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Cabin crew life, what was I thinking? | WOC

Cabin crew life, what was I thinking? | WOC

When I was planning to join a major airline as a cabin crew 4 years back, I had certain ‘conceptions’ about what my life is going to be like. The conceptions & expectations were largely affected by media’s portrayal & society’s perceptions. Of course I knew all of them will not hold true, but six months down the lane it hit me how wide the discrepancies between the expectations I had v/s the reality were. Don’t take me wrong, I still love my job. But, wish had come better prepared.

Expectation

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Well, I expected it is going to be a super easy job. I mean after all, it’s not a 9-5 job, there are going to be no staying late in office and working, no getting work back home, it’s going to be about just doing the service during the flight and c’mon that doesn’t look so hard or difficult. I thought that once the main service is done, we all must just relax for the rest of the flight

Truth

Hard Nard Petrified Lard

After I did my first flight, I realized how far away from the truth my expectation was. It was a turn-around flight & I did not get to even stand & take a breath for one moment. The only time the entire crew sat down was during take-off & landing. I came home feeling exhausted as hell & all I wanted to do was hit my bed and sleep for the next 24 hours. But, I had 3 turn-arounds that week. In fact the life as a flight attendant can have a lot of bad effects on health too.

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-tired

Expectation

Training? Pfff…

Well, I expected that the training is going to be super easy and mainly about the servicing, some bit about air planes and uniform and stuff.

Truth

Training? Kill me!!!

Boy, how wrong was I? Really wrong, really really wrong. We had a training period of roughly 4 weeks and only 3-4 days were about service, grooming. The rest involved exhaustive physical training for security, safety procedures, medical training.

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-training

Expectation

College finished. That means no more exams!

I mean that’s how it works right. You finish your education, go on to work and no late nights preparing for the exam next day. Right?

Truth

Exam everyyyy year!

Yes, you read it right. We have to appear for an exam year to make sure we can continue to work as a crew. And, not just that. We are quizzed before every flight and one wrong answer means no more flying for that day. Need I say more?

 

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-glamour

Expectation

Money!!

I though this job would mean a lot of money and savings because the stay in layover is paid for by the company, we get layover allowance, travel to & from the airport is paid for. In my case, the accommodation was paid for too. I would have almost nothing to spend on. So, what could come in between me and a huge bank balance?

Truth

Broke even before the month ends

I am not exaggerating when I say that for the first two years of my job, I used to be broke by the end of each month. There were too many temptations & too many expenses. Yes, now after 4 years, I have been able to save a bit. But, still not enough.

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-broke

Expectation

Free or cheap travel everywhere! Woot woot!

Free or discounted tickets to almost every country. No one is coming between me and my wanderlust.

Truth

There is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip

Yes, you get free & discounted tickets. But, that also means no confirm ticket & you could not get to board the plane at the last minute. So, most of the times, for special occasions & holidays, we end up paying the full fare too.

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-free-travel

Expectation

Glamour

Don’t even get me started on that one.

what-i-expected-when-i-become-crew-glamour

While I have talked about a lot of negatives here, but there were many things which positively surprised me. More about that in my next blog, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, download World Of Crew the app for thousands of crew discounts & hundreds of layover tips!

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