I've always wondered the logistics of how it works for crew members doing sign-in, crew briefing, etc. at airline outstations that are either seasonal (so no permanent staff/facilities year-round), or once-daily flights (where I can't imagine most airlines have terribly robust ground facilities).

I'll use DL as an example here, since I happen to fly with them most frequently - what's the set-up at a place like PRG or CPH, which is only served in the summer from JFK, or like UIO or EZE, each of which only has one flight daily from ATL all year? Or, similarly, to use a non-US airline example, what would the setup be for someone like VS at DXB or JNB, where they only have one flight a day?

From a pax perspective, I often notice that the first actual airline staff I encounter at these types of stations are typically the F/As themselves, with ground handling being largely outsourced, so I had to wonder how things are handled from the crew side of things.

Any perspective/insight is most welcomed.

Well, the airline would definitely have a check-in counter for passengers. Crew can also use these to check in for duty. Some airports have general use pilot lounges, where crew can login to the company intranet page and print their OFP. They also always have intl. phone lines so pilots can talk to dispatch, mx, etc. They can also almost always do this from the gate as well. Usually, at a small outstation with no general crew lounge, pilots check in at normal passenger check-in counter (or call crew scheduling, if we have cell-service), go to gate, print out OFP, call dispatch if need be, and then operate flight.

Airlines at limited activity stations without their own facilities or staffing will use handlers and most often can visit their ops offices to review things like flight plans etc. Additionally, I have seen crews brief on the crew bus on the way to the airport, or once onboard the aircraft as well.

There’s an app for that.

Sign in by pushing the sign in button. Curse as the app says you are not at the airport, you need to move 500 feet into the airport terminal to sign in.

After getting into the terminal push the red button again. It turns green stating you are signed in.

The app tells you which gate your aircraft is at and where all your crew members are coming from (if you aren’t all currently together, I.e. coming from the hotel, or inbound flight, etc.) and gives you the option of downloading the dispatch to your efb/iPad and or printing the release at the dot matrix printer at the gate.

No longer do you need to access a computer at the airport just do it from your phone or iPad. (Airline dependent)

In my last two airlines there is/was no crew room/dispatch office even at the home base.

You get your flight plan vie e-mail onto your iPad 2-3 hrs before departue and the original paper version will be delivered to the plane by the ground staff.

I must say, however, that I don’t like this arrangement. There’s no time to study the paperwork on the plane, so you have to do it at home before the flight. Also, no place to sit down, brief properly, have a coffee etc., discuss stuff with the dispatcher etc. Bring back the old days!

Most of the timed you can either access the office of the handling company and print your documents there or the ramp agent prints the documents and hands them over either in the terminal or on the airplane. In many companies the flightplan is available on the internet so it's possible to complete the briefing already on the way to the airport, using the digital version of the plan.

I've never seen crew check in at a passenger check in counter, not in Europe anyway.

Airlines would probably be able to arrange with the ground handling company an appropriate place to brief. I would not be surprised if Delta in PRG used some CSA premises.
I do know that in my small home airport, some of the crews would brief in business lounge, the airline in question having it so arranged that they would get access, would take a seat in a quiet section and have a briefing with some coffee maybe. Lounge staff would alert them when the inbound was ready for a crew change.

I can say for every airline there are multiple ways of handling. In the US, the carrier I worked for you checked in once at the beginning of the trip and then for domestic flights you generally got your paperwork at the ops of the out station. For the international out stations, you would go to either the airline's ops or the handling agent's ops. The paperwork was waiting for you to sign and finalize the fuel load. At some outstations, you would have an actual weather brief, just like the military. If you had new cabin crew, generally, there was a quick brief on the airplane generally in First Class.

For the foreign airlines I worked for, it was generally the same. You would check in at the home station, there would be a crew briefing room and you would meet the cabin crew, give a brief and head out to the aircraft. At outstations, generally, a preliminary flight plan was faxed to the hotel and it would be slipped under the door at least 4 hours prior to departure. Once at the airport, the crew would check their bags and head to the gate. If there was a handling agent, they would have the flight plan waiting on the aircraft, sometimes if it was convenient, you would just go to their ops and complete the paperwork there. If the airline had an ops room, you would generally go there. Generally, there was no need to do another cabin crew briefing as you would generally be returning to your base and you could just brief the Purser on the specifics of the flight and they would pass the word along.

