Being a flight attendant is very demanding and noble, mainly because they deal with human lives. They are also part of the service industry, which is a beautiful place to be in. Sadly, some belittle those working in the service and hospitality industry. To everyone who says “just a flight attendant”, never knock these people, especially if you don’t know what flight attendants go through.
Very much comparable to an iceberg
An iceberg in the middle of an ocean may look like a piece of ice. It is small, and its size above the water is nothing compared to the size of a whole ship. Despite their size, ships do everything to get far from the floating piece of ice, which is not even more significant than half of the boat. Because in 1912, that small piece of ice brought down a whole ship, the RMS Titanic.
When you see an iceberg floating in the ocean, the first thing that may come into mind is just a piece of ice that a ship may push aside but come to think of it, they get as far as they can. It is because there is something we do not see with our naked eyes about that piece of floating ice, something that can bring massive effect to anyone that tries to challenge it, and that’s the sheer size below the water.
Are you familiar with the idiom “tip of the iceberg”?
When we see flight attendants serving us food and beverage, and doing safety demos, what we see is basically “the tip of an iceberg”. Behind their uniforms, safety demos, and comfort services aboard an aircraft is a person fully equipped to deliver massive results because underneath their skin is something unimaginably huge.
People use the adverb word “just” to belittle something or maybe refer to something as “by a little”. Notice when an item is priced low, the cashier would say, “oh, it is just 99 cents for all those”, or maybe “it’s just a small wound; it will heal in no time; there’s nothing to worry about.” Apparently, quite a several people say “you’re just a flight attendant”, which is basically like saying “you’re little compared to me” or “your job is only that”. We are disgusted when we hear this.
I do not know why they have to use the word “just” when referring to the flight attendant career. Are they trying to belittle these people just because they serve food on board and do something routine like safety demos or safety checks? Well, let’s not prejudice these flight attendants by thinking that all they do is serve chicken or beef. How sure are we they are “just that” if we have not experienced what our cabin crew went through to earn their wings?
My question to these people who say “just a flight attendant” is, have you ever tried applying for the job? Well, if you did, we are 101% sure you did not make it because you would not even use the word “just” if you did.
Allow me to give you a brief rundown of what one goes through to earn his or her wings.
Recruitment and screening
A person who wants to be “just” a flight attendant must undergo 5 to 6 stringent stages throughout the recruitment process. How many interviews did you go through to get your desk job (no, we are not sarcastic, we want to know too)? The first stage is usually the pre-screen process, where recruiters will check if you are eligible to be a cabin crew. Those who have attended open recruitment days line up for hours under the sun, and we are talking a thousand aspirants, not only a hundred or even tens. Mind you, though, the total number of applicants gets slashed by more than half.
The next stage is exams—both written and medical. Airlines are very particular with your physical appearance and being. They also want people who know how to use their brains. They want to see if you are fit to be a cabin crew. The next stage is group dynamics, where you are placed with a group of applicants, and the recruiters will make you do activities. They will test how you are as a team player. The next stage is an impact interview. The attrition rate at this stage is usually 90%. Then comes a panel interview, and for some, another interview. The recruitment process varies per airline, but one common thing among all airlines is that the attrition rate is beyond 90%! Last 2018, out of 150,000 cabin crew applicants at Delta, only 900 made it in.
That was just the screening process. There is still training.
Training
Cabin crew training is like your whole college life cramped in like two months. So that means memorization of materials, exams, and readings equivalent to an entire college term, all done in 2 to 3 months! Hell week, yeah?
FA Trainees are made to memorize materials about thousand pages thick and are given exams every day. These exams are all digital; hence, no room for cheating, not even an itsy bitsy time. The passing mark is 90% and up, and you could only fail an exam about two to three times. Trainees face sleepless nights and time away from their families for almost the whole duration of their training. Many of them cry in the middle because of the pressure, and the majority felt like giving up. All that kept them going and motivated was their dream to be a flight attendant.
How about if we add drills on top of the exams and memorizing? This includes safety drills like jump and slide, fire fighting, first aid, ditching, and more aircraft drills. So come to think of it, trainees are not only mentally drained, they are physically drained too! Some full-service airlines also have business training, personality development, speaking classes, and more.
Information overload, indeed! It may sound easy when you read it but trust us, it’s the opposite when done. Flight attendants even say that they feel they would all be valedictorians during their college days if only they applied their cabin crew training study habits.
Graduation day finally and ready to fly!
This is why graduation day for every cabin crew is like a day of jubilation, a day of tears, happiness, and celebration. It is a culmination of all their hardships to earn their wings, but screening and training are not the only ones that put a value on every flight attendant. It is the flying experience itself that tops it all.
To belittle the career of a flight attendant with the adverb “just” is like looking down on someone trained to save lives, someone willing to leave a burning cabin last, trying to get their passengers out first. The flight attendant you termed as “just” may have played a hero to another passenger on a previous flight by hand feeding her because she is a disabled passenger.
The cabin crew you might have scolded with a “you are just a flight attendant” may have comforted a passenger travelling alone who lost a loved one a few rows from where you are seated. The flight attendant you think is a “just” may have revived a passenger who suffered a heart attack mid-flight and is now successfully recovering.
The cabin crew, you thought, is a “just” and may have been involved in a previous unfortunate incident where they saved more than a hundred lives even if she suffered a significant injury. A flight attendant’s uniform gets heavier, with necessary experiences and life lessons. Those alone add 70% of their value.
A flight attendant’s value increases in time, from the time they start applying to training to flying and to their retirement. By the time they rest their wings, I bet you that their storybook will be something full of invaluable life lessons to touch the lives of others.
The benefits of being a flight attendant
Breakfast in Milan, lunch in Singapore, and dinner in San Francisco are all rewards of a flight attendant’s hard work, but a cabin crew’s most significant rewards are their value and sense of fulfilment which we can never term as “just”.
A flight attendant serving you food and beverage and doing safety demos or checks are the tip of the iceberg. What is invisible to your naked eye is something that could bring massive results, results that may include a life saved.
No job in this world that serve others pays taxes, saves lives, makes lives comfortable, sends kids to school, and helps in the economy’s growth should be termed as “just”, whether it be a President of a company, a pilot, a flight attendant, a junior executive, a clerk, a janitor, a waiter, a security guard, or a helper.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
