I was cabin crew AMA

[Cicciabella]

Just that really ,,,,,

What’s the most annoying thing about passengers?

So your eyes acclimatise to the level of darkness outside (also why they dim the cabin lights).

I think I was one of your ex colleagues OP!

Is coffee OK to drink?

Do you get scared during turbulence?

Fly Airbus, not Boeing.

What do you do when someone dies mid-flight? Do you leave them in their seat? Do the people in the rows infront and behind know? (Asked this on a previous AMA but the OP disappeared).

Do you genuinely like getting a wee box of chocolates from boarding passengers?

Any tips for new (long haul) cabin crew just starting out?

Have you had any scary incidents?

On a flight back from Mauritius it was obvious as they did all the ‘is there a doctor on board?’ announcements. Then it all went quiet and they made no further announcements other than before landing to say we had to stay in our seats until the police and paramedics boarded.

They quietly moved people from the central rear row of seats (it was a 3-4-3 layout) and wrapped the man in blankets and lay him on the back seats. The trouble was the toilets were at the back so it wasn’t exactly out of the way.

I guess it might be different now, this was 10 years ago.

Do you get to see much (tourism) of the places you fly to or is it more journey than destination?

As someone else said, what's the most annoying thing passengers do?

And what could a passenger do that would really make your day? (I'm a very frequent flyer and would love to be a good passenger!)

Also as someone else said, how do upgrades happen? I travel frequently, solo, always dress nice, don't drink. Never once been upgraded ☹️

Congratulations, I don't think people appreciate how difficult the job is! I did a BTEC National Travel and Tourism at college and we were able to do cabin crew training - so much to learn. I was scared when I learnt how the No 1 person had to wear the horrible mask in the fire/smoke situation.

I've just come back from a tour of NZ - Heathrow to Singapore, we had a night and a full day in Singapore. Late that night we flew Singapore to Auckland.

My tip for surviving cattle class is take your own comfortable headphones, and when you want to sleep, use an eye mask.

We flew to Singapore from Christchurch and I stayed awake for the ten and a half hours. We had a five hour break (check out the waterfall!) then the Singapore to Heathrow flight. This flight is loooong - but this time I wore my eye mask and slept. Was so glad to wake up with only 5 hours left to go!

Also as someone else said, how do upgrades happen? I travel frequently, solo, always dress nice, don't drink. Never once been upgraded ☹️

Someone told me years ago that upgrades only happen if the economy section is overbooked. Is this true?

I’ve seen a lot of the world over the 20+ years I flew for. We did stay over a lot, sometimes for a few days, so yes we got to see the tourist stuff and shop etc.

Re the upgrades, they generally happen when a cabin is over booked and are usually done by the check in staff. They usually pick frequent flyers with the points cards - the higher your tier (from more flights) the more likely you’ll get upgraded. But sometimes they just pick randomly. Being polite and smiling at them is more likely to make them pick you than throwing a strop!

As for being a nice passenger. Interact. Smile. Take your headphones off when you’re served. Say please and thank you. It doesn’t take much for crew to like you.

Morbid question but a colleague’s wife sadly died while they were on holiday together, and he had to fly back without her (or possibly her body was flown back in the hold with him, not sure).
I was wondering, are cabin crew aware of this kind of thing when it happens? And does the widow/er get an upgrade to somewhere quieter on the plane?
the thought of having to sit next to the original empty seat your loved one was meant to be in seems so cruel, or worse sat next to some chatty family while you just want to cry for 8+ hours.

We should know. Hopefully he’d be moved seats and the cabin crew would discreetly keep an eye on him, chat to him if he wanted, leave him in peace if he wanted quiet. You get people travelling for a huge variety of reasons, some happy, some sad

Do you wish alcohol was banned on flights due to more aggressive behaviours, do you have the power to stop someone boarding if the person is already tanked up?

Im interested in the alcohol one two. It seems so dated now as we know it isn’t great for us and there has been plenty of trouble from it. Would customers complain?

What's your favourite airport?

Ooh favourite airport. Possibly Phoenix as they were always lovely, friendly ground staff.

Re alcohol, not had too many problems. We did have the ability to offload someone if we thought they would be trouble, and we did have a restraint kit for mid flight. I must confess I’ve emptied a few mini bottles of gin/vodka out and filled them with water on the odd occasion so a quite drunk passenger thought they were getting more alcohol but they weren’t!

is there an AED on board? Do staff know CPR?
do you have emergency drugs - epipen? Etc

Not true, it’s to maximise situational awareness in case of an emergency evacuation being needed. The second part re dimming the lights is true, but it’s in the context of situational awareness not specifically darkness.

How do you resolve seating issues

Is the pay good?

The ‘bongs’, those noises the crew use to communicate. Someone (they worked in the DO for Monarch years ago) told me you never ever want to hear 4 bongs, is that something bad?