Of all the airlines if flown for it’s always been the same. Briefing takes place ex base. Upon arrival at out station they are all transported to the incumbent hotel. They are collected and transported back to the airport from the hotel at the same time. Depending on the airport they either drop off their luggage at the airlines check in desks and proceed to the aircraft or the bus goes airside and drops them off at security and then the aircraft. Sometimes a mini briefing is done onboard before passenger boarding.

In an instance where an additional crew member joins the crew downroute they may or may not undergo another mini brief with the in charge crew member.

Fabo wrote:

I've never seen crew check in at a passenger check in counter, not in Europe anyway.

Airlines would probably be able to arrange with the ground handling company an appropriate place to brief. I would not be surprised if Delta in PRG used some CSA premises.
I do know that in my small home airport, some of the crews would brief in business lounge, the airline in question having it so arranged that they would get access, would take a seat in a quiet section and have a briefing with some coffee maybe. Lounge staff would alert them when the inbound was ready for a crew change.

At my station they do. However, the only crews that would go straight to the aircraft, were the crews from the North-American carriers (before they all ceased ops) such as AA, UA and Air Transat (TS)
Never understood how/why North-American crews only carried trolley bags. Perhaps, to not miss their commuting flights?

When I did charter flights, we would do it in the hotel lobby before leaving. Usually me and the captain would would meet up 5 minutes before the cabin crew to review the weather, notams and such. Thereafter we would just head directly to the aircraft. Even on scheduled flights I have almost never had access to any facilities outside of our bases. We just find a quiet place to do it.

Ground handling will always provide the printed briefing package, but we never touch it. We receive it digitally on our ipads anyway, usually with more updated weather.

Sign in? We do it by phone or email.

At my first airline we used to brief in the crew room and we didn’t have any overnights, if you were at another base you would go to their crew room and brief as normal.
At my second airline which was charter and wet lease we didn’t have a crew room at the temporary base so we’d meet at a pre arranged gate, in this case always gate 19 and then proceed by crew bus to a remote stand and brief on the aircraft. Down route it would be the same on nightstops. There was no “check in” apart from on crewlink where we would press check in and that was available 6 hours before duty.
At my current airline we brief in the crew room and us arriving is checking in. At other bases we would use the crew room there, if it wasn’t not a base the hotel would normally set up a conference room with tea coffee, laptops and printers so we could print out anything we need and brief in there before pickup.

thepinkmachine wrote:

In my last two airlines there is/was no crew room/dispatch office even at the home base.

You get your flight plan vie e-mail onto your iPad 2-3 hrs before departue and the original paper version will be delivered to the plane by the ground staff.

I must say, however, that I don’t like this arrangement. There’s no time to study the paperwork on the plane, so you have to do it at home before the flight. Also, no place to sit down, brief properly, have a coffee etc., discuss stuff with the dispatcher etc. Bring back the old days!

With the iphone/ipad app, there is no reason to go to the crew room at the crew base anymore. There are no crew facilities at the outstation.

I actually like being able to access the aircraft's MEL's on the iPad before getting the dispatch release. It allows me to go through the MEL and come up with a list of required compliance items to check when we finally get to the aircraft and get the dispatch release. It frees up a lot of time for preflight.

Then you can access the aircraft maintenance log through the app if you really wanted to get into the nitty gritty and see what the tracking items are for example - the missing lav service panel cover. Ok the part is in DTW and is scheduled to be installed when the aircraft overnights there later that night...

While I like the app for one-stop shopping, I think it really gives us access to too much information that we really don't have a need to know. The app prioritizes giving us the information for our flight and trip sequence, but you can access information for any flight in the airline. It's like having the FOS software in the palm of your hand.

Woodreau wrote:

thepinkmachine wrote:

In my last two airlines there is/was no crew room/dispatch office even at the home base.

You get your flight plan vie e-mail onto your iPad 2-3 hrs before departue and the original paper version will be delivered to the plane by the ground staff.

