For more like this, check out all of my Flight Attendant Posts
No matter who I’m talking to, once they find out I’m a flight attendant, the one question that ALWAYS comes up is “What’s your schedule like???”
First of all, you will more than likely start out on reserve. Read all about reserve in my post here: Everything You Need to Know About Flight Attendant Reserve
I am no longer on reserve and have a line. A line is a set schedule of flights, so you know where and when you’re flying in advance. Always remember, everything in this job is ABOUT SENIORITY!
How do you get your schedule?
Every month I bid for a schedule that I want. I can bid for days off, what aircraft I want to work on, what position I want to work, where I want to have my layovers, and even specific flight numbers I want to work. Then my schedule is awarded to me based off my seniority. That means that if anyone who is more senior than me wants a flight that I want, then they will get it over me.
Once we are awarded our schedule, we can drop, pick up, and trade trips on an online trade board! If you learn how to work the trade board, you can get a schedule you’re happy with even if you don’t have a lot of seniority.
I think that is my favorite part about my job – how flexible it is. On the trade board I can see who wants to trade/drop trips or see what trips are in open time and then I can swap my trip for another that works better for me (maybe because its on a different day or maybe it’s on the same day but it has a layover somewhere I would rather go). I can also drop trips as long as there are enough reserves for that day, and if I have enough hours for the month, I can drop the trip using PTO (Paid Time Off) or UTO (Unpaid Time Off).
The schedules vary so much – one day I could work one long flight and be done, the next I could work four short flights. If you want to see a post with more details of one specific trip, check out my post: An Average Week in My Life as a Flight Attendant
Here is an example of what a month of flights might look like:
*each new trip means I will be working with the same crew of flight attendants every day of that trip (we usually work with different pilots every day)
Week 1:
Sunday: Trip 1, Day 1 (4 day trip)
JFK – LAX
*layover in LAX
Monday: Trip 1, Day 2
LAX – FLL
*layover in FLL
Tuesday: Trip 1, Day 3
FLL – SFO
*layover in SFO
Wednesday: Trip 1, Day 4
SFO – JFK
*go home
Thursday: off
Friday: off
Saturday: Trip 2, Day 1 (2 day trip)
LGA – PBI
PBI – BOS
BOS – MCO
*layover in MCO
Week 2:
Sunday: Trip 2, Day 2
MCO – LGA
*go home
Monday: Trip 3 (1 day trip)
JFK – MEX
MEX – JFK
*go home
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: off
Thursday: off
Friday: Trip 4, Day 1 (3 day trip)
LGA – FLL
FLL – BOS
*layover in BOS
Saturday: Trip 4, Day 2
BOS – PBI
*layover in PBI
Week 3:
Sunday: Trip 4, Day 3
PBI – LGA
*go home
Monday: off
Tuesday: Trip 5, Day 1 (2 day trip)
JFK – SEA
*layover in SEA
Wednesday: Trip 5, Day 2
SEA – JFK
*go home
Thursday: off
Friday: off
Saturday: off
Week 4:
Sunday: Trip 6, Day 1 (4 day trip)
LGA – FLL
FLL – SJU
*layover in SJU
Monday: Trip 6, Day 2
SJU – FLL
*layover in FLL
Tuesday: Trip 6, Day 3
FLL – NAS
NAS – FLL
FLL – NAS
NAS – FLL
*layover in FLL
Wednesday: Trip 6, Day 4
FLL – LGA
*go home
Thursday: off
Friday: off
Saturday: off
I hope this helps- if you have any questions please feel free to ask!!