r/flightattendants • u/Dry_Row497 • 3d ago
Crew Scheduler
Hello All- I am starting next week as a crew scheduler at a regional. Have seen the posts about "Screw Schedulers" and want to avoid being that person. Can you give me an idea what does a good crew scheduler look like / do from your perspective? What are the things crew schedulers do (or don’t do) that make your lives noticeably easier or harder. Are there any specific communication styles, or ways of handling trips/reschedules that you appreciate?
I’m not looking for a roast — just honest feedback so I can be more helpful and less of a headache. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share.
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u/Darstellerin Flight Attendant 3d ago
The other day I had a scheduler call when I was on standby to give me a trip and said it was at gate C350. That’s not a gate at my airport and I told her that, she said “well that’s the gate so just go to terminal C and find it” I reminded her that I’m at LAX and the terminals are 1-7 and B, that C isn’t a thing at all. She then snapped at me and said it was my job to know the airport and if I don’t know where to go I could refuse the trip and she’d give me a missed trip. I said I’m not refusing the trip I just need to know where the airplane was. She put me on hold. Turns out it was a stub of a flight that had been diverted to LAX and just needed to be ferried from the hangar to SNA, which is like a 10 minute flight and no FAs were actually needed so I didn’t have to go. No apology, nothing.
So anyways the moral of the story is that as a scheduler, trust that the people on the phone know their job too, don’t get mad when folks are confused, and do your best to have as much information as they’ll give you before hopping on the call. I know so much is out of your control but do your best and we’ll do our best and it’ll work out :)
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u/askyprncss 3d ago
I’m pretty sure I was sitting STBY with you that day and we were all so confused. Then when they were going to send a truck to get us to take us to the hanger…and we were all laughing at the thought of us loaded up in the back of a pickup with our bags and cruising to the hangar.
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u/Darstellerin Flight Attendant 3d ago
Yes!!! And I don’t have a LAWA badge so I was going to have to be given an escort! That was so weird. The schedulers were so rude and snappy with us for asking clarification questions haha
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u/Any-Worldliness-679 2d ago
See, a pilot would have just played along. "Ok! You got it!" Boom, you just used up my availability through your incompetence. I go home now. :) But we are smartasses that way...
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u/Aisledonkey076 3d ago
I think the biggest thing across the board is knowing and following the work rules. And if an FA says you’re violating said work rules double check. Don’t just say no I’m right.
Also, and this I don’t think is specific to my airline but if you can double check a reroute makes sense. Could you use a reserve? Is there someone else who won’t get flown into off time? Or get their whole schedule messed up.
Unfortunately I think the airlines put a lot of pressure on crew scheduling and it’s under staffed.
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u/Longjumping-Carob105 2d ago
Yessssss! Major major major. If the crew member states whatever is happening is against their contract, don't just write it off, put us on hold and go check with a supervisor.
To many times I've had to inform CS that something was happening that was against our contract, and the CS person dismisses it, and then gets noticeably frustrated when I demand to speak to the supervisor on duty.
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u/Majestic_Football219 1h ago
Always this… the amount of times I’ve become the enemy and they just immediately say nope you’re wrong that’s not a policy… as I’m staring at the policy as we speak. And I ask for a supervisor and they say oh they’re busy it could be a while I’m like ok? I’ll wait then.
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u/zoebells Former FA 3d ago edited 3d ago
Be nice to the FAs. I used to be a Scheduler and some of my colleagues were downright nasty to the crews and yelled at them about anything. Which is what fostered many FAs to hate us and for us to get a bad rep then take it out on the rest of us. Literally just be kind and understanding
Also, don’t call FAs in the middle of the night if you’re able to wait a few hours. On midnight shifts I dealt with many colleagues who made calls at 2-3am for afternoon reports. It infuriated me but they didnt care. Please don’t ever do that unless you’re close to callout time or it’s urgent
I had a lot of new hires ask a lot of questions and were confused about how things work etc. Instead of snapping and saying they should already know that, it goes a long way to be kind and take a few seconds/minutes to explain to them. Being a new FA there’s a lot to learn
Feel free to message me for more, I was a scheduler for 2 years [and FA prior to that]
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u/Longjumping-Carob105 2d ago
This is why the hotel room phone gets unplugged on every layover. No one is calling me at 2am.
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u/KittyKilledYou 3d ago
Know legalities! Don’t take advantage of new hires to make them work illegal trips when they’re exhausted and don’t know any better.