I must say, however, that I don’t like this arrangement. There’s no time to study the paperwork on the plane, so you have to do it at home before the flight. Also, no place to sit down, brief properly, have a coffee etc., discuss stuff with the dispatcher etc. Bring back the old days!

With the iphone/ipad app, there is no reason to go to the crew room at the crew base anymore. There are no crew facilities at the outstation.

I actually like being able to access the aircraft's MEL's on the iPad before getting the dispatch release. It allows me to go through the MEL and come up with a list of required compliance items to check when we finally get to the aircraft and get the dispatch release. It frees up a lot of time for preflight.

Then you can access the aircraft maintenance log through the app if you really wanted to get into the nitty gritty and see what the tracking items are for example - the missing lav service panel cover. Ok the part is in DTW and is scheduled to be installed when the aircraft overnights there later that night...

While I like the app for one-stop shopping, I think it really gives us access to too much information that we really don't have a need to know. The app prioritizes giving us the information for our flight and trip sequence, but you can access information for any flight in the airline. It's like having the FOS software in the palm of your hand.

Access to manuals via an app iPad is ok. OTOH, studying the OFP on the iPad is less convenient than the paper version - you can’t write on it, highlight the important bits, draw on charts, tick notams etc. also, you can’t have two things out at the same time and eg. scrolling back and forth between notams and wx takes time. I just feel I am less familiar with the OFP, than I would be with the paper version.

Also, we are expected to familiarize ourselves with the OFP during rest time m, rather than after start of the duty - they don’t pay me extra for that...

thepinkmachine wrote:

Woodreau wrote:

thepinkmachine wrote:

In my last two airlines there is/was no crew room/dispatch office even at the home base.

You get your flight plan vie e-mail onto your iPad 2-3 hrs before departue and the original paper version will be delivered to the plane by the ground staff.

I must say, however, that I don’t like this arrangement. There’s no time to study the paperwork on the plane, so you have to do it at home before the flight. Also, no place to sit down, brief properly, have a coffee etc., discuss stuff with the dispatcher etc. Bring back the old days!

With the iphone/ipad app, there is no reason to go to the crew room at the crew base anymore. There are no crew facilities at the outstation.

I actually like being able to access the aircraft's MEL's on the iPad before getting the dispatch release. It allows me to go through the MEL and come up with a list of required compliance items to check when we finally get to the aircraft and get the dispatch release. It frees up a lot of time for preflight.

Then you can access the aircraft maintenance log through the app if you really wanted to get into the nitty gritty and see what the tracking items are for example - the missing lav service panel cover. Ok the part is in DTW and is scheduled to be installed when the aircraft overnights there later that night...

While I like the app for one-stop shopping, I think it really gives us access to too much information that we really don't have a need to know. The app prioritizes giving us the information for our flight and trip sequence, but you can access information for any flight in the airline. It's like having the FOS software in the palm of your hand.

Access to manuals via an app iPad is ok. OTOH, studying the OFP on the iPad is less convenient than the paper version - you can’t write on it, highlight the important bits, draw on charts, tick notams etc. also, you can’t have two things out at the same time and eg. scrolling back and forth between notams and wx takes time. I just feel I am less familiar with the OFP, than I would be with the paper version.

Also, we are expected to familiarize ourselves with the OFP during rest time m, rather than after start of the duty - they don’t pay me extra for that...

My experience is that it varies a lot from one system to another. I worked with one EFB program that was really good and easy to use. You could make your own notes, and it was easy, fast and intuitive to use and search for information. On the other hand, I have also worked with EFB software that was so horrible that just swiping through the pages in a document was difficult.

VSMUT wrote:

My experience is that it varies a lot from one system to another. I worked with one EFB program that was really good and easy to use. You could make your own notes, and it was easy, fast and intuitive to use and search for information. On the other hand, I have also worked with EFB software that was so horrible that just swiping through the pages in a document was difficult.

I have yet to see a good system then...

flydude380 wrote:

At my station they do. However, the only crews that would go straight to the aircraft, were the crews from the North-American carriers (before they all ceased ops) such as AA, UA and Air Transat (TS)
Never understood how/why North-American crews only carried trolley bags. Perhaps, to not miss their commuting flights?

