Whenever I’m stuck in an airport, I usually hang out around whatever bar/restaurant is near the gate I need to report to, so I’m usually well fed for my flights. Even for those long, painful flights, I make sure to buy a sandwich or something beforehand, or else I eat whatever food is in my bag. I’m usually well stocked for long, continuous flying.

There happened a day, however, and I stress that this happened early in my flight attendant career, that I was unprepared for the ravenous hunger that brewed in my stomach. Only a few hours from getting off work, I opted to eat one of the sandwiches that I serve to the passengers.

Boy was I taken aback. I knew that airplane food wasn’t the best out there, but I was hardly prepared for the stale, nearly inedible paperweight before me. As I bit into the rubbery sandwich, I was actually quite glad that portions on airplanes were so small.
I hate to have been subjecting countless innocent passengers to this spongy delight for so long, but it’s what the airline provides, and so it’s what I’ve been serving since flight attendant school. Rest assured I have never again been unprepared for a long flight.

Popularity: 81% [?]

Share This

When choosing a Flight Attendant Career, you’ll have to maintain a sense of humor even when you don’t feel like laughing.

There will always be difficulty passengers or ones that simply do not want to be on the plane because they don’t like to fly. For nervous flyers, the best thing to do is try to make one-on-one contact if you can. Don’t worry. You’ll be able to notice them right off. They’re the ones cutting off blood flow from their seatmate’s wrist or staring straight ahead with a deer-in-the-headlights expression. They’ll also buzz you throughout the flight, asking how much longer until you land, what that sound was (it was the sound of you buzzing me for the 10th time) or why the plane is on an angle (just like a car, it has to turn left sometimes).

You’ll learn how to handle turbulence in Flight Attendant School. That’s the technical side of things: keeping the drink cart from barreling down the aisle, keeping your balance so you don’t end up in a stranger’s lap and also, how to keep passengers calm and reassure them it’s a normal part of flying.

So, try to make them smile when you can while maintaining your professionalism.
If you can make a small joke about a bumpy landing once safe on the ground, believe me, it will put everyone at ease. One some flights, the captain will let passengers know the ride will be bumpy until landing. Once we’re safely on the ground, I’ve used a line that puts a smile on everyone’s face (anyone over the age of 35 that is): “As the great Betty Davis once said, hold on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Popularity: 82% [?]

Share This

My first flight out on my own was a hot reserve call at 5:30.  Once I got down to the company’s temporary crew room, also the storage room for another airline’s catering supplies; I met my first officer and captain.  The Captain was proudly sporting his newest badge of honor.  My first day in my flight attendant career was also his first day as a Captain on his proud Embrair (ERJ 135).  His badge of honor?  A back sized tattoo of his new mighty command!

We were headed home and about 30 minutes into the flight I got a “ding” from the cockpit.  I answered the phone and the Captain asked “Do you see smoke?  The cockpit is filling up.”

I replied, “No, air clear.”

“Okay, watch for smoke and prepare for emergency decent.”

“Into Fort Lauderdale?”  FLL was our destination.

“Yes,” the Captain answered, “do not tell the passengers but warn about fire trucks.”

“Okay.”

“You understand the seriousness?”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re just calm.”

“I need to be, see you on the ground.”

I warned the passengers of the probable light show and we landed with no problems.  After the truth being revealed by the Captain, I thought the passengers were going to be mad at me.  In reality, they were quite happy I handled the situation the way I did.  Even though I wanted to tell the whole truth, I didn’t.  It’s kind of odd, because in flight attendant school we were taught to always tell the truth.

Popularity: 78% [?]

Share This

My two boys, ages eleven and ten and I, are stuck in Detroit. It’s the dead of winter, the sky’s are grey, the snow is falling, and all flights to Phoenix have been full.

One of the greatest benefits we have in our Flight Attendant Career is the ability to fly for free. The one catch is there has to be an open seat for us to travel.

Flights can be booked full. Flights can be cancelled, with the next flight then becoming full. Weight Restrictions can limit the seats on a flight. Sometimes it can get just plain ugly.

The boys had already missed a day of school. I had already spent more money than I had. The weather outside was even more frightening that it was seven hours earlier.

