It's easy to imagine that flight attendants lead high-flying lives. And
in a literal sense, they do. But it's hard work and not nearly as glamorous
as it might appear.
"Most people, including me prior to my experience, believe that a flight
attendant leads a glamorous life," says flight attendant Lona Louden. "It's
far from glamorous. We deal with medical emergencies, stressed or angry travelers,
and sleep deprivation on a daily basis.
"Passengers see us with smiles on our faces, serving coffee or pop, and
engaging in conversation," says Louden. "What they don't see is the clean-ups
that we do after a passenger has been sick in the lavatory. Nor do they witness
the subtle and not-so-subtle conflict resolutions that we manage on a daily
basis.
"They don't know the intense annual training that we go through as a safety
professional," Louden adds. "It is our responsibility to care for and ensure
the safety of hundreds of people on our aircraft. We are trained to deal with
emergencies like fires onboard the aircraft, restraining unruly passengers,
medical emergencies of any kind, issues that could dictate unscheduled landings,
and survival on land or water after a crash."
Ensuring the safety of passengers is just one stressful part of being a
flight attendant. There are others, such as working unpredictable schedules.
"I became a flight attendant when I was 49," says Louden. "I'm thankful
that I had a career prior to this one and that I was able to be available
to my children as they were growing up. The schedule of a flight attendant
does not allow for a predictable timetable -- you could be away from home
for days at a time."
"It's busy, it's hectic, it [requires] a lot of patience," says flight
attendant Mary Catherine Carwile. "There are a lot of things that you wouldn't
find if you were in a cubicle somewhere, but personally I wouldn't choose
to work in a cubicle."
Like Louden, Carwile became a flight attendant at a mature age. She was
55 when she made the transition, and it wasn't something she had ever imagined
doing.
"I had always been fearful of flying, and so that was never on my radar,"
says Carwile. "I hear many, many people tell me when they join the ranks,
'I've always wanted to do this,' and it had just never crossed my mind. Then
a couple things happened in my life (such as divorce and breast cancer) that
changed my thinking and made me realize that life is short and that I should
accept a dare from a friend to become a flight attendant."
Before she became a flight attendant, Carwile knew she wanted to travel.
At a party she overheard some people talking about jobs at the airline she
now works for (Frontier Airlines). The airline was starting something called
a Scout Program, which meant that people would be hired on a one- or two-day-a-week
basis to assist unaccompanied minors, elderly people or wheelchair-bound people.
Carwile's involvement with the program inspired her to apply for a flight
attendant position.
"It's just fun," says Carwile. "Every flight is different. Every crowd
is different. Everything is different every day."
Carwile's many experiences in the air, and the stories passengers have
told her during trips, inspired her to write a book called Heartstrings at
35,000 Feet. Some of her stories have also been published in the Chicken Soup
for the Soul book series.
Carwile has become close friends with some of the people she has met during
flights. On one of her flights she even met the man who would become her husband!
All that time away from home can make relationships a challenge for flight
attendants. But Carwile says it can work well for some people.
"I think some distance is good in relationships," says Carwile. "[But]
thank God for cellphones and Skyping and things like that. I don't know how
people did this without those things. But everyone's got a cellphone in their
hand, and as soon as you arrive at a hotel, you call."
All of that travel requires a lot of adjustment. For example, some people
adjust to changing time zones better than others.
"Sleep deprivation has been a constant challenge for me," says Louden.
"When you fly between time zones, your internal clock is constantly being
confused."
Louden says getting enough sleep was not the only challenge when she became
a flight attendant.
"When I first started, I was very shy," says Louden. "Meeting a new crew
at the beginning of a four-day pairing was stressful for me, let alone playing
host to more than a hundred strangers. I [also] find medical emergencies stressful.
Fortunately, there is usually at least one person on the crew who is comfortable
administering first aid, so I can be the back-up to them."
Of course, you can't back up someone unless you show up to work. Flight
attendant Ross Miller says showing up on time is essential.
"The importance of punctuality can never be overstated," says Miller. "When
you have 200 people waiting to make their trip and they are going to be late
if you sleep in a few extra minutes, you just don't let it happen. In initial
training, if you were a student who was even one minute late in the morning
or after lunch, you would find the classroom doors closed with a sign saying,
'Sorry, your flight has departed.' And you were out of the class -- and out
of your new job!"
Therefore, if time management is a challenge for you, this is probably
not the career for you, says Miller.
"If you're the kind who needs to hit the snooze button a couple of times
to get out of bed, or you're always the one who's making excuses for being
even just a few minutes late, you might consider something else," says Miller.
"This industry runs on and demands a very tight clock...a few minutes off
schedule can literally cost your company thousands of dollars, so you need
to learn to be early for everything you do that is work related."
Besides being punctual, flight attendants need a personality that can handle
the ups and downs of being around a new group of strangers every day.
"Of course, an ability to handle people and their varied situations with
grace and humor is a must," says Miller. "Adaptability to work with different
types of coworkers is important, too, as your crew is brand new just about
every trip. Being chill under pressure and not easily spooked by the ups and
downs of air travel doesn't hurt!"