Operations manual
The regulator-approved manual every procedure on your flight comes from — crew work from its safety volumes and are checked against it.
Definition
The operations manual is the airline's approved set of documents describing exactly how it operates: general policies and duty rules (Part A), aircraft-type procedures (Part B), route and area information (Part C) and training (Part D) in the EASA structure, with US airlines holding equivalents under Part 121. Cabin crew work from the volumes relevant to them, often issued as a separate cabin crew or SEP manual on a company tablet, and the manual is a legal document: the regulator approves it, and deviation from it is a breach of the airline's certificate, not just of company policy.
What it means for you
Everything you are taught in training and checked on in a line check comes from the manual, and 'it is in the manual' is the answer that ends most arguments on board. It is also your protection: a procedure you followed from the manual is defensible, one you improvised is not. Revisions arrive constantly, and acknowledging them is a duty — a check flight attendant will ask about the latest amendment, and not having read it is not an answer.
In practice
When a purser tells a new joiner the PA wording, the door-arming call or the turbulence procedure, they are quoting the operations manual; when a regulator audits the airline, the manual is what the crew's actions are compared against.
Related terms
4 terms- SEPSafety & trainingSafety and Emergency Procedures — the core safety syllabus every cabin crew member is trained and re-examined on.
- Recurrent trainingSafety & trainingThe mandatory yearly refresher and check that keeps your SEP, first-aid and type qualifications valid.
- Check flight attendantRoles & ranksA crew member who conducts formal line checks on operating crew, observing a live flight and grading procedures and standards.
- Pre-flight briefingSafety & trainingThe meeting at sign-on where the senior crew member assigns positions, reviews the flight and tests SEP knowledge.