Regional vs. Mainline: A Flight Attendant's Perspective

When I was applying to be a flight attendant last Fall, my approach was to leave no stone left unturned. I applied to obscure little airlines and all the big 'uns that would let me leave a copy of my resume. At the time, I didn't really know the difference. They all flew airplanes and served beverages and would allow me to get the heck out of Dodge and see the world, right?

Well, sort of.

Regional flights attendants have the same uniforms, travel benefits, safety equipment and more or less the same job contract, but everything else is different. Because they are regional, they fly to smaller airports in smaller planes. We're talking the Embraers, CRJs and even Dash 8's. Little 50 seat puddle jumpers, as one Jumbo Jet pilot to told me. I fly with our regional partners all the time as I commute between Charlotte and Chattanooga almost weekly. As a result, I've gotten to talk to our sisters (and brothers) in blue, and have learned a lot about just how different the jobs are. There are some serious benefits and some disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Being regional is a tough job. Because they fly to smaller airports, their flight times are much shorter, and scheduling gives them more legs (take offs and landings) than mainline flight attendants who go to, say, Phoenix, LA and back to Charlotte. Longer flights are better because the most stressful part of the job is boarding and deplaning. We are literal cowgirls of the sky, wrangling people and their children into their seat and making sure they're strapped in safely. Dong this 6 times a day, as opposed to once or twice, is tough. As a result, their turnover rate is much higher. This is good and bad. The bad I will discuss below in disadvantages. The good news is this means if you stick with the job, you will achieve seniority much more quickly, and as any flight attendant will tell you...seniority rules. I talked to a regional flight attendant who said most of them who have stuck around for 3 months were getting off reserve and holding a line.


• Smaller planes means less people. Less people means less bags to stow, less snot nosed children who scream for the entire 90 minute flight, and definitely less mess for the ground crew to clean up once they decide to avoid your 2 trash collection runs and stuff their cups/napkins/banana peels in the seatback pockets.


• Shorter flights mean you are not necessarily obligated to do a beverage service. This is a somewhat controversial topic among flight attendants because some believe there is no excuse for not getting your lazy ass off your jump-seat and popping cans for 20 minutes. I am one such flight attendant who holds this opinion. If I can get up and serve drinks (as quickly as possible) to 187 passengers on a 50 minute flight from Charlotte to Raleigh and be successful, then you can do the same for that 40 minute flight to Chattanooga. I definitely judge a flight attendant who chooses to sit and read her magazine the entire time rather than atleast try to leave the impression of a courteous customer service experience. However, it isn't mandatory. Especially if there is even the mildest "turbulence."


• For me, a huge advantage is that my airline has a regional base in Knoxville, which is only 2 hours away from my hometown. Call me crazy, but a 2 hour commute is totally do-able for me, as opposed to the 5.5 hour drive from Charlotte. I would be home more, with a vehicle, even if I was making less money. To me, this is the most important advantage, and for awhile I almost considered quitting mainline and applying to regional just to be closer to the city and people I love.


• You only have to be 18 instead of 21 to fly regional. I'm not sure why this is, because you serve alcohol on both types of airlines, but one flight attendant told me she was going to apply to mainline as soon as she turned 21.

Disadvantages:

• Less pay. I think regional flight attendants average about $17-19  an hour whereas I made $21.47 an hour starting out the day I graduated training. This makes the difference of a few hundred dollars per month.


• As I mentioned before, there is a very high turnover rate. Regional flight attendants are worked til they are bone tired. The planes are smaller and less powerful, so when you hit a patch of clouds or a wind shear, you sure feel it. This makes people try to get jobs with mainline and leave regional behind as much as possible.

Mainline flight attendants operate out of the largest bases (Charlotte, Philly, DC and Phoenix being my airline's hubs) and get to fly internationally as well as domestically. There are between 3-8 flight attendants working a flight at any given time, as opposed to 1 or 2 on a regional flight. It's unusual to fly more than 4 legs a day, at most. We stay in nicer hotels, and have longer layovers. We get paid more, and have the option to sell credit cards and get $50 per approval of an application.

In conclusion, I think I got the (slightly) better end of the deal by lucking out accidentally picking mainline, but I love the idea of the autonomy of just me, the pilots and a small cabin of passengers. Maybe if I held a line, I could pick all the Chattanooga flights and get to be with my friends more. Le sigh.

Sometimes traveling all the time makes you realize how much of a homebody you really are!