Originally Posted by
alphafox14
Do you think it’s possible to not to live at your ‘gateway city’ ?
I mean, imagine if you take a plane from your city to the gateway city you’ve chosen. Or do you actually start your duty days always in the early morning? Thanks!
EDIT: redsnail was faster! G'day!
You are supposed to reach the airport terminal within 60 minutes of travel time. Practically, it is not all that important if you are able to catch the requested airline - the travel distance/time is fully on you. It may become relevant, when you live several hours from your gateway airport and are put on standby duty at home. From activation, the company expects you to leave your house in 45 minutes or less, then travel max 60 minutes to the airport for a 60 minute airline show time. I always take a long distance, highspeed train to the airport and every now and then I need to travel to the airport the night before and sleep there at our contracted hotel (at own cost) to avoid getting up at 2am, because of bad train connections. We have colleagues who live 3 or 4 hours away from their gateways and they almost always have to travel the night before and stay at hotels or relatives'/friends' places - but this is their own choice. The company may ask you to report an address within 60 minutes travelling time to the airport. Maybe you have a relative or a friend who lives in such a place and you can use their address, for this purpose.
As you can see, there is an element of flexibility, but crew have to be able to reach their airlines on day 1. On the other hand, should your airline arrive very late on the last day of tour and you feel exhausted, the company will provide you with a hotel at your gateway. Just ask for it and give some reasons.
EDIT 2: redsnail mentioned LEPA: Palma is one of our seasonal summer gateways: in summer you can request to temporarily change your gateway to LEPA, no problem at all. Otherwise it would work as
redsnail mentioned. You can even ask for day 1 if starting tour at another airport is possible - as long as the cost is equal or less, no issues - normally.