Usair320 From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 991 posts, RR: 3 Posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 10 hours ago) and read 6978 times:
Hey all. Didnt know whether to post this in civil or polls and prefs so feel free to move it.Just wondoring what the most senior route at your company is(this goes for F/A's and pilots). Last August I was on a PHL-FCO flight and spoke with an F/A who said the PHL-FCO-PHL route was genrally taken by more senior crew.(sorry for the run on) This by the way was at US on the daily US 2 PHL-FCO A330.
IADLHR From Italy, joined Apr 2005, 669 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6797 times:
Quoting UALFAson (Reply 2): I don't know for sure on UA, but my mom has heard the ORD-HNL/OGG flights go VERY senio
I have flown that route a few times in recent years. I would absolutely say that the route goes VERY, VERY senior based on my conversations with a few FAs.
Quoting Usair320 (Reply 3): flew that flight back in 2000 and yes the crew were Very Very senior on the IAD-MXP run but not too much on the return leg
Wouldnt the same crew have flown MXP-IAD after a layover in MXP? Why would the return flight be less senior? I know a United FA that worked that flight weekly for a few years. She didnt have all that much seniority but had the language skills so she got to work it.
Usair320 From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 991 posts, RR: 3 Reply 5, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6762 times:
Quoting IADLHR (Reply 4): Wouldnt the same crew have flown MXP-IAD after a layover in MXP? Why would the return flight be less senior? I know a United FA that worked that flight weekly for a few years. She didnt have all that much seniority but had the language skills so she got to work it.
Nope were talkin 2 weeks vacation in Italy then the return.
Lincoln From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 3887 posts, RR: 8 Reply 6, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6714 times:
I may be contributing to thread drift but this reminds me of a question I've had...
Do airlines/regulators (specifically, airlines in the US or the FAA) have manditory retirement ages for cabin crew like they do pilots, or is it "as long as you want to (and can pass a physical/recurrent training/your airine is in business) you can be a FA"?
To bring the question back to the topic... Exactly how old can the most senior crewmember be?
Lincoln
CO Is My Airline of Choice || Baggage Claim is an airline's last chance to disappoint a customer || Next flts in profile
777STL From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 3036 posts, RR: 3 Reply 7, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6659 times:
Quoting Lincoln (Reply 6): Do airlines/regulators (specifically, airlines in the US or the FAA) have manditory retirement ages for cabin crew like they do pilots, or is it "as long as you want to (and can pass a physical/recurrent training/your airine is in business) you can be a FA"?
To bring the question back to the topic... Exactly how old can the most senior crewmember be?
There's no limit in terms of age. I believe UA has one of the oldest in the world, if not *the* oldest, I believe she's in her mid 70s.
DLAgent From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 51 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6642 times:
NOt sure of most SR at DL, but most newbies end up doing anything that goes into PBI. In fact ask most F/A crews and they loathe the trips into PBI.
Anyone care to say or speculate why?
IADLHR From Italy, joined Apr 2005, 669 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 6597 times:
Quoting DLAgent (Reply 8): NOt sure of most SR at DL, but most newbies end up doing anything that goes into PBI. In fact ask most F/A crews and they loathe the trips into PBI.
Anyone care to say or speculate w
I have heard many, many times at airliners .net and from FAs that I know that one of the most dreaded trips involve PBI. The passengers, to put it in arisotcratic language, are notorious for being obnoxious, rude and very, very demanding behavior. They think they are entitled to everything and anything.
From my first hand experience, from PBI-DCA I have seen a few very, very famous names try and get an upgrade after buying a coach ticket. The big names are very, very famous in their field. As a result they think that they are entitled to an upgrade despite the fact that first class is filled with people who bought first class tickets.
When meals were elimnated from flights, the passenegrs to and from PBI thought they were still entitled to them as they said they had a lot of money in the bank.
It goes on and on and on what PBI passengers can and will do and say and demand.
Cody From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1918 posts, RR: 10 Reply 10, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 6520 times:
US AIRWAYS is wierd. Sometimes, the New York-Washington-Boston shuttle goes very senior as some people like to be home every night and many live in those three cities. But for the commuters, the international routes like PHL-FCO/FRA/and Venice go really high. Per capita, I'd say you'd find more senior people on those overseas routes.
WNCrew From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 1317 posts, RR: 9 Reply 12, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 6446 times:
At WN the turns go pretty Sr. In MDW we have some high paying LAX/SEA/SNA/SAN/OAK turns that go senior. Also any high-paying 3-day trip goes Sr. I don't find that our FA's bid by destination since we don't fly Intl....it's more on productivity...what trips pay more and have fewer legs (which can change month to month).
