Standby.
So you look on your roster and you see about 100 sby's. Sby=stand by. Standing by to be called in to operate a flight. For many reasons you could be called, there are hundreds in fact. It's not so bad, you could end up not being called at all and have the day off to do whatever you want. Standbys are awkward. In the summer, they are almost definitely going to change before the day even arrives. That's the summer time rush for you. Standbys in the winter are different. With the season generally being a quiet one, it is pretty unpredictable whether you'll get called or not.
I remember one occasion I was on standby from 0600am until 1400 and was up and ready to go. This was when I first started flying so I wanted to be well prepared as I didn't really know how it all worked. It got to 1345 and I knew that with 15 minutes to go, I was safe! So, I got redressed into my jeans and casual clothes and thought I'd go for lunch with a friend. Well, my luck soon changed......By 1355 I was back in my uniform and packing up my crew bag setting off to the airport to operate a flight that seemed to be 24 hours long!!!! Yes, that's right, they called me. They called me with 5 minutes of my standby left. I remember being close to tears!!! So stupid I was to think that I had got away with it! Unpredictability=standby.
You never know whats around the corner. Even though the industry quietens down during the winter, with all the colds, flu's and ridiculous British weather, you never know when you'll be called in. The weather has a major impact. Understandably so though, its always better to be safe in this game. Never ever take the chance.
Standby=do not plan anything. You want to plan something? be wise, do it in your own time. You'll be so gutted if you get called when you've just that second arranged to see your mate you haven't seen in months.
Standby=if you don't get called, its like a day off! yippee! Now you can plan something!!!
Standing by, does exactly what it says on the tin....
Oh by the way, I got over my gastric flu! my my my indeed, was so unpleasant! I was so hard done by for a whole week! I couldn't even drink tea and have only started too again now! The flatulence was interesting.....!
Keep smiling be back soon x
Friday, 28 November 2008
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
I haven't been well lately, I came down with gastric flu....vile so it was. I am recovering now, thank god because I was like a woman possessed in that bathroom early hours of Friday morning. It was like something out of the Exorcist, so awful my boyfriend couldn't look directly at me for fear.
So I'm back into work today, feeling much more alive.
Lets just hope my flatulence has died down......I wouldn't want to be seated in a ailes seat today people........
I'll let you know how I get on.....!
So I'm back into work today, feeling much more alive.
Lets just hope my flatulence has died down......I wouldn't want to be seated in a ailes seat today people........
I'll let you know how I get on.....!
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Winter......yeah, the clocks go back, or forward, no its definitely back
Oh my god.....Its winter. Vile. Probably the quietest time to operate as cabin crew. Its not a great time of the year to be flying, I'll be honest. The early morning starts are totally hardcore and the rain is so miserable. When you get on the plane though, its not so bad as you are out of all that horrible weather and in the warm! You can drink tea and the sun is always out above the clouds. That's probably one of the best things about this job....you always get to see the sun rise and the sun set above the clouds.
Alright, so no one particularly likes to get up to a frozen car and a bitter chill through the ear holes, but when you get going its not all bad, is it? What makes me laugh, is when you get up at 4am and set off in your little automobile, you notice all the late nighters crawling their way back from a heavy night on the tiles. Its an amusing sight, "you are gunna feel rough in a few hours" I say to myself, and my day has just started! I think its OK to be getting up at that time. Unnatural to begin with as your body clock is all over the place, but like I said before, you need to realistically give it 6 months to a year before you properly adjust to things. I think its nice to know that as you are getting up to start your day, the average 9 to 5 person still has 4 hours to get ready and out of their house. By this time, half of your duty is done and you'll be back at home and in bed by their lunch break-for some, their ONLY break!
Yea, the hours are totally random in this line of work. One minute you'll be getting up at 4am and the next, you'll be going to bed at 4am. But hey, isn't that what we signed up for?! I genuinely mean it when I say the hours are random. In a way, hard. It is never easy to get a proper eating plan mapped out, so you have to be sure that you do eat properly when you can. I usually take cereal and fruit with me so I am guaranteed to eat something substantial and healthy. If on the other hand you don't like cereal, take some bread and put it in the oven, toast! Bob's your uncle, fanny's your aunt! cant beat a bit of toast. You'll be surprised when you become cabin crew how many things you look out for that will benefit you at work. For instance, have you seen those individual marmite sachets you can get? like the ones you find in a hotel or in a restaurant in the mornings? Or the little pots of jam or honey? loads of crew bring those in! little treats to brighten up the day! all sounds very sad to you I'm sure, but soon enough, you'll understand what I'm talking about! Also, little empty bottles that are OK to take through security (100ml), fill them up with cordial and put it in your water to make it more interesting! OK OK OK I am a total loser for all of these guilty pleasure! But who cares?! if it makes me smile at 4am, I don't care!!!!!
