ramp agent

flycanuck

New Member
do the airlines(especially regionals) hire ramp agents all the time or is it infrequent. Also, do they hire summer workers who would work fulltime may-end of august (students)?
 
I haven't been there since this jan. but as I recall, most ramp departments have high attrition during the summer and winter months due to crazy weather.

so they hire a few months before that
 
Where I am it is pretty constant hiring, with a peak of just before summer. (We get more flights in the summer)

For the summer there is loads of OT to be had, so I stay PT and just pick up the overtime. Switching is kinda hard (there has to be openings) and some places would not allow it.
 
Depends on the airline and the base. We didn't hire any rampers for two years in Orlando at SWA, but that was manily due to other rampers transferring from other stations. We had the attrition, but the spots were filled with internal transfers instead of new hires. Now, in BWI, they were having info sessions about every two weeks b/c they couldn't keep rampers. Mesa is constantly hiring because of their turnover ratio for rampers. Keep in mind, though. If you go for a regional ramp position, more than likely it's gonna be a "cross utlitized" position. You'll wind up dealing with passengers almost as much as the bags. Just keep that in mind.
 
yeah, passengers suck.

Its funny where I am at there are more people that would rather be on the counter than out on the ramp. I get my choice more often than not. Plus I work nights with little pax interation, other than the "YOU lost my bag". And for some strange reason there is this one guy that loves doing bag stuff on the computers. I let him do that all he wants.
 
Yeah. In MEM there were always people saying "I want to work ticket counter. Wanna switch?" I'd switch with them before someone else did, didn't matter if they were ramp or gate. Both were better than ticket counter! I didn't think gate was all that bad. Yeah, you have to constantly tell people why they're flight is delayed/cancelled, but the way we were set up, if the flight cancelled, they'd have to get re-booked on a NWA flight. So, I would tell them "This is the gate it goes out of. It leaves at XXX time. By the time you walk all the way over there, I'll have it fixed in the computer." Worked. I got the job done without someone screaming at me, and they made the flight. As for the delayed, "Weather/ATC out/in of Newark" was the reason of the day most of the time.
 
do the airlines(especially regionals) hire ramp agents all the time or is it infrequent. Also, do they hire summer workers who would work fulltime may-end of august (students)?

They will sometimes hire temp. agents, for example, to work just during the summer months. I think airlines, for the most part, are typically always hiring for ramp agents, etc., it just depends on the location. A larger station will require more agents, and usually hiring is done more frequently there. At smaller stations, with only a few flights, hiring is probably much less. I work for ExpressJet now, but was working for NWA. At NWA, there were 3 flights per day, with 4-5 hours in between each one. During your shift, you would work 1-2 flights, and sit around watching TV, or playing NCAA Football on playstation, for 4-5 hours straight. Not a lot of turnover there, because you are being paid to sit around. At ExpressJet, however, we have a flight about every 30-45 minutes. It is much busier, requires more agents, and they are almost always hiring.
 
Go to the airport, and ask to speak to the manager of each airline's station. Let him know you are intersted in employment, and if they are currently hiring. Ask how you need to apply. Some airlines do paper applications, others, like ExpressJet, it is done online.
 
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