I was so excited about the topic this week. I'd love to share with you all what a day in the life of a Flight Attendant is. It is not like an everyday Mon - Fri 9-5 job. And it surely isn't the glamorous job it was back In the 60s
Now since my schedule changes every day and week this is just an example of a day I can experience.
1. My show time for work is 4:30 am for a 5:15 am flight. I would get up at 3am to get ready, then drive to airport. This is probably the worse day of the trip. I have to get up so early to drive to the airport just to find a parking spot. After you found a spot you have to walk to one of the bus stops to get picked up then dropped off at the airport. I can only dream of being able to park right in front of the building I work at.
2. After arriving at the airplane, I do all my safety checks then it is time to board the flight. Boarding is always a hassle. I work on a smaller aircraft where there is a no carry on policy. Which means all the bigger roller board bags need to get gate checked and picked up after arriving at destination. Passengers come on and say "well it fit on the last flight" or "I have a tight connection, I can't wait for my bag". I make my boarding announcement about stowing all carry on and personal items. Including all bags and purses in the bulk head (1st row) must be in the overhead. As I am seeing a lady holding her purse in the first row. I remind her the bag has to go up. She explains" But this is my purse". Ok miss, all bags have to go up and a purse is a bag. Finally boarding is complete!
3. We arrive at Rochester NY. Of course it is snowing there so that means we have to de-ice to make sure there is no snow that accumulates on the aircraft. This is always a process having to wait in line to get de-iced. After it is complete we are good to go. We depart a few minutes behind schedule so of course passengers are worried about missing their connections and ask if I can call ahead to let them know they are coming. Sure, let me get out my imaginary computer that is right beside my jump seat and ensure that they will hold your flight because YOU are the only one that has a connection, even though it is a full flight.
4. We arrive back to Philadelphia and now we are running late and the gate agent asks me if I am ready to board the next flight. Looks like no food or bathroom break for me. After I pick up all the trash that is left on the aircraft from the passengers from he previous flight and cross the seat belts, it's time to put another smile on my face and do it all over again.
5. We do another turn (which is two flights) Philadelphia PA - Columbia, SC and back to Philadelphia. We finally get back on schedule. And we have a 2 hr sit before our next flight that goes into our overnight. We like to call this airport appreciate. Hanging out at the airport before your next flight. Well at least this will give me a break to eat some food. Oh and did I mention during the sit we will be switching aircrafts for the next flight. Why don't we just keep the same aircraft you ask? Well we would like to know that too. And of course the aircraft is late coming into Philadelphia which means we will be leaving late.
We get to our overnight, which is Newark NJ this particular night. Some overnights are fun when you have a long one and are in a fun city and can go out. Sometimes I am lucky enough to meet up with friends who live in or near the city I am staying out for the day/evening. As you can tell alot of days are busy and you are just too exhausted to want to go out. On days like this I just have time to get some food, get ready for bed, and do it all over again the next day. One nice thing is that we always stay at nice hotels and most of them have gyms that I can use so at least I am sure to get a run in! Sometimes when the weather is nice, I'll take my run outdoors. It's always nice to explore a new city that way.
This job definitely has its ups and downs (and a little turbulence). It does stink working nights, weekends, and holidays. However because it is not like a normal job, you can swap your schedule around get a significant amount of time off and not even use a vacation day. The end of the month I will have 10 days straight off that I plan on soaking up some Florida sunshine. It's times like that which reminds me why I do this job