Donning my hard hat for this one - cabin crew appearance

[TellerTuesday]

I do realise I'm probably going to get flamed for this but has anyone else noticed a real decline in the appearance of cabin crew members?

Just had a flight with Virgin and the female members honestly looked dreadful. Ill fitting uniforms, red trousers stretched over VPL bottoms, tight white gaping shirts, one had a drab cardigan over the top.

I realise it's a sexist notion but when I was younger they always looked so glamorous strutting through the airport in their heeled court shoes (mainly flat now it appears), immaculate hair and make up.

Also thought the same when I last flew with TUI. The male cabin crew always seem to look well turned out.

I’m not from the UK, but you can always spot young girls from the UK by the way they dress. Almost always failing to dress appropriately.

Given at many airlines Long Haul crew, when away from base, have an hour from wake up call to being on the crew bus (and are probably on a night stop, sleep deprived and their body clock is shot to hell) I think they generally do an impressive job of keeping up appearances.

We spoke to an (immaculate) woman on Emirates, she said she spent so much money on pantyhoses. They had to be a specific brand, and they broke easily. She had to pay for them out of her own salary, very unfair. They had pretty strict rules overall.

I think they look hot and sweaty in the cheap nylon I’ll fitting uniforms

None if that is the persons fault.

My MIL was an air hostess in the late 50s/early 60s. She was tall and slender and in those days you had to be a trained nurse to qualify for the job.

Her knees have been shot to pieces, not helped by wearing high heels on board when your feet swell up during the flight.

I think they’d look much more comfortable wearing clothes in the right size. So many of the women are squeezed into tight waists and buttons looking ready to pop open- it must feel so uncomfortable. I don’t know if they’re pressured to order small sizes and it’s frowned upon to be bigger than a size 12 or something as I’d say most female cabin crew I see are wearing a too small uniform.

You are being very judgemental and unreasonable

YABU, they get told what to wear and how to do their makeup. DH works as a pilot for another airline, the uniform is cheap and ill-fitting. Also you try staying immaculate for a ridiculously long work day like where you have probably got up at 4am. You sound like the sort of entitled arse who makes their job even harder 🙄

Not read the full thread...

I'm ex cabin crew, worked long and short haul, not low cost.

When I first interviewed I was weighed and had my measurements taken on the first part of the recruitment day. I also sat exams in English, maths snd general knowledge followed by team work exercises and a then 3:1 interview. A bit like x factor with people being cut out during the process. I have worked for more than one airline including a flag carrier and the process was similar.

In the 2000's most airlines stopped weighing at interview in the UK and used wording like "weight in proportion to height".

During the initial training course we had to have time on grooming and were shown the best way to wear our hair and make up. I had exams on uniform standards which included things like which hand to hold your handbag in, when to wear my hat, allowed nail varnish colours and what size heel was allowed in the cabin and for dress shoes (we had higher heels to walk through the airport then changed into a lower/ cabin heel for the flight). I believe many airlines now don't do this and just allow low heels the whole duty.

I've spoken about this with friends who still fly and they agree standards have dropped, mainly because of cost and because of woke/ body confidence culture and inclusivity. Low cost airlines have also influenced other airlines and contributed to the drop in standards. However, many crew do take a natural pride in their appearance.

To address some points I skimmed across:-

Most new crew are educated to degree level.

Cabin crew shouldn't be putting heavy bags in lockers. If it's too heavy for the pax, it's too heavy for the crew and it goes into the hold.

Crew are on board primarily for safety and not to be a waitress. They are trained in advanced first aid, all of the safety equipment on board and various other procedures. In an emergency they act as every emergency service until fire/police/ ambulance etc services can take over. Customer service is secondary.

Not all long haul trips are bullets, I've been three week trips abroad and had week stays working the flight out and the flight home with paid days off between.

Make up shoes - whatever as long as they are comfy, hair should at least be clean not greasy! But the uniform isn’t their fault is it- it’s the company cutting corners. I do think it’s a shame companies don’t dress their staff in decent stuff any more but the cheapest mass produced they can

Technically, high heels were invented for men, but otherwise I agree, had no interest in being an air hostess but even as a child, felt bad for them having to wear makeup/heels etc. but I was kind of a tomboy 😂 I doubt I’ll ever fly, but still think it’s great that they’re making things more comfortable for airline staff.

I was on easyJet to Portugal last week and I was struck by how good looking and smart the whole crew were. The passengers less so!

I think Virgin have a policy of not making staff conform to a certain look.
So long as professional and clean, all good. You could say the same for all jobs these days. I work with some teachers that wear what I wear to garden in!

I don't care what they wear and as long as they are clean how they look. I care that should things go south they have sufficient training to save me.

Every time I fly I've had excellent service from well trained cabin crew.

But OP isn't cabin crew!

OP - can't say I've noticed this but haven't flown Virgin

Well it’s a different job now isn’t it. Salary, benefits and working conditions are all much poorer than 30 years ago. Low cost travel made air travel more accessible but also much less glamorous.
It makes absolutely no odds to me
either way. Similar to waiters, I only really care about hygiene . Looks and style are irrelevant

Agree with this.

I couldn't stand Richard Branson because of the way he surrounded himself with perfect looking women on photoshoots.

As long as they do a good job, I don't care what they look like.

It was probably made that way for men, yuck. So glad it's more relaxed now

But OP isn't cabin crew so the comparison is irrelevant.

I've only just flown in the past week (Emirates), but all the cabin crew I saw (on the plane and around the airports) looked really smart. Ok, a lot of them were not wearing heeled shoes, but I thought that they all looked immaculately turned out. They were all also wonderful at their jobs.

To be honest though, I don't care whether they're wearing makeup, or heels, and I don't care if they look like they've stepped out of a Vogue fashion shoot.

I'd love to look as glam as they do, but I'm glad I don't have to in my job (nurse). I certainly couldn't wear heeled shoes in my role, and working the hours that I do, so I'm glad that cabin crew don't have to (they do crazy hours too). I think their uniforms should be comfortable and functional, rather than glamorous.

@FrenchMustard but does he wear a hat? Pilots, In my view, have to wear a proper pilot hat or it doesn't feel right.

Why on earth would you dress up to use public transport, especially when you’re uncomfortable anyway?! If I need to look presentable after a flight I take a change of clothes and use the shower in the arriving airport to freshen up, planes are gross.

Which airline was it again who's cabin crew's training and professionalism saved passengers when a plane caught fire? 🤔 Not sure I'd care if they had VPL or not.

They are there for safety.

Yes, I was cabin crew for a couple of years in the 70s and there was certainly a ‘fat list’ you were put on if extra weight was getting obvious.

In one way I can see the point - during meal (or drinks) services when the trolleys are out, you do need to be on the reasonably slim side to get past them in the aisle. Luckily I was never more than about a size 10 at the time - alas no longer…

As if you spent the whole flight ogling these poor women. Are you a closeted lesbian?