FAN Mail

Here's an e-mail from one of my fans who lives in Paris!

Well Heather, if you're fluent in French, come over and use it!  Even flying regionally, you can deadhead across the pond can't you?

Deadhead no, but I can use my flight benifits and travel anywhere my airline and our mainline carrier fly.  Though I do get travel benifits, it still costs money when you get to where you are going!  Remember I have an extremely limited income!  I only "deadhead" when I am getting repositioned to complete a trip.

Had a look at your diet entry today.... good tips.  It sounds like you've got a lot of ideas about what to talk about.

Here's some that maybe you might want to get around to sometime:

(why not today?  LOL)

- How do flight attendants "attack" a new city when you're on layover... always the same bars with the pilots and other crew? 

The only thing that I really attack on a layover is my head hitting my pillow in my hotel room.  Layovers are so short now a days that there isn't alot of time to site see.

Or do you peel off with friends?

Most of my friends are fellow crew members, and are flying the same time that I am, or are normal people who live in Chicago, so I don't get a chance to see them on layovers.

Do you laze around in the hotels and use the gyms and stuff?

I laze around and relax.  We work up to 6 flights in one day.  That kind of stress on your body takes it's toll.

Or does your airline make sure you always get back to your home base at the end of the day?

If you want want to be home every night, you can bid for day trips.  I like day trips in the spring and summer.  It's a nice change to be home every night when the weather is good.  Though for the most part, I either work 3 or 4 day trips.

- How are you treated by the passengers?

I am invisible to passengers for the most part, just as if I were a blanket or pillow.  Some passengers treat me very nicely, while others make a point of trying to put me in my place.  It's like anyother job where you deal with public.

What are the worst (and best?) pick-up lines male passengers have tried on you?

There are no good pick up lines from male passengers.  The only men who attempt to hit on me are the kind of men who hit on any woman that they see.  The line that I hear the most is, "So is this your overnite?" The few guys that I have actually thought were cute, I was way to shy to even talk to.

How do jealous women passengers try to put you down?

When I get a woman who is intent on trying to put me in my place, I usually find it hard to keep from laughing at her.  They are the fussy ones that noting is never right, or they can't make up their mind.  Or they think that they do not have to listen to me because I am JUST a flight attendant.

What are the tips you have between yourselves to tone a passenger down? 

I never let someone see that they are getting to me.  I just smile, and make sure that they have every need attended to, about EVERY minute or two.  I try to treat passengers as I like to be treated even if I want to take them and give them a good swift kick in the butt.  But they wind up getting immortalized somewhere in my BLOG.

- How can passengers get extras they aren't normally allowed?  I'm not necessarily talking upgrades, more things like the snacks from First, or better meals (is it good to order the no-sodium platter to get served first?)

As I have said before, I work for a regional airline.  There is NO first class, and no meals, no special meals,  just snack mix.

- What's your training like?  I had a friend who worked for United, telling me about the training week in London where they are sometimes woken up at 4 in the morning and asked to show their fire drill routine....

Our training was four and a half weeks, six days a week.  We were in class from 7 am to 6pm everyday, and had at least 2 hours of studying to do when we got back to the hotel.  We have to go back for recurring training every year for 3 days.

- Do you modify your uniforms to make them look or fit better?  How do you rate the competitors' uniforms (even on the international lines, where sometimes famous designers are behind the clothes?)

I have had my pieces altered so that they actually fit my body, though even then my uniform is FAR from flattering.  My favourite uniforms are the ones from the early 60's.  Like PAN AM, TWA, and Braniff once wore.  They were so stylish back in those days.

I hope this answers all of your questions, my Aussie in Paris!!