Base
The airport where your duties start and end and where you must live within reach — the single fact that most shapes a cabin crew life.
Definition
A base is the airport at which a crew member normally begins and ends duty periods, and the location the airline uses to calculate rest, positioning and allowances. Regulators define it formally — under EASA it is the home base the operator nominates for each crew member — and most airlines require you to live within a set commuting time of it. A single-base airline such as Emirates bases everyone at its hub; a multi-base airline such as Ryanair or American assigns you to one of dozens.
What it means for you
Your base decides your rent, your commute, your social life and, at multi-base carriers, whether your first year is where you wanted to be. At US majors base assignment after training is by need and seniority, which is why crash pads and commuting exist; at European low-cost carriers you often apply to a specific base. Ask about base assignment and transfer rules before you accept an offer, because moving base is rarely quick.
In practice
Emirates bases all crew in Dubai with free company housing, which is part of its appeal; a new American Airlines joiner completes six-plus weeks of training in Dallas and then receives a base assignment that may be on the other side of the country.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- HubCrew lifeAn airline's central connecting airport, where most of its flights and usually its largest crew base are — not always your base.
- TransferCrew lifeMoving to another crew base, fleet or company role — by seniority bid at US carriers, by vacancy and approval almost everywhere else.
- CommutingRoster & schedulingLiving somewhere other than your base city and flying in on staff travel before each trip, common at US and European carriers.
- Crash padCrew lifeA shared apartment near a US crew base, rented by the bunk, where commuting crew sleep between trips instead of paying for a hotel.