A Few of my Favorite Things

 As a crossovers we have a unique opportunity to see both sides of the operation. It's mind boggling how different it can be. Just the little things that have been created to assist f/as in their duties can make a world of difference in executing them. Take for instance this HHD holder, it rests on the side of the cart. How simple is that?

Or along the same lines, the sugar, napkins and stir stick holder. It rests on the other side of the cart. On international they place the lemons and limes and milk in here.

Now before you say "Why didn't I think of that?" Take a look at this;

 

This shelf is really fab. You place your coffee on it and use it as a work table to pour drinks.

When it comes to First Class the sugar container rests on the top of a container door allowing more work space.  

 And then there is the strap that is snapped over the port hole before arming the door. This adds another announcement " Prepare Doors for departure, verify Strap" etc. We're told arm the door top down, which means strap first than slide girt bar, disarm bottom up, slide girt bar than strap. Anyone looking in  can see a strap in place and knows the door is armed.

 Flash lights are located on the wall above the jumpseat. No need to worry about bending over in the dark, opening the door under the jumpseat and grasping the nearest flashlight.

 Be still my heart, there's a rubbish bin on the jetway in EWR.

 And the pièce de résistance

...... a locked bin for f/a handbags and totes.

 Can you imagine.....Reserved For Flight Attendants?

  If you look closely you will see the the coffee makers all have plastic splash guards. 

Photo courtesy of Joyce Lynch

 This one blew me away. I had started the welcome aboard announcement and noticed one of the flight attendants pulled a clear plastic packet out of a cubby hole. I had to stop and ask "Is that the demo equipment?" It took me a minute to recover when I realized everything was packed nicely in a little bag. There was no more digging in a seat back pocket or searching an overhead bin for your equipment.

There is no doubt about it, I've died and gone to Flight Attendant heaven. I recently read the reconfiguration of the 767 on the S-UA side will include the fab S-CO bar cart. All I can say is, they are making some changes, and I think your going to like them!

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It's a breeze!

I just flew a terrific 4 day trip with Sharlene and Leslie . Leslie is a s-CO f/a who has been on reserve for several years. She happily helped Sharlene and I navigate our trip. I was the lead and Sharlene was the B. Leslie as the C picked up the slack, kept us up to date on any differences and answered operational questions as needed.
Operational differences can be significant. At S-UA pilots make the seat belt announcement, at S-CO it's the other way around. It took me several legs to get into the  habit of making the announcement. Another significant difference for me was the bells that continually ring on the 737. Pilot alerts, passenger call buttons and f/a calls all sound alike at least to my untrained ear. Thank heavens for Leslie who alerted us to the differences so that I wasn't making the wrong announcement at the wrong time. Actually I did, but passengers and crew all had a sense of humor so we just kept moving along.
We had long layovers in Austin where we shopped for Cowboy Boots 

and visited the local firehouse.

 We enjoyed over 20 hours in New Orleans at a hotel near Bourbon Street. Of course we had to gorge ourselves on Crayfish

 and Oysters.

The hotels were nice, comfortable and smartly located. The differences in the inflight procedures are easy to negotiate. Let's face it, getting the passengers and their bags settled and the bins closed on time are the most difficult part of any trip. With everyone working together it became easy peasy!

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We Beat the 1600 Pick Up or Flying with Sharlene