Now when it snows that when this job gets really interesting! Oh sweet lord....If this country is sooo not catered for, its snow. Runways shut, crew cant get in to work, any layer of clothing you put on makes absolutely no difference to your overall temperature.....But that's what being cabin crew is, its the unpredictability. If you like to live a life of unpredictability and spontaneous action, then cabin crew is totally for you. Fun time Franky all day long!
Oh my god.....Its winter. Vile. Probably the quietest time to operate as cabin crew. Its not a great time of the year to be flying, I'll be honest. The early morning starts are totally hardcore and the rain is so miserable. When you get on the plane though, its not so bad as you are out of all that horrible weather and in the warm! You can drink tea and the sun is always out above the clouds. That's probably one of the best things about this job....you always get to see the sun rise and the sun set above the clouds.
Alright, so no one particularly likes to get up to a frozen car and a bitter chill through the ear holes, but when you get going its not all bad, is it? What makes me laugh, is when you get up at 4am and set off in your little automobile, you notice all the late nighters crawling their way back from a heavy night on the tiles. Its an amusing sight, "you are gunna feel rough in a few hours" I say to myself, and my day has just started! I think its OK to be getting up at that time. Unnatural to begin with as your body clock is all over the place, but like I said before, you need to realistically give it 6 months to a year before you properly adjust to things. I think its nice to know that as you are getting up to start your day, the average 9 to 5 person still has 4 hours to get ready and out of their house. By this time, half of your duty is done and you'll be back at home and in bed by their lunch break-for some, their ONLY break!
Yea, the hours are totally random in this line of work. One minute you'll be getting up at 4am and the next, you'll be going to bed at 4am. But hey, isn't that what we signed up for?! I genuinely mean it when I say the hours are random. In a way, hard. It is never easy to get a proper eating plan mapped out, so you have to be sure that you do eat properly when you can. I usually take cereal and fruit with me so I am guaranteed to eat something substantial and healthy. If on the other hand you don't like cereal, take some bread and put it in the oven, toast! Bob's your uncle, fanny's your aunt! cant beat a bit of toast. You'll be surprised when you become cabin crew how many things you look out for that will benefit you at work. For instance, have you seen those individual marmite sachets you can get? like the ones you find in a hotel or in a restaurant in the mornings? Or the little pots of jam or honey? loads of crew bring those in! little treats to brighten up the day! all sounds very sad to you I'm sure, but soon enough, you'll understand what I'm talking about! Also, little empty bottles that are OK to take through security (100ml), fill them up with cordial and put it in your water to make it more interesting! OK OK OK I am a total loser for all of these guilty pleasure! But who cares?! if it makes me smile at 4am, I don't care!!!!!
Now when it snows that when this job gets really interesting! Oh sweet lord....If this country is sooo not catered for, its snow. Runways shut, crew cant get in to work, any layer of clothing you put on makes absolutely no difference to your overall temperature.....But that's what being cabin crew is, its the unpredictability. If you like to live a life of unpredictability and spontaneous action, then cabin crew is totally for you. Fun time Franky all day long!
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
The beginning!
Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away! Yeah, you’ll hear that song a lot when you become cabin crew. Along with other catchy, cheesy tunes, you’ll also see some videos that may put you off completely. Don’t let it put you off. It’s important that you watch these things, it’s all relevant.
I started flying at the ripe age of eighteen. I still feel eighteen now! And as corny and as pathetic as it sounds, time literally does fly when you’re cabin crew. I can’t believe that now at twenty six, I’m still flying. So much has happened since I began my flying career. I’ve worked through some hard times in the industry and some excellent, exciting times.
