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!