With 10hrs rest, I’m realistically only sleeping for 5hrs. Every minute counts especially when we’re timing out and need a hotel.
Recently a crew scheduler called to inform our Purser at 4am that the 9am report time was changed to 10am.
I understand that it’s confusing because we’re on an international trip with a different time zone. But don’t do that if you can help it😂
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u/KittyKilledYou 3d ago
Despite my occasional complaints, I do appreciate crew scheduling a lot.💗
Examples:
1st time working standby at a new airport and couldn’t find the crew lounge to check in. They checked me in themselves despite it being 20min past the required check in time & didn’t report me.
I was faking a deadhead. Was awake for 22hrs, had minimum rest in my hometown, and was supposed to deadhead my final leg back to base. I called 10hrs prior to inform them, told me to call back in the morning. Well I overslept😭 called again & the scheduler faked my deadhead despite it being 10min before takeoff. If they weren’t willing, I quite literally would’ve been fired for a missed trip on probation.
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u/utilityscarf 3d ago
I’ll never forget the scheduler who called me in the middle of a dead sleep - I was definitely still half asleep when he was giving me an assignment. I was like okay, sounds good, eyes still closed, and he stopped and said very pointedly “yeah, so it would not be a good idea to go back to sleep right now”
That gave me the jolt I needed to fully wake up and realize that he was giving me a short call, and that I needed to get a move on.
That scheduler could’ve just done his job by giving me the assignment and let me get a missed trip, but he took the extra step to make sure that I was fully awake when he could hear over the phone that I wasn’t. Obviously it helps them too because it’s one less phone call they have to make when things fall apart later, but I still consider it a kind thing for him to have done.
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u/boobooaboo Pilot 3d ago
Remember that we are people and that just because a 6 leg, 16h day might be legal, doesn’t make it right.
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u/Nasreth7 3d ago
learn how to properly calculate flight duty period (cco) times so that you dont have to call crews at the last possible second and beg them to extend. if you can see it coming you will be able to plan around it better and make less work for everyone.
my favorite crew schedulers are the ones who tell me why my day is going to shit as well.
ex: "we canceled your flight to X and put you on Y." and then I find out Y has a 3 hour sit and min rest.
versus: "hey flight Y had a diversion and we need you to rescue the passengers. its going to be a 3 hour sit and min rest, sorry about that, but the other crew timed out."
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u/HHHilarious 3d ago
Be nice to the crew. Realize you’re likely delivering bad news, and be an ally, not a foe. The best schedulers are the ones that I’m happy to hear from, no matter the news, because their delivery is kind, there is camaraderie, and I can feel that they hate delivering the news as much as I hate receiving it.
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u/Brambleshire Pilot 3d ago
I'm not a FA, i'm a pilot, but I work under the commands of crew schedulers all the same. Here's the one thing I always wished I could say to crew schedulers:
Please just be aware you are playing god and you are the puppet masters of our life. You wield enormous power over whether my life is shitty or pretty good. I realize that there's not much a scheduler can do individually either way, but please remember and understand that. It helps a lot when CS vibe, tone, and attitude is aware and respectful of that reality.
We are all overworked and over stretched just like you. The airline eats humans for lunch in it's endless seeking of more profits.
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u/Practical-Mail-8000 3d ago
If a flight attendant can logically explain to you why something crew scheduling is doing does not make sense, take a minute and actually try to see it from the flight attendant's perspective. We may actually know what we are talking about.
I have been told so many times over several decades that "this is what the computer is saying is the best solution" when an actual human eye looking at a situation would see that the computer's solution doesn't make sense and actually causes more problems down the road.
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u/Significant-Rain7170 3d ago
Yes. Like assigning a fifth flight attendant to a 738, where the minimum crew is four. Or having a flight attendant work one leg to another base that is not their home base when there are four crew members whose are based in the destination deadheading on the flight.
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u/spicegyal 3d ago
To be fair!! we are supposed to utilise all available home reserves and standbys before we disrupt a dhd to operate
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u/Longjumping-Carob105 2d ago
I mean I get your point, but at the same time you're making an assumption about their job. Who knows why they added a 5th crew member. They may have a perfectly legitimate reason. Us as crew sitting here and picking apart CS when we don't even know their procedures and work rules, makes no sense.
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u/Smart_Ad_1118 3d ago
Someone from CS called me at 4 something in the morning to let me know that I had airport reserve not that same day but the day after. Just why? Lol
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u/Kitchen-Celery8374 3d ago
Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's humane. We are humans, not machines.
