CYBILL: My Last Trip as a Lineholder

Headed to work. My last trip as a line holder. It was an amazing month.

(upon arriving in Frankfurt...)
Time for a nap and then check out the festivities. I guess they have a form of Mardi Gras here in Mainz too. Uh oh they don't know that NOLA is in da bulidin', they ain't ready. Lol

TONY: I GOT A TRIP!

Okay, so it's not much of a trip but I finally got one!

AND...

I got it through an acknowledgement when I got up this morning:

This is really pretty cool!

TONY: Airport Alert, Day 3

* * *  F L E X I B I L I T Y  * * *

Airport Alert for the 3rd time in 5 days (can you say "pound of flesh"?)

But this time it's at a more reasonable hour:  9:30am.  Hmmm.  I have 3 duty days left, including today and start my March line on the 4th.  So, they can either send me to Tokyo and deadhead me home, Tokyo-Denver then home, or the 3day Amsterdam trip (which I'm flying all of March).

OR

They can surprise me with something TOTALLY unforeseen.  Oh, the adventure of it all!  (FYI:  my bag is packed for a 6-day trip!)

1130  The 6-day NRT trip checked in and departed, including the 1 position (chaser) that does a 3-day IAH/NRT/IAH.  I'm scheduled to go off duty at 1330, just before the AMS trip checks-in.  I've been checking and that trip doesn't show any open positions.  I suppose that, if suitably motivated, CS could send me home and have me come back to cover FRA (3-day) tonight.  Wouldn't that be cool?  Cybill is flying forward galley on that...maybe we could meet!

TONY: Last Day Off

Today, February 28th, is my last scheduled Day Off in my Reserve month.  Tomorrow, I start my final block of 3 duty days before I begin flying my March schedule to Amsterdam on the 4th.

Given all that information...

Do you think I'll fly this month?

TONY: Airport Alert, Day 2

I think I've got it figured out now. 

TONY: Rats! They found me.

I have been dutifully checking my schedule in CCS every night at 9pm, as directed by my peers, for my "acknowledgements" from Crew Scheduling.  As of the 23rd of the month, I've received 3:  all the same, all re-confirming that I am Call-Out G and on duty the following day from 1100 until 1900.

It was always the same.  Until last night, that is.  Although I'm not a fan of the phrasing, 

"Sh!t just got real!'

Shortly after 2100, I realized that I hadn't yet checked for an acknowledgement coming from my 2 scheduled days off.  So, I picked up the ipad and signed on to CCS.  I couldn't believe my eyes!   "AAA/0555" (Airport Alert at 5:55am).  Was this some kind of cruel joke?  It seems a little unreal, in light of the way the month has gone thusfar.  How could I be assigned something so radically different and never even have to answer the phone?  (The last time I sat Reserve, in 1984, we had no computer, no cell phone and very few people had beepers.  The "mechanics" of reserve were totally different.)

Every duty day this month, I've had everything packed and ready "to go to work" at 1100:  clothes, food, toiletries, medications, etc.  Since we're approaching the end of the month, I suppose I'd been lulled into a false sense of security, a false "reality" that I wasn't going ANYWHERE in February.  When I saw my AAA assignment, the adrenalin went from "time for bed" to DEFCON 5 in an instant.

My "travel yogurt" expired on 2/17 (who knew?), my pill case had 2 days-worth of supply, the PB&J I'd packed (great shelf-life) before leaving to help Mom in Atlanta was, in a word, disgusting, my bedraggled beard needed a trim and the shaved parts of my face needed attention that would be perilous at 0330.  In short, all the things I normally accomplished in preparation for the 1100 start of my regular duty period had to be done ASAP and I had to get to bed...FAST.  Well, as adrenalin will tend to do, it aids in getting the job done but isn't very conducive to sleep.  I was in bed by 2205.  I was still WIDE AWAKE at 0008!

Of course, when the alarm sounded at 0340, I was just getting comfortable in my REM sleep, the deepest and most restful phase of the sleep cycle.  A not-so-friendly elbow to the ribs said that I was the only one NOT responding to the clock.  Here's what I remember:

0340 wake up, coffee, shower, dress, trip-over-the-dog-in-the-dark-so-as-not-to-disturb

0417 out the door (approaching the employee parking lot, a herd of 8 deer appear in the fog and mist, peacefully grazing between the road and lot.  Shouldn't I be grateful for the opportunity to appreciate this rare bit of natural serenity?)

