Those of us of a certain age remember when "stewardess" used to seem like a glamorous job. Those days are certainly well in the past. The NY Times sent a reporter on a crash course (pardon the expression) to try out the life of a flight attendant for a few days. As she says, "Is there a less-enviable, more-stressful occupation these days than that of a flight attendant?"

Read her saga here. It left me with a lot more sympathy for these (mostly) women.

- Roz

Whoever was on that horrible rotation needs to learn to bid for a better schedule.

Oh, yes! I sure wanted to be one...long ago. I opted for public education and it's not a far cry from this story! Especially the line “I will be a teacher, I will be a pastor, I will be a counselor, I will be a mediator." Of course, the "pastor" part is in disguise and regulated and there's not too much liquor flowing! There's alway's one - no matter where you go!

That's quite an article. I feel for the flight attendants featured. (On the flip side, I have experienced my fair share of snippy ones who thought I was a good target for their frustrations.)

I'm curious if fellow travelers ever do anything special for flight attendants, if you say anything or even give anything to FAs? It seems like an often thankless job, with little appreciation expressed by passengers. At least servers in restaurants get tips. No, I'm not suggesting that we should slip FAs cash.

We all grouse about our fellow travellers, but they're a simple inconvenience in our own travels. Those poor flight attendents have all of us daily. I fear to think what I'd do dealing with hoards of people just like me every day. *shiver*

What are the ways their jobs could be made easier? Small carry-ons and few eating requirements? Who (without medical problems) couldn't go fifteen or so hours without eating?

As one old enough to have had TWA hostesses give me those little golden wing pins as a kid I can only feel dreadfully sorry for the latest diminution of travel pleasures for all of us and especially for the flight attendants.

Cheers!
Alecto

quote:

Originally posted by Linda_B:
(On the flip side, I have experienced my fair share of snippy ones who thought I was a good target for their frustrations.)

Me, too. I travel often, and the FA's are not as gracious & nice as the "stew's" used to be. In fact, a pretty high percentage of them are downright surly and rude these days. I know they have a stressful job, but so do I.

Very interesting article.
I remember applying to be a flight attendant at age 17, and being told I was too young; so I went into nursing instead.
Let me tell you: the general public you encounter in hospitals can be just as frustrating and annoying as the passengers on aircraft!!!
It helps us all if we can be as respectful, kind and helpful to public service employees as we can.
Do unto others as you would have done unto you!!
(Especially on a very long overseas flight!! )

Hi Roz,
Yes, me too I dreamt of being a stewardess. But that was in the 70ies. When those people were wearing nice white or other uniforms. They were considered lucky, because of traveling to nice places. Now, I was looking at them on the plane, and really it is a pain. Just serving in a restaurant is a breeze as compared to.

They have to solve so many problems. On our flight yesterday it was a lot of turbulance. One person was so sick, that they had to search for a doctor on the plane. Some were just drunk, and possibly were sick because of that. This is far away from a romantic idea of stewardess.

quote:

Me, too. I travel often, and the FA's are not as gracious & nice as the "stew's" used to be. In fact, a pretty high percentage of them are downright surly and rude these days.

And unattractive! Good grief...

Re snippy attendants--I was on a Southwest flight from Oakland to Chicago (4 hours) and needed a pillow for my low back problems. I tried to get the male attendants attention. He gave no sign he had heard me. I called "excuse me, flight attendant" several times and he totally ignored me. The next time he went by I called out again and may have said "Hey!" I really don't remember. The next thing I knew, a pillow was flung into my face. I was so shocked I couldn't even react. He said, "I don't answer to Hey You."

I was going to get his name and report him but subsequently got involved in a book and by the time I got off the plane had forgotten to get his name. I could kick myself for not confronting him, but maybe it would have ended up like the Adam Sandler character in "Anger Management" and I'm the one who would have suffered!

To LindaB's question: I always pack food for myself and my traveling companion. I don't travel on airplanes as often now, but I always bring a little extra for the flight attendants. I usually make sure it's something that they can't get in an airport, like wonderful fresh fruit, home made cookies or really high-end chocolate.

I always got a smile, and sometimes I got free drinks!

Well, we never got any freebies, but a couple of times we've taken chocolates from the Candy Kitchen for the attendants. They at least pretended to get a kick out of it, but I wonder if it was eaten?

In this day and age, would you eat candy given to you by a complete stranger?

quote:

In this day and age, would you eat candy given to you by a complete stranger?

Nope, and especially not if I worked for one of the most hated industries in the country!

quote:

Originally posted by SGabriele:
[QUOTE]In this day and age, would you eat candy given to you by a complete stranger?

I was thinking the same thing.....
Call me suspicious, but I would not eat anything given to me by a stranger.....

I wouldn't either, sad but true.

A friend of mine who is a pilot for a major airline sometimes has friends/family fly as his guests using special, bargain-priced tickets. In those cases, he suggests that his guests bring a small gift such as a box of chocolates for the crew to share. Of course this would be something in its original plastic wrapping, and it would be better still if they were individually wrapped inside of that too. Of course, it also helps that the gift bearer is a friend of the pilot, and unlikely to be attempting to poison the crew!

Hi

Very interesting article. I think that people that fly a lot should read this to view "the other side of the coin". Back in the old days I guess it was very glamorous to be a pilot or a stewardess. But that was back in the days when people in general couldn't afford to travel a lot. Now a days it seems like the glamour is gone.

I noticed that most of the people in the article were in their fortys and fifties. Is this because the younger generation don't want this kind of job...or don't have the stamina for it? I also notice that on many asian carriers they have a younger staff. Maybe it is still viewed as a glamourous proffession there and a way to get around the world.

quote:

I noticed that most of the people in the article were in their fortys and fifties. Is this because the younger generation don't want this kind of job...or don't have the stamina for it? I also notice that on many asian carriers they have a younger staff. Maybe it is still viewed as a glamourous proffession there and a way to get around the world.

In at least some of the Asian countries (e.g., Singapore) age discrimination in employment is still legal, so flight attendants get the boot when they're too old to be considered sufficiently attractive.
Many of the US carriers have had layoffs, in which the employees with less seniority are the first to go, leaving the more senior staff.