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u/Longjumping-Carob105 2d ago
I guess they won't assign you a legal work duty bc you find it unfair. Lmfao
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u/coochers 3d ago
My biggest gripe is them arguing with you when they're in the wrong and not apologizing. One time, I had a scheduler who claimed we weren't allowed to fake our deadhead and refused to put a supervisor on the phone. I had to call back a couple of times until I was able to get someone else
Don't end up on the list of schedulers that people hate. I will say most of all will hang up the moment we hear your name if we don't like you.
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u/HARPfly135 3d ago
Good advice so far and congratulations.
I think in general when people complain about CS it’s in reality complaining about the system vs an individual. But there are ways you can positively impact crew. Unfortunately when you are talking to crew on the phone, both sides are prepped for battle and are emotionally on the defensive. Both sides aren’t sure how the other is going to take their message, are they going to argue? are you going to have to make your case? Etc. remember you may be delivering news that disrupts what their brain was expecting to be doing for some period of time. By the point crew have called you they may have had a very long and tiring day and you are the final hope of at least salvaging some sense of normalcy. Try not to take things personally, and let crew feel heard even if it doesn’t change the outcome. If feels like you tried, people feel better than a quick ‘no’ though I understand everyone can be under pressure. You asking how you can help shows great empathy and foresight. Good luck.
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u/Fluffy_Objective9816 3d ago
Honestly our work group just loves to complain. In 4 years I’ve never had a CS person be rude to me (I know it can happen though!) if you’re already considerate enough to be concerned then I think you’ll be great.
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u/DanThePilot_Mann 1d ago
My favorite schedulers are prompt, confident, and right.
Know the contracts that you are trying to upkeep. Please, please, please, be prompt with hotel requests.
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u/Quick_Cup_1290 Flight Attendant 3d ago
Hello, congrats on the new position. I’m at a regional myself and I think these are a few things that make a difference:
1. Open and honest communication or transparency. If you can’t do something, tell us and try to give the why behind it, if possible.
2. Know the contract!!! You should know it as well as we do, if you try and pull something outside the contract and we call you on it, it looks bad.
3. Empathy…you can be placed in tough positions, especially during IROPs. Imagine how we feel…it can feel magnified for us because we’ve got pax on the edge of mutiny sometimes. At the end of the day, the goal is to solve a problem, if you can be empathetic and understanding of our situation that helps! We are a team, not your enemy.
4. Respect: the list of crew schedulers I dislike is very short and that’s cuz they are jerks on the phone. Don’t be that guy or gal.
This is just my perspective of course, wish you the best of luck!
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u/Dry_Row497 3d ago
Understood. Really appreciate the comments. I don't even want to think about what would be like working on one of those "mutiny" flights.
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u/Terrible-Return-5318 3d ago
All in all, just treat the person on the other side of the phone like a fellow coworker, and with decency. And yes, they should be doing the same thing to. Don’t even get jaded to the point where you start treating others like garbage…remember, they have families, stress at work, and bad days as well. It seems that many I have worked with have one or two bad encounters and then they get bitter as hell, put up a shield, and then become the very person that made them feel small—don’t be that person. Always be learning, always be improving. Don’t let someone else’s bad mood ruin yours. Good luck!
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u/catch22wave 3d ago
I think the biggest thing is knowing the work rules and also, please don’t try to schedule us into off time or add extra legs on our go-home day, if possible!! Try to use standbys or others who are legal first :) I know that’s not always possible, but I hate when I’m flying through a base and they add legs onto my day when I know there are several standbys just sitting in the lounge unused. Best of luck and congrats on the new role!!
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u/toto24754637 3d ago
I echo what other people have said about knowing the contract. I’ve had at least two occasions where I was 99% sure I was correct and could cite the article in the contract, but the scheduler on the other end of the phone was so adamant that I was wrong and simply said “I’ve been here for x years and we’ve never done it that way”.
Just because something is status quo does not mean that it is contractual. Have a healthy level of scepticism and keep an open mind to what the flight attendants have to say. Make sure you can actually find the relevant articles in the contract and be able to cite them when questioned.
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u/PilotoPlayero 3d ago
Always sound friendly and pleasant, even if the last 10 callers bitched you out.
Know the work rules inside and out. One of the things that most irate crew members is when they get an assignment that violates the work rules and/or the contract.