The last flight to Paradise was leaving in fifteen minutes. The flight was booked full and we were praying for a miracle. I must have been a “Bad Boy”, because we not only didn’t get on that flight, it had cancelled because of weather. All of the paying folk on board were going to be rolled over to the first flight in the morning. So……… here we go again. I am gonna get another ear full tonight.

Just when all seemed lost I must have regained my status as the “Good Boy” that I am. Cleveland had closed their airport and our Companies aircraft was diverted to Detroit.

The flight landed safely. The Flight Crew had timed out and they were going to ferry the flight to Phoenix in the morning.

In Flight Attendant School you will learn all these silly acronyms. Ferry Flight does not mean “Peter Pan” is on board; it means the Crew takes the plane back empty

I asked the Captain if the boys and I could hitch a ride in the morning. He replied, “No problem.”

We sat in First Class; I think those boys ate all the pie on board, we watched a couple of movies, and landed safely into a beautiful 85 degree day with unlimited visibility. I didn’t even need “Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers.”

Popularity: 100% [?]

Share This

Just because you’ve chosen a Flight Attendant Career doesn’t mean you have to eat airline food. On the contrary. Whether you’re on a day line or three day international trip, you can keep the calories down and your energy up for when you’ll need it at 10,000 feet.

I always brought a large bottle of ice with me and within a few hours, usually after takeoff and before snack service, I’m enjoying cold, fresh water which will keep me hydrated for the next few hours. I usually pack a piece of fruit and a protein bar in case the shuttle to the hotel is delayed or we get in too late (and I’m too exhausted) to order room service.

When you’re at a hotel, don’t assume you need to eat there if you have enough time to venture out. Ask the concierge for some recommendations of local restaurants or see if there’s a local farmer’s market. Hotel food can often be heavy and loaded with calories. Even if you don’t have time to get out, try to eat lighter hotel meals. If that burger has your name on it, think twice because you don’t want to feel more sluggish than you already will if you have a 4:00 a.m. call. Or, better yet, have the burger but skip the fries and substitute for a salad.

In Flight Attendant School, you’ll hear about the importance of maintaining energy, especially on long flights. Its good advice but you have to be mindful and not let the peer pressure of the late night dinner buffet get the best of you!

Popularity: 76% [?]

Share This

Pursuing a flight attendant career isn’t always the perfect job. I can think of countless trips that are better left forgotten. Some times you just have to stick it through, and learn to take the good with the bad. Take my first birthday on the job for example.

I was fresh out of flight attendant school, so needless to say, I was at the bottom of the ladder. When you’re new you don’t get the same scheduling perks that flight attendants with seniority enjoy. As a reserve (a position you hold for your first couple of years) you usually only get one days notice, and the next day just so happened to be my birthday.

Luckily the options were excellent. I chose a flight to Chicago that was leaving early the next morning in hopes of spending my birthday in the windy city. Nothing turned out the way it was suppose to. Ice storms caused multiple delays, which meant multiple cranky passengers, and no chance of making it to Chicago that night.

I never made it past Texas and ended up spending the night at a hotel near HAS. I was exhausted by the time I made it to my room, and I had to be up early the next morning, so no celebrating for me. My fellow crew members did manage to cheer me up though, by throwing me a surprise party in the room that night. The free stay in Chicago the next day, was just icing on the cake.

Popularity: 73% [?]

Share This

They didn’t tell me much in flight attendant school about the effects of severe jet lag. Traveling a lot through time zones and datelines, a person’s sense of time can get really messed up. Throw in daylight savings time change and things get really crazy.

There was one time during my flight attendant career that I was reading the newspaper,  completely unaware that it was from two days before. I was due to finish work in a bit, and I was reading the Miami Herald. I was going to be in Miami for a couple of days, and I was checking to see about the nightlife. I believed it to be Thursday at the time, when it was really Saturday. I picked a good show in South Beach, not knowing that it actually started in a couple of hours.

When I landed I was approached by Jesse, a friend of mine from flight attendant school. She was in Miami for a few nights as well, coincidentally.

“So Bill, what are you going to be doing while you’re here?” she asked me as we walked through the airport.

“I’m going to see Pablo Francisco at the Fillmore, but right now I’m going to get some rest,” I replied. I must have had a smile on my face, because she thought I was joking.

“You’re a riot, Bill. You better hurry, though. You can probably make it if you get a cab now.”

I looked at the date on my cell phone and felt quite dumb.

Popularity: 75% [?]

