All career fields have their own weird quirks and customs that outsiders don't understand. Whether you're a bartender or a movie star, chances are there are things you wish people could know about your line of work. For flight attendants, all this is compounded by the fact that, as one former flight attendant told us, they're working "in close proximity in a metal tube in the sky." So, yeah, a little different from your average desk job.
But believe it or not, living much of life at 30,000 feet isn't even the wildest thing the four current and former flight attendants we spoke to told us about. From intense training to crash pads to some facts about the cleanliness of airplanes that will make you never want to set foot on one again, scroll on for the facts of flight attendant life that you probably don't know but definitely should.
They're Not Always Getting Paid
"We don’t get paid until the door is shut and for each hour we are delayed, that only takes away from our sleep at the end of the day," explains Shannon Kontalonis, a former flight attendant who now works at the student travel organisation WorldStrides.
"We don't get paid unless you're flying," seconds Shawn Kathleen, a former flight attendant who runs the popular Instagram account Passenger Shaming. "You don't get paid when you're in the airport, you don't get paid during the boarding process (and you know how much of a shitshow that is). You don't get paid for layovers, per say. You get a per diem for like a couple of quid an hour, you know, when you have your overnights or whatever, but you're not getting paid when you have a three-hour sit in Atlanta until your next flight. Your pre-fight duties, all of that stuff, that's free until that door is closed and they released the parking brake and you start to go."
Planes Aren't As Clean As You May Think
"Anyone considering fulfilling their 'mile-high club' fantasies should think twice. The lavatory floors (and even walls!) are absolutely covered in filth and urine from guys who can’t seem to make it in the hole," shares former flight attendant Brittany Cosenza.
They Don't Always Have The Info You Need
"I truly do not know if you are going to miss your connection. For the most part, I am sorry for the stress and anxiety this may cause. I will do everything in my power to make sure you can deplane as quickly as possible, but some things are out of a flight attendant’s control. There are many rules and regulations that prevent pilots from taking off, landing, or taxying to your gate, including weather or permission from air traffic control," says Cosenza.
They Appreciate It When You're Friendly
"Saying hello is so rudimentary and basic, but you wouldn't believe the amount of people who walk on the plane and you're standing there and you're trying to be nice and friendly and 'welcome aboard and hi' and they just look at you and just keep walking. They don't even acknowledge you," says Kathleen. "If you could just be like 'hi' or 'thank you' or some kind of acknowledgment, [that would be nice.]"
They Have A Lot Of Training
"Should you apply to become a flight attendant and get accepted, prepare for a vigorous training program that lasts about one month. Oftentimes, this period is unpaid, and your employment depends on whether or not you pass a final exam," says Cosenza.
"It's four, six, 10, 12 weeks of training, depending on the airline," recalls Kathleen. "By the FAA, you have to get a 90 percent on every test you take, which happens weekly, or a few times a week. You have to [learn to] evaluate aircraft within 90 seconds, you have to go through door drills, you have to shout these commands, you have to learn CPR, you have to learn security, you have to learn firefighting. I mean, you literally put fires out. And most everybody, they worked with a minimum of a bachelor's degree."
They Have To Be On Call
"New flight attendants are on 'reserve' which means that you are on call. For the airline I worked at, we could be called anywhere from 4AM to 4PM, and there were penalties if you didn’t answer your phone. You were expected to arrive at the airport in-uniform and ready to fly within two hours of their phone-call," recalls Cosenza.
"This works out great for newer flight attendants, because it may be the only way they will get to Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, or Tel Aviv, until they gain enough 'seniority' to have those trips But, you are basically on-call for 24 hours a day, not knowing if the Crew Scheduling Team will call you for an early morning check-in, or a late evening check-in," adds Annette, a flight attendant who asked that we only use her first name.
It's Really Not Glamorous... Or Lucrative
"People really see it as glamorous and it's not glamorous. There's a lot of fatigue, there's a lot of short overnights, we're not sleeping well. It's not half as glamorous as people think it is. People are so intrigued by it, but if you threw them on a plane for two days, they'd be like 'hell no,'" says Kathleen.
"When you first start, you're making no money," she adds. "I made like £15,000 a year, £18,000 a year for a few years. That's not a joke. And that's full-time."
They Do Get To Travel For Free, But...
"You do get free travel, but it's standby, so that's only if there's a seat leftover" says Kathleen. "So it's hard to like, plan a vacation around it. And then, when you fly every day, four to five or six times a day, it's kind of the last place you want to go."
They're Not Operating On A Lot Of Sleep
"Our circadian rhythms get out of whack. Many times, our airport check-in is 4:40 in the morning for our trip, and the airport is an hour away (or more, depending on traffic.) So, we are setting our alarms for 2 am to get up. Then, the next trip we fly may be to Beijing or Tokyo, and the flight time on those is 14 hours. Or, we leave for a trip to Europe in the mid-afternoon, and arrive around 6 or 7 am, with a need to sleep when we get there. So many times, we 'power through' our need for sleep to see a beautiful European destination," says Annette.
They're All Pretty Much BFFs
"I met a lot of cool people as a flight attendant," remembers Cozenza. "Working in close proximity in a metal tube in the sky meant that you got to know people very quickly. It wasn’t unusual to reveal highly personal details right away, or exchange relationship and dating horror-stories."
Some Of Them Even Live Together
"You have what's called a crash pad," says Kathleen. "You're on reserve, so let's say you've been a flight attendant for like a year or two. You're on reserve — we call it reserve, but you're on call — so you have to be able to be on the aircraft in 90 minutes from the time that the airline calls you. And unfortunately, [where I lived] wasn't 90 minutes away, so you have to get a crash pad with 20 to 30 other people — pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, rampers, all those people. You don't know any of them. And this is not specific to me, this is a thing. The entire industry, this is how it works. Your pilot is probably sleeping on a bunk bed some place."
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