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Pilots and Flight Attendants, The Untold Story

November 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

It may seem cliche, the pilot and the flight attendant dating.  It’s easy, all of us see each other on a day to day basis and can’t help but fall in love.

Although this paradigm may seem like the best perk of the aviation industry, in a way some relationships are born of necessity.  Pilots and flight attendants have been dating as long as the industry has been around.  They have been the subject of films and books, and even today almost every guy I talk to mentions it as my greatest job benefit.

I have dated a few flight attendants, and almost dated many more. It is easy, when you spend 3 or 4 days with someone you can’t help but get to know them, even more than the normal person after even a few months dating.  In addition, there is something about this industry that just draws us together.

I have dated many women outside of aviation and it seems that none of them “get it”.  They want to know what I’m doing for 12 hours that I can’t talk to them, or who these people I fly with are.  They get so caught up in the stereotype that they cannot seem to separate truth from fiction. In this way it has almost become easier to date those within our industry.  When you know the normal goings-on of crew members while away it is easier to identify with what does and does not happen.

Pilots and flight attendants will always get along.  When you have single men and women working closely together for days at a time there will be chemistry.  Often it is an easy way to tell if you can get along for days being stuck together, because you are.  It is easy to tell if you like someone because their personality and yours either click or they don’t.  After many 4 day long trips I have gotten phone numbers and gone out or simply said “no thank you.”  Either way it’s easy.

The last reason why so many in the industry get along is time.  Many Pilots and Flight Attendants spend a majority of their week at work. When we work it means we are gone, away from home and friends for days at a time.  This makes it difficult to for many crewmembers to go out and meet other people out on the town.  Additionally, it also makes it difficult to schedule follow-on dates with people who work a normal schedule.

Pilots and flight attendants have been together since the dawn of the airline industry.  There is little to say that this relationship will fade and even less to say why it should. When working together with someone for so long, a natural trust and relationship is born.

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How-To Get the Best Seat

November 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I found this little How-To video while browsing around today.  While it doesn’t cover many of the nuances of getting a good seat it definitely shows the best way if you want to do a little research.

Remember, getting to the airport early is the key to getting not only a good seat, but often times the seat that you reserved.  Although you may have “reserved” a specific seat assignment, that is no guarantee you will get that seat when you show up to the airport.  The airlines often upgrade frequent fliers to the best seats which means if they get there before you, you may be out of luck.

On another note, if you know you’re going to be flying in a propeller powered aircraft, the best seat is in the back, since sitting as far behind the spinning prop is the quietest.  In a jet, forward is always quieter.  Also, exit row seats often don’t recline, and if you’re in a bulkhead, you can’t store anything under the seat in front of you, it’s all up in the overhead.
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A Flight Attendant May Save Your Life

November 29, 2007 By Leave a Comment

The first came during the normally monotonous bus ride from the employee parking lot:

This very seasoned flight attendant was talking about the first time she ever had to divert an airplane due to a medical emergency. Although she had been with the company for well over 20 years, the event occurred just the other day.

A middle age man was exhibiting the early signs of a heart attack. He was sitting in first class and was a little embarrassed about his medical condition. When the flight attendant found out about his problems she pressed him for more information. He was reluctant, however it soon became clear that the man needed medical attention, and luckily a doctor was on board the aircraft. The flight attendant was able to use the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) on board the aircraft to monitor the mans heart and help the physician asses his condition. Shortly afterward, the man went into cardiac arrest. The aircraft was diverted to Pittsburgh and he was transported to a waiting ambulance.

The moral of this story is that flight attendants do a lot more than serve drinks and bring pillows and blankets. Had it not been for this particular flight attendants attention to her passenger, the man very well could have unknowingly had a heart attack and not sought medical attention until too late. Instead, her training kicked in when she saw the man exhibiting strange symptoms and she was able to get him the medical care he required.

The second story comes from my last flight of the day:

I am flying with a particularly new flight attendant who has only been with the company for about a month. She is fresh out of training and has been thrown into a trip which requires her to make all of the PA announcements to passengers, a daunting task.

After the flight was over, I talked to the other flight attendant on the flight who was complaining about a first class passenger. Apparently our new FA had made a few errors during her announcements due to the short duration of the flight. These minor errors irked this first class passenger into complaining that this new flight attendant should be fired for incompetence. When it was explained to her that the flight attendant was new, the passenger simply repeated that she should be fired. This just shows a general lack of proper courtesy and knowledge of the job.  Everything that is said on the PA comes from memory, no cheat  sheet.  The entire safety briefing is all memorized. If this woman made a mistake at her workplace should she be immediately fired? She probably even has an agenda and written notes when she speaks.

I guess it’s just my frustration at the deteriorating manners of America and more importantly the deteriorating manners of airline passengers.

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