When I go to DIA on Monday, October 1, 2018, I will be flying as part of the new One United which comprises all flight attendant groups for legacy United and legacy Continental Airlines.
It has been eight years coming....and most of us are not feeling really keen about the multitudinous changes which have been touted as neither United or Continental. But it is MORE like the old Continental than it is the old United.
We began wearing the same uniform a couple of years after the announced merger, and there have been lots of other changes already along the way. However suffice it to say, there has been a really steep learning curve these last few months to begin the new bidding process, learn how to make schedule changes, and adapt to meeting our crew for the first time--ON THE PLANE. No more briefing in the domicile. This is going to be different!
I was really dreading this change and let the whole thing overwhelm me until I decided to take a different perspective: It's going to be a brand new job. And, like any new employment, it's going to be different and awkward sometimes before I actually get the hang of it. That means months, probably.
But I have also given myself permission that if the flying is similar to the way it has been with longs days, short nights and no time at home, I will put in my retirement papers after profit sharing comes in March. I am not going to hold myself to the 20th Anniversary retirement I stated a few months ago. If it's not working for me, I'm not going to work for them.
For this new unity, I bid to work on planes I am already familiar with in positions I KNOW how to do very well. I was rewarded with a line that encompassed both those bidding requests. Plus, I got all four Sundays off and the trips are all two-day trips. THAT was good!
Though I haven't really liked a whole month of two-day trips before, now I am so ready to move from the assignments that keep me away from home 4 days and 3 nights every time. At least it will be a good opportunity to take the new job a little bit at a time. There won't be as much layover money. But, I'm thinking I am also worth being home more.
I look around the house and yard as I get ready to go to DIA every time and just wish I could spend more time at home. Life is slipping by pretty quickly. I want to capture some of that time at home--in my own bed at night and getting ready in my own bathroom in the morning.
It has been a hard summer of flying this year. That has also made it easier to think about "cutting the apron strings", so to speak.
My flying partner, with me below, suggested we go out the night before this last trip and celebrate the END OF AN ERA. I murmured a decline for that, though I did agree to this picture to mark the "goodbye".
I'll let you know how the new ONE UNITED is working out.....
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Georgia with Marilor Klissor on an A320 as we deplaned from
St. Louis at the end of my last (I HOPE!) four day trip.
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