Seniority
Your rank on the airline's crew list by date of hire, which at many carriers decides bidding, base, vacation and reserve.
Definition
Seniority is your position on the airline's crew list, fixed by your date of hire (and within a training class, often by age or a lottery). At unionised carriers in North America and much of Europe it governs almost every scarce thing: which trips you hold, which base you can transfer to, when you can take leave, and how long you stay on reserve. It never transfers between airlines — a twenty-year purser who changes employer starts at the bottom of the new list.
What it means for you
Seniority is why crew at American or Delta stay for decades and why they almost never move: the number is the asset. It also explains base choice — a junior base can get you off reserve in months while New York can take years. At Gulf carriers seniority is informal, which flattens the roster but also means there is no accumulating protection to look forward to.
In practice
A Delta new hire assigned to Atlanta might hold a line within a year, while a classmate one number behind them in New York is still on reserve three years later.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- BiddingRoster & schedulingRequesting the trips, days off or patterns you want for the coming month, with awards decided by seniority or a points system.
- ReserveRoster & schedulingThe US term for a roster of on-call days rather than assigned trips: you fly whatever crew scheduling gives you, at short notice.
- Line holderRoster & schedulingUS crew who hold a monthly roster of assigned trips rather than reserve days, and can trade, drop and pick up flying.
- BaseCrew lifeThe airport where your duties start and end and where you must live within reach — the single fact that most shapes a cabin crew life.