On a side note I know a LOT of FA's avoid BUR and PBI......those are the hardest flights to work b/c the passengers are sp demanding and are not very appreciative.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
FLY2LIM From United States of America, joined May 2004, 1183 posts, RR: 11 Reply 13, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 6391 times:
I was told that international flights are the most lucrative, meaning that the per diem is higher so you make more money (assuming you don't spend all your per diem). Is this correct? I used to know a UA f/a who said that an international f/a made a lot more than a domestic one.
FLY2LIM
FXramper From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 7027 posts, RR: 93 Reply 14, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 6383 times:
My uncle is an AA 757/763 captain, and the most senior bid for those guys is ORD-FCO-ORD. Max working hours and the best hotel with 30+ hour on layover.
A quick note. He told me back in the day he'd go AUS-SJC on the 752, layover a day, SJC-CDG on 763, layover a day, CDG-SJC on 763, layover a day, SJC-AUS on the 752. Totally maxed work schedule. Did this twice a month and had hours.
Commavia From United States of America, joined Apr 2005, 10193 posts, RR: 62 Reply 16, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 7 hours ago) and read 6327 times:
For American, my guess based on experience in flying is that the most senior routes in the system for crew bidding, at least for flight attendants, is probably DFW-NRT and the soon-to-be-axed DFW-KIX because they are incredibly long flights, with lots of hours, meaning you only have to work a few trips each month. In addition, LAX-LHR, DFW-LGW and DFW-FRA also seem to go fairly senior.
SeeTheWorld From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 1275 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 7 hours ago) and read 6271 times:
Quoting UALFAson (Reply 2): I don't know for sure on UA, but my mom has heard the ORD-HNL/OGG flights go VERY senior.
I flew UA from SYD-SFO two years ago and had two retiring F/As with 35 years of service each on the flight.
Years ago, I flew TW from JFK-ATH and had the number 2 F/A in terms of seniority working the flight.
CX Flyboy From Hong Kong, joined Dec 1999, 6341 posts, RR: 56 Reply 19, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 7 hours ago) and read 6223 times:
Fortunately for us, requests do not go off a seniority basis. Even though I am more senior in my crew category, I still think that having a system where everyone gets their first choice, followed by2nd choices if they did not get their first etc... is fair. Although at my airline we have crews from all over the world and many of them prefer different places for different reasons (to visit family etc..), so there does not tend to be much conflict in getting the layovers that we want.
For Cabin crew it is a little harder, as many flights have language requirements and this means that some crew may not get where they want to go for several months or longer if they do not meet the language requirements for that flight, as there may only be 1 crew on a particular flight in a particular crew category which does not need the language requirement.
IADLHR From Italy, joined Apr 2005, 669 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 7 hours ago) and read 6161 times:
Quoting Gman3 (Reply 15): The most senior trips out of our ORD base at UA are ORD-PEK and ORD-HKG and ORD-PVD. In JFK, it is the soon to be defunct JFK-NRT.
Cha747 From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 763 posts, RR: 7 Reply 21, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 6125 times:
So how does the whole seniority thing play-out with SQ? When I flew SQ 001 SFO-HKG, the oldest female cabin crew looked no older than 22. There was a purser who appeared to be in his 40's or early 50's. Exact same scenario for when we flew HKG-SIN a few days later (though it was not a continuation of 1). When we flew SIN-BOM, the crew were a bit more...how should I put this...homely.
You land a million planes safely, then you have one little mid-air and you never hear the end of it - Pushing Tin
UAORD2000 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 264 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 6115 times:
The most senior trips for UA are ORD-HKG and SFO, LAX-SYD. Just flew a trip in June to HKG with our #1 ORD flight attendant. 79 years old. She was something else, hired in the 50's i believe. Crazy.
FURUREFA From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 762 posts, RR: 2 Reply 23, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 6075 times:
Quoting 777STL (Reply 7):
There's no limit in terms of age. I believe UA has one of the oldest in the world, if not *the* oldest, I believe she's in her mid 70s.
Think that's old? At NWA it's a man who started as a purser in 1946. From what I understand of the rumour, NWA has wanted to get rid of him for a long time but they won't fire him because he has proof that NWA illegally transported arms during the Korean War, and he has the carbon copies to prove it. The hardest punishment NWA has ever given him was forcing him to work in coach for six months. He looks like death warmed over. He changes his shirt about three times during the flight because he wears so much make-up. And he is not a very nice man, especially to the women.
The Korean War part is a rumour, but the rest is true!
-#1 at CO was hired in 1956
-#1 at AS was hired in 1957
-AA:
#1 06-Nov-52
#2 01-Oct-58
#3 11-Nov-58
-US East:
#1. 04NOV57 BASE: DCA
#2. 09JUN61 BASE: CLT
#3. 22OCT62 BASE: CLT
#4. 07JAN63 BASE: DCA
#5. 05MAR63 BASE: CLT
RyanAFAMSP From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 155 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 6018 times:
It is basically impossible to identify a system-wide "most senior" trip, as flight attendants only bid against other flight attendants in their own domicile. The nature of flying in the given domicile determines which routes go very senior.
