Ahh...finally something I have some useful insight on!
I work for Horizon in Victoria (YYJ), just a few miles north of your position. Its about a 35min flight from SEA. We also do Westjet's 737s and Harmony Airways 757s as well. I'm part of the Turn-Around crew, or TAC team. (Considered a TAC Agent or GSA) Some of the bigger contract companies like Global Ground or ASIG might do things differently, but we divide duties up between us. At a bigger airport, like SEA, you'll most likely work a few gates. ie) B6 thru 12. Thats how I saw Alaska do it when I went to Sea-Tac for my training.
We've got the TAC team which works outside doing the actual turns. The bagroom guys, two types, outbound and inbound. Outie's get your bags from check-in and make sure they get on the right cart and deliver them to us to on-load. The inbound guys pick up the offloaded bags from us and then sort the bags, connections (hot and cold) go to their specified gates and locals go to the carosel for the pax to pick up. We get audited a lot and have to get the bags to the carosel in either the time the 1st passenger gets from the aircraft to the bag carosel or 6min, whichever is less. As well as all of the deicers, caterers, fuelers and the lav guy!
Now I'll describe a typical day.
I get to the airport, the first thing I check is the flight board, and more specifically the ETA of my 1st flight. Its a good habit to get into, even though the flights are scheduled, I still check it because Im only a Junior in HS and only work part time while going to school and things can change by the day, sometimes they add an extra flight, or tweak a time. I work for Horizon, so therefore my focus and priority is on my QX flights. Some agents at my company work for Westjet and they make their flights a priority.
I need to coordinate which gate they are using, so I'll usually get on the phone to OCC and make sure we're all set up.
Horizon flies DHC-8s to Victoria, both the Q200 and Q400. After getting my Tim Horton's coffee (Im sure you've heard of them by now!
) I head out to the gate "area." I say gate area because it's only a dash 8, so we only use the ramp, it's not an actual "gate" with a jetway etc. Same as Seattle. I set up the GPU and "a la carte" cart. I usually wait inside the terminal (when its cold). Once I see we're on the ground, I radio arrivals and report the flight is on the ground. My team and I ususally have a pre-game of sorts. We discuss what everone is doing, usually with the Dash 8s, its only 3 or 4 of us, and we work together all the time, so everyone's job is usually expected but if it was a WJA 737 like SWA or a HMY 757 we'd have to discuss things a bit more in depth. Once the aircraft enters the apron, I'll flag him down and bring him in. I'll straighten the prop and teather it down if its windy, then help the FA bring the stairs down and set a foot stool on the last step. A gate agent then hands me a Aircraft Load Worksheet or ALW. I'm a Load Coordinator, so its my job to make sure we're not overweight and we're balanced. We unload, handoff the offloads to the bag guys, then take the inbounds to load. We use a TIC sheet system to easily indentify important info such as STBYs, Heavy bags, battery powered items etc. I load the plane as even as I can, fill out the ALW and pass it back to the gate agent to give to the captain. He checks it then enters the weight into the FMS and his JAWS PDA then hands it back to the gate agent, who helps close the doors and give the ALW back to me. I use the interphone and verify the loads by calling them back to the flight deck. Once thats done, I give the ALW back to the gate agent and she sends them off to OCC in PDX and the FAA. We them marshal them out again and head to the next aircraft.
Thats it, thats a turn.
For a 737 or 757, its a little different and since thats what you'll be working on, I'll try to explain that too.
We marshal the a/c in, chock it, plug the GPU in, plug the PCA in (if needed), put the cones around it, the lead agent (or at least one agent) does a walk around to make sure everything is closed (Lav compartments, Potable water etc. Make sure control surfaces are clear...check for blue ice, engine blades, etc.), the jetway is pulled up to the plane (sometimes we do this, but it's usually a gate agent). We pull the belt loaders up and start unloading. Sometimes we may need an airstart unit. The inbound bag guys collect the offloads and the outbound bag guys bring us the onloads. We load em, do a quick look for FOD and then take away everything. The jetway gets taken away and then we push back.
Its pretty simple and its a really fun job (first and only job for me...so far)
I recommend it as a entry level aviation job. You really get to experience the airport atmosphere and you get to talk to lots of cool people. I especially like the stories the pilots tell during long turns. It helps me understand what the job (pilot) is all about and I try to make connections with people that could help me down the road. 99.9% of the pilots are very friendly and will answer any questions that I have. Sometimes I like to get advice on how to start, so I'll ask them how the airline is treating them. Just dont ask these questions after a crew change...they probably want to just leave the airport and get some sleep!!
As far as benefits, I can fly anywhere QX flies for $27 CAD to cross the border, then its free anywhere in the US, regardless of the number of legs.
For WS, its $89 for short flights (they have list of destinations) $140 for med. flights (another list) and long flights $180 (again, another list...these include Hawaii YVR-HNL and all their good destinations LOL)
Good luck at SWA,
flystraightin