Paperwork

Change is difficult. Human beings fight change whenever it threatens to enter our lives. Airline mergers fall into this catorgery. It seems the minute we've grown accustomed to the new procedures they change something else and we are back where we started.
 The day will start out like any other and then the agent hands you a piece of paper you've never seen before. On one of my last trips at S-UA the Captain was handed a small white piece of paper called Reconciliation Totals.  He looked at me and inquired "What am I supposed to do with this?" "Got me " was my reply. We closed the door and pushed.
On the other hand, once I arrived at S-CO, one of the first questions I was asked was" Why do the S-UA agents keep asking me if I want an IBS?"
Folks, I'm here to tell you.......yes! You want an IBS and you want a "Reconciliation Totals".
The perfect airline would have both. ;-)
An IBS is the end all to be all. What is an IBS you ask? It's an Inflight Briefing Sheet. All the info you need for your entire day, every leg of your trip/pairing is in the IBS.

Flight attendant and pilot names, seniority and file/employee numbers, and all meal info for any crew member on each leg. The origination and destination of each flight and FAA minimums.

Flight specific information such as boarding times, configuration of the aircraft,  planned load and stand-bys. Also special equipment, special passengers and inflight entertainment information are included thus taking all the guess work out of deciding what to play on the video system.

Also noted are galley and liquor boarding info, Milage Plus miles, and cabin maintenance issues.

As an added plus if your layover hotel or van changes it will be noted on the IBS. 

Honestly the first few trips I flew at S-CO I was lost without it. Sam, I need an IBS.


The Reconcilliation Totals comes in handy. Picture this, your working an all nighter, it's full and several wheel chairs were boarded 6 hours ago........do you remember how many? Do you trust the manifest? By golly no, at s-UA you check with each passenger listed at a WCHR asking if they still need a wheel chair at the destination. Sometimes you order the right number but other times you sit on the plane with the passenger waiting for the wheelchair you missed. Well the RT breaks down the numbers in the cabin, laps, kids , wheelchairs and umnrs.  How cool is that? I think, if we can have both on each flight, we can conquer the world or at least have the tools to do a terrific job. Because really isn't that what it's all about? Being the best in the business by having combined our acquired knowledge to make life at work a breeze. 

As always, CO and UA folks, please comment if something is askew.
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