I'm a Flight Attendant, ask me anything!

[confessionsofatrolleydolley]

Not that I'd ever actually refer to myself as a flight attendant - Cabin Crew is our preferred title!

Not sure if anyone is still interested in these AMA chats but thought I'd offer to answer any questions anyone may have...

Sorry for the delay, I've been doing bath and bedtime in the Dolley household!

@EggysMom I can understand your fears completely, I've never flown with my son because he's extremely hyperactive and have the same fears as you, although of course I'm not comparing my situation to yours! All I can say is that a quick word with the crew to make them aware of the situation will immediately have them on your side - we are an incredibly understanding bunch! I would hope that they would help you out as much as possible outside of the service to try and keep him entertained, we honestly don't mind children running around and looking after them if we're aware of the situation, the only time crew can be slightly less understanding is when it looks like the parents aren't bothered by their children's behaviour! I would certainly do my best to show him around and keep him happy if you were on my flight!

With regards to the other passengers - some will be sympathetic, some won't, but at the end of the day you have paid for your seat and have as much right to travel with with your children as they do! And we can always try and find some earplugs for the less considerate ones out there .

Don't let other people put you off, I hope you get to enjoy a wonderful holiday with your lovely family very soon x

Hi @HildaZelda although we do our best to find solutions to keep everyone happy, as you know sometimes that's just not possible! In that situation, we often step away and let someone else have a word with them - some people react better to a change of face. If that doesn't work and we really have tried everything, you might find yourself slightly less well attended to than other, more polite, passengers . People often remember quite quickly that it's a bad idea to bite the hand that, quite literally, feeds you!

That's so wonderful to hear that you were so well looked after, for most of us, stories like yours are why we continue to come to work. One of the things I love so much about my job is that how we look after our customers on board can really brighten their day if we do it well, especially in a day and age where most people expect very little from their flight. A genuine thank you is incredibly rewarding.

As a side note...a thank you about us communicated to the company we work for makes the world of difference - customer compliments are essential to our promotion...

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross I actually haven't heard that, is it YouTube or a podcast or something? either way it sounds hilarious, I'll have to check it out! Thank you!

@hardheadedwoman we know from the paperwork we get from the ground staff if you're a frequent flyer, and if so what tier...some airlines do assign a number to their high value customers, yes.

Personally, I try to treat everyone equally, although it's fair to say that some crew may tread more carefully around customers they know are particularly valuable to the airline, partly because we respect and their status and loyalty, and partly because complaints against us are taken very seriously, and we all have jobs to protect!

I’m forever grateful to a smiling face on a flight as I scared but have to travel for work. My question- is it ok to swap seats if I see a spare row? Or do I need to tell you? And do you get as peed off as I do trying to load passengers with hand luggage only who take the piss and have laptop bag, handbag, huge bag of duty free and and and?
I saw a guy arguing about his laptop and how it had to be in the cabin (even though he had a wheelie bag too) as it was government property but thought why didn’t he pay for a check in bag?

@Griefbacon interesting questions! with regards to swapping seats, we don't mind at all but it has to be after take off. If there are quite a few spare seats and rows then the ground staff with have allocated positions intentionally for balance The way the flight is loaded (passengers and baggage) affects the way the flight crew take off and so that needs to remain the same. Once we're in the air and the seatbelt sign is off, feel green to grab the best seat possible! The only time we need to know about it is if you've ordered a special meal because that's assigned to your seat number so if we bring it out to you and you're not there then you may not get it, or it'll be cold and we're not allowed to reheat it.

With the luggage, it can be challenging at times, but I like to think of it as a big game of Tetris. And I'm very good at Tetris.

Funnily enough, laptops really do need to be in the cabin as they are a fire risk if they're in the hold...but usually it's a two bag maximum. So laptop and cabin bag or handbag and cabin bag etc, not all of the above. Duty free? Under the seat. If it won't all fit in the locker, you're going to have to sacrifice the leg space! The thing that really gets me though is when people's "cabin bags" are the size of a kitchen fridge....to this day I still don't know how they smuggle them past the ground staff!

Sorry for the typos, I've been trying to type a lot very quickly and I'm exhausted! Hopefully it's still comprehensible!

What are your thoughts on MH370? Planes don't just disappear off the face of the earth

On a different note... I fly to the Maldives yearly with Emirates. On the second leg to Male the plane is pretty much always empty. It is always welcome when the cabin crew let everyone take a row for themselves and sleep flat out for the remaining four hours. Who needs business class

Sorry that was my question, if I'm allowed to lie flat out across four seats on a later leg of the journey, why don't they allow you to do it on the main longer flight? On my flight to Dubai it's pretty much banned even if the plane is empty, yet smaller the plane to Male is a free for all

Do you think one of those theoretical landings on water where the yellow slides come out and we all bounce down into the ocean could ever actually happen?

Sorry to bump this but I googled specifically to see if a flight attendant had done an AMA!

I flew home from holiday today and have been wondering since about becoming a flight attendant. I wondered if I'd be too old in my mid thirties? What is the average age of flight attendants? I currently work in a customer service job that mostly students do anyway so I suppose I'm used to working with younger people anyway.

How old is your son, and how does being a mother work with the job, are you away overnight a lot, is your rota pretty similar or very changeable?

How much of other countries do you get to see?

What are the job perks like? Free/discounted flights?

Do your ears get used to the pressure? Or if someone suffers with ear pressure pain on flights is it not the job for them?

Do you still have to wear set make up and heels? I've heard rumours about this and I'm not sure I could put up with that level of sexism.

