What does a Regional Airline Work Trip look like?

As a flight attendant I am constantly getting asked how many flights a day I work and if I just fly the same route day after day. I also get asked how I like working for ______ (major airline) and my answer is always, Yes!

As a flight attendant flying across North America my schedule varies month to month and day to day. Each month right around the 10th we do what is called bidding. We look to see what the trips for the following month will be and then we bid against the other flight attendants within our domicile for those specific trips we would like. Who we work with, what routes we get and the overnights we get all depend on how well we bid and as well as our seniority within that specific domicile.

In this post I hope to give a little insight to what a typical four(4) day work trip looks like. I will be using the four day trip since these are the trips that I myself typically get in my schedule for the month. I also hope that this post will help those who are looking into becoming a flight attendant recently hired and for those who have friends, family or significant other in the airlines. If at the end of this post you still have questions please drop those into the comments, I am more than happy to answer those for you.

Day 1 – 3 Legs today!

• 0530- wake up
• 0620-leave house, walk to train
• 0645-train ride to airport
• 0700- airport: go through security, get coffee walk to gate
• 0720- Airport Report Time
• 0730- Be at aircraft: Safety Equipment Checks, Crew Brief, Start Boarding! `
• 0750 -Closing door and preparations for taxi
• 0759- Departure from Gate
  • *Flight time for this flight is 1 hour and 30 minutes. Service time!

• 0852 -Landing, taxing in deplane
• 0930- Boarding next flight
• 1000- depart from gate
  • *Flight time 1 hour and 10 minutes.

• 1239-Landing- Back at domicile
• 1500- Boarding next flight
• 1528- Door closure
• 1534-departure from gate
  • Flight time 1 hour and 10 minutes

• 1712- Landing
• 1800 Hotel Time!
  • Overnight 11 hours and 41 minutes
    • Eat, Sleep!

Day 2 – 2 legs today!

• 0430- Wake Up!
• 0450-Van Time
• 0508- Airport Report Time
  • Safety Checks
  • Brief
  • Board
• 0538- Close the door
• 0548-depart the gate-Take Off!
  • 1 and 10 minutes
• 0722- Landing
• 0730-deplane passengers
  • time for Coffee!
• 0930-Back to plane
  • Board Passengers
• 0950-Close Door
• 1000-Leave gate, Take Off!
  • Flight Time 1 hour and 10 minutes
• 1130-Landing!
• 1230-Checking into Hotel
  • Overnight 17 hours and 23 minutes!
    • Eat, Play, Sleep!

Day 3 – 2 Legs today!

• 0430- Wake Up!
• 0450-Van Time
• 0508-Airport Report Time
  • Safety Checks
  • Brief
  • Board
• 0539-Close Door
• 0549-Depart Gate
  • Flight Time 1 hour and 10 minutes
• 0731- Landing
  • 0750 to 0850 Coffee Time!
• 0900- Board passengers
• 0925-Close Door
• 0935-Depart Gate
  • Flight Time 1 hour and 50 minutes
• 1259-Landing!
• 1330-Van to Hotel
  • Overnight Time 18 hours!
    • Eat, Play, Sleep!

Day 4- 3 leg day! Go Home Day!! At this time Life and time has already been warped….

• 0630- Wake Up!…Got to sleep in an hour today!
• 0710-Van Time
• 0745-Airport Report Time
  • Safety Checks
  • Crew Brief
  • Boarding
• 0815-Close Door
• 0825 Leave Gate, Take Off Time
  • Flight Time 2 hours!
• 0951-Landing
• 1040-Board 2nd flight
• 1120-Close door
• 1129-Depart Gate
  • Flight time 1 hour and 30 minutes
• 1225-Landing
• 1250-Board last flight of Your Day!
• 1308-Close Door
• 1314-Depart Gate, Get Home!
  • Flight Time 1 hour and 20 minutes
• 1554- Landing!
  • Time to go home!

The first two overnights the crew and I were at the same location and for the third night we went somewhere different. We had three legs on the first and the fourth day. These flights were turns, where we start at our Hub (domicile) and take passengers to an out station and the new passengers back to the the crews main domicile. This four day we also went back to our domicile each day and then to our overnight. This isn’t always the case that trips will be like that. I have many trips where I leave my domicile and don’t come back until the fourth day.

As you will notice when looking at this schedule you will see the first three days with at least a 2 hour in-between flights. For airline lingo this is called a sit. During this time I am getting off the aircraft getting coffee, walking through the terminal to stretch my legs, talking to my best friend on the phone, using actual bathrooms, eating, writing, reading or looking for a book in the airport, and every so often taking a cat nap in the crew room. There is a myriad of things you could do just as long as you are back on the plane to start on-time boarding, it is your time!

Have at it!

I hope this post has helped those of you who are curious, researching the career and or wondering what your child is doing all day long.

With love,

jess