muskie_one

It has been really quiet on this board for a while, everything must be good at United these days. Good to hear. Flew United about 2 years ago dtw to ogg and enjoyed the people of united, can't say much about the people behind me with a non stop screaming child, I think they had ear plugs in, and didn't really care about other people. On that note, kudos to the FA's that put up with some of the most rude people that think they are to be waited on hand and foot, I really don't know how you deal with the public everyday and still smile. Also the people on the ground at the airport, when we where at ord for a while, we were lost and confused, found the United counter, and it was crazy there, got up to the front of the line and the gentleman at the counter helped us with a smile and had us smiling and laughing when we left the counter, what a great person he was and so helpful. Well we had so much fun in Maui that we are going back in April and made sure we where with United for the flights, I will remember to pick up some chocolates for the FA's this time. Have a Great Day

tomatojuiceplease

I know this thread is old but maybe there is still a UA FA out there who can answer my question:

I'm a FA for a foreign airline and am curious about how your scheduling works - I know that with low seniority you pretty much have no influence, but how often do new FAs score international trips? It's pretty rare, right? Do they get any intl trips from reserve?

How does this change when you're a speaker - do you only/mostly fly to that country or is it once again based on seniority where you might actually fly mostly domestic because more senior speakers are taking the trips to that country?

Thanks!

jetaway96

We have to bid for our schedule every month. On the 18th of each month, we will have our schedule for the next coming month. There are percentage of the base population who are straight line holder. That means they will have trips schedule every month. Trips go from 1 day to as long as 6 days.

For junior FA, thay will be on reserve for the first 5 yrs. If they are in a junior base, they can get off reserve earlier. After 5yrs, they will be in reserve every other month. We have call in reserve who have to make call for assignment at 7pm on their reserve days on. Ready reserve will receive call from the company for assignment . Reserve FA do get international trips sometime. Reserve FA have 12 days off guaranty every month.

Language FA can sometime hold better trips schedule depends on their language. If you are base in SFO and speaking mandarin, you are in good shape as well as if you are base in IAD and speaking Arabic. Other languages are more senior. However, if you speak and qualified other languages, you may have better chance to hold or be assigned an international trips.

ccheviron

I was just hired as an FA on the sCO side and start training in May. On day one of training, we have to turn in a sheet listing our preferences for bases. Anyone care to share their thoughts with me to help make a decision? I have to rank (1-8) ORD, SFO, DEN, IAH, EWR, CLE, LAX, and IAD.

JOSECONLSCREW28

I'm an sCO FA and perhaps I can maybe make it a little bit easier for you. AFAIK the 3 original sCO bases (EWR, IAH & CLE) are closed to new hires, and they are being sent to the 5 satellite bases (ORD, SFO, LAX, DEN & IAD). Exception is if you are hiring on as a language speaker then you will get sent to either EWR or IAH. EWR & IAH are further subdivided into International/Domestic/Speaker, while the CLE & the 5 satellite bases are strictly domestic flying. So it would depend on where you want to live etc. Keep in mind though they don't always go by your first preference etc. For example a friend of mine recently started with the sCO and she preference EWR, but got sent to LAX instead so keep that in mind. I'm NTA (Newark Intl FA Base) based, and I love it been NTA from the beginning. Also our system is different then sUAs. For example we position bid so you know exactly what position you will be working before you get to the airport. For example you are asked to work a flight on a 738 and are given the FA03 position FM01 (that's the lead FA position) works top of bar cart in Y, FA01 works first class galley, FA02 works bottom of bar cart Y, and FA03 works First class aisle. Also FA03 once they are done serving the last row of F, then they will go back to Y and work off the Y F4S cart. Also our terminology is a bit different. At sCO lead FAs on domestic flights are called "Flight Service Coordinators", while on international flights they are called "International Service Managers." Hope I'm not sounding too confusing trying to give you as much information as I can. Good luck and hope to see you on a flight soon!

FlyingNone

[QUOTE.......... Also our terminology is a bit different. At sCO lead FAs on domestic flights are called "Flight Service Coordinators", while on international flights they are called "International Service Managers." Hope I'm not sounding too confusing trying to give you as much information as I can. Good luck and hope to see you on a flight soon![/QUOTE]

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It will be interesting to see what "titles" will be used when FA's merge - why not stick with Purser - isn't this the standard term with most (all) airlines ?

At the airport sCO agents call themselves Airport Sales Agents, while sUA agents are Customer Service Representatives. Without getting into semantics, we don't "sell" anything at the airport except for the occasional walk up ticketing. Customer service is customer service, why confuse people with Sales Agent or "selling"......that would be the job of Sales Reps who solicit travel agents or corporate accounts, etc. or Reservation Agents on the telephone.

channa

Also factor in cost of living, ease of commuting (if commuting) and quality of flying.

There are even some CO new hires flying the West Coast to Hawaii routes. Last couple trips to Hawaii, it was interesting to see how excited they were about places like Maui and Kona (things not previously on the CO map). Of course after the integration, the same SFO-based CO 20-somethings will be lucky to work SFO-SAN.


What's interesting is that CO really frowned upon airport ticketing, and UA never had much of a problem with it. I find it funny they'd call their airport agents sales agents. LOL

tomatojuiceplease

thanks for all the info, very interesting!

so if i understand correctly, as a junior FA on reserve you pretty much have no influence on your schedule, right?

I have to say I prefer the system at my airline - everybody has to do a standby/reserve line of 2 weeks about every 3 or 4 months. other than that we all get to bid on what flights we want for the next month, and have a layover fairness clause that basically gives the flight to the person who hasn't been there for the longest amount of time. that way even junior FAs can get the most popular flights once or twice a year (most popular seem to be BKK, HKG, PVG, CPT).

gdavis

Do the flight attendants know if you paid for your first class ticket, or if you got it on upgrades or miles?

gengar

I haven't peeked at the manifest since int'l flights in the PMUA days, but back then it showed customer elite status and the meal priority order. So I guess an FA could deduce full fare or upgrade/reward, but only if there is a meal order priority discrepancy between a certain elite status and full fare. For example, full fare and 1K are always ***, so it's not possible to tell for 1Ks.

I don't know how the manifest was shown PMCO or how it is post-merger.

DCA writer

The "First Person" story in Sunday's Post mag features IAD-based Nadine DuVal. Money quote:

Also this:

So if you happen to see this, Ms. DuVal: Thank you. And if you work with her, please convey my regards.

freshairborne

Nicely done, DCA writer. Very classy! When I'm flying as a passenger, I ALWAYS treat the flight attendants as I'd want to be treated. And I remember that they're the ones that are busy, not me, so occasionally they don't immediately acknowledge the please, thank you, and eye contact, but at the end of the day, yes they do.

As a pilot for United, I've worked way more weekends, holidays, etc than most, because I don't have kids and my wife works weekends too, so the pilots that want the holidays can get them a little easier.

FAB

tuolumne

All those names are thankfully going away when you guys integrate.

JOSECONLSCREW28

Where did you hear this?

DrinkingCoffee

Random question, but how frequently do passengers bring a gift for a FA? I know it is not often, but my aunt was a FA and commented on how everyone once in awhile, a passenger would bring a box of chocolates from a duty free store for the FAs to share, usually just to do a good deed.