Welcome to the Front Line

Recently Virgin Atlantic, and now Air Lingus, announced that they were liberating cabin crew from the requirement to wear makeup, a nonissue for most. As an ambassador for the airline, grooming and presentation are part of donning the uniform.

Why take the glamour away from the industry simply to appear progressive? What should be winning media ‘air time’ are the roles these men and women play daily, on the front line of airline ambassadorship where anything can happen and usually does.

The days of the ‘Trolly Dolly’, the glorified waitress (or remember the term Air Hostess?) are gone. Today’s cabin crew are highly trained, highly skilled and ready for anything. You might feel a little differently about the person greeting you as you board your next 737 or your A380 once you take in a selection of these highlights.

To start, a few Interesting points I uncovered during my research. None of the cabin crew I interviewed, who had thousands of hours and between two and 25 years flying experience, had ever experienced a serious aircraft failure in flight. In light of the recent 737 MAX issues, I found that perspective comforting.

I had also assumed that the female to male ratio would swing to women as the majority. It differed between airlines but the numbers are far closer to parity than I expected. At Qantas, the crew tells me it feels more like 55/45 in favour of men; at Virgin the view is that it is 60/40 in favour of women. (Official figures not available).

All cabin crew have hospitality backgrounds right? Wrong. I can state that the people in charge of your comfort, safety and appetite could in fact be plumbers, lawyers, teachers and even a dentist. Many of them have multiple languages.

Finally, if you want to know how to annoy your crew from the outset, then blatantly ignore the safety talk.

The most important part of their job is your safety and they take this stuff seriously. Noted.

I know in theory they have to be ready for medical emergencies, antisocial behaviour, upset children and distraught parents. But what is it really like? From here I felt it only fair to disregard anything I thought I knew and dig deep to find real stories that illustrate what these front line crew face every day.

Take for example, the time a former cleric, now cabin crew, was called upon to administer the last rights on-board an international flight after an elderly passenger suffered a fatal heart attack. Or the time a woman collapsed against the toilet door and it couldn’t be opened. The crew flew into action locating a nurse small enough to fit through the gap in the door and perform CPR.

The first class stories are in a league of their own… some first class passengers consider crew their personal wait staff. On a flight from Johannesburg, one particularly needy gentleman became more and more abusive and aggressive. Not long after 9/11, security was at an alltime high and this threat was taken very seriously. The crew organised a nice surprise for him at Sydney Airport – the Federal Police. He was subsequently banned from flying with the airline.

You might think, wow, crew should not have to deal with that, and you are right. However this crew member never felt threatened as the New Zealand All Blacks were on board and had her back.

Most passengers are wonderful, so I will throw in some of the good guys: super stars of screen and music who are just down to earth good people.

Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran fame handed over a copy of this latest album to a cabin crew fan. Angry Anderson is happy to pose for a selfie and Sophie Monk is just as quick-witted and lovely as on TV.

The royals always manage to surprise crew. The Duchess of Kent will emerge from a teeny tiny lavatory after a long flight with perfectly coiffed hair! The crew is not sure how given there isn’t enough room in there to tease anything, let alone your hair.

I’ve heard lots of instances where crew have stepped outside their position description such as soothing nervous flyers or rushing to the baggage carousal to return something left on board, even a wedding dress! At Qantas, crew can also volunteer annually for a one-hour 747 joy flight full of disabled or disadvantaged children. For some this is the favourite part of their job and gives perspective to those not so great front line experiences.

What passengers don’t see is that this could be a crew member’s third flight, or he/she might have had four changes to the duty roster and with an unexpectedl “overnight” with minimum rest. I don’t know about you, but I’m not that gracious without a good night’s sleep.

That’s where my appreciation of these utter professionals goes through the roof. They must be incredibly flexible, even-tempered, gracious, good-humoured, and multi-skilled.

Now that I know both the highs and the challenges of a career in the cabin, I have come away with renewed admiration for the job and the people in it.

And that never more so than when this final story was recounted to me: A young female passenger, both medicated and intoxicated, vomited all over herself and her clothes. Crew had to clean her in her entirety – and I mean entirety.

Respect.

‘The most important part of their job is your safety’