Suffer?

something wrong with my font selector----since you are in a beauty orientated profession you must suffer---
try an asian diet
Comment from luk243 - 2/24/05 9:27 AM

 

Suffer? Suffer for what?  I take care of my appearance...  I admit that I didn't always, but I do now.  After almost 3 years of changing my eating habits, RATHER than trying some FAD diet, that does more harm than good yo-yoing.  DIETS dont work, healthy eating and good lifestyle choices DO!  I have lost over FIFTY pounds....  That's a small toddler that is no longer attached to my booty!

As far as being in a beauty oriented profession...  Has anyone been on a flight lately?  The days of hot pants and go-go boots are long gone.

Honestly people...  What do YOU think of when the word flight attendant comes to mind?  I want to know, because I think I am falling short to the expectations of the traveling public....  Please e-mail me with what YOU think a flight attendant should be, and I will post a compilation of your answers in about a week!  I will also post what a flight attendant REALLY is, to compare and contrast.  This should be fun...  Looking forward to your answers, GOOD, and bad.

 

 

Of Jugs and Jelly beans....

My crew this month is a riot.  There are times that I think, I am getting paid to have this much fun?!?!?  Having a cool crew that gets along makes life alot easier!  The pilots that I am flying with this month have come to enjoy trying to make me laugh during boarding.  It's hard to be serious and professional when you have your captain shaking a jar of jelly beans asking for a couple of jugs.

Jugs...  Speaking of which, I made the mistake of telling my cockpit crew a story about a pen pal of mine who is from Australia.  The first time that he had a layover in L.A. he and his crew went to a bar and asked the bartender for a couple of jugs.  (I know that I am remembering this story wrong... sorry hon.)  I guess in Aussie slang, a jug mean a pitcher of beer.  I don't need to explain what jugs mean in US slang.  I think that there are several magazines that are devoted solely to the subject.  Well that just opened up a huge can of worms of ways for my cockpit crew to give me a hard time.  Now whenever I ask them if they want anything from the galley, all that they want is my jugs...  Of water that is!

Wednesday night, my first officer and I went to a pub, in White Plains, to have a beer or two.  The bartender took a liking to myself, and gave us free pints the entire night.  Now before you get your hopes up about my love life, let me paint a better picture for you.  Sorry to say that missing teeth, and a huge pot belly don't do it for me.

Last week my captain had jelly bellies that he shared with everyone.    It was a hit, and we had fun trying to figure out each flavor without the cheat sheet.  The funny part came Thursday afternoon, when we met downstairs for the van.  Each of us had a HUGE bag of jelly bellies.  Great minds think alike.  We all brought them out at the same time with a beaming, "Look what I bought!" 

Times like these are the reason that I have been a flight attendant for five years.  You can't be serious all of the time...

Fan comments

...(a) No certificate holder may move an airplane on the surface, take off, or land when any food, beverage, or tableware furnished by the certificate holder is located at any passenger seat.

Very important that you make sure all food and items used to serve food have been cleared and disposed of properly and secured, there's no point in cutting corners or taking chances up there just to save time and take the easy way out.

Also, we're all still awaiting Traveling Tips Part 3, and a Safety Tips Part 1 entry in the coming days.
Comment from u2slipstickboy

....In your entry above, you have written "gold wings" in the color orange, the html color-code of #ff8000.  If given the option of editing entries, and the option of displaying a large array of colors, perhaps you could change the color of those two words to the color of Gold, the html code of #ffd700.  It doesn't have to be done, but it would be more helpful for readers, more of a peace-of-mind issue than anything.

As for the jumpseat now being available, that is great news, sure beats laying out in the overhead-luggage compartments.
Comment from u2slipstickboy - 2/6/05 7:01 PM

...I shall remember never to be the first person to exit a plane in the winter months, as eyesight is invaluable.  I was thinking we could add that safety tip as an addendum to Traveling Tips Part 2, but since Part 2 mainly focuses on nutrition, perhaps saving it for the upcoming Traveling Tips Part 3 would be more sensible.
Comment from u2slipstickboy - 1/30/05 10:04 PM

(honestly... is this guy for real?  What's up with all of this WE crap, since this one is the only one who comments on such trivial things.  One more comment like these, and you are banned for life!  This is MY blog, not a group effort!  Make this a lesson for the rest of you hypercritical people who have nothing to do, other than obcessing about what colours, and content that I use in my blog!  This is my REAL life not some over edited reality show!)

