Many times I’m asked, “What is a reserve flight attendant?” A reserve flight attendant is just as it sounds. It’s where we all begin our career as a new hire flight attendant. Reserve flight attendants don’t hold a regular line of flying and are used to cover trips where a crewmember may have had to call off sick, or an entire crew has gone non-routine and the remainder of that trip is made up of a reserve crew.
Each airline has their own unique reserve systems. Some are really flexible and quite easy to navigate, and then their are some that are cumbersome and not so enjoyable. I’ve done reserve at all four airlines I’ve been with and I always look at it as an adventure.
How Does Reserve Work?
In general, reserves are on call for certain periods of time and can either be assigned a trip, an airport standby, on-call, or released. This is where I consider it an adventure. Only when I’ve been on reserve have I been able to get a trip that I would have never thought about flying or would have been able to hold due to my seniority. Many flight attendants see reserve as a negativity and will base their search for the position based on the airline that has the better reserve options.
Examples: https://youtu.be/EajW_tyTwHc, https://youtu.be/oCn8andDWaMhttps://youtu.be/qd1VOnfpq3M
While I wont say that I would like to do reserve for my entire career, I don’t mind doing it every three months, which is what my airline requires. For me it’s a nice break and I get to work trips that I normally wouldn’t. Remember, don’t make this job difficult or miserable, because it’s not.
Am I Paid If I Don’t Fly?
Yes. Reserve flight attendants are guaranteed pay even if a trip is never worked. So, in essence, you can be paid to be at home. More than likely though, you will be used. This is the adventurous part of the job where you don’t know when or where you’ll be going. Each airline has a different set monthly guarantee of hours for reserve and you will be paid that amount. Some airlines allow you to pick up trips on your days off and allow that to go above your guarantee for extra money.
How To Survive Reserve
The key to surviving reserve is to keep an open mind, remember why you chose this career, and to always seek out adventure. Thanks to being on reserve I’ve seen Paris, the Caribbean, Hawaii, NYC, Los Angeles, and fascinating cities like Evansville, Indiana, Baton Rouge, LA, Des Moines, IA and other places that turned out to be some of the best layovers I’ve ever had.
Plan your reserve schedule so that you are ready to be available when the airline calls you, and enjoy your days off when they are assigned. Don’t make plans on a day where you think you won’t get called and then be disappointed at the last minute when scheduling calls you to cover a trip.
While having a line of flying makes life easier to plan, being on reserve adds a sense of adventure. Keep an open mind and know that one day soon, you’ll also be holding a line and not doing reserve. Please ask questions you have about reserve and I’ll be happy to answer them.
Jason.
