Apr 22 2010
Experience-Flight Attendant
A Day in the Life of a Flight Attendant
by Bob Jonathan
A day on the job as a Flight Attendant! For a flight attendant that could mean… a trip to Paris… or an emergency landing. It can be fun, an adventure, or both… but is it work? I’ve found that working for a major airline this past year has been one of the hardest jobs I ever had, and yet the most enjoyable. The schedule and passenger challenge me in ways I never could have imagined. But nothing beats hanging out in Los Vegas for 24 hours with company-paid hotel room and expense money. The thousands of us flying encounter many different experiences during the course of the day. This is a day (well technically a trip) in my life…
5:45 P.M. Friday: The Assignment
In the airline industry, seniority rules. Mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, customer service agents—all of employees enjoy pay rates, schedules and benefits based on the length of their service with the company. Among flight attendants, seniority determines status as a line-holder or reserve. Line-holders have a flying schedule set at least one month in advance: they know when and where they will work and on what type of aircraft. The airlines use reserves to fill open flying time and to cover positions to vacate by line-holders calling in sick or on holiday. If you are a relatively new flight attendant, like me, you can expect to sit reserve for a couple of years. Flight attendants often receive a set schedule (known as a block) after less than two years, but at some bases, flight attendants can sit reserve for more than 10 years.
As a reserve flight attendant, my “work day” begins with a call from a crew scheduler. Each airline operates differently, at mine, schedulers call reserves on-duty to ask what trips they want to fly the following day. Trips are paid by the flight hour, from the time the aircraft door is shut to the time it is opened. And for every hour away from base, flight attendants are paid expense money. This particular Friday evening, when crew scheduling calls, I choose a four-day trip on the Airbus 319—one of our newer aircraft. It pays better than average and overnights in Raleigh-Durham, Washington DC, and Denver. Working what the airline labels the “C” position. I serve in the economy cabin and sit in front near the boarding door. With my trip set, I pack. I take a few extra pieces of my uniform and some clothes for the overnight. I go to bed since I must check the in early the next morning.
7:30 A.M. Saturday: Check-in
this morning, I go down to the crew room below the airport concourse in Philadelphia. Each base has a crew room complete with couches, computers and supervisors’ offices. Pilots and flight attendants also have boxes or folders there for company mail. Before starting a trip, a crewmember must check in for it. First thing first, I use the computer to sign in for the trip. If you do not sign in an hour before the trip departs, you are liable to get written up by your supervisor. Since boarding begins 30 minutes prior to departure, there’s not much time to spend in the crew room, but I have a few minutes to check my box for memos, and chat with friends. I head to the plane to meet up with the rest of the crew.
Communication between the cockpit and the cabin crew plays a vital role in maintaining a safe environment, and the crew briefings at the beginning of a trip set the tone. Once on the airplane, Becky (the lead first attendant) briefs Mike and I on safety procedures, delegates announcement responsibility and confirms that we have our emergency manuals. Afterwards, the captain conducts his briefing, reviewing safety-related issues, flight time, weather and what he likes to drink.
Ready, Set, Go: In flight
About 30 minutes prior to departure, the agent working our flight comes down the Jetway to begin boarding. Becky nods okay, and we finish checking our emergency equipment and catering supplies. From the forward galley, Becky and I greet the passengers and prepare drinks for first class customers. Mike hangs out in the back, monitoring the dwindling space in the overhead bins. Boarding tends to be the biggest headache, especially considering I do not get paid until the door is shut. With a nearly full flight, it is pretty much guaranteed that space in the overhead bins will go quickly. Tensions mount, but bags need to be checked. Thought the company no longer requires passenger counts, many pilots prefer to have them. When you see the flight attendant slowly coming up the aisle silently moving his or her lips (sometimes motioning his or her hands) that flight attendant is taking count. As easy as it may seem, it often takes more than one count to get it right.
Once all overhead bins are shut and the passengers are seated, the flight is ready for departure. I verify that the passengers seated in the window exit row are willing and able to assist in an emergency if necessary. Before shutting the door, the agent hands Becky a copy of the manifest, which lists first class passengers, passengers with special needs or meals, and gate connections. We arm the exits, enabling the slides to inflate if the doors are opened. After the safety video and final cabin walk-through, the three of us strap into our jump seats and I practice my 30-second review, which includes evacuation commands and door operation procedures. It is still a thrill when we taxi onto the runaway and the engines roar. You learn to recognize the strange (and initially scary) noises as just the lavatory toilet seat coming down or unused hangars banging in the closet.
Once we level-off at 10 000 ft, I head to the back and help Mike prepare for breakfast service. To no one’s surprise, we serve a staple of the skies: omelets and French toast. In the back galley, we brew coffee, cook meals in the ovens and set up carts. Since the beverage cart comes stocked with cans of soda and juices, we just add a few things on top such as cream and sugar for coffee. Once the meals finish cooking, we begin serving from the front of the cabin to the back. It turns out we are short a few meals and have to ask the company employees to go without breakfast. I hate doing that but they don’t seem to mind. Space is undeniably tight on the beverage cart, and accidents are bound to happen. I am no exception on this leg, knocking a can of soda on a passenger as I reach for it. Not much spills, but he is still peeved. I give him a sorry form to get his pants dry-cleaned at the airlines expense. Finishing the service, I settle into the back row with a book, assisting in the cabin as needed. Passengers occasionally bring cups and other trash back for me to dispose of as they head to the toilet, but the remainder of the long flight is a coffee break of sorts for us.
Service in first class is usually more involved. With 12 or fewer passengers on the smaller jets, it also tends to be more intimate. No carts are needed and food and beverages are presented in china and glassware. Various types of people fly first class, but that cabin mostly fills up with business people and other frequent flyers. Celebrities occasionally make an appearance. A friend served Sissy Spaced once, and another flew with the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
During the flight a problem arises, which is relatively common on long flights. Sitting in the back, I notice the smell of cigarette smoke coming from the lavatory. A passenger exits and it is obvious he has been smoking. There is no sign of the cigarette in the trash, but I advise him that smoking in the lavatory is a violation of a federal law and comes with a large fine. There are set procedures to deal with situations like these and paperwork to complete.
We cruise through the rest of the flight with little problem, except when I smash Mikes finger in the overhead bin as we both try to close it. He’s okay, though he is quick to point out the tiny white scratch on his fingernail. An extra flight attendant joins us in Denver for our next leg to Charlotte. She notices a pregnant woman sitting in an exit row, and the four of us discuss whether the passenger is qualified to do so. Since no regulation explicitly excludes pregnant women from those seats and the passenger insists she is both willing and able to assist in an emergency, we decided to let her stay there. The last leg of the day is the easiest. Since the airline needs Raleigh-Durham, but does not need us to work from Charlotte, we deadhead on another crew’s flight.
Gas, Food, Lodging: The Layover
we arrive in Raleigh-Durham at 8:00 P.M. I take Mike and Becky to the restaurant where I waited tables. My old boss gives us dinner on the house.