That is an interesting point - I've seen crew on European carriers all stop by the ticket counter to drop off their bags (and then be waiting for them, along with pax, at baggage claim), but US airline crew always just use carry-ons. Wonder why that is...?

Cory6188 wrote:

flydude380 wrote:

At my station they do. However, the only crews that would go straight to the aircraft, were the crews from the North-American carriers (before they all ceased ops) such as AA, UA and Air Transat (TS)
Never understood how/why North-American crews only carried trolley bags. Perhaps, to not miss their commuting flights?

That is an interesting point - I've seen crew on European carriers all stop by the ticket counter to drop off their bags (and then be waiting for them, along with pax, at baggage claim), but US airline crew always just use carry-ons. Wonder why that is...?

Domestically a crew typically changes aircraft a some point during their day. During a bad weather day it's not unusual to have to wait for a crew that is 'just landing another plane', plus they can get rerouted passing through a hub. Having only carry on luggage makes it easier. Also how much do you really need for a three day trip?

What I've noticed at Dulles is that foreign airline crews will typically arrive at the check in counters towards the end of the check in window for their flight and sort of stay at the edge of the counters while a ground staff will quickly tag their bags, they then proceed to a special crew security checkpoint. However, I'm not sure where the crew does their briefing.

On arrival, they also wait at baggage claim but their bags typically arrive right before or right after Priority bags arrive.

Dalmd88 wrote:

Domestically a crew typically changes aircraft a some point during their day. During a bad weather day it's not unusual to have to wait for a crew that is 'just landing another plane', plus they can get rerouted passing through a hub. Having only carry on luggage makes it easier. Also how much do you really need for a three day trip?

Oh yeah, I totally get that for domestic - it's more the international long-haul flights where the US carrier crews still have their regular carry-ons (at least, as far as I've noticed), whereas foreign carrier crews have larger checked bags.

Yeap I guess it has a lot to do with the nature and differences of operations between the US and Europe, Ive also found curious the fact that US crews only have carry on baggage whereas European crews check in theirs. In the US theres a lot of commuting involved so it makes for a faster day at wok to travel light. Going back to the original topic, in two of the hotels used by crews in ccs they offer crew rooms facilities with printers, internet access, etc one could even see the room usage schedule by the entrance.

Dalmd88 wrote:

Cory6188 wrote:

flydude380 wrote:

At my station they do. However, the only crews that would go straight to the aircraft, were the crews from the North-American carriers (before they all ceased ops) such as AA, UA and Air Transat (TS)
Never understood how/why North-American crews only carried trolley bags. Perhaps, to not miss their commuting flights?

That is an interesting point - I've seen crew on European carriers all stop by the ticket counter to drop off their bags (and then be waiting for them, along with pax, at baggage claim), but US airline crew always just use carry-ons. Wonder why that is...?

Domestically a crew typically changes aircraft a some point during their day. During a bad weather day it's not unusual to have to wait for a crew that is 'just landing another plane', plus they can get rerouted passing through a hub. Having only carry on luggage makes it easier. Also how much do you really need for a three day trip?

That, like some of stated can comprehend regarding domestic ops. However, it is still the same for international ops (such as at my station in the UK) we never had North-American crews show up to check-in and would just have trolley bags.

flydude380 wrote:

Dalmd88 wrote:

Cory6188 wrote:

That is an interesting point - I've seen crew on European carriers all stop by the ticket counter to drop off their bags (and then be waiting for them, along with pax, at baggage claim), but US airline crew always just use carry-ons. Wonder why that is...?

Domestically a crew typically changes aircraft a some point during their day. During a bad weather day it's not unusual to have to wait for a crew that is 'just landing another plane', plus they can get rerouted passing through a hub. Having only carry on luggage makes it easier. Also how much do you really need for a three day trip?

That, like some of stated can comprehend regarding domestic ops. However, it is still the same for international ops (such as at my station in the UK) we never had North-American crews show up to check-in and would just have trolley bags.