AHHHH....  You people and your demands!  Give me some tips on how to become a flight attendant.  I need some adivce on becomming an comercial pilot.  Where is Traveling Tips part 3, what happened to safety tips part 1?  You need to use different colours in your BLOG...  Can you send me some pics of you in your uniform?  Send Trogdor to my house to dance around!  Ok..... Maybe not the last one! 

I appreciate the interest that you have taken in reading about my life.  From most people's comments and letters, it seems that I have given them a real life perspective on what it's really like to be a flight attendant.  Especially for those of you who are interested in this as a career, I am more than happy to share with you everything that I know. 

I write about what is on my mind and what is currently happening in my life, not on demand...  This is my REAL life, and not a so called reality show.  I am not trying for ratings, I am just expressing how I feel in a public way.  Some of you enjoy what I write about, while others find some of the things that I talk about boring.  My life isn't glamorus and exciting, so you will have to deal with that, I do.  If you are searching for the unrealistic view of being a flight attendant, then I suggest that you rent the movie, A View From the Top.  Though it was a very cute movie, it is as unrealistic as they come. 

The next round of travel tips will start appearing at the start of the spring break/summer travel season.  That's when most of the traveling public who rarely travels, ventures out with everything except the kitchen sink.  If you want safety tips, go to the Transportation Safety Admin. website, or take a self defense class.

Now keep in mind that this is ONE of three blogs that I write.  For my most devoted fans, if you send me a nice e-mail I may send you the links to the others. 

Stay tuned...  The best is yet to come....

Say hello to my little friend... Mr. FAR 121

Ever wonder why airlines have all of those silly rules that noone wants to follow?  They are actually called Federal Avaition Regulations, which the government madates for safe flight operation.

 

Here are a few key ones that I found off of the www.faa.gov website.  Scheduled commercial carriers operate under FAR 121.  Charter airlines usually operate under FAR 135.  In general, certificate holder refers to the airline operating the flight.  Check out the website for the full list of part 121 FARs.  FAR 121 and 91 are what madates my duties.

Never thought it took so many rules to get a plane off of the ground did you?  And these ones are just a minute portion of the rest of FAR 121 in whole!

 

FAR 121.580 (see also 91.11) "No person may assault, threaten, or interfere with a crewmember in the perfomance of the crewmembers duties aboard the aircraft being operated."

FAR 121.291 "each certificate holder must conduct an actual demonstration of emergency evacuation procedures"

FAR 91.517  "no person may operate an airplane carrying passengers unless it is equipped with signs that are visible to passengers and flight attendants to notify them when smoking is prohibited and when safety belts must be fastened.
The signs must be so constructed that the crew can turn them on and off. They must be turned on during airplane movement on the surface, for each takeoff, for each landing, and when otherwise considered to be necessary by the pilot in command.

FAR 91.523  "No pilot in command of an airplane having a seating capacity of more than 19 passengers may permit a passenger to stowbaggage aboard that airplane except--
(a) In a suitable baggage or cargo storage compartment, or as provided in Sec. 91.525; or
(b) Under a passenger seat in such a way that it will not slide forward under crash impacts severe enough to induce the ultimate inertia forces specified in Sec. 25.561 (b)(3) of this chapter, or the reuirements of the regulations under which the airplane was type certificated. Restraining devices must also limit sideward motion of under-seat baggage and be designed to withstand crash impacts severe enough to induce sideward forces specifed in Sec. 25.561 (b)(3) of this chapter

FAR 91.533  "a) No person may operate an airplane unless at least the following number of flight attendants are on board the airplane:
(1) For airplanes having more than 19 but less than 51 passengers on board, one flight attendant.
(2) For airplanes having more than 50 but less than 101 passengers on board, two flight attendants.
(3) For airplanes having more than 100 passengers on board, two flight attendants plus one additional flight attendant for each unit (or part of a unit) of 50 passengers above 100.
(b) No person may serve as a flight attendant on an airplane when required by paragraph (a) of this section unless that person has demonstrated to the pilot in command familiarity with the necessary functions to be performed in an emergency or a situation requiring emergency evacuation and is capable of using the emergency equipment installed on that airplane

more questions.....

