Where am I going??

So all good things must come to an end and with June over it was time to start the next month's roster...on reserve. Reserve basically involves sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring to let you know what flight someone has called in sick for, well you get the picture.

I managed to get a Newcastle flight which was short, sweet and COLD!! I couldn't believe it is July and only 10 degrees celcius!! Crew were awesome and it was nice to have a flight were the passengers said their "pleases" and "thankyou's". Yes in this job those are very few and far between. Whatever happened to manners?? Well that is a whole other blog!! With it being so rainy and cold I did what all girls do in this weather, an indoor activity...shopping!!

Next was a few days back in Dubai and wishing to get a Brisbane flight...no such luck. I did however manage to get a Singapore/Melbourne which was just what I needed. Was rostered as a Grade 1 (Business class) so also worked the whole trip of 5 days in Business. I never want to work Economy again!!! Was just a nice change from the chaos in Economy. The highlight was definitely Melbourne as I got to catch up with my little brother Carl and my best friend Boo. Was so nice to come back to reality and spend time with the people who mean the most to me, even if the time there was short. Saying goodbye was not a highlight but hoping to get another Melbourne next month.


The next was a succession of small disasters. Emirates is in the process of moving all its operations to a new facility and with this process is alot of "trial runs" to make sure when they move full time all the problems are ironed out. So naturally wo gets airport standby during the "trial" run...well me of course.

On airport Standby from midnight to 4am I was pleased to be called out immediatley. Not for anything spetacular but a short layover to Colombo. Well this is were the story starts of how operations didn't run so smoothly during this trial and of course I had to be apart of the mini disaster!! Firstly my luggage couldn't be located, then I was taken to the wrong aircraft. Finally both my Luggage and I were on the plane only for the Captain to realise scheduling had dispatched too many crew. Apparently 2 of the crew onboard were marked as no shows, another glitch in the technical systems at the new HQ so I was taken off the flight to go back to HQ's. Of course they couldn't find my luggage as it was put in the wrong section of the cargo hold and all the luggage had to be taken off until they located my bag!! I should imagine the Captain was well pissed as the flight was now so delayed for no apparent reason other than the systems were not working as far as dispatching crew was concerned.

Finally back to HQ with luggage in tow I was sent home. Next was a series of home standbys not getting pulled out. Finally after 2 weeks of no flights I complained to my manager and was rostered a New York trip. YAY!!!

New York was great. It was my first Ultra Long haul flight so got to experience the Crew Rest Compartment. This is a space for crew to rest during flight. It is basically beds so you can sleep in the upper compartment of the plane. The flight itself was 4 hours and as soon as we landed in NY went out shopping and seeing the sights. I love NY!! I was suppose to catch up with Fifi but time didn't permit so hopefully next time??

With only 24 hours in NY and the 13 hour flight back I was well exhausted once returning to Dubai. Finally the month was over and my next standby flight had been allocated..I was off to Houston. Another killer flight (17 hours) but after not working for 2 weeks I can't complain.