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Galley Gossip: The Bachelor - pilots, fashion & a few pilot fashion tips {Gadling}
Feb 4th 2010 6:48PM Too funny Heather! The norm for our pilots is a brightly colored polo, 80's style jeans and top-siders with no socks! I can pick them out at the hotel bar 20 ft away! But lets not forget the F/A layover clothes...Juicy-type sweatsuits seem to be the norm these days. But hey, it's comfy right? LOL
OJ scandal! Has American Airlines lost their minds? {Gadling}
Dec 15th 2009 5:57PM
There is obviously something missing in this story but until the offending flight attendant comes forward, which will never happen, we will only hear the passenger’s side and the airline bashing will continue. I am a F/A for a major carrier that fortunately gets more good than bad comments in this and other blogs and yes I love my job. I love that I fly free (even with less seats available these days), I love that my pay increases yearly thanks to Union raises, I love that I have 401k and profitsharing while other airlines have had their pensions cut, I love that I used to work on the ground for the same airline and HATED that job after 11 years so had the opportunity to go inflight and keep accruing my benefits. There are so many things I love that it completely outweighs the things I could do without: rude self-absorbed passengers that don’t believe the rules apply to them, lack of common courtesy from passengers AND fellow employees, long duty days and short overnights with no breaks. But hey, I signed up for this and knew going into it what it would entail. While I work for one of the better carriers, it is by far not perfect but what job is?
The media will always side with the passenger because it makes good tabloid fodder. It’s unfortunate that the good stories are few and far between like the flight attendant that helped save a passenger in the gate area who was having a heart attack (on her day off) or the crew members that volunteered their time to fly cancer ridden children to Disney to give them and their families a day without thinking about their sad circumstances. I am by no means making excuses for poor service from FA’s but there is always 2 sides to the story.
So to all the passengers out there how about a please and thank you every now and then, how about making some eye contact when we are taking your orders, how about not tugging our uniform or poking us when you need something versus saying “excuse me”, how about not clipping your toenails, fingernails or picking your nose in the close confines of the aircraft, how about not changing your baby’s diaper on the tray table and shoving the offending poopiness in the seat pocket, and how about turning off your electronic device, bring your tray and seatback up, and stow your bags when asked to do so the 1st time?
And to my fellow crew members that feel we are there ONLY for the safety of passenger, not so! Yes we went to grueling weeks of training to prepare us for the unlikely event of an emergency, but did you come to work for an airline with the expectations of evacuating an aircraft, using an AED, administering oxygen, or dealing with a decompression on a daily basis? Of course not. We are there PRIMARILY for the passenger’s safety but on a daily basis we provide a service like it or not. Don’t get offended at being called a stewardess, flying waitress, trolley dolly, etc., take it with a grain of salt and continue to smile and serve your cokes and peanuts. Someone being rude to you is not a threat just a complete annoyance that you’ll never have to see again (hopefully) in the rest of your flying career. If that unfortunate emergency does happen, just know that all that training prepared you for it and deal with it to the best of your ability.
I have worked with some power-tripping FA’s and it seems in my airline anyway it comes from the very young, newer guys and gals that have never had a real job until now. The FAA regulations as well as the internal company brain pumping on how important they are give them a false sense of power which unfortunately gets passed down to the customer. I am not a pro-company kool-aid drinker but know in my advancing age that courtesy works both ways so give good service to the customer and maybe you’ll get a smile in return and not a blog written about their bad experience with you. And if you’re a passenger that has had great service, PLEASE write the company and tell them about it! Everyone is so quick to complain but we rarely see the good letters.
Enough of my pointless rambling…just be kind to one another!
Airline Grounds Heavy Flight Attendants {Lemondrop}
Jan 7th 2009 2:04AM Okay you lame ass losers! If you want a HOT stewardess (we're actually flight attendants by the way), then transport yourself to 1960 on a gas guzzling prop plane that takes you 13 hrs to get from Los Angeles to New York, with 2 stops. Oh and those gals were qualified nurses...not waitresses. While these days we aren't nurses...this is it....inflight first aid (CPR and Oxygen administration...not a nurse!!). water evacuation training, land evacuation training (pretty much not gonna live)...etc...if you have a serious medical condition...don't fly! This is my job qualification: to expedite the evacuation of a full aircraft in detrimental circumstances in 90 seconds or less. If you think we're here for waitressing abilities...go back to the dark ages. The most confidence I have in my job is getting you off a burning inferno in that 90 seconds. I'm not a nurse, psychologist or your best friend who cares to tell you my route or where I live. My life story is not included in the price of your ticket...nor is dealing with your rudeness and sense of privelege.
I hope to God none of you have an emergency situation on the aircraft , including turbulence, but if you do and live through it, or don't get a broken back, maybe your sense of "It won't happen to me" will go away.
Airline Grounds Heavy Flight Attendants {Lemondrop}
Jan 7th 2009 2:04AM Okay you lame ass losers! If you want a HOT stewardess (we're actually flight attendants by the way), then transport yourself to 1960 on a gas guzzling prop plane that takes you 13 hrs to get from Los Angeles to New York, with 2 stops. Oh and those gals were qualified nurses...not waitresses. While these days we aren't nurses...this is it....inflight first aid (CPR and Oxygen administration...not a nurse!!). water evacuation training, land evacuation training (pretty much not gonna live)...etc...if you have a serious medical condition...don't fly! This is my job qualification: to expedite the evacuation of a full aircraft in detrimental circumstances in 90 seconds or less. If you think we're here for waitressing abilities...go back to the dark ages. The most confidence I have in my job is getting you off a burning inferno in that 90 seconds. I'm not a nurse, psychologist or your best friend who cares to tell you my route or where I live. My life story is not included in the price of your ticket...nor is dealing with your rudeness and sense of privelege.
I hope to God none of you have an emergency situation on the aircraft , including turbulence, but if you do and live through it, or don't get a broken back, maybe your sense of "It won't happen to me" will go away.
Airline Grounds Heavy Flight Attendants {Lemondrop}
Jan 7th 2009 12:28AM Thank you SkyPilot! Nice to hear the guys and gals up from know the REAL value of flight attendant! Not to just serve peanuts....to get your ASS off the plan if needed!!!
Airline Grounds Heavy Flight Attendants {Lemondrop}
Jan 7th 2009 12:23AM Guess you don't care about getting off the aircraft in a burning infirno do you? As long as the crew is qualified to get you off the plane in 90 seconds it doesn't matter what they weigh. What about what you weigh? Can you hobble off in 90 seconds with no visibility and inhaling smoke? Let's see about that?