How often do you deal with travel sickness? I'm not the best with other people's sick, but I'm happy (as one can be) to clean toilets etc

Can you give an example of a working week/day.

How do you get into it?

Thanks in advance

I'm cabin crew too.

On my airline the first class spirits are not poured away after each flight. There is a drinks trolley that it is stored in. Champagnes and most opened wines are thrown away, although we do have a couple of bottle stoppers that we can try and save open bottles for the return flight. We would gladly pass on open bottles rather than throw them away. I've often given the left over chocolates away too rather than put them in the bin.

(Only adding this as I don't want anyone asking for left over spirits to think the crew are lying if they say they will be needed for the next flight..)

Re the last post. There are lots and lots of crew over 30, depending on the airline, it can be well under the average age. It is hard if you're a parent, you may well miss Xmas and other important occasions. I fly all over the world, I've done it for years, and have spent long enough in the other countries to see a lot of wonderful things.

Yes most airlines want you to wear make up and heals, although it's not set in stone. A lot of airlines also make the females wear hats too. It is quite sexist. I do long haul and there is absolutely no average working week. I could be in a different continent, different time zone with different colleagues that you don't know, and on a different trip length (with different number of uk days off afterwards) every week. Trips can be anything from 3 days to 9. You nearly always have a night out of bed each week and you're often really tired! But it can be a fun job, with lovely colleagues and you see things you'd never experience otherwise.

Thank you Honeyroar. One thing I'm good at is late nights and changing shift patterns. I'm not good at routine and waking up early every morning, but I can easily switch from days to nights and go long lengths of time with no sleep. Do you have any children? Would you recommend waiting until they were a certain age or not doing it at all as a parent?

One of the things I love so much about my job is that how we look after our customers on board can really brighten their day if we do it well, especially in a day and age where most people expect very little from their flight. A genuine thank you is incredibly rewarding.

" especially...where most people expect very little"

Fascinating comment as I was thinking the same today - still on the subject of mass transit, but trains rather than planes.

Nearly four hours door to door return for a 50 mile round trip total to my work and back today- yet I was almost acquiescent as I was so beaten down from years of similar I expected nothing better.

Similarly when my broadband provider actually did send an engineer yesterday to attempt to rectify my IT connection problem- I was amazed he even turned up.

Not a standard to be proud of. A tag team to the bottom. Of course it helps if the person providing the service is friendly and courteous. Surely that is the baseline?

Pressuredrip I don't have any myself, just a step child. Lots of crew do though. It depends on what support you have at home, who would cover for you while you're away. You have to be really organised. From what I've learned from other crew with children, they have a great relationship with their dads too, are slightly more independent children (when it comes to starting school etc). The children see the world too!

What's your protocol for handing drunks ?

Have you read The Perfect Girlfriend? Are the airline bits it true to life? (main character trains as and is cabin crew in the book)

www.waterstones.com/book/the-perfect-girlfriend/karen-hamilton/9781472244253

Lol, yes I've read it. It's definitely written by someone who has flown and, while its obviously a novel and not real, it's very much based on, and similar to an airline, from what I can remember of it.

Oh and drunks, we try and avoid them getting on if we are worried, or getting drunk while they're onboard.

I find there is massive variation in quality of interaction with cabin crew across airlines. Is that cultural (company culture) or due to unhappy staff at airlines do you think?

Like, Swiss and Austrian = amazing. Lufthansa = really miserable.

If you could work for any airline in the world, which one would it be?

When you go abroad do you get given often currency as our per diem and you can keep what you don’t spend? Or is it an expense system where you claim back eg food up to a limit?

My friends sister flew with virgin for a few years and my friend got to go away on standby seats quite a few times. Seems like a young persons game to me really to take advantage of the ‘perks’.

Do you think you’ll do it forever?

Often currency = foreign currency

Interested to read a laptop can be a fire risk in the hold hence need to be in the cabin. Are there smoke detectors in the hold and can you guys access it?! Just in case one is missed?!

And on a serious note thanks for this. I wouldn't say I'm scared of flying. However I really really hate bad turbulence - sends my heart racing, but other than that I'm generally fine. But I am flying without my two little boys for the first time in a few days and I have a crazy fear that something will happen and they'll lose me. If they were with me on the same flight however I wouldn't be giving it much thought. Silly I know. Parental anxiety.

What's that about alcohol being poured away? Really? What a waste!

There are definitely cultural differences between airlines. If I had to choose nowadays I wouldn't want to work for any of them! I don't think I will do it too much longer. It's not the job it used to be.

Anyone can take advantage of the perks at any age. My stepson came to the pyramids with me when he was doing ancient Egypt at school, and to The Great Wall when he was learning about China.. My husband comes away with me once or twice a year.

When we go away in my airline we have access to a local currency allowance. The hotel is paid for. Other airlines have different systems, some are given cash.

Jellycat there are detectors and extinguishers in the hold, but I don't think we can get into most of the hold. That's why certain things aren't allowed in hold baggage and things are scanned. Fire is one of the most dangerous scenarios onboard so every step possible is taken to prevent it. Don't worry about flying, you'll be fine. I wouldn't do it if it was risky. If you're worried come and say hello to the crew and let them know you're a bit nervous. I always keep an eye out for someone if I know they're a nervous flyer. If you've got your seatbelt on you're really not in danger in turbulence. It's the ones that get up and wander that are.

Justkeeprolling, it is a waste, but we try not to open so many bottles that lots is thrown away, it's usually just the last bits of the bottles.