Coffee

I'm feeling a bit snarky about my coffee these days. I've been flying into airports where a good cup of coffee is impossible to find. What's that all about? It's not like there aren't good brands out there. I dream about a strong, flavorful, aromatic brew served with fresh milk or cream. Is that too much to ask? Clearly it can be.

At times I roll the dice and buy a cup only to find they have no fresh milk, only little cups of radiated cream. When I ask the counter folks for milk they roll their eyes but usually pull out a gallon container of milk. This makes me wonder if I'm the only person asking for fresh milk.

On wide bodies at S-CO they have these marvelous espresso machines that serve up a flavorful and strong espresso or cappuccino.  Be still my heart. That machine is enough to  keep me bidding the 777 until retirement.  If I could, but alas I'm on reserve. At the mercy of coffee vendors around the country. 

 I find everyone has a preference for their morning beverage. While I like a strong bitter brew, some like a lighter blond flavor, while others prefer a medium roast. We all agree though that the coffee must be fresh and served properly.  The vessel it's served in can make or break your cup of joe.  A heated ceramic cup is the first choice and a paper cup is the next best thing. Styrofoam should never be used because it imparts a nasty taste to both tea and coffee.  The current styrofoam cups came with the Starbucks coffee S-UA once brewed. We were told due to the high brewing temperature styrofoam was needed so that customers could hold the cups. In First/ Business Class we have a terrific mug which when heated holds a good amount of coffee and makes a terrific presentation. Now if only we could upgrade the economy cups. Either that or install espresso machines on every airplane. Frankly I'm leaning towards that idea.

I don't know about you but a good cup of java really starts my day off right so if we must drink our coffee on the go could we please have a flavorful brew with fresh milk, cream and paper cups?  I'll be less cranky.......I promise.

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The Erudite Vernacular of Bohemians, Aristocrats and Flight Attendants

Flying to and from Florida has it's challenges. Full planes, too many bags and short boarding times all come together to produce the inevitable Passenger without a seat. Just this morning after such a challenging boarding scenario we were trying to close the door when Chad and I both came to the same conclusion, "We have a strap-hanger" I said about the same time he mumbled to the agent "I think we have a spinner". Both he and the agent looked at me and said "Strap-hanger?" While I said "Spinner?". We laughed, corrected the situation, closed the door and proceeded to Tampa. 

We spent the rest of the flight comparing  the Vernacular of two different airlines.

Inevitably when you put f/as together they talk about everything from romance to business. In between bits and pieces of operational jargon comes to the surface of the conversation. At times we stare at one another baffled trying to figure out exactly what the other person is talking about. When it all becomes clear and then we walk around repeating what we've just heard "A Stew?" or "Spinner?".  Eventually we will all speak the same language, but for now there is something so sweet about learning new jargon for the things we're all familiar with.

Stew Kit/ Inflight Service Kit

Id/ Pairing

Extra Stew/ Load

Purser, A Stew/ Lead or Inflight Service Coordinator/ ISM or  International Service Manager

Crew Desk/ Scheduling / Crew Coordination

Standby/ Airport Alert

Mailbox/ Vfile

Bunkie/ IRP /International Relief Pilot

Strap hanger/ Spinner ( PAX w/out seat)

Dirty Book/ Log book write up

IAH/ Mecca

Domicile/ Base

I've also noticed S-UA says 57 or 47 when referring to aircraft, S-CO says Seven 3 or Seven 5.

I'm sure I'll add plenty more to the list in the days to follow.

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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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It's not always a bed of Roses.....

Or a bowl of blackberries,

Or a day at the beach.

When you no longer can fly with your best buds

 and everyone is a stranger

 and you begin to feel like a fish out of water

 and your wishing all the newness would go away.

When you arrive at the airport and recognize no one and your trying to make sense of the paper work, vernacular and the computer system it can be daunting. 

But then you check-in at the duty desk your greeted with a warm smile. Someone from a recent trip says Hi, gives you a hug and asks how it's going and suddenly it starts to feel OK.

You report to the airplane and realize it's all the same.The differences are your making new friends, visiting new places and learning new tricks.

I have realized, it isn't all about the money, flexibility and pension. It's also about adventure, conquering your fears and meeting the challenges you encounter when changing your life.

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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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