Share This

There are things you could never imagine that will happen to you as you sit scholarly at your desk in Flight Attendant School.

Every day is truly a new day in your Flight Attendant Career. You will experience the good, the bad, the ugly, and sometimes the beautiful.

In the “old days” of our Flight Attendant Careers, policies were very lenient. Before the horrors of September 11, Flight Attendants had much more freedom than they do today.

One of those freedoms included Flight Deck Privileges. Once we had concluded our In-flight Service we could wander up to the Flight Deck to check on the fellows in charge.

I would give them a buzz on the inter phone, ask them if they needed anything, and then ask them if I could hang out.

99% of the time they would be as happy to have me, as I was to go. You put two people together for 8 to 10 hours a day in the small space of the Flight Deck, and a fresh face can be a welcome thing.

In our Flight Attendant Careers we will make many new friends with our Crew mates. Because we are in a locked in space for many hours, you will know more about your crew mate in four days than Dr. Phil could find out in four months.

The Flight Deck works the same way. Depending on the personalities of the Pilots, they probably heard every bad joke there is. They know their flying mates children’s behavioral habits, what they think about the” Contract”, and they know things that could be used for blackmail for years to come.

“Come on up John, we could use the company.” Most of the time we would tell bad jokes and laugh very loudly. Sometimes we would hear the story about the Captains first three divorces, and again laugh out loud. Sometimes we would talk “Company” talk.

Sometimes we would just watch the sun set over the Rockies. Imagine the purest, most Godly majestic site you can imagine, and your still not there.

Times have changed. We can’t hand with the guys like we used to. However, every once and a while the inter phone will ring, and somebody up front has to use the lavatory.

Volunteer to go up to the flight deck and catch a view that only a few people on earth have the vantage point that you have. I promise that you will never forget the experience.

Popularity: 75% [?]

Share This

The perfect resume is succinct, to the point, easy to follow and more than anything, an honest reflection of your professional and life experience. Some job applicants think an airline would actually be interested in the fact that they were a girl scout or on the junior high chess team. Here are a few quick tips on the perfect resume:

- During Flight Attendant School, you’ll receive some tips on writing your resume and eligibility criteria provided by each airline for available positions. Be sure to research the company, do your homework and be sure you can meet those criteria.

- Buy a good book with tons of sample resumes for different kinds of professions. A good one is “The Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume.”

- One thing you don’t want to do is inflate your experience (here’s where the soufflé reference comes in). Be honest about your past jobs and responsibilities that came along with them, but don’t forget to include volunteer and community service work.

- Create separate headings for pertinent information, such as education (include year graduated and degree), work experience and community service work.

- It may seem like a no brainer, but include your name, address, email address and every phone number you’re being billed for at the very top, so a prospective employer can find you.

- Be brief and to the point. No more than one page unless you’re a rocket scientist, in which case you’d be applying for a job on a rocket.

A Flight Attendant Career is rewarding and provides lots of perks and the job search can be simplified by giving a prospective employer what they’re looking for: a bright, qualified candidate who has the right stuff!

Popularity: 76% [?]

Share This

Your six weeks at Flight Attendant School will pass quickly, even though it won’t seem
that way the first few days which are filled with paperwork and introductions. This is a good time to get to know your fellow trainees as you’ll be spending a lot of time with them over coming weeks.

Classes start after you’ve been accepted by an airline. On your first day, you’ll meet your fellow trainees, usually about 25 to a class, and trainers. You’ll be with the same group of people for the entire time.

Your days will pretty much be filled with classes, including graded exams every few days. Evenings are spent at the hotel studying and getting a good night’s rest. You won’t have classes on weekends, but you’ll study then as well as go on observation flights.

After you pass classroom training, you’ll book some hours working flights, called IOE. A trainer will evaluate you and keep track of your hours. Although the final exam and required paperwork varies from airline to airline, you’ll work a flight on a mock up of an airplane and perform regular duties as assigned. You’ll also be assigned an emergency situation which must be passed in order to complete training.

At the end of the six weeks, you’ll participate in a well deserved ceremony and accept your certificate. This is a nice way for family and friends to help celebrate your entry into a Flight Attendant Career. A few years down the road, when you’re a seasoned pro, you’ll look back on this brief time in your career and recall how quickly it passed.

Popularity: 72% [?]

Share This