night he goes home. He repacks the backpack on day three for one overnight. Day four ends with his commute back home. I could never travel with just a backpack....works for him.

His leg. We flew extremely fast. Landed 28 minutes early. Short taxi. Shutdown the plane and he was gone. My flight attendants and I found our way to the van.

Speaking of my flight attendants, my number 2 and I don't get along. She just seems to be "right" about everything and expects everyone to wait on her. For example on the first overnight the hotel shuttle is a shared van service. She thinks we should have private transportation. Day two we were 28 minutes early. She thought the hotel van should be waiting on us no matter how early we are. My front flight attendant smokes. She stepped out during a 40 minute turn to smoke. The rear flight attendant came up to me and mentioned how inappropriate and rude it was to step out and smoke without tidying up the front of the plane. Never mind that the front flight attendant has been here for years and knows exactly how much time she needs to do her job. Sure enough she got back, freshened up herself and the area with 10 minutes to spare before boarding started.

The bad part about having a line? I have the same crew all month. Kinda hoping the rear flight attendant trades out of the rest of the trips. Eh.

1 comment:

  1. I can relate to all of this (especially the brakes). Enjoyed the post.

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