It’s Not Always Something

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Flight Attendant, General | 1 comment

Contrary to popular belief not every flight I work is drama-filled, delay ridden and crazy passenger occupied. Sometimes, things just go the way they’re supposed to.

I just got back from working two 2day trips, back to back. I put them together so that it would make commuting to Los Angeles worth it. Putting my schedule together is almost impossible, usually. I like to “buddy bid” with my friend Aimee, but we don’t have a “buddy bid” feature when it comes to bidding for our schedules so it all comes down to the luck of the draw when the schedules are awarded. Aimee is very senior in Los Angeles, and relatively speaking I’m quite junior. I usually put Aimee’s first bid preference in as my first one as well so at least we’ll get SOMETHING together. Anyway, her and I flew my first 2 day together.. then she backed up a 4 day to it when I went on my second two day. Luckily, she was flying with our mutual friend Sue on her 4 day. Sue just happens to be the nicest woman you’ll ever meet. She lives in Santa Monica and lets Aimee and I stay at her home anytime we’re stuck in Los Angeles for commuting reasons (without allowing us to pay her or anything, all she wants in wine!). So, Aimee & I both overnighted ourselves at Sue’s in between our trips, as she and Aimee went to work the next morning together and I took the bus a few hours later.

My first two day though was to DC. You can never go wrong with DC. Comparatively, the people are usually nicer, the boarding and deplaning process is quick, our hotel is nice.. and the agents in DC are amazing. One in particular is truly amazing and noteworthy, my friend Kat. Hi Kat. Kat has been in DC for as long as I can remember flying there (or at least from when I was senior enough to hold DC) and she’s always been someone I look forward to seeing. She’s one of those gate agents that you hope is working your flight. If there’s a delay and scheduling doesn’t want to tell you, she will. If she can make the last row of the plane free for “crew rest,” she will. She’ll never rush you to board, or pester you to board early — which in my opinion, makes us WANT to board early just because of how nice she is about it. She’s truly amazing and the highlight of going to DC. This past trip she was there on the day we were leaving DC and made mention that she actually reads this blog and saw my article on AOL (when she mentioned it she said “you made the big time!) but I never talk about her — well, hopefully I made up for it and did her the justice she deserves.  My flights in and out of DC went perfectly and were uneventful. Weird, for me, right?

My second two day was to Boston. Boston is another one of those cities that the “senior” flight attendants at my airline love to fly to. The passengers are just like DC and its usually low-drama. And it was! The drama I did encounter actually started on our decent into Boston when a passenger told us that she was watching CNN and saw news of a water pipeline break in Boston making all of the water undrinkable. It was all making sense now, because before leaving Los Angeles the company provided each crewmember with 2 liters of bottled water. They don’t usually do this, they usually consider us taking water for our overnights as “stealing” (which of course leaves us to putting the bottled water in our own water bottles). But this time, they gave us water specifically for our layover. Our hotel also gave us bottled water at check in and upon request. I was even leary of showering there because they kept saying it was “contaminated and not drinkable” but it was okay to shower in. I did, anyway, I took the risk and showered in it and I’m still alive. Needless to say, it wasn’t passenger related– no harm done — and I still had a great two day.

I’m writing this post on my Southwest Airlines commute flight home to Phoenix and am just reflecting on the last four days. I’ve come to realize how much of a difference the people you work with makes your experience with your job and company. I love being Los Angeles based. Sure I have commuting issues and have to go to LA the night before (sometimes), but thanks to Sue that’s not a problem. The crews out of LAX are amazing. Everyone knows, likes, supports and helps one another and that just makes going to work less stressful. Additionally, the destinations we fly to from our base like DC and Boston have some of the best employees working there, such as Kat.

Just wanted to say a big “thank you” to all of my fellow FAs based in LAX and to Kat in DC and Katy in Boston. You all are amazing and are the only reason why I’m still working where I am today. You make going to work fun, cheerful and stressless.