Flight Attendant Friday: Do We Get Breaks?
June 5, 2009 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Air Travel, Flight Attendant Friday
Today’s Flight Attendant Friday question comes from Lauren, a young woman who is working on her degree while the economy gets turned around and airlines start hiring again. Which, I would add, is a very wise choice to make. The degree will help give you an edge in the hiring process.
Here’s what she wants to know:
Q. My question is do you get breaks whilst on duty? If so, how long are they and how many would you get on a 12 hour flight?, I’m just curious to be honest.
A. Duty hours for Flight Attendants are regulated by a number of things, the collective bargaining contract (if they are represented by a union), the company policies (if they’re not), and the FAA duty regulations. The first consideration is the length that you can be scheduled to be on duty. For me, that’s 10 1/2 hours from the time I check in (one hour prior to scheduled flight departure) to 15 minutes after the plane blocks in at its destination.
During that 10 1/2 hours (it is often less), I do not get any scheduled breaks. I don’t have a scheduled coffee break, meal break, or bathroom break. I simply have to grab whatever time that I can to quickly eat and take care of personal needs. That’s why you will often see Flight Attendants in the galley trying to quickly cram something into their face – it’s been a very long day, and it’s the first chance that we’ve had to eat.
On very long flights, usually international, there are provisions for scheduling extra crew members onboard in order to rotate everyone into a rest period. But this is only applicable in very limited situations.
So unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. We don’t get break. We try to find time to eat after everyone is served and we can grab a few minutes to ourselves. So please, if you see a Flight Attendant trying to grab a quick bite to eat, realize that it may be the only chance she’s had to eat all day.
Do you have a question that you’ve always wanted to know about the job and the life of a Flight Attendant. I’m happy to answer all your questions here, so just email me and ask what you are dying to find out.
Hi Mary Jo and questioner!
I am a crew member for one of the largest airlines in the U.S. (I’ve also worked for a couple others). No U.S. airline that I’m aware of provides breaks on domestic trips. You can be scheduled to fly up to 13 hours on duty (which can be extended to 15 hours or more if there are weather delays) without a break. At my airline, international crew get 3 hour breaks in crew seats that recline nearly flat or they have bunks to sleep in. The crew just rotates the breaks. This is on VERY long transpacific flights only (single flights that are as long as 15 hours). Shorter international flights to Europe and South America see breaks of about an hour and a half. I would recommend that while in college you study a non-romance language (Japanese, Mandarin, Hindi, etc.) This will fast track you to international flying. Without a fluency in one of these languages it can take 20 years or more before you can hold an international flying schedule – the only flying with breaks!
Hope that helps!
Chris