Frankly, it horrifies me that some people think that cabin crew are just ‘waitresses of the skies’, that we have an easy life and just do one flight and then stay on the beach for a couple of days.
THIS IS NOT TRUE.
Yes, long haul crew might get a couple of days on the beach, but the job doesn’t come without its hardships. You’re constantly flying around the world, constantly changing time zones and working long hours at bizarre times of the day. Long haul cabin crew need those couple of days to recover, as not to be jet lagged while on duty.
Working for a short haul company I at least get to come home to my own bed every night, assuming that there isn’t some sort of technical or weather issue that forces us to sleep in a hotel somewhere. It’s impossible to make solid plans with anyone and you miss so many special days like birthdays and weddings or even just simple things like going out for a coffee with friends. Even when you think that you are lucky enough that your roster allows you to go out, you never know if your plane is going to be late or get stuck, and more often that not you end up cancelling because you’re too exhausted.
It may sound like I’m complaining, and at times trust me I do, sometimes I complain to my loved ones until I’m blue in the face, but I can’t imagine my life without flying, it’s extremely rewarding. I love seeing passengers faces when they finally arrive at their holiday destination or when they know they are going back home for Christmas. That does mean that around Christmas and other special days it can be difficult for us mentally. As much as we love taking passengers on holiday or home to their family, there’s always a part of you that’s sad, knowing that we can’t do the same. There’s many of us that can’t make it home for Christmas. Between flying and then the current pandemic, I have not been home since Christmas 2018, which is almost 2 and a half years without going home!
All pilots and cabin crew experience long strange hours, one day waking up at 4am and then maybe the next day at 7pm. If we get a chance to eat, it’s always at a peculiar time of day, I’ve had pasta at 6am and cereal in the evening, for me this is now normal and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way, as tough as working in aviation is, I could never imagine my life any other way.
A lot of people think that our training is based on the inflight food and drink service, but honestly I didn’t learn how to turn on the coffee machine or oven until my first flight. Training is long and intense. My training lasted for a total of 6 weeks.
Here’s just some of what we had to be examined on:
Fire fighting
Smoke training
Hijacking
Bombs on board
Pilot incapacitation (What happens if we lose one or both pilots)
Flight controls (What to do if we lose both pilots, how to use the radios, engines, landing gear etc)
Swimming and life saving
Evacuations (evaluated from the ‘mock up’ aircraft)
Sea survival
Delivering babies on board
What to do in a crash
Emergency first aid (CPR, heart attacks, allergic reactions etc)
Unruly passengers (drunk, non compliant, aggressive etc)
Procedures (anything from every day procures such as refuelling, turbulence or di icing , to more abnormal procedures such as giving oxygen to pilots/passengers and cabin depressurisation. Our company has 14 different procedures regarding only fire.)
CRM Crew Resource Management ( How the entire crew works together, thus greatly decreasing any potential incidents or accidents.)
Dangerous goods (Anything that can cause harm to the passengers, crew or aircraft, which could be the obvious knife or toxic material, but also things like lithium batteries or aerosols which can spontaneously burst into flames).
Finally after all this training we are sent around different cities to visit the aircraft we will be working on. We learn many important aspects of the cockpit, how to operate the doors and over wing exits and learn what each little coloured light and ‘bing’ means on the aircraft, trust me that’s an entire language on its own. Finally after all of this we have our flights as an observer and then our exam flights called FAM flights or familiarisation flights. It is only then, after passing all of these exams that we are fully fledged crew. If you think it’s all over it isn’t, every year we have countless courses and exams to keep all the information fresh in our minds.
You might think that boarding is easy and we just stand there saying ‘hello and welcome on board’ but in reality it is much more complex that that.
As you board the aircraft we are checking many things. As well as checking your boarding card, we are counting the passengers, we are checking if you are pregnant , a nervous flyer, if you have anything dangerous on your persons, seeing if you are someone who is in the condition to help in an evacuation and we are checking the language you speak in case of an emergency.
Once the boarding has finished we have to ensure all baggage is correctly stowed or disembarked, check the weight distribution of the passengers and give briefings to anyone who has a baby or is sat on the emergency exits.
This can then be complicated even more if the aircraft has to refuel whilst boarding.
You can imagine the fatigue, not only mentally but physically due to the long, strange hours and also the toll on the body from the pressure changes. In my company a crew member can even perform 6 flights in one day, without a single break. Even if it looks like we are having a break and eating in the galley, we are never truly relaxed as we have to be ready for any situation at any given time. I have to say I have never managed to eat even a small sandwich or cookie in one sitting as for one reason or another I always get interrupted.
Again, I’m not complaining, I’ve been doing this for over 4 years and I love it. I just want the readers out there to understand what it means to be crew. No matter what is going on, and no matter how tired, stressed or how badly a passenger is treating us, we have have a smile on our faces.
We know how stressful and annoying it is for passengers when you’re stuck on the aircraft due to some sort of delay. Trust me, the crew hates it as well, we just want to great to our destination. We do not get paid while we are on ground, so be extra nice to your crew during this time and you will see their appreciation.
If there is anyone reading this who wants to be crew, don’t be put off by this post. It is a difficult and tiring job but at the same time it is amazing and you will love it. Not to mention the highly discounted flights are always a nice bonus.
If you are looking to be cabin crew, try to learn another language and get as much customer service experience as you can.
I tend to tell things as they are and I’ve been told that that’s not always the best way to approach things but in my blog I want to give you unfiltered experiences. If it seems like I’ve complained on this post until I’m blue in the face, I’m sorry.
Being a pilot or cabin crew is fantastic and despite all the hard work, I’m sure all crew members would tell you that having an office in the sky is the only office for them. Life in the sky is the unbeatable.
“I follow my heart and it usually leads me to the airport.”
Comments