From easy turnarounds, four sector days, and flight times that are so quick you’ve barely got time to do the service, short haul flight attendants make up the biggest part of the crew community. They also get overnights too. For some short haul flying is the only way to go, with the opportunity to experience the best of both worlds as a flight attendant – being away from time to time, but also going home at the end of the day – like a normal job.
From flying to some smaller airports that resemble little more than a tin shed, to seeing the most amazing scenery #fromtheplanewindow, there’s so many short commuter flights each day, and so many different variety in flights you could be working. Compared to longer flights, the demands are different and varied – this is what short haul flying is really like.
“I heard she hates long haul and regrets going over to the dark side, she cries every time she has to leave her boyfriend behind, and she said the long flights are proving to be a nightmare”
Its an age old debate between cabin crew: is it better to be long haul or short haul crew?
“Do you do like doing overnights?”
“Oh not anymore, I don’t think I’ve done one in at least a year. I can never sleep well if I’m not in my own bed and prefer to be home for the kids. Every now and then I might bid for one but mostly I try to work longer single days to get my hours up so I get more days at home”
I was definitely naïve, because when I first started as a short haul flight attendant I assumed that each time I went to work I’d be returning home the same day. As a domestic flightie, I assumed, I’d work between 2-4 short sectors and return to base at the end of a duty. How wrong I was.
“Where are you headed today. Are you with us to Perth?
“Oh nowhere at the moment, I’m on the couch. So thanks for showing up, I really DON’T want to go to Perth. Crewing told me to pack a bag so we’ll see what happens.”
Being on reserve is a fact of life and part of the monthly roster of most cabin crew. Mostly these are home reserve days, where you have to answer the phone and be available for a duty, but every now and then, home reserve changes to airport reserve where you physically have to standby at the terminal.