You could try to extrapolate which bases have the most senior flight attendants, and then figure out which are the most senior trips in those bases, but that would only be an estimate as domicile populations change every month.
For UAL, the SFO base is extremely senior. Right now, PVG and ICN are running the most senior trips. This tends to fluctuate. HKG, PVG, PEK, and SYD are desireable trips because they have both long layovers and high flight times. So a crewmember can have a nice layover, and have more days off. A 4-day KIX out of SFO goes a bit more junior because the 10 hour trip each way makes you have to do the trip more often.
Again, it all depends on the domicile. 2-day BOS trips out of SFO on the 767 used to go very senior in SF - over 30 years. When I was based in BOS I could sometimes hold the same flight numbers with 3 years of seniority (or I could always hold 757 transcon all-nighters). Or for example SFO-JFK flights were running well into the 30-year range in SF, but in the JFK base in the late 1990s, they could be held with 5-8 years of seniority, because the JFK domicile population was much more junior.
All international flying goes senior. LHR and some of the FRA trips are more junior, as the layovers are short and the travel time from downtown to the airport can be extremely long. The West Coast-Europe trips cross 9 time zones, which makes sleep on layovers really tough.
Aircraft type can also impact how senior a trip goes. The 747-400 with its large crew rest is very popular for long trips. The newer 777s have nicer crew rests, but some of the asian trips such as NGO, KIX, and NRT mix th newer and older 777s, often forcing cremembers to deal with the coach seat crew rests which are extremely unpopular.
25 Gman3: Our #1 at UA just celebrated her 60th anniversary in June. She is based in SFO and I believe she is 81 years old.
26 SKYYBLUE: At B6 some of the most senior trips include: JFK- SJC/BUR/ONT/LGB/OAK/LAS -JFK day turns. JFK-MSY/AUS/DEN/NAS/SJU/BQN - JFK day turns also go pretty s
28 WNCrew: Well, seeing as how JetBlue has only existed since 2000.....then yes, 6 years would be pretty darn senior.
29 Aloha73g: Aloha's most senior F/A was hired in Jan. 1957 (she is going to retire on her 50th Anniversary in 2007). At Aloha, midweek Trans-Pac and Interisland t
30 Travatl: Yep, it's all relative Fether.... With 11 years at AirTran, I'm in the top 4% of senority. The most senior lines here are always mid week west coast t
31 AirplaneBoy: As some have mentioned, flight attendants' preferences play a large role in terms of what goes senior. For instance, here at Frontier, a large portion
32 Delta777jet: Wasnt the concorde runs very senior ? I guess specially the concordes to barbados and stuff was pretty much on the wishing list from the seniors of th
33 Stylo777: If you mean "senior in age" than I haven't got any ideas... would you say "senior in status/ranking within the company" than my thoughts would go to a
34 Travatl: Dang Airplane Boy - We have a union, but we've allowed the company to fly us to FAA standards (trip building only). I.e. We can exceed 8 flt hours a d
35 Pualani: At Hawaiian our senior trips are anything that turn from HNL. LAX,PPG,PPT, and ANC. Do 7 or 8 LAX turns and you are done for the month. Another trip t
36 FlySSC: Funny to see all those airlines where F/A get their flights according to their seniority ... With Air France, F/A are dispatched on Long, Medium, or S
37 FLY777UAL: I believe in addition to her 60th anniversary, it was her 84th or 85th birthday which was celebrated (can't remember if Iris was born in 1921 or 1922
38 FLYACYYZ: YIKES!! At 20 you're a Stewardess At 40 you're a Flight Attendant At 80 you're a Mascot.
39 Lincoln: Gives whole new meaning to "The World's Most Experienced Airline". I wonder how many [millions of?] miles she has under her belt. That is quite an ac
40 Meister808: I have to wonder how many accidents/incidents she has under her belt. She's got to be a great resource on how to deal with stuff, because she has see
41 CALPilot: AT CO, EWR sub bases it varies but some of the top trips are, The B777, TLV The B767, HNL, GRU The B757, Deep Europe, high time Domestic The B737, hig
42 BrowntailWhale: At UPS it's the afternoon SDF-MHT-SDF turn in the A-300.
43 HighFlyer9790: ORD-PVD?!? am i missing something? PVD is a regional airport...can anyone please explain that? its like a 2 hour hop...
44 US AIRWAYS: At US anything that's seasonal over the pond always goes very senior, such as VCE & BCN. FCO is always fairly senior although I've also seen a lot of
45 Lucky42: in 1992 I flew HNL-MSP on a 747-100 (6601) on NW in the upper deck which was business class but domestically it was coach and it was the luck of the d