0443 parking lot, where I call CS and talk to J who informs me that she's been on since 1400 yesterday  (I call on my cellphone from the lot because I don't want my fellow Reserves in the Crew Room to know what an AAA virgin I am)  When I ask about leaving the crew room to get something to eat, J says that once in the crew room, CS can release me to my cellphone.

0515  crew room:  Wow, there are Supervisors at the duty desk at this hour!  I sign a piece of paper and check in with CS on the "bat phone".  

"Thank you, Tony.  I'll release you to your cell phone now."

"Wow, thanks J.  Are you releasing me to get something to eat or for the whole 4 hours?"

"No.  You're released to your cell phone for your whole AAA assignment."

0641  The Osaka crew came and went.  Guess I'm also good to cover the Narita trip before I go off duty at 0955 (and probably some Latin America trips, as well).

I keep running into folks who want to stop and chat; some old friends, some new friends (nice to meet you, Jo Palmer!), some just curious about what I'm doing here.  As traumatic as my short night and early wake-up have been, it's just another cog in the wheel, another piece in the puzzle of my reserve experiement.  I wouldn't trade it for anything...(well maybe for a few more hours of sleep).

0810  Using my time wisely:  I spoke to Elizabeth H, my union Grievance Chairperson, about how my request to reinstate duty days to make-up for my EDNP was handled earlier this week.  After a phone call "downtown", we decided that a grievance is in order and the process has started (I should have been allowed to make-up for 2 of the 3 lost days per the contract and that's what I'm asking for as relief.)

0910  My friend Debrah Davis checks in for NRT and the crew room comes ALIVE!  Congratulations Debra on your 35th Anniversary with the company!  (As I took my turn to put my arm around her for a photo, I asked Debrah, "Girl, have you lost your mind flying a 6-day?" 

Without skipping a beat, she looked at me straight-faced and replied, "Chaser Baby!" (she's flying the 3-day "load" position). 

If my phone doesn't ring for another 45 minutes, or so, this will have been quite a fun little adventure.  I've seen faces that I haven't seen in years.  What an interesting place the IAH Crew Room can be.  

0955:02  "Scheduling, this is I."

"Hi, I.  This is XX93 Tango.  Can I go back to bed now?"

"Why would you want to do that?  You're already up now."

"You guys shanghaied me with this.  I wasn't prepared.  You aren't going to do it to me again, tomorrow.  Are you?"

"No.  I swear.  Go back to bed."

"Thanks I.  Laters..."

What are the chances that tomorrow's gooing to be like Groundhog Day (0555 AAA all over again)?

TONY: Reserve Lost Time Make-Up (5-45.19)

I posted the following message in a couple of Reserve-oriented Facebook groups knowing that if anyone had insight, THAT's where I'd find it:

"Wasn't ready for this...

I got back from my family emergency today, 2 days early (a GOOD thing), and have 2 scheduled days off (SU/MO). I call CS to attempt to convert at least 1 of those days to duty so that I can make up some of the time I lost for my Emergency Drops (3 duty days @4 hours each) and was told that there's no way to do that.

Asked for a supervisor and received the same answer, "per the contract". So, my guarantee stands at 71 hours (3 lost duty days) and I'll be in Houston and available but can't make up the lost time.

Shouldn't the contract be flexible enough to allow lost time "make-up", as long as the F/A stays within duty limits?"

Within minutes, I received the feedback I'd been looking for...on BOTH groups!  The Flight Attendant contract does, in fact, address this very situation:

"p. 5-45:

19. Subject to Company agreement, a reserve flight attendant who loses a duty day(s) due to illness, injury or emergency drop will be allowed to make up the lost day(s) on her/his remaining day(s) off that month. The day(s) on which the make-up occurs is subject to mutual agreement. When a lost day is made up in this manner four hours (4:00) will be returned to the flight attendant’s reserve guarantee."

So, I called CS again and asked to speak to a supervisor.  Luckily, the SAME supervisor who had perfunctorily dismissed my earlier request was still on duty.  When I referred her to the appropriate section of the contract, she excused her earlier mistake with, "Oh, I am sub-UA..."  But because time "make-up" requires mutual agreement and only had 2 days where I could "legally" make-up the time, she had to consult coverage numbers AND email the sCO contract expert on how to implement this policy.  She committed to have an answer before her shift ended at 2200.

And she did.  Shortly before 2200, she phoned to say that 79 Reserves are already on for Sunday and over 100 for Monday, so my request would be denied.

Oh well, it was worth a try.  This issue should be addressed in a future contract.  The Reserve could be financially devastated without means to make-up the lost time.