Ok peoples,
From a certified Virgin Blue cabin crew member here are some 'facts'..................................
YES- we work very hard for our money, I get home from a lot of trips absolutely wrecked. But I am still smiling.
NO- not all trips are 4 day trips, I have just had a roster with 2x4day trips, 2x 3day trips, and a day trip. with a training day, reserve day etc or two. (my next roster follows a similar pattern)
My FEB roster only has me rostered at 117 hours (we can be rostered up to 140)
We earn a little less than our friends over at QF, but lets remember that they have more aircraft types, are full service, fly into local international ports, etc.
We clean the aircraft on turn-arounds. When i worked in hotels before the airline industry I cleaned the bars throughout my shift too. And at the end of the night (we don't clean the aircraft at the end of the night) Not that i enjoy cleaning the aircraft- but that was a condition of my employment I knew about before I accepted the position.
If you want information about the eba go to
www.faaadomestic.org.au. Look under Virgin Blue. You can download the whole document. You might even be able to find the QF and Impulse ones to compare and make an educated decision for yourself.