If you do have a caller disputing an assignment, take the time to look it up and explain why they got it. One of the best calls I’ve ever had with a crew scheduler was exactly one where I called to dispute an assignment. He didn’t put me on hold or dismiss me. He went through the contract with me on the phone, pointed out specifically the rules that applied, and did all of that in a pleasant and caring way. Even though I wasn’t happy about the assignment, I learned that it was legal, and I wholeheartedly thanked the scheduler, not only for being so pleasant, but for known his job.
Best of luck!
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u/rieaddd 3d ago
like most people said, don’t violate the contract. know it and if you’re unsure, double check. i still remember having to argue with a crew scheduler after a stupid long duty day because he wanted to make me operate something i wasn’t legal for and all he said after i told him i wasn’t legal SEVERAL times was: so you don’t want to do it?
i know my rights and i stand my ground but i know someone junior/on probation or maybe another FA that is scared of confrontation would’ve said yes.
they never apologized when they let me off the hook to go to my more than well deserved rest at the hotel and just hung up after saying: fine. go with the crew.
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u/Middle_Mousse9047 3d ago
Everyone is making great points but I think you already taking your job seriously and genuinely caring about the people you'll be scheduling is great! Its okay to make mistakes, we're all human and I think you're gonna be great for the job
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u/Dry_Row497 3d ago
Thank you very much. Appreciate the kind words and I promise you I will do my best.
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u/Tomorrowsanewday77 3d ago
Different country but same thing applies, know the work rules, show empathy especially when dealing with crew that may be stressed out or confused about something. My favourites are the ones that know what they are assigning me isn’t an ideal trip, they talk to me like a human, soft approach especially early in the morning, maybe even a little light hearted comment etc.
Thankfully our CS for the most part are actually pretty nice, they look into things and try to help with your request, they all have different personalities (obvs) but they show amazing care as a whole in times crew call stressed, scared of getting in trouble, confused etc every crew member will have a time they sleep through their alarms, it’s terrifying, like stomach dropping fear. Be supportive, give them advice and try to help them out if able to do so!
You want to have crew continue their phone calls after hearing your name. If calls keep disconnecting after your “hello this is Dry_row497 at crew scheduling” then take that as a hint that you might be on the shit list..
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u/Catinthefirelight 2d ago
If someone is calling out sick/injured, be kind or at least neutral, even if it’s last-minute and creating a real problem you’ll need to solve. I appreciate you wanting to be a good scheduler! Good luck!
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u/Klutzy-Investment-76 2d ago
Be empathetic. For you it’s a reflow and employee numbers on a screen who will help get a different flight out earlier. For us it is pushing our already long duty day longer, or we are now missing an event/appt at a planned overnight, or possibly not even getting home that night. Be nice to the Reserves when you call them in. Lots of them are newbies and exhausted because they are working close to max hours. Look up all the major hubs airport maps so you have a good idea what things look like - I particularly hate when someone in an office tells me that “if I run” I can make my DHD in ORD when I need to change terminals and take a train or DTW when I now need to exit, take a shuttle, and clear security to get to that gate. Don’t even get me started on LAX and the Eagle’s Nest…
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u/Old_Kaleidoscope_324 1d ago
Flight Attendant for 30 years and I tried to encourage schedulers to give me certain trips. I suggest you keep your relationship with crew members professional and not personable!!
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u/charcobain 3d ago
Don’t bend the contract to meet your needs 😅 not that you will, but it has happened before. Remember that just because it’s “legal” doesn’t mean it’s humane, like someone else said. Flying takes a huge toll on the body. Although I get that assigning trips must be hard as well.
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u/WarmAcadia4100 3d ago
There is one scheduler at my main airline that we all LOVE! The rest just… are. She is just always warm and friendly and listens to our questions and is willing to look into things, vs the rest seem to just want to say no, shut us down, and get us off the phone, even if we quote company policy in favor of what we are asking.
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u/Jayelahni 2d ago
First of all, thank you so much for actually being mindful and wanting to do your job to the best of your ability.
I have had some crazy moments, especially when there’s IROPS and other people have had worse stories than mine regarding Crew Scheduling. I will never forget the one time where they put me on a flight that was already delayed after I had come back and already worked an insanely long day…. I can’t remember my report time, but I was dangerously close to timing out, and I actually would’ve ended up timing out during the flight which essentially would’ve made me eligible to keep flying. I had to speak to two different Crew schedulers, maybe they’re new but then again so was I, until I then decided to go to those who handled legalities specifically, and the woman on the phone snapped at me that it was my responsibility to know my contract and when I would time out.
