Whatever the reasons a post catches my eye, it makes me feel part of a very special group of people – travel bloggers.

Narrow street in Italy

Here are some great reads from this past week:

My Bella Vita explains her theory on how to learn Italian – an entire month without speaking anything but Italian.  Will it work?

Galley Gossip on Gadling is written by a flight attendant, and this explanation of non-revving, deadheading, positioning, and commuting, explains why you sometimes see flight attendants sitting in a seat, or being give a boarding priority.  Before you curse them out, read this post.

Travel Blog Exchange has a post by Dana on the best and safest hotel choices in Russia.  You don’t have to rough it in Russia.

The Paris Traveler explains where all the Parisiens go in August.  And why.  They definitely have a better attitude about vacationing than many of us do.

The Montreal Guide lets us in on one giant waterfight.  Sounds like a lot of fun!

Gadling covers the story of Ryan Air CEO Michael O’Leary who says that passengers who are demanding anything more than the most basic of service should just go away.  Sounds like a company that has found their niche and has no intention of being anything more.

Nerds Eye View pens a wonderful travel essay from her recent road trip that took her through Montana.  Anyone who has passed through Big Sky country will relate to Pam’s feelings of being the tourist.

Those are my favorites for this week.  I’ll have another selection for you next Sunday.

Photo credit:  personal collection

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

In today’s economic times, with airlines cutting back routes and furloughing employees, it’s often hard to get excited about entering an industry that has such a tough road ahead of it.  Which all leads to today’s question —

Q.  Are any airlines hiring?

A.  Remarkably, yes.

The only major carrier that is hiring is Continental, and that’s only for individuals who are Chinese Mandarin language qualified.  Jet Blue is hiring is your Spanish speaking.

The remaining carriers that are hiring are all regional or commuter carriers.

If you want to keep track and who’s hiring and how to apply, you can check the Who’s Hiring page of the Association of Flight Attendant.  AFA is the largest union representing Flight Attendants, but the list of who’s hiring includes both union and non-union carriers.  Each entry notes the website of the carrier and a brief description of how to apply.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

The question today, though, is one that I’ve gotten asked a lot over these past few weeks. 

Q.  Are any airlines hiring Flight Attendants right now?

A.  Not that I know of.  Most of the major carriers, and many of the regional and commuter airlines has furloughed Flight Attendants.  Furlough means layoff. 

Everyone is trying to ride out what looks like a very bumpy year, and that means cutting back on routes.  When you cut back on routes, you have to cut back on people.  So it’s not a good time to be a new hire in the airline industry – whether as a Flight Attendant or at any job function.

You can check specifically with the airline that interests you by visiting their website.  Most airlines have an employment or jobs links.

If your goal is to get hired as a Flight Attendant, there are still things that you can do until the industry turns around.  Get a degree, get some job experience, get involved in compelling work.  It will all give you an edge with the job market loosens up again.

Do you have a question about being a Flight Attendant?  The job, the life, the stories?  Email your question to me.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Depending on the company, training usually lasts 4-6 weeks.  It includes classroom and hands on training, and may be at a variety of odd hours of the day or night.  Classroom training usually occurs during business hours, but time spent on the plane has to be scheduled when the plane isn’t flying – and that’s often in the middle of the night.

Most training starts of with some basic company orientation.  From learning about your airline, to city codes, airplanes, route structure, to who’s who in the company — it’s your welcome to the wonderful world of aviation.

In training you will learn all about the cabin features and components of the various planes that the airline has.  This includes how and when to use which emergency exits, how to use all the safety and emergency equipment in the cabin. how to conduct emergency evacuations (land) and ditching (water), handling decompressions, and lots of other safety and emergency procedures.  You will likely have the experience of inflating an emergency slide, and sliding down it.

You will also learn about the various FAR’s that pertain to the cabin.  This is the extensive list of federal regulations that govern the industry, and Flight Attendants learn what they are responsible for.  It’s the answer to many of the “why do I have to do that” questions, and governs things like carry on bags, car seat use, lap children, exit row seating, and lots more.

There will also be first aid training as Flight Attendants are usually the first responder while in the air.  You will learn CPR and how to use the defibrillators (now found onboard most every aircraft these days), and rescue breathing.  You will also learn some of the more routine first aid applications like choking, cuts, shock, and a variety of other medical situations.

You will be briefed and trained in security matters, learning how the job of a Flight Attendant fits into the big picture.  This training is highly confidential, and should never be discussed with anyone else outside of work.

After the safety, security, emergency procedures, and first aid is finished up, Flight Attendants are then trained on a variety of customer service policies and procedures.  Again, procedures differ among the airlines, but include such things like boarding procedures, handling of duplicate seats, service flow and requirements, handling customer complaints, liquor procedures and policies, etc. 

The part of the job that passengers see is the customer service aspect, but the emphasis in the training is clearly on safety and security.  We hope that you don’t ever have to see that side of our job.  But if you do, you’ll be glad for the training that we’ve received.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Today’s questions comes from Ariana:

Q.  How many hours do you work each day?  How many flights?

A.  The work day of a Flight Attendant is set by the contract they work under, having been negotiated by the Flight Attendants (or the union representing them) and the airline. 

It typically begins one hour prior to the scheduled departure of the first flight of the day, and ends one half hour after the aircraft arrives at the crew’s final destination for the day.  The length of that duty day can range from 10 1/2 to 14 hours, with the majority of airlines at 12 hours.  Provisions for extra crew members and onboard rest provisions occur for longer flights.