	FA01 FA02 FM01	May 17 12 to May 17 12	4
	Flt Seq Rest DT Ferry DH Eqp Org Dst Dpt Bref T Arr Dbref Ov Po Au Fltm Duty Tail Layo Guar Total  1171 010 17 737 EWR AUS 0651 S 1005 0414 0630  DP01 020 S0 0551 S 1020 0414 0529 1825 0414 City Code Name Phone  1667 030 18 737 AUS IAH 0530 S 0624 0054 0614  1623 040 18 737 IAH MSY 0855 S 1005 0110 0614  DP02 050 S0 0445 S 1020 0204 0535 2100 0204 City Code Name Phone  1616 060 19 737 MSY IAH 0805 S 0921 0116 0633  1227 070 19 737 IAH BOS 1255 S 1800 0405 0612  1682 080 19 737 BOS IAD 1900 S 2044 0144 0612  DP03 090 S0 0720 S 2059 0705 1239 0914 0705  1623 100 20 737 IAD EWR 0658 S 0814 0116 0612  1151 110 20 737 EWR MIA 1005 S 1320 0315 0606  1159 120 20 737 MIA EWR 1408 S 1729 0321 0606  DP04 130 S0 0613 S 1744 0752 1131 0752 Pairing Totals TAFB DHD Flight Time Guar Time Pay Time 8353 2115 2115 Crew Member Positions        Pos # Name        FA01 SHARLENE         FA02 Suzy Stew        FM01 PAMELA         Copyright © 2011 Continental Airlines, Inc. All Rights Reserved

We did it! We played the 1600 Lotto and won the winning pairing! Sharlene and I are flying together once again! We plan to buy cowboy boots in Austin, eat red beans and rice in New Orleans and clearly rest in Dulles. We'll need it. It's a 4 day pairing and we are good for a 4 days. This is perfect!

I edited the info in this pairing for obvious reasons. However, here is a key to help you understand the lingo. 

FM01- Lead-Purser- this position works the top of the bar cart in economy.

FA01- A or 2 -this position works first class

FA02- B or 3 sets up the galley and works the bottom of the bar cart and also the BOB cart.

 Under Tail and Layover, the top numbers are the tail numbers of the planes, the bottom numbers is the layover total time. I deleted hotel info and the name of the other f/a we are working with. 

Under Dept/Bref, the top time is the push and the bottom is the report time. I think the rest is pretty simple to understand.

Here's to a great trip! Now to get some sleep for that 0551 report. 

If I've somehow gotten the info wrong, please CO f/as help me out. ;-)

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I've Fallen In Love

With a Bar Cart. Is it possible? 

The minute I laid eyes on that sleek, well built piece of steel,  I knew we’d have a lasting and satisfying relationship. It was love at first sight. I slowly took him in from the top shelves that jutted out like well developed pecs  

to his tight bottom drawer that held beer, wine, orange juice, milk and a bag of ice to keep it all well chilled. 

He was the perfect bar cart for a demanding stew that desired more than just a set of drawers on wheels.

He was a dream come true and I swore we would never part.

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Crossover Party Alert!

 The lovely Linda L. Lutich has arranged a Crossover Party for all her airline friends and all of us newbies. She lives in Houston and is planning a party on May 24th! If your based in Houston, laying over there are just want to fly down for the party..........leave me a comment with your email address and I will shoot out all the info.
This is a terrific opportunity to meet fellow f/as and see old friends!
Thanks Linda!

The EWR 4 O'Clock Pick Up

We attended orientation, learned a little more about CCS (Crew Communication System), and enjoyed a day off. However at 4PM if your a EWR reserve, your on CCS with your trigger finger over the enter button waiting on the stroke of 1600 to pick up an assignment. It happened so fast I couldn't believe it. 
Sharlene and I decided to pick up 1100 airport alert (standby) together. Well we pressed and it seemed that 3 hours went by as a wheel spun and the computer read executing. Eureka! I got it, but alas Sharlene didn't. ;-/ She went back in to try for 1030 it was long gone! The same with the trips. The Golden Pairings (trips that can't be bumped by a line holder) went first and the later checkins  disappeared just as quickly. Within three minutes there was nothing left to pick up. It was that fast. 
We learned something in that exchange, if you want to fly the couch together, pick up 1/2 hour apart.  For instance we should have chosen the 1030 and the 1100. We also learned that you have to have your hustle on to be a winner in the pick up game. 
Sharlene was assigned a 0430 airport alert but decided to wait for me and we are going to pick up together this afternoon at the airport. There is a terrific Houston Trip with a 22 hour layover. It has our name written all over it. Unless of course I get used today, then we will have another strategy session.


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Schedules!

