In the Loop...

There are a lot of Open Trips on the computer.  Open Trips are ones that are not fully staffed and a lineholding Flight Attendant can pick one up or it can be assigned by the Crew Desk to a Reserve.  A Reserve Flight Attendant gets the luck of the draw which can be great or terrible.  Guess what I've gotten the last three days?

This month I am a Call-In Reserve which means I know what I am going to do the next day at 7 pm the night before; instead of Ready Reserve where I wait for The Voice to call at least four hours prior to departure time.

Since I haven't flown any of July, I have the least amount of flight time accrued among my Reserve colleagues.  That and other contractual rules meant I was to be assigned one of the first (meaning earliest time) positions.  I was in this "time accrued" situation on Tuesday, Wednesday and today.  Look where I've spent my last three mornings:

BWI Crew "Lounge"

IAD Crew Lounge

The last two days, I was assigned a 5:45 am  Standby (ONSB) at Baltimore (BWI).  Airport Standby is in case something goes wrong (i.e. a Flight Attendant gets sick while working, misconnects from another flight, etc.)  We have to be ready to go anywhere from Dubai to Buenos Aires and Bozeman to Tampa.   If you are needed, you go on a trip.  If you aren't needed, you go home.

(To be fair, I "preference" BWI over Washington Dulles (IAD).  They are equidistant from our house--and, BWI is easier for me.  IAD is just a pain in the neck to get to, with all the construction around the Washington Beltway for the new Metro line.)

Last night, just after 7 pm, I looked at the computer and saw that I had Standby again for the third day in a row, this time at IAD, and at 5 am...and all I could do was just shake my head, and go to bed.  Getting up at 2:45 the last three mornings has been ugly.

We have an expression used when a Reserve Flight Attendant gets assigned several International trips in a row due to the luck of the draw...it's called being in the "International Loop."

I guess this means I'm in the "Standby Loop!"



Update:

I got a trip last night--once again a 2:45 a.m. wake-up (5 a.m. sign-in, and 6 a.m. departure) with one leg to Chicago (ORD) and one leg to Houston (IAH).  Tomorrow, another 2:45 a.m. wake-up with one leg to Denver (DEN) and one leg back to Washington (IAD).

Okay, so I'm out of the "Standby Loop" and am definitely in the "Oh-Dark-Thirty Loop!"