Flying is very exciting when you’re a passenger but it is known as a fact that cabin crew jobs are quite harsh because of all the conditions...
Flying is very exciting when you’re a passenger but it is known as a fact that cabin crew jobs are quite harsh because of all the conditions flight attendants have to endure. If you want to get into their shoes or are thinking about taking this career, you might be interested in these
10 facts about cabin crew jobs
1. Flight attendants must be prepared to face deaths inside the plane
Cabin crew members are in charge of passengers’ safety and are trained to manage all kind of stressful situations and provide first aids to travelers in case of emergency. But it is not rare that a passenger dies during flight (or even a cabin crew member); that can be very shocking and generate panic to everyone inside the plane. It is cabin crew members’ responsibility to avoid mayhem and that’s why their capacity to maintain calm during these periods can be the difference between madness on board (and possibly crash in consequence) and a safely managed situation.
2. Being flight attendant in the Middle East is more profitable than anywhere else
salaries in the US and Asia for cabin crew members are ridiculously low and taking on count the lifestyle they assume, one must be really in need or in love with the career to actually take it. But when we talk about the Middle East, things change a lot. Even when flights are categorized as “dangerous” in this part of the world, benefits for flight attendants are immense; first, they’re tax-free. Second, minimum salary is 25.000$ a year (far away from US 20.000$ and Asia 15.000$). Third, salaries escalate very quickly as attendants get experienced. Finally, they have a lot of benefits like hotel and restaurant discounts all over the world.
3. Flight hostess and other cabin crew members are actually survival experts
Part of cabin crew members’ training is basic survival techniques. Things that may seem rocket science for normal people, like building a shelter, find drinkable water (without dying from cholera or any virus), hunting traps’ technique and gathering food techniques are totally possible for any trained air host or flight attendant. It is also remarkable that, if that training is no guarantee, cabin crew members can perform these tasks in any adverse environment including ice cold temperatures or tropic jungles.
4. Cabin crew jobs have a “no boost the night before” policy
Even if it’s their birthday, anniversary, wedding or any other celebration that includes alcohol, flight attendants can’t drink at least 12 hours before a flight. And it’s not like they’ll be nagged, they can actually go to jail if they infringe this policy since it is settled in the international security laws. To prevent cabin crew members from the temptation of breaking the law, surprise urine and blood tests can be performed to any member just before a flight. Would you risk your freedom for a drink?
5. Air hostess have to adapt to strict “appearance” rules
It might sound unbelievable in these days, but to apply to any airline as hostess, women have to follow very harsh demands on how they keep their hair, the colors they can use (hair and nails), the jewelry they can wear, even how they can or can’t paint their nails is regulated by the airline. This is intensified in regions like the Middle East and Asia where looks are actually really important and meaningful when talking about jobs.
6. Flight Attendants and hostess can’t gain weight
As weird as it may sound, airlines are very careful with their weight policies and if an attendant uniform starts to look a little bit tight, that specific attendant might be reported and compelled to lose the gained weight in a month. If the attendant is not able to lose the gained weight, they will be automatically registered in a weight control program and if that doesn’t work either, they are in danger of losing their jobs no matter the worker’s efficiency.
7. Attendants can deliver a baby on board
Between the many survival and care skills, flight attendants are trained to, being able to help babies enter this world during a flight is one of the most useful and determining ones. Birth is a very difficult task to perform alone for a baby and mothers often are of no help, add being at 33.000 feet high with no doctors or medical equipment available to that and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. Nevertheless, cabin crew members are there to save the night and make sure that the newborn comes to this world safety and remains that way until the plane touches land.
8. Some flight attendants can go karate on you
If it is not obligatory for all cabin crew members and airlines, it is common that at least one of the attendants is trained in hand-to-hand combat to prevent hijacking or chaos situations inside the plane. Of course, there’re circumstances that get out of their hands and can’t be treated with a fist fight (bombs, guns or “many attackers” situations) but on basic complications, lots of flight hosts are prepared to manage a combat condition. So you best sit straight and quite if you don’t want some karate on your flight.
9. Flight attendants rarely coincide in their jobs with frequency
It is actually usual that cabin crew members don’t know each other before the flight. Most air workers don’t last in their jobs because of the extreme conditions they have to endure. Also, there’re thousands of airlines and planes in the world so it is normal that attendants don’t know each other until they get into the plane and rarely see each other again unless they specifically manage to request it.
10. Work conditions are rash and they’re not immune to that
late night work, reporting on notice at any time, looks regulations, jetlag, lack of family contact are only some of the hard conditions flight cabin crew jobs require and the people willing to endure them are often single, in real need or don’t last too much on the job. At the end, human beings are sensitive and sometimes very fragile to organism dysfunction and bad habits on this job often have health consequences.
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