Cabin crew?

[Pigeonchested]

I have always wanted to do this. I live nearish to Heathrow, I’m 45, kids are late teens so starting to get some freedom back in my life. No experience but I want a new job/some excitement/to travel more. Would I be mad to look into this? Am I too old? Would anyone want to employ me? I’d rather do long haul than short if I had the choice. Is it feasible / possible?

Oh and back then, they didn´t want anyone over 45. Glad to see things have changed.

My friend has recently started the training course with Virgin. She's 55.

I was crew for a short period before I fell pregnant. I flew with plenty of people over 40, age isn’t a barrier at all like it was back in the day.

I plan to go back when the kids are older, I’ve got 3 young kids now so it wouldn’t be manageable, but definitely when they’re older. Go for it! You’ve got nothing to lose. If you hate it or it doesn’t fit in with your family, you can just leave 😊

@Pigeonchested

i like the look of BA to be honest as they seem to do more structured shifts from what I gather (eg you could do Tuesday - Friday each week or whatever)

Not sure about that TBH, never heard of it when I was there but it may have changed. I have to be honest and say I'm not sure how that would work when BA now try to fit both Longhaul and Shorthaul trips on Cabin Crew (CC) rosters, though as @mummyh2016 says it might now be available to some.

IMO if work pattern is important to you it's really important to try and see some real rosters from Cabin Crew who are currently working there, if you can, before committing....I know someone who trained for BA, took one look at their first roster and said actually, no thanks...

One sometimes thorny issue with flying jobs is that somebody has to cover weekends/bank holidays and if certain cohorts start having weekends permanently off then other cohorts pick up the weekend work.

BA were advertising the other day. 3 of my friends started last year. 10 of my friends left, forced out in the recent changes.

BA are in the middle of splitting their European flights into a seperate company BA Euroflyer so they may go back to dedicated long haul/ short haul. Worth asking the question.

I may be wrong, I probably am, but isn't BA Euroflyer simply the new BA Gatwick operation, rather than a complete split of the entire BA network?

Whatever the answer Euroflyer might fit the OP's wishes better than what's available at LHR.

It’s a new subsidiary so it’s a separate company legally, I am not sure how they are structuring staff though. Just something I noticed that might affect things.

I used to live near Heathrow and wanted to be cabin crew. I ended up teaching. Do it, you might regret it if not (I wish I'd gone for it)

FWIW on the Flight crew (Pilot) side of things the recruitment as I understand it has been for a completely separate company (as you say), isolated from BA mainline, Gatwick operations only...

I suspect the Cabin Crew set up would also be Gatwick only unless the Unions at LHR have completely lost their clout and/or things have radically changed since my time.

Go for it.

If you don't, then you will always be wondering 'what if?'.

I am cabin crew for one of the airlines mentioned (insert wide eyed emoji here!), please ask me anything!

Re a couple of things, you’re not too old, lots of people start older than you.

You can’t choose the days you work, but you can “bid” for certain working days, days off, destinations. And lots of my work friends bid for weekends off and always achieve it.

You might be missing Xmas, birthdays, bank holidays. If an aircraft goes “tech” you might get stuck somewhere (I’ve been stuck in San Fran for 72 hours extra before) so it ruins your plans for when you’re home

But it’s a brilliant job. The pay is ok & you stay in great hotels. And you can take family or friends with you, they just pay taxes plus 10% or just taxes. My husband has been everywhere with me

Last time I flew (months ago) , famous global airline, NOT a cheap one; one of the cabin crew was a 50 ish greyhaired lady , no sylph. Absolutely acing the job and she knew it.

I saw this recently OP:
amp.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/24/easyjet-looks-to-over-45s-in-cabin-crew-recruitment-drive

you’re def not too old!

@sarahtalkstoomuch ooooo!!!!! Can you pick rosters? This is my main thing - would you be able to do the same ish days each week? I don’t mind which days but I was just wondering if I could teach my Pilates classes on the side still (the salary isn’t great so was wondering if I could somehow combine both)

@Oblomov23 it doesn’t look like they are now from their website 😭 maybe I just missed it!

It’s pretty achievable tbh, I know people who do full time degrees alongside flying. You’d need to use a combination of clever bidding and annual leave eg. A Miami trip gives you 3 days off after, so if you want to teach your class on a Tuesday, bid for a Miami on a Friday or Saturday and an additional bid for Tuesdays off. At my airline, we bid monthly so if something changes at home, you can bid to suit

It’s worth it to see the world. You get very good at doing a lot in a short space of time. I can do so much in 24 hours in NYC. But some trips feel more like a holiday. I’ve been given a 7 day LA before, 6 day San Fran, 6 day Mumbai, 7 day Rio.

Definitely give it a go! Recruitment is currently closed while they work through the back log but it’ll be an open again soon cos it always is!

I did it with Dan Air when they were around for 6 months in my late 20's. I hated it, treated like shit and worked until I fell over. I went back to nursing for the rest.

But you either had to have two languages or be a nurse in those days. I speak 4 and I'm a nurse.

A friend just started at BA, she’s just turned 60 and is loving it. Go for it !

A lot will depends on the airline and how it's bidding system for trips works...

I have to be honest and say whilst I recognise some of the long layovers that have been described at some destinations the standard for most places on out network was either one night (eastern seaboard including Miami , Mumbai,

..(hit post accidently), two nights elsewhere...if I recall correctly when BA brought mixed fleet in they had a Rio night stop.

Longer layovers tended to be outliers often associated with season/schedule changes.

I worked with a lady who joined Virgin once her youngest kid started uni. She must have been in her 50's and from what I see in Sm is having the time of her life

We now contractually have to have at least 2 nights on the west coast, and South America and South Africa. It used to be really bad for some destinations but now we’re quite heavily unionised and the pay and conditions are better. There are still 3 day trips, obviously - tbh, we have a swap facility, I’d rather do European night stops than a 3 day Mumbai or Bangalore

a 3 day east coast is still ok though. 24 hours there, clear at about 7am and then 3 days off after. All your work for a week done

It used to be really bad for some destinations but now we’re quite heavily unionised and the pay and conditions are better.

I'm really glad to hear that, I recall seeing/discussing some of the rosters and trip constructions with some involved at the time and thinking so much was wrong on so many levels.

ATB.