flightattendant posts
by Kent Wien (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Oct 12th, 2011 at 11:00AM: "I'm getting kind of tired of these chicken Caesar salads."
I said those words just a few months into my career at American. The statement resonated loudly after I was furloughed and flying for a freight airline with barely a bottle of water on board, so I vowed that I would never complain about a crew meal again.
In fact, when I came back to AA I nearly cried when a flight attendant entered ...
by McLean Robbins (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Sep 29th, 2011 at 1:00PM: The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA wants to point out that a lot has changed since the days of girdle and weight checks.
The world's largest Flight Attendant union, recognized the season premiere of Pan Am as a reminder of the extraordinary accomplishments of Flight Attendants at the forefront of the jet age, but noted that despite the glamorization of these women in the television ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Jun 22nd, 2011 at 10:00AM: It happens on many flights: you or a seatmate is groping blindly for the reading light or trying to plug earphones into to the armrest, accidentally hitting the flight attendant call button. This may happen several times per flight, causing flight attendants needless trips up and down the aisle to check on embarrassed passengers. It's a pet peeve on the Gadling team, among both crew and other ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (9 months ago)
Apr 21st, 2011 at 4:00PM: Boston's Logan Airport is one of 10 across the country to host flight attendant protests today. The American Airlines employees are pissed about compensation paid to the company's executives.
Here's the deal: flight attendants have had to stomach pay cuts, while executives have picked up a cool $100 million over the past six years. The flight attendants gave up $340 million a year in 2003.
I ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (11 months ago)
Mar 8th, 2011 at 12:00PM: A Virgin Blue flight attendant has been fired after putting a 17-month-old baby in an overhead compartment as part of a peek-a-boo joke. Passenger Natalie Williamson was on a flight from Fiji to Sydney with her husband and son when the flight attendant put the baby into the overhead bin and locked it for 10 seconds.
"I stood up and there were people laughing and then I said 'Get my son out of ...
by Justin Delaney (RSS feed) (11 months ago)
Mar 2nd, 2011 at 4:30PM: Thai Airways International imposed body mass index and waistline restrictions on its 6,000 flight attendants last June. According to the Bangkok Post, all flight attendants, both male and female, were given six months to comply with the weight restriction. For female attendants, a BMI of 25 and a waistline maximum of 32 inches was implemented. The male attendants had restrictions of 27.5 BMI and a ...
by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) (12 months ago)
Feb 15th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
A survey by the Business Travel and Meetings Show asked 1000 of its members to pick the "most attractive flight attendants". The results are a mixed bag - as expected, the Asian carriers all scored very well, but top spot for "hottest flight attendants" went to Virgin Atlantic with 53% of the votes.
There are even a few surprises in the lineup - with Aer Lingus coming in fifth, and KLM ...
by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Jan 19th, 2011 at 2:30PM:
Portuguese flight attendant Vera Silva got the inflight surprise of her life when her boyfriend picked up the P.A. microphone to propose to her. While Ms. Silva was busy preparing drinks in the back of the plane, her boyfriend told her that he was on board because he loves her, and because he wants to "ask her a question".
With the help of her fellow crew members and the pilot, the proposal ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 24th, 2010 at 8:30AM: Generally, it's best to avoid an airline lavatory for any reason. It's cramped, smelly and generally not a pleasant place to be. If you're planning to use the lav for something other than its stated purpose, you're going to need to brace yourself. Unfortunately, it really is the best environment on the plane for joining the mile-high club (for those of you not in the know, that means having sex on ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 22nd, 2010 at 1:00PM: 'Tis the season, right? Regardless of beliefs, we're all secretly wishing for something, even if we're not hoping for a big fat guy to slide down a slim chimney to deliver it. And, I don't think I'm unusual in having my own list of wishes. I'm not so naïve as to think the airline industry will turn my Christmas list into its New Year's resolutions, but I can always dare to dream!
So, here ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 21st, 2010 at 3:00PM: Soon, airlines could make all their profits on the extra fees you pay. Seriously. Yesterday, the Department of Transportation revealed that airlines have had their most profitable year since it started tracking the data back in 2002. And, a good chunk of revenue came from baggage fees, reservation change fees and ancillary fees. In the third quarter alone, it was good for more than $2 billion. So, ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 16th, 2010 at 3:00PM: It's time for you to drag your screaming kids, annoying spouse and endless amounts of overstuffed bags through the airport, as you find your way over the river and through the woods. Thanksgiving is behind us, and that's the really ugly time to travel, but Christmas is no picnic either. The gate areas and bars will be crowded, and it's going to be awfully hard for you to be happy while darting ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 9th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
During a visit at the Queens Criminal Court to report on his substance abuse treatment progress, former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater said, "I am a little overwhelmed." He added, "I'm trying to stay focused and organized and keeping my priorities straight," according to the NY Post.
The former flight attendant was ordered into counseling as part of a plea agreement to two counts of ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 7th, 2010 at 3:30PM: So, you're new on the job. In fact, your title still has "trainee" in it. And then something goes wrong. That's enough to make you go home, pop the cork on a bottle of wine and lament the fact that you work for a third world company. Now, imagine the whole thing happening 30,000 feet from the ground. Yeah, it sucks. You need more than a bottle of wine to take the edge off at that point. In fact, ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 7th, 2010 at 1:30PM: If I could make this stuff up, I'd become a novelist. Seriously.
Captain Morgan Fischer, a pilot with Ryanair, decided to try out the type of stunt for which his boss, Michael O'Leary, is famous. And, he learned what happens when you tangle with a master media whore.
Apparently implying that O'Leary is a moron, Fischer took public issue with the company CEO's notion that a co-pilot could be ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 7th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Mandy is one tough bitch.
On US Airways Flight 522 from Newark to Phoenix, this 12-pound Manchester terrier busted out of its cage. You would have too ... if the drugs had worn off. With no more sedatives in her system, Mandy bit a man sitting next to her 89-year-old owner. Then, the dog shot up and down the aisle, also biting a flight attendant, according to the NY Post.
As a result of this ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 7th, 2010 at 9:30AM: The cringe-worthy debate over larger fliers has generally been limited to passengers, and it looks like that's where it will remain. Over the summer, it looked as though flight attendants were being brought into the cross-hairs, when Air India fired several for being too fat. Well, the carrier is willing to forgive and forget ... as long as the ladies have slimmed down a bit.
According to The ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 30th, 2010 at 8:00AM: It's almost sport for customers to describe how much they hate airlines. Sure, there are a few that do well from time to time, occasionally delivering high levels of service or eschewing ancillary fees. But, the overwhelming trend tends to be one of customer dissatisfaction.
Zagat, which is in the business of measuring and publishing value and taste, has taken a shot defining the highs and lows ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 29th, 2010 at 5:00PM:
Who says print is dead?
The newspaper business may be in trouble, but if you find 10 great bodies, take pictures of them and line them up with the months of the year, you could be in business for a while. This is exactly what a handful of unemployed flight attendants from Mexicana airlines did, according to the Associated Press.
They lost their jobs when the carrier filed for ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...
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