In the old days, airlines called me directly to
care for crew laying over in Los
Angeles. I enjoyed those visits because patients are
mostly young and rarely seriously ill.
Since then they have given responsibility to an
independent agency which contracts with a national housecall service. The
housecall service calls me. I collect the same fee, but it costs the airlines
triple what they once paid. I am too old to question their logic.
Hotels compete to put up crew, offering
discounts. Always searching for a better deal, airlines often change places.
Long ago they stuck to lodgings near Los
Angeles Airport
eight miles away. In another mysterious deterioration from former times, crew
now mostly stay in wildly distant hotels.
During a recent visit, I traveled to the Long Beach
Hilton, thirty-five miles away, to care for a Virgin-Australia flight attendant
with an earache. As usual, delivering care was the easiest part. Afterward I
filled out a form required by the housecall service plus another form from the
airline containing many identical questions followed by another airline form to
determine when the flight attendant could work or return home as a
passenger.
Posts