Because most US airlines are going to have a policy on what kind of baggage you're allowed to have. I can't imagine checking my bag when I'm at work, I'd never see it again.

flydude380 wrote:

Dalmd88 wrote:

Cory6188 wrote:

That is an interesting point - I've seen crew on European carriers all stop by the ticket counter to drop off their bags (and then be waiting for them, along with pax, at baggage claim), but US airline crew always just use carry-ons. Wonder why that is...?

Domestically a crew typically changes aircraft a some point during their day. During a bad weather day it's not unusual to have to wait for a crew that is 'just landing another plane', plus they can get rerouted passing through a hub. Having only carry on luggage makes it easier. Also how much do you really need for a three day trip?

That, like some of stated can comprehend regarding domestic ops. However, it is still the same for international ops (such as at my station in the UK) we never had North-American crews show up to check-in and would just have trolley bags.

Again remember that most of the time there's some hectic commuting involved. Let's say Mrs X who's a flight attendant is operating LHR-JFK today but she doesnt live in the nyc area, so well ahead of schedule she booked herself a seat to RDU (where she lives) and she has a tight connection, meaning that as soon as she lands in jfk, says her goodbyes to pax, deplanes, clears immigration and customs she'll have to run her way to her connecting flight, that if she doesnt want to risk her ride home and spend the night in a crashpad....Can you imagine her doing all that with one very heavy piece of checked luggage ?.

Fabo wrote:

I've never seen crew check in at a passenger check in counter, not in Europe anyway.

I've done it at pretty much every European airport I've operated from, which is at least half a dozen. Typically we get to the passenger check-in desks, check our bags and receive the briefing document stack. Having said that, some places do have slightly different handling with dedicated crew channels.

Starlionblue wrote:

Fabo wrote:

I've never seen crew check in at a passenger check in counter, not in Europe anyway.

I've done it at pretty much every European airport I've operated from, which is at least half a dozen. Typically we get to the passenger check-in desks, check our bags and receive the briefing document stack. Having said that, some places do have slightly different handling with dedicated crew channels.

Interesting. Just the regular desk in the terminal for the passengers on your flight, or a dedicated crew desk in the checkin area?

Fabo wrote:

Starlionblue wrote:

Fabo wrote:

I've never seen crew check in at a passenger check in counter, not in Europe anyway.

I've done it at pretty much every European airport I've operated from, which is at least half a dozen. Typically we get to the passenger check-in desks, check our bags and receive the briefing document stack. Having said that, some places do have slightly different handling with dedicated crew channels.

Interesting. Just the regular desk in the terminal for the passengers on your flight, or a dedicated crew desk in the checkin area?

To be clear, we don't really "check-in" like passengers, as in they're not checking our passports and our booking. All we need is a luggage tag if we are checking a bag. The immigration staff will check us against the general declaration when we go through immigration and security, but that's a customs procedure.

Normally it is just the regular desk in the terminal. The flight will take up 6-8 check-in counters, and we'll be led to one at one end so we don't clog up the line. Or one of the ground staff will come out from behind the desk to give us preprinted baggage tags, then we take our bags to a counter so they can go on the conveyor.

thepinkmachine wrote:

[

Access to manuals via an app iPad is ok. OTOH, studying the OFP on the iPad is less convenient than the paper version - you can’t write on it, highlight the important bits, draw on charts, tick notams etc.

Can't you save the OFP as a .PDF file? My iPad has a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows making and highlighting.

FlyHossD wrote:

thepinkmachine wrote:

[

Access to manuals via an app iPad is ok. OTOH, studying the OFP on the iPad is less convenient than the paper version - you can’t write on it, highlight the important bits, draw on charts, tick notams etc.

Can't you save the OFP as a .PDF file? My iPad has a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows making and highlighting.

Agreed on the disadvantages of electronic flight documentation. That's why you need a bit more than just an electronic display of the paper CFP and other docs.

Our flight documentation app allows you to highlight NOTAMs, make notes for the departure and arrival, designate a directs between two points, etc... Not quite the same as writing on the CFP but getting close. It also syncs between crew members so you if one of you puts in a fuel check, it will automagically appear on the other one(s).

Our charts app allows doodling so you can draw taxi routes etc.