Originally Posted by
ESpen36
3) Potentially, D1 passes as described above. Very generous of AA, IMHO. If an employee's family member suddenly falls gravely ill or dies, the last thing the employee wants to be thinking about is playing the D2/D3 standby game or taking out a second mortgage to buy a full-fare ticket. There are times when you NEED to be on the next flight to somewhere, and flying as a D1 is a nice way of enjoying a higher priority. If I were an employee, I would be holding my D1 passes in reserve for these kinds of emergencies.
In cases of medical emergency or death in the family, the affected employee and his or her dependents are entitled to A9 positive space passes.
D1 is space available, albeit with a higher boarding priority than D2 and D3. D1 pass riders board and/or upgrade only after all revenue passengers have been accommodated.
Originally Posted by
ESpen36
From what I've heard, being a reserve crewmember is considered a very undesirable duty. You have to sit around the airport all day WITHOUT pay. (Remember, pilots start getting paid when the parking brake is released, and FAs start getting paid when the aircraft door is closed. No pay for layovers or airport time except in extenuating circumstances.) If you end up not getting a trip, then you've wasted a day. If you DO end up getting a trip, then you will get the pay of the FA originally assigned to the trip who didn't show up. But it could be a trip you did not want to work, like PAP or SDQ.
That is not completely accurate.
I don't know about the pilots, however flight attendants are guaranteed to be paid for at least 75 hours during reserve months even if they fly less than 75 hours (most fly more while on reserve and get paid for the extra flying). They may be assigned up to 85 hours of flying.
American Airlines has a rotating reserve system. Most flight attendants who are subject to reserve are on reserve only every fourth month. Very junior flight attendants - there are none currently (correction: there are 30 newly hired CM speakers at LAX International)- serve every other month on reserve.
During reserve months, flight attendants have 12 duty free days, generally in blocks of three or four days. On duty days, they are on 2 hours call to the airport 24/7 (clarification: two hours prior to flight departure but only one hour before they have to sign in). A handful of times during the month a flight attendant may be assigned airport standby; those last six hours. If a flight attendant is not given a flight assignment during airport standby, he or she receives 5 hours flight time credit toward the 85 hours monthly maximum.