 CMCREWI  00N7683 00    PAMELA DOCKERY                   MAY12 EWR          R:  
 09379 FA                                                         
 DT CDE SCHED  START END BLKT PAYT TBPOS DT CDE SCHED  START END BLKT PAYT TBPOS
 02 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 18                            REA01
 03 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 19                            REA01
 04 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 20                            REA01
 05 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 21 OFF    0001 2400           REA01
 06 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 22 OFF    0001 2400           REA01
 07 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 23 OFF    0001 2400           REA01
 08 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 24                            REA01
 09 ORN    0900 1700      0230 REA01 25                            REA01
 10 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 26                            REA01
 11                            REA01 27                            REA01
 12                            REA01 28                            REA01
 13                            REA01 29                            REA01
 14                            REA01 30 OFF    0001 2400           REA01
 15 OFF    0001 2400           REA01 31                            REA01
 16 OFF    0001 2400           REA01                   
 17                            REA01                   
 MTDBK PRJBK AVLBK MTDPY LN VL PY GR SKBANK ADD P DEADHD 280312                 
                           230  6638                     070612          

 Holy Cow we have schedules! It took a few minutes and several postings 

on fb to find it. Then it was a few more minutes to understand it. Did they 

cover this in training? I don't even know what half this stuff means. 

But I have figured out that the blue numbers are the weekends and I seem to be 

working every one. Even Mother's Day ;-/. 

I wonder if I can get a SFO on Saturday night? 

The days off are listed as off. That was fairly simple. 

I've also realized my schedule is parallel with my friend Sharlene! Hurray!

We've decided to request airport alert (standby) on the 11th. 

Perhaps if we're lucky we will go on  a trip together.  

It's always good to have a friend during a new adventure. 

Especially because  we have a zillion questions! 

For instance, where do we put our luggage? How do we print our pairings (ID's)?

I know all this will be clear in the next 48 hours.... 

But in the meantime I'm still wondering where is my suitcase? Who has it? Will my 

Current inflight shoes pass muster? Where the hell is my suitcase? My manual is in there....

will they have a loaner for me? Gee there is no IBS, where do we find the flight info? 

 My wings... their in my suitcase also. Even the door arming procedures are different.

Dear God, please give me a kind, understanding crew.  

Where in God's creation is my suitcase?

photo by Deggary Priest

All text and photos are property of Cross Checked unless otherwise noted.

A Whirl Wind

The last few days have been a whirl wind of excitement and learning.  We re-qualified on the 67, 777 and the 37. 

 Click this link for a demo of our new commands;

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3756088898307

We learned the differences between the S-UA and the s-CO aircraft. We opened doors, snapped red straps over viewing ports, learned how to arm and disarm a S-CO airplane door, preformed emergency evacs of the 37 and met new friends.

 Manny and Will planned a "reserve briefing" shindig for the newest Calafa members.

 Jill spent over an hour explaining the in's and outs of reserve. 

So many Co friends attended to welcome us and share much needed uniform items. 

It was wonderful to finally meet all the people we "friended" on facebook. We mingled, sipped cool drinks and snacked on delightful Houston appetizers. Anyone have the recipe for that delicious Texan eggroll?

 The last day we learned CCS (at least we were introduced to it), and we were briefed on the reserve rules in the IAM contract.  We were given passwords for COAIR and CCS and entered our direct deposit info. Please payroll Gods......find us on the 16th!
We received our suitcases and totes. Most of us actually left the training center with the correct one ;-)

The staff came to wish us luck and welcome us to the Continental Subsidiary. We celebrated with a cake

and the instructors passed out our certificates and wings.

Hugs were exchanged and a few tears were shed. 

Smiles were abundant!

Then it was a whirlwind of packing, lugging our suitcases to the bus and rushing back to the hotel, airport or our new homes. 

It was an amazing few days and I was so happy to have shared them with the first class of Crossovers.

Thanks everyone! I looked forward to seeing you on the couch!

If you have any pictures, stories or observations you would like to share send them to ecooks56@gmail.com and I'll be happy to post.

Thanks Deggary for the link to the commands and the picture of Kevin and the new friend.

All photos and text are property of Cross Checked.