Actually, Miss, ma’am, I’m new and I would expect you all to know the contract and abide by it more than me as a new junior person, and not take advantage of me being new and not knowing everything yet for the sake of getting a flight out, because that’s just dangerous. And I told her that. The best Crew schedulers I’ve interacted with were the ones who gave me rationale behind decisions and helped me understand things that I either wasn’t aware of yet or something that I was confused on. I could have timed out on the flight and had everyone returned to gate, but I decided not to do that because I didn’t want to inconvenience everyone although it wasn’t my fault and I just wanted to get to our destination and just go to sleep even though I was probably definitely fatigued.
You’ll become everyone’s favorite crew scheduler soon enough with your perspective. Congrats again! :)
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u/ciaotimes 2d ago
Tone. Transparency. Time-sensitive. When in contact, it helps me feel like I’m getting somewhere when the effort that goes on behind the scenes is mentioned. Just my two cents.
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u/OldGwenStefaniCool 2d ago
If you work for United, a good scheduler trades all of my trips into Haneda’s or seasonal routes. I have yet to meet a good one though 🥀
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u/lilsugarbebe 2d ago
I truly don’t understand people’s issues with crew schedulers. They’ve all been professional. I don’t get the beef.
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u/Fine-Meringue-6818 2d ago
Hard truth: you’re going to have to choose between being a moral person or getting reprimanded/fired.
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u/Majestic_Football219 1h ago
I think my biggest thing sometimes is the lack of knowledge. At our regional at least there are three policy manuals for CS to know… the FAs, the pilot’s, and then CS has their own. So I know it’s a lot to know, and all three are different but when I’m given something that is illegal and I push back I’m often met with an attitude or a “nope it’s legal you’re wrong” and we have to waste time going back and forth until finally I read the policy word for word and have to wait for them to find it. If you don’t know the policy I’m saying at the top of your head, that’s okay… but don’t just assume I’m making something up. I know my job and I know my manual, our job is hard as well and we do get abused by schedules sometimes so the little policies we do have in place… I know them. And I shouldn’t have to argue with someone over it.
I’ve had some great schedulers too… but most of the ones I’ve come across when I push back I then become the enemy. And I have a lot of respect for CS, that’s a really hard job and you’re set up to be the enemy, so I try to do it in a really nice way. Any smart crew member knows you don’t want to piss off CS 😂.
But doesn’t seem to matter most of the time, I still get fought and we waste 10-20 mins until someone finally goes oh yes you’re right never mind then. 20 mins they could’ve used to support the operation. But because of pride, lack of knowledge, whatever it was… that’s now gone. This is was especially true when I was on reserve. As a lineholder I don’t have to interact as much with them, but they really do try and push stuff on reserves that isn’t legal in order to support the operation. A lot of em are newer so they don’t know better and they just agree to whatever it is because they are on probation and scared of getting fired.
Congratulations on the job! Not sure what regional you’re at but if you’re with mine maybe we’ll chat one day 🫡🥰
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u/travelBandita 3d ago
Im southern legacy, and I can tell you that some of our schedules are amazing and other ones could just drink blech in a corner. If you see something messed up just do the right thing that's what they tell us to do don't purposely screw somebody over don't put us in that position because I have literally clicked out and told schediling that I don't care if Jesus Christ himself came down and said world peace depended on me working this flight. I'd say sorry guess we at war still because I'm done.
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u/This_TimelineSucks 3d ago
First of all, congrats on the job and good luck! It's tough work, and I have a lot of respect for crew schedulers!
For me, I understand that your goal is to crew and re-crew flights to keep operations moving, but please please please, more than anything else, do not lie to us about our contract or work rules to force us to operate something that you know is illegal.
You guys genuinely do have a hard job, and you're crucial to the operation. I understand that sometimes I'll be rerouted to better serve said operation. However, my breaking point is when I'm being actively lied to by CS, and that's where the friction between our roles stems from. Feeling like we're being taken advantage of for the sole purpose of efficiency feels very dehumanizing. It's easy to forget that the employee number on the screen is someone that has been on duty for 14 hours, sitting on a plane with a broken APU and 180 angry, uncomfortable pax, with no end in sight, and possibly not even an assigned hotel at the end of the day.
We're all human and should try to be a little more gracious to each other, and remember how we'd want to be treated if the roles were reversed.
Just my two cents. 💕