The number of flights in a work day will depend on both the contractual length of the day and the type of flying.  Transcontinental or transatlantic flying will often mean only one flight per day as the flight time is in the range of 5-10 hours.  More flights can be scheduled into a day when they are shorter.

On Flight Attendant Fridays I try to answer questions about the job of a Flight Attendant, my personal experiences, and the airline industry and travel industry in general.  If you have a question, please email it to me and I’ll answer it on a future Friday.

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

A.  What a great question!

No one likes a delay, least of all your flight crew, but they are rarely within our control.  So, we’re pretty much in the same boat as everyone else.

What I do depends on when the delay occurs.

If we’re already boarded and ready to go, we hang out along with you guys.  Generally speaking, in this situation the delay is what we call a “creeping delay.”  This means that every ten minutes or so we’re supposed to get an update.  It doesn’t always happen that way, and the flight crew is often the last to get an update.  And believe me, although the delay is expected to be short, a creeping delay can quickly add up into a whopper of a delay.

If these situations, there’s really not much that you can do.  It’s not fun, and we hate it too.  Ringing your call button and asking how long it’s going to be, won’t speed the process up any.  Complaining about how uncomfortable you are, when you’ve turned down an opportunity to get off, will not garner you any sympathy.  If you are given the opportunity to deplane, take it.  We would if we could. 

If the delay occurs before boarding, Flight Attendants are likely to get off the aircraft.  We’ll go searching for food, coffee, a magazine, use rest rooms in the airport, find a place with good reception to make a phone call, or even find a wi-fi spot.  It will all depend on the length of the delay.

It always amazes me how after a delay of some duration, the first thing people start talking about is needing to use the lavatory or wanting something to drink.  Didn’t you do that while you were in the terminal?

What do you do during a delay?  Tell us in the comments.

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Q.  I know that Flight Attendants hate it when passengers ring the call button.  But is there a time when it’s okay to use it?  It’s there, after all.

A.  Yeah, the ringing call button can really be an annoyance to us, and it’s for a couple of reasons.

Most important of all, however, is that if you have an emergency, use it.  Do not hesitate!

That said, there are differing opinions about what constitutes an emergency.

During certain phases of flight, specifically the take off and landing sequence, emergency should be interpreted very strictly.  This is a time when we are buckled into our jump seats, for our own safety, and getting up to answer a call button can be dangerous.

At any time, if you are ill, see someone around you who may need first aid assistance, see someone being harmed or threatened with harm, overhear threats or intimidation, see something that could threaten the safety of the flight, or have an emergency situation – reach up or over and push the call button.  We want you to use it, even if the situation plays out to not be the crisis you may have believed it was.  Better safe than sorry.

For less dire circumstances, use the call button when you need something, but be mindful of what else is going on around you. 

Keep reading, and see how you’d answer the following questions:

• You see the Flight Attendants rushing about with first aid items, paging for a doctor or nurse, and see another passenger collapsed at the floor.  You’re wondering what time the flight is going to get in.  Do you ring the call button?
• The plane is climbing up to cruise altitude, and your child is already a little bored with the flight.  All of a sudden he notices all the buttons overhead.  There’s a button that turns the light on and off and he plays with that for awhile.  After that he reaches for the call button.  Do you intercept him, or let him play with it?
• Beverages have just been served at your row, and the Flight Attendants have moved the cart ahead to serve the next row.  You’ve downed your glass of water, don’t want to hold the glass any more, and want it taken away.  Do you ring the call button.
• The Flight Attendants have finished the food and beverages cart(s), and have just made an announcement that they are going to pick up some trash, and re-stock supplies and will then be out with additional beverages.  You want a refill on your coffee.  Do you ring the call button?

All of the above have happened, and all have been an annoyance.  Simply put, there are much fewer of “us” than there are of ""you."  If we’re busy with other duties and/or assisting other passengers, we really need you to wait your turn.  That may sound like we don’t care about customer service, but it’s quite the opposite.  We want to get to things as quickly as possible, but constant interruptions for call buttons just slows the process down.

Use the call button, but use it wisely.

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

One entertainer who has captured the humor of our job is Pam Ann, a character created by Australian comedian Caroline Reid.  Pam Ann, a twist on the name of former airline Pan Am, is part drag routine and part campy humor with a bit of glamour thrown in for good measure.  Her routines play on the stereotypes of airlines, Flight Attendants, and some of the quirkiness of various airline cultures. 

Although much of the humor can be on the risque side, here’s a safe-for-work clip of what it’s like to work the beverage cart:

Pam Ann frequently tours in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia.  She has a released a couple DVD’s, and I hear that one more is in the works.

People often think that Flight Attendants are offended at humor like this.  Quite the contrary is true!  This is funny stuff, and we appreciate it as much as anyone!

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines

And who’s to blame?

According to the filmmaker – the airlines – who failed to inform travelers of these problems, despite repeated incidents of passenger and crew exposure to toxic fumes.  In other words, they knew about it and did nothing.

Captain Loraine interviews pilots, Flight Attendants, and passengers, who all share their experiences and incapacitation from toxic exposures.  That’s followed by doctors and scientists who attempt to explain how these affects can last for years, if not a lifetime.

Interviews, information, and lots of data were collected into the book, Toxic Airlines,  and from that research and writing came this documentary.  You can buy Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines for £17.99.  The book is available for £17.99 (hardback) and £9.99 (paperback).

Image credit:  DFT Enterprises

Post from: Fly Away Cafe