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A Sneak Peek Into a Flight Attendants Lifestyle

Tracy shares what it really means to be a Flight Attendant

Tom Reincke www.FlightAttendantCareers.com

Published by Travel Quest Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 1051 Toombul Brisbane, Queensland 4012
FlightAttendantCareers.com

The tail plane of my beloved Ansett

(Ansett went into liquidation 3 days after September 11)!

A Sneak Peek Into a Flight Attendants Lifestyle

Tracys Memoirs
(A flight Attendant for 12 years)

Nothing will ever repeat the days of Flying!

Looking back MY LIFE comprises large Chapters of excitement (University and Flying being two of them) and smaller Paragraphs of what I consider inconsequential time time that can be summed up in one sentence. I can apportion my belongings according to these chapters: science collections in one box and flying memorabilia in another.each to be opened and browsed through with intense interest when the opportunity arises.for example, I have compiled a flight attendant album consisting of notes from crewing, photographs, hotel postcards, aircraft postcards and the like which is hilarious to reminisce over with my flying friends. Photographs in the cabin, at the hotels, at the airport, in uniform (and out)all remembering a very specific period of time when youth and a fun career was dominating my life. I became a flight attendant after I had graduated (in Science) and commenced a very unsatisfactory second degree in Law: This was not where I wanted to be so I started to ponder what I really wanted to do. Fate took over and a friends Father (Ansett Pilot, Captain Bill Hanrahan) recommended application to the airline rank of Flight Attendant. I guess it was something that always interested me due to the fact that my Grandparents in England received a video (age 14) where I stated that I wished to become an AirHostess. It was just pushed to the outer rim while I enjoyed University life.

It was hard going from the safe environs of University to the Airport for my first interview (they had obviously accepted the standard application letter and at the time, I heard later, were keen to employ graduates). We had a group interview in front of a panel of real flight attendants and management and were asked what aircraft happened to be sitting on the tarmac outside at the time. A baggage handler from Sydney answered correctly. I was most impressed (I always remembered to look at the engines from then on)! We were given a multiple choice question sheet; the most important question being something along the line of what is most important to an airline (I answered correctlythe passengers of course..as I had been prepped to relate everything to customers and customer service a tip from a former TAA flight attendant). We were then divided into two groups and sent away for measurements and weighing. Although I try I cannot remember a second interview.maybe it was done on the same day? Some months passed after receiving an exciting letter to say I had been accepted and would be called up for flight attendant school this gave me time to complete the year in the Law Faculty and defer my course. I vowed I would fly for two years and then return to the law but as it was such a great lifestyle I never did return.after all I still had a science degree under my belt.. Flying School was a life in itself.20 or so new recruits lived together at the airport Travelodge (we each had our own rooms decorated in green, orange and brown as it was the 80s) and together we faced the perils of exams, exams, and more exams to obtain our wings. Learning the contents of large manuals parrot style with no real vision of what we were learning was tougher than Uni! Plus no-one wanted to fail knowing what the eventual lifestyle was going to be like. My first day On-Line was difficult to say the leastfour different aircraft types in one day (each with very specific emergency equipment locations and drills) flying from Melbourne to Sydney and back again with business executives and welltravelled individuals demanding impeccable service and attention. My first real career outside uni left me quaking in my boots and wondering what I was doing. I remember being amazed that the rest of the crew could tell when the landing wheels came down (a noise which becomes second nature with time) and chatted and laughed without a care in world while I tried to remember the next steps of the service. There must have been some purpose to being thrown in the deep-end as every day after that was a doddle. We flew in pairs for a month back then so it was nice having a flying partner as company. Crews could change interstate but your flying partner had a matching roster which made things easier.two heads are better than one so to speak.and getting use to the different airports, aircraft and crew (especially the Purser) could be daunting.

Years later you just about knew everyone and things were simple.that was when the real fun started. Overnights in plush hotels resulted in drinking sessions in the bar and sometimes even tickets to concerts (if bands were on board your flight). Everyone would be in good spirits after hectic flights (as the adrenaline was rushing from being busy) so dinner, drinks & good-times were inevitable. I am still friends today with ex-airline personnel as strong bonds are bound to be made. It is a lifestyle you get wound into and like University the outside world becomes something else. I didnt get weekends off for quite a number of years as rosters (called blocks) were assigned on seniority and on a monthly basis. Consequently days off were often spent having lunch and spending time with other airline personnel as the real world was at work! The work itself was easy but tiring if you were on your feet all day (or night). You are constantly on demand with the initial food/drinks service being replaced by ringing call buttons but there was still plenty of time to chat in the galley or cabin as the work became automatic.you knew what needed to be done, how to do it and therefore just did it!! We each had a break and could sit and eat a meal on a crew seat and everyone was always drinking and eating in the galley on the run It was great camaraderie .friendships were borne on every flight and with every change of crew. So much was discussed in those galleyslove-life, physical ailments, life in general. A medical diagnosis could be obtained from those discussions.one learned so much just by being in a small zone chatting at 35 thousand feet! The Passengers were also interesting. I remember one flight where I chatted with an American and he ended up joining my family for dinner that nighta great time to be had by all. I remember bumping into him in the concourse of the domestic airport years later and he said he relayed the story of that night to all his friends in amazement at the friendliness of the airline staff in Australia. He was older than I so no romance had ensued but he did end up with some business contacts via a family friend who attended the dinner.

Love life on-board was rife in the Flight Attendant/Pilot ranks. Some flight attendants dated other flight attendants (romances beginning on overnights at various hotels), some flight attendants dated pilots and some flight attendants dated passengers. Some eventually married. No different from resort work or cruise ships!! A lot of fun, frivolity and drinking occurred on those overnights!! Travel became a way of life. We had small overnight bags and you learned how to pack everything you needed in it.years later people commented on how light I could travel but I must admit that now I take everything but the kitchen sinkwe got free flights domestically and heavily discounted international travel. Our month off (every 8th month if I remember) was usually spent overseas with domestic travel being used for days off.it was handy flying to Sydney or Adelaide for lunch or going to the Gold Coast for a quick break. After years of flying it was almost taken for grantedso was your paywages increased each year of service with quite substantial increases if you wanted to become a Purser of Trainer. The main benefits however were in the little things like travel/uniform allowances, meals on every flight, hotel accommodation (saving on washing and water bills at home), travel discounts etc.. but you dont really realise how beneficial all these extras are until you leave Yes, I did leave. As fantastic as it was after several years of service my mind started to wander and I climbed off a flight one day vowing in my mind never to return. I never did. My health had deteriorated & the hedonistic life had to be left behind. I had tried studying for an additional diploma whilst flying in the latter years (to reactivate the brain cells) and although I achieved the goal I knew in my heart of hearts that I had to branch out into the real world and lead a more restricted, conservative life where I ate dinner at relatively the same time every night. It took ages to adjust. One day you are part of a smart uniformed team-playing group on a mission and next day you are a flagged out & alone with a new world at your feet. I juggled and toyed with the idea of returning (once I discovered how hard it was out there) but fate kept facing me ahead. I now work in the finance industry and truly love it but will always remember the wild, spirited, very glamorous days of being a Flight Attendant. It is all in my memorabilia box.

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Good luck, never give up, make your dreams take flight and see you in the air!

Tom www.Flight-Attendant-Careers.com
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