During the summer months, my airline operates a seasonal base in South Carolina. Instead of hiring new flight attendants and pilots to service this base, the company allows current crew members to bid for the opportunity to temporarily move to the summer base. Normally, these opportunities are presented to crew members at our larger bases in Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. However, there were three spots open for Fort Lauderdale based flight attendants to be based in South Carolina for two months. I was debating whether or not I should bid for this event. I had heard good things about the summer base from those who worked there last year, so I submitted my request to see if I had the chance of receiving the assignment. I am number 24 out of 40 at my base, so I knew that my chances were somewhat slim since there were only three open spaces with 23 other flight attendants above me. However, I received the assignment and was scheduled to be in South Carolina for June and July.
Almost a month has gone by and I am enjoying my time in SC. The airline put us up in nice condos on a golf course only about a mile and a half from the beach. I'm at the bottom of the seniority list during this assignment, so I hold a pure reserve (on-call) line for June and July. I don't mind being on reserve; it's actually a nice change of pace from having a working line. I've been called about six or seven times this month and I picked up two trips on my off days. Most of my time is spent at the pool, beach, and driving range, with the occasional putt-putt golf trip in between. There are putt-putt courses on every corner in this city, and not just small ones, but gargantuan pirate and jungle themed ones.
I've had to get use to flying on the MD-80s once again. I haven't flown on them (save for the occasional rescue flight) since August when I was based in Orlando; our Fort Lauderdale base operates purely Airbus A320 equipment. The MD-80 (lovingly referred to as the Mad Dog) is a tank of an aircraft, which is one of the reasons why I love flying on it. It almost sails effortlessly through the sky like a dream and is a smoother ride during turbulence. It is a cozier fit in the cabin than on the A320 and I've had to revert back to saying "excuse the cart, watch your elbows and knees" when doing inflight service. I think I have only hit three people by accident with the cart and/or my own elbows or legs--so far, so good. The other downfall to my love for the MD-80 is how hot it can get on board when sitting on the tarmac or at the gate during boarding and deplaning. The ground air and APU can only do so much when there are 166 humans on board and the entry door is still open. The safety information card becomes your best friend during this time. Not only does it show you valuable safety procedures but it makes for a great handy fanning device. If you are flying either the number 2 or 4 position on the aircraft, which I normally wind up doing, the card also keeps you from getting dripped on by the air conditioning when seated in the aft jumpseat in the tailcone. An umbrella and a fan--we should market it on HSN or QVC.
My love for the Mad Dog still holds true even with its quirks and mood swings. One of the MD-80s stationed here is slated for retirement at the end of the summer operation in September. It will be flown out to the desert and scrapped for parts, ending a long 27 year lifespan with over 50,000 flights. My company is beginning to retire the MD-80s at a faster pace and replacing them with newer A320s and A319s--by 2020 all our MD-80s will be retired.
I will be happy to return to Fort Lauderdale at the end of July. I have missed my family and fellow crew members, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to be stationed in South Carolina where I have met new colleagues from different bases and reconnected with those from Orlando. Besides, who isn't jealous of this being their playground:
I've had to get use to flying on the MD-80s once again. I haven't flown on them (save for the occasional rescue flight) since August when I was based in Orlando; our Fort Lauderdale base operates purely Airbus A320 equipment. The MD-80 (lovingly referred to as the Mad Dog) is a tank of an aircraft, which is one of the reasons why I love flying on it. It almost sails effortlessly through the sky like a dream and is a smoother ride during turbulence. It is a cozier fit in the cabin than on the A320 and I've had to revert back to saying "excuse the cart, watch your elbows and knees" when doing inflight service. I think I have only hit three people by accident with the cart and/or my own elbows or legs--so far, so good. The other downfall to my love for the MD-80 is how hot it can get on board when sitting on the tarmac or at the gate during boarding and deplaning. The ground air and APU can only do so much when there are 166 humans on board and the entry door is still open. The safety information card becomes your best friend during this time. Not only does it show you valuable safety procedures but it makes for a great handy fanning device. If you are flying either the number 2 or 4 position on the aircraft, which I normally wind up doing, the card also keeps you from getting dripped on by the air conditioning when seated in the aft jumpseat in the tailcone. An umbrella and a fan--we should market it on HSN or QVC.
My love for the Mad Dog still holds true even with its quirks and mood swings. One of the MD-80s stationed here is slated for retirement at the end of the summer operation in September. It will be flown out to the desert and scrapped for parts, ending a long 27 year lifespan with over 50,000 flights. My company is beginning to retire the MD-80s at a faster pace and replacing them with newer A320s and A319s--by 2020 all our MD-80s will be retired.
I will be happy to return to Fort Lauderdale at the end of July. I have missed my family and fellow crew members, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to be stationed in South Carolina where I have met new colleagues from different bases and reconnected with those from Orlando. Besides, who isn't jealous of this being their playground:
No comments:
Post a Comment