When I first started, I’ll admit, I was totally petrified, intimidated and so anxious. I was scared. Big time. Despite the superb four week training course I completed, everything felt so different once I was on the plane. It’s about putting it to practice and understanding that it is one of those jobs that you HAVE to stick at. Don’t give up on your first hurdle. I had so many hurdles to begin with I could barely walk for tripping over them all, but I learnt by it. I thought I’d made a mistake and that I just couldn’t do the job, but I was determined to stick at it. Again, it’s totally and one hundred per cent normal to feel this way. You don’t get gold bars for 50p! You have to persevere. You have to give it time. You have to keep at it, because believe me, it is worth it. Sure, no one particularly likes getting up at 3am when they’ve only ever had to do it when they go on holiday, or when they’re arriving back from a long and messy night out! But I can almost guarantee that after 6 months to a 1 year of flying, you’ll be well in the swing of it and a total pro.
A typical day for me. An early report time of 6am. I get up at 0430. Get showered. Get ready and leave the house at 0530am. Oh yeah, before I forget, the whole time thing is all funny in this industry, they have Zulu time and local time all on the 24 hour clock. Another thing that I get confused with these days but again, you’ll be a pro in a couple of weeks. Its easy peasy lemon squeezy! So, where was I…? Oh, yes, I get into my little ford fiesta and plod along the motorway, at a fair but not ridiculous speed, and head to the Airport. That’s where my day really begins. Well to be fair, it actually begins the moment I put my uniform on. (That’s when you start representing your airline). So be on your best behaviour, remember ladies, chin up, chest out and pout! Always have the lip gloss handy, and mints for those early mornings!
The one thing I do find challenging, even these days is to put my make up on so early as my skin doesn’t tend to wake up until 10am! Its best, if you are ever in that position to put on what minimal but essential make up you require, then you can top it up through out the day. Don’t go out of the house with no make up on, that’s a big NO NO! Of course, us ladies have to be beautiful at all times and it can be so hard at times cant it? To be gorgeous?! We go through so much don’t we? Lotions and potions, we’re totally worth it though. That’s why our beauty sleep is so important. To keep us fabulous and youthful, we MUST also drink lots and lots of water. When I first started flying, I never really appreciated how important drinking water was. Naïve I know. But, jeez, if I don’t drink any water now, my body screams out at me to knock it back! You really do feel the difference if you don’t drink it and if you leave it too long, you see it. Dry skin. So not attractive! If, on the other hand you have oily skin, you’re laughing! But even so, no excuses, water is soooo imperative. Just imagine it as a large vodka, that’ll make you drink it by the bucket load!
If you’re a social person, then flying is totally for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy staying in on a more than regular basis for your particular age, go to bed before 7pm every day especially Saturdays, drink way too much hot chocolate and like to knit, then I’d say, work in a library. Becoming a member of Cabin crew is not a job. It is a lifestyle. It’s about being happy, being brave, being diligent, and being yourself. It’s about understanding that the people who you work with, eventually become like your extended family. It’s true. The people around you are the people that you’ll spend however many flying hours with and you have no choice but to get on. At some point you may come across people that you don’t get on with, but hey, that’s life. You deal with it. You be professional. That’s one bit of advice that I will give you. Be professional. Believe you me; passengers can hear every little word you say in them galleys! No, you’re not in some little 12 inch thick protective bubble wrap, you’re not in a private area where `no else goes’ and you can let rip about how amazing your fella is in bed. PASSENGERS HEAR EVERYTHING!
I think the best thing about being cabin crew is that you get to see the world. For free. You get to spend up to 24 hours with fabulous and gorgeous people. For free. You get to see the world from 35,000 feet up every single day. For free. You get to be social and talk to random and generally lovely people. For free. You get to smile every single day, for free. In fact, they pay you! For all these things and more, you get paid. What more can you ask for?! What more do you want?!
I’m not going to lie to you, being cabin crew is hard work at times. It has it up days as it does have its down days, but what job doesn’t?! The difference with being cabin crew to any office job is that at the end of the day when its time to go home, you haven’t got mountains of paper work or deadlines to meet. When you go home, you go home. End of.
If like me, you appreciate the stars and the moon in the night sky, then imagine how lucky you’ll feel when you see them above the still, calm blanket of cloud…..`Always aim for the moon and if you cannot reach the moon then at least you can say you danced with the stars’. That’s what cabin crew is. You get to dance with the stars. It takes you that little bit closer. You can’t knock it. That’s what being cabin crew is my friend!
I started flying at the ripe age of eighteen. I still feel eighteen now! And as corny and as pathetic as it sounds, time literally does fly when you’re cabin crew. I can’t believe that now at twenty six, I’m still flying. So much has happened since I began my flying career. I’ve worked through some hard times in the industry and some excellent, exciting times.