Though I am not a pilot, I have been asked to give advice about becoming an airline pilot...  I guess that makes sense because I work so closely with pilots, unlike a main line flight attendant  Let's see how I do.

Sorry about your life as a Flight Attendant!  I guess at least you are working at a job you love or do you?

Yes I do love my job.  Though people need to realize that it is just that...  A job, and is not glamorus by any means...

Im currenly a flight instructor (CFII)  with a college degree along with my mechanics license (A & P) trying to get a job as a First Officer (FO) which so happens to make less than a nurse's aide at any hospital.

We all have to start out somewhere.  You can't expect to start flying 747s with only 1000 hours total time.  Most major airline pilots today are either from the military or came from a regional where they started off making very little money. 

There's nothing that annoys me more than to fly with some 20 year old pilot who thinks that he's God's gift to aviation, and who thinks that they have TOO much tallent to be working at a mere regional airline.

Im sure you are familar with the slogan "SLAM CLICK IT?"  Well, i am more than ready to "SLAM CLICK IT" on the career path of becoming a regional airline pilot.

I believe that the correct term used is: "Slam click, or that someone is a slam clicker"  meaning that they do not associate with the rest of their crew on an over night.  I have even been known to be a slam clicker. 

Im not sure I want to live out of a suitcase and hotel room for the honor to say that I fly for a living.  It's kind of like being a glorified truck driver in the sky.  I know that the schedule/pay gets better over time.  However, is the wait worth putting up with the B.S.?

If you are not sure that you want to live out of a suitcase and hotel rooms, then commerical aviation isn't the right career for you. 

Like I have said earlier, everyone starts out with the BS, they all have to go thru it.  Though I have found that the pilots who stick with it, are the ones who have a TRUE passion for flying...  Not just looking for the big pay check that may never come.  You have to have a passion for what you do in this industry.

I have several friends that are flying for such carriers as Air Wis, Mesaba, and  Pennicale.  They all say if they could do something different they would.  I just wanted to see if you hear anything different out of your pilots?  

The one's who are just looking for that mainline paycheck are the one's that are wishing that they were doing something else.  My friends who have a passion for what they do, wish that things were better, but enjoy the flying.

Our industry isn't very solid right now.  I have a dream of being an international flight attendant that may never be realised.  It doesn't mean that I am throwing in the towel just yet, because I am not at a major airline. 

You have to like what you do, and do it for yourself.  If your friends are unhappy, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't persue YOUR dream of comercial aviation.

Anyway........ Good luck with you job!

Thanks, and the same to you...

Comment from cjav8er - 2/2/05 8:46 PM

Tales of a GOLD wing diva!

Another week in paradise...  Here are some various tidbits that has been going on over the past week... 

I get my gold wings next week.  At our company when you reach five years as a flight attendant you get gold wings.  I guess so that everyone can know that you are super senior just by looking at you.  There are alot of my co-workers who don't like wearing their gold wings, for various reasons.  I on the other hand don't feel that way.  I have earned them, I am gonna wear them! 

Another monumental occasion has happened in my company that I never thought that I would live to see the day.  Our parent company has finally allowed us to sit in the flight attendant jumpseat on our mainline carrier.  This is monumental, because when I got hired 5 years ago, we had to sign this paper that went into our files saying that if we sat in the mainline flight attendant jumpseat that we would be terminated. 

I don't know how many times that I have gotten bumped off flights going home to see my parents in North Carolina, when the flight attendant jumpseat has gone empty.  This is a monumental occasion for us, and I keep pinching myself that it's real.  This is the best Valentine's Day present ever!

For those of you who do not work for a regional airline, you wouldn't understand how important being able to sit in mainline's jumpseat really is.  For those who commute, it's an added option for getting to work.  For those of us, like me, who like to travel it's just one more option for getting home for Christmas.