Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Agent

I just got hired and wanted to know if someone with experience as a ramp agent for an airline could tell me what I should expect. I was a ramp agent at my last job at a flight school, but something tells me airlines and FBO's don't operate the same way and from what I can tell, there are a few differences between a Piper Warrior and a Boeing 767 lol.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I don't/can't say much because I had a few jobs in the airline industry as a Cargo Agent and an Aircraft Refueler (sp?), but I'd like to congratulate you on your job at DL as a Ramp Agent, but i'm sure that there are others who are reading this thread will come in and give you a few pointers.

Aloha from Maui

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I bombed the interview for some reason, got an email saying I wasn't qualified. :/

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I'm sort of in the opposite position where as I've been working airline ramp for years and never at an FBO,... So,.. I dunno. Some things are probably similar. Starting engines by hand (if for some reason you're unable to use a headset) is still holding up 1 or 2 fingers and "spinning" with the other hand. Pushing and towing still works essentially the same, just on a larger scale. Lavs probably the same, just more of it and into a bigger tank. You won't fuel anymore because airlines contract that. You might be deicing in the winter and that's still the same. All of the very basic stuff like that will probably carry over. Unfortunately though there's a lot more new stuff to learn. Load planning, documentation, new processes, keeping track of bags, etc. Not to mention the scheduling stuff, bidding, vacation time. It probably works differently than at the mom and pop FBO.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Hey guys. What's the trick to finding these contract jobs that provide ramp services? I am moving back to the Detroit area suburbs and would really like to get on working for an airline ground crew. i am WAY, way experienced in Heavy aircraft ground operations. After 6 years as a C-17 Crew Chief I have been overseas working contract Transient Alert. I really want to start looking for jobs, but it seems all the ground ops jobs are contracted. I have not seen any ground jobs advertised on airlines websites. Any leads? suggestions?

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Most major airlines have their own ground crew staff. It'll vary from place to place and airline to airline a bit. Some airlines use their own staff in the bigger stations and contractors in the smaller ones. Generally speaking it's always better to be employed BY the airline. The sole purpose of contractors in many cases is cost reduction, and guess who's providing the cheap services (you).

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Protective of the brand much?

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I'm not on the seniority list, and even I know there is a space between "Air" and "Lines." Some people just aren't observant.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I work(ed) for a Delta owned contractor and we did pretty much everything: airstarts, loading/unloading, bag room service, cargo service, pushbacks, lav service, water service, cleaning the airplanes (quick turns and RONs), security checks, even cleaning the gate passenger waiting areas and the ticket counters. The title "Ramp Agent" was stretched out quite a bit in its definition. I guess we were pretty much Delta's grunt workers at my station. The only things we didn't do were fueling and catering. Despite some annoyances with my company, I really enjoyed my time there; it was awesome to be around so many different airliner types everyday.
I think in general, your time in line service will be somewhat similar, but you might not have to do cleaning as you will be a mainline employee. Delta mainline run stations tend to have contract cleaners. Overall, airline line service has changed A LOT in the ten or so years since 9/11. Delta seemingly has always been an "anything goes as long as its done right" type of airline when it comes to line service (probably because of being a largely nonunion environment), but most other major airlines prior to this timeframe used mechanics for most line service functions (such as pushbacks and air starts), using dedicated maintenance utility for cleaning and using ramp service only for baggage and cargo. But of course the ultra cost competitive environment that emerged out of the post 9/11 era and the continuing ramifications of deregulation 30 years ago have lead to pretty much every airline trying to squeeze spare pennies out of every division. And I suppose that leads to my most significant annoyance with my job, which is the dumbing down of ramp operations. But overall, I think you'll really enjoy the job if you enjoy aviation. Best of luck!

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I know I am late, and I would expect that most of the OP's questions would be answered by now after three months on the job.

I am curious though, is Delta still using an outfit called "Intex" to handle some ground ops? I worked for them in the 90s as a "ramp agent" at SDF for Delta. We were the most used, abused and underpaid rampers on the field. Three of us plus a supervisor trying to load and push out three planes within about 30-45 minutes every morning. Just around the corner from us, Northwest had what seemed to be 20 rampers all over 1 aircraft.

Same deal at the mail sort every night: All airlines with mail contracts show up at the mail house. Us: no less than three baggage carts, sometimes had to go back for another one, busting our humps from the time the sort started until it stopped. Everyone else: one or two carts, Northwest: no carts, one F150 tug with A/C, and two rampers to pick up a single bag of mail.

Ironic for me now that NWA and Delta are the same, so I am sure the ramp situation is/has changed.

I hope things are better than they used to be. I know as far as pilots are concerned today, Delta is the holy grail of airline jobs, but I know my opinion of them back then was far from that.

Just a curiosity. I have been away from ground ops for awhile. Worked for Brown for awhile, but that is a different world entirely, so much they put us on the other side of the airport.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Never heard of Intex for ground operations we use Deltaterm which has two functions customer service and ground and another weight and balance program. Really the only thing that went away with NWA is world flight I believe that was the name, which was the weight and balance program for NWA. Most ramp functions between NWA and Delta kind of merge together nothing really different, just Delta is less picky when it comes to cleaning the airplanes at night.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

So you catch this with your eagle eye but miss the first sentence on the jetgirls intro. This could be an honest overlook or a wise family man knowing when to pick his battles.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

To clarify, Intex was the company we worked for who contracted ground support to Delta, not a computer program.

The lack of cleaning must be a Delta legacy. We overnighted three aircraft and maybe spent an hour cleaning all three at most, and that was dependent on how heavy our mail load was. It seemed we spent most of the night dealing with friggin mail.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I think the big difference between the Delta ramp and Northwest ramp was that prior to the AMFA strike, Northwest mechanics and maintenance utility did most of the line service functions other than loading/unloading versus Delta where "ramp agents" do everything. Plus Delta seemingly has always heavily relied on contractors at outstations.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

I think you'll be having a blast, in nice weather when flights are on-time, its a really fun job.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Difference: Warrior is harder to tow that a 76

He speaks the truth.

Re: Just got hired as a Delta Airlines Ready Reserve Ramp Ag

Yeah, 70-90 degree turning limits are pretty nice.