When I first started, I’ll admit, I was totally petrified, intimidated and so anxious. I was scared. Big time. Despite the superb four week training course I completed, everything felt so different once I was on the plane. It’s about putting it to practice and understanding that it is one of those jobs that you HAVE to stick at. Don’t give up on your first hurdle. I had so many hurdles to begin with I could barely walk for tripping over them all, but I learnt by it. I thought I’d made a mistake and that I just couldn’t do the job, but I was determined to stick at it. Again, it’s totally and one hundred per cent normal to feel this way. You don’t get gold bars for 50p! You have to persevere. You have to give it time. You have to keep at it, because believe me, it is worth it. Sure, no one particularly likes getting up at 3am when they’ve only ever had to do it when they go on holiday, or when they’re arriving back from a long and messy night out! But I can almost guarantee that after 6 months to a 1 year of flying, you’ll be well in the swing of it and a total pro.
A typical day for me. An early report time of 6am. I get up at 0430. Get showered. Get ready and leave the house at 0530am. Oh yeah, before I forget, the whole time thing is all funny in this industry, they have Zulu time and local time all on the 24 hour clock. Another thing that I get confused with these days but again, you’ll be a pro in a couple of weeks. Its easy peasy lemon squeezy! So, where was I…? Oh, yes, I get into my little ford fiesta and plod along the motorway, at a fair but not ridiculous speed, and head to the Airport. That’s where my day really begins. Well to be fair, it actually begins the moment I put my uniform on. (That’s when you start representing your airline). So be on your best behaviour, remember ladies, chin up, chest out and pout! Always have the lip gloss handy, and mints for those early mornings!
The one thing I do find challenging, even these days is to put my make up on so early as my skin doesn’t tend to wake up until 10am! Its best, if you are ever in that position to put on what minimal but essential make up you require, then you can top it up through out the day. Don’t go out of the house with no make up on, that’s a big NO NO! Of course, us ladies have to be beautiful at all times and it can be so hard at times cant it? To be gorgeous?! We go through so much don’t we? Lotions and potions, we’re totally worth it though. That’s why our beauty sleep is so important. To keep us fabulous and youthful, we MUST also drink lots and lots of water. When I first started flying, I never really appreciated how important drinking water was. Naïve I know. But, jeez, if I don’t drink any water now, my body screams out at me to knock it back! You really do feel the difference if you don’t drink it and if you leave it too long, you see it. Dry skin. So not attractive! If, on the other hand you have oily skin, you’re laughing! But even so, no excuses, water is soooo imperative. Just imagine it as a large vodka, that’ll make you drink it by the bucket load!
If you’re a social person, then flying is totally for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy staying in on a more than regular basis for your particular age, go to bed before 7pm every day especially Saturdays, drink way too much hot chocolate and like to knit, then I’d say, work in a library. Becoming a member of Cabin crew is not a job. It is a lifestyle. It’s about being happy, being brave, being diligent, and being yourself. It’s about understanding that the people who you work with, eventually become like your extended family. It’s true. The people around you are the people that you’ll spend however many flying hours with and you have no choice but to get on. At some point you may come across people that you don’t get on with, but hey, that’s life. You deal with it. You be professional. That’s one bit of advice that I will give you. Be professional. Believe you me; passengers can hear every little word you say in them galleys! No, you’re not in some little 12 inch thick protective bubble wrap, you’re not in a private area where `no else goes’ and you can let rip about how amazing your fella is in bed. PASSENGERS HEAR EVERYTHING!
I think the best thing about being cabin crew is that you get to see the world. For free. You get to spend up to 24 hours with fabulous and gorgeous people. For free. You get to see the world from 35,000 feet up every single day. For free. You get to be social and talk to random and generally lovely people. For free. You get to smile every single day, for free. In fact, they pay you! For all these things and more, you get paid. What more can you ask for?! What more do you want?!
I’m not going to lie to you, being cabin crew is hard work at times. It has it up days as it does have its down days, but what job doesn’t?! The difference with being cabin crew to any office job is that at the end of the day when its time to go home, you haven’t got mountains of paper work or deadlines to meet. When you go home, you go home. End of.
If like me, you appreciate the stars and the moon in the night sky, then imagine how lucky you’ll feel when you see them above the still, calm blanket of cloud…..`Always aim for the moon and if you cannot reach the moon then at least you can say you danced with the stars’. That’s what cabin crew is. You get to dance with the stars. It takes you that little bit closer. You can’t knock it. That’s what being cabin crew is my friend!
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