Flying at 35,000 Feet with Heather Poole
Nomadic Matt. You're a flight attendant. How is that?
Heather Poole: Even if the job has changed a lot over the years, it can still make a lot of fun. But patience is a must, more so than ever. Flight attendants are the face of the airline and passengers have a tendency to take things for us, even if what has happened is not our fault. In addition to friendly and to be open, we must also be able to adapt easily to change. For this reason we always have backup plans A, B and C, because it always go wrong in the airline industry bound: mechanicals, delays, cancellations. They happen. Even on Christmas Eve. When children are at home, this may be one of the most difficult aspects of the work. Flight attendants are also very independent. It is not uncommon for an employee to meet for the first time on a trip and then do not see them again for a few months, perhaps even years. The best part about the job is when we get off the plane; We always leave behind the stress of the flight. Every flight is a new flight, which means every day a new adventure.
How often working flight attendants? Do they fly a lot of the same routes over and over again?
Our dates on average about 85 hours per month. But do not let the numbers fool you. The flies only time. Most flight attendants are working far more than that. Time on the ground is not one of our wages and therefore is not included in our monthly schedules. That's why we want to spend as much time as possible in the air, not from city to city hopping with plenty of time between flights on the floor. Airline seniority determines the type of trip can hold a flight attendant. This explains why most of the international long-haul flights are occupied by high-ranking crews. Once we have enough seniority to keep a good trip, it's the only trip we will work until we have enough to keep senior even better. Dates are furnished with one or two days between each run, but many of us "Travel Trade" with other flight attendants a few trips to work in a row in order to maximize our time off on ground.
References to the airline work for you?
One of the great.
What have your employees think of you to write this book?
I do not know that most of them even know that I have written a book. And if they do not know, they probably assume only that I write. I have to write about this book for years talking.
Have you know your airline, and there are no restrictions placed on you?
I did not ask for their permission to write the book, and I certainly make no call at headquarters to an announcement about it either. Flight attendants learn to lay low very early in their careers. But I have to fly blogging for a long time. I'm pretty sure they know who I am. Remember, my book is not an airline Exposé. It's about what it's like to be a flight attendant. It does not matter who we work for; the work is pretty much the same wherever you go. Plus half the book takes place on the ground because it is not just a job, it's a lifestyle. That's what I am to write, about it. Moreover, there are so many misconceptions about flight attendants I decided to set the record right.
What is a really juicy story that you left?
A story that was given was erased on a celebrity who magical powers after a passenger fell unconscious to have claimed. To this day we still do not know whether it was his magical powers or the man who nudging his wife kept in the arm in an effort to have come to her and see the celebrity he was taken to talk excitedly about it win their awareness again over the years.
, the airline industry so many changes would you recommend that someone be a flight attendant?
There is a big job for someone who hates the idea of working a 9-to-5 job. But it is not easy at the beginning. Our living conditions are quite extreme. This is why so many flight attendants either a lifetime or just a few weeks.
has the task become worse in recent years because of all the problems in the airline industry?
Of course, it has become worse, as well as many other jobs in America. Most people do not know that the flight attendants begin to make the first year $ 14,000-18,000. With cuts, they will be less to do! So not only that we do less, we are working much longer hours with shorter layovers followed. Think 8-10 hours at an airport hotel on domestic flights. Mix in a delay, and there is barely enough time to eat, sleep and shower. That said, I'm still flying, and I do not feel like leaving - not yet. As soon as I can no longer manipulate my schedule as I want / need the day I might have to say buh-bye. I am afraid that day.
In the book you talk about how New York City is the "base", but I know that you do not live in New York City. How can a flight attendant somewhere they are based not live?
Instead of working to drive, we take a plane to work. It is called the commute, and it is getting harder to do these days. I once saw two flight attendants on you come to blows and jump only place on the last flight out. Between trips we stick to a "crash pad." Instead pay for a room, we pay for a bed. Sometimes we will also share the bed (not at the same time!). Commuter serious. We are in and as soon as possible. The name of the game is to get as many hours of flight time as we can in the shortest possible time, so that we are flying back home and enjoy a range of free days before we have to do it again.
these days are a lot of people to get a job?
In 2010, Delta announced an opening for 1,000 flight attendants. More than 100,000 people applied. Nowadays it is much harder to find work with an airline now that a flight attendant to be, a career is considered, not just a job. Revenue is not as high as it once was, and the competition has become fierce.
talk in your book you a lot about the difficulties of dating as a flight attendant. As someone on the move a lot, I can well understand. They have many flight attendants dating problems? Did they all end with the pilot?
It's hard enough to deal with an unusual job without finding a partner that can handle it. This is why so many relationships fall at the end and firing after someone in the relationship a flight attendant is. Because it to end or break either. Then of course, if you find someone, it takes twice as long to recognize this person, might not be right for you due to the fact that we are not on the floor as often as normal people. And then there are those who only flight attendants want to date because it is easier to juggle multiple partners, if one of them is not at home half the time. As for pilots, we tend to either love or hate it, maybe a little too much! To be fair I'm pretty sure you can do the same thing for the way to be said, they feel about us.
If you ask people on three things, how could tell behave on a flight, what would they be?
Be nice. Be nice. Be nice. We are all in the same boat - er, aircraft - together. Wait until we are safe and sound on the floor, if you have to freak out.
upgrade from coach Any tips for good?
Do people still think a chance that it Happening? Do not get me wrong, not miracles happen, but not often. Flights are full, and frequent flyers know exactly where their name is in these days on the list.
What is the secret to at least get an extra meal or a free drink?
Very rarely we do additional meals on board. In First and Business Class, we are usually taken care of right on the money. On the bus, we barely have enough to serve half a plane full of passengers who are willing to buy food. As for drinks, flight attendants have drinks for passengers known comp like switching seats, by helping the beautiful things, so can sit a family together.
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