Pilots and flight attendants are people too. Everyone can oversleep, get sick, get stuck in traffic, or miss a plane for some other reason. If flights were delayed or canceled due to each such “force majeure”, carriers would suffer huge losses, they would have to provide people with food and drinks, settle them in hotels, or even refund money for tickets. How do airlines get out of the situation?
P – planning
Especially for such cases, there is a “reserve” line in the monthly flight schedules that crew members receive in advance. This is something between a working day and a day off: on a reserve day, an employee does not fly anywhere, but at the same time, he must remain in touch throughout the entire shift and within an hour's drive from the airport in order to come to the office at any time and replace a late colleague.
Staying on standby is not easy: you have to be always ready to work, you can't relax, have a drink with friends, or leave.
A sudden call can disrupt plans not only for the day, because the pilot can be sent to weekly business trip, for example, to Magadan. However, these inconveniences are compensated financially: even if you don’t have to fly anywhere, the reserve day is still paid. As for the employee who missed his flight, they will be dealt with depending on the cause of the incident. If he falls ill and the sick leave is officially issued, there will be no problems, and for being late without a good reason, he will be deprived of part of the bonus or other sanctions will be applied.
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