Galley Gossip: A question about “flight attendant training schools”

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

Could you please tell me which course of action I should take to become a flight attendant. Should I take a college training program that offers a diploma, or should I go to a airline and go through their training program? I have read a lot concerning flight attendants today and I don’t know what to believe when it comes to the training procedures. Thank you for your time and hope to meet you one day,

Maggie from Kamloops bc

Dear Maggie,

I do not know one flight attendant who has gone to a school offering a certificate or diploma to become a flight attendant that has actually become a flight attendant. I believe those schools are a waste of time and money and do not recommend them at all. In fact, one of the reasons I’ve shied away from advertising offers on my personal blog is because I do not want those kinds of ads, flight attendant training school ads, associated with my name. I refuse to endorse something I do not believe in.

If you want to become a flight attendant, apply to the airlines directly. Each airline has their own training program that can range from two to seven weeks long. The first airline I ever worked for, Sun Jet International Airlines, was a charter airline with only three (leased) aircrafts, all MD80’s once owned by Hawaiian Air. Sun Jet flew from Dallas to Newark, Ft. Lauderdale, and Long Beach for just $69 a flight – twice a day. Even that teeny tiny airline had their own training program that lasted two weeks.

I only worked three months for Sun Jet before I applied to a major airline and actually got hired. Even with all the hands on experience I received working for a small airline, I still wasn’t completely prepared for the intensive training I went through with the major airline. Every airline owns different types of aircraft and many of those airplanes have been reconfigured making them different from the same airplane flown at another airline. Also, our medical and emergency procedures differ from other airlines, which is why getting a diploma at a “flight attendant school” not connected with a specific airline doesn’t make sense.

After I read your letter, I searched FLIGHT ATTENDANT SCHOOLS just to see what they had to say. The Travel Academy states the following

Airlines in the US currently employ approximately 86,000 flight attendants and hire almost 8,000 more each year. The minimum hiring requirements for becoming a flight attendant are High School Diploma or GED and at least 18 years of age. However, to get hired you need poise, a strong presentation, and the ability to connect with people.

Even in this day and age of travel, people still dream of becoming a flight attendant, which means your competition is fierce. Granted, you can become a flight attendant with just a high school diploma and a GED, but because there are so many applicants to choose from, airlines have the option of picking future candidates who have a lot more to offer than just the basics. Not only do I have a college degree, but I’ve held many jobs in the past that required good customer service. Customer service experience is a must. .

As for poise, a strong presentation, and the ability to connect with people, these traits are important. So is being flexible. That said, you do NOT need to pay money and go through weeks of training at a so-called “flight attendant training school” to acquire these traits.

In our weak economy today, airlines are struggling to stay afloat and very few are hiring. In fact, most airlines are laying off. That’s why getting a college degree is important. You want to have something to fall back on if you do become a flight attendant and find yourself grounded. My advice to you is to get a college degree, or some sort of technical training, before you apply with an airline. Learning to speak a foreign language is also a plus.

The flight attendant I worked with last night, Shirley, not only has a college degree, but speaks three languages and worked for several airlines before ending up at my airline. Shirley is now in the process of getting a certificate in court reporting, a two year training program. Why? Because after ten years of flying for a major carrier Shirley is about to be furloughed. That pretty much means she’s being “layed off”, only the airlines have to call her back to work before they can hire someone else.

The Travel Academy also states…

Ninety-six percent of people that apply to become a flight attendant without our training don’t get a second interview.

I’m fairly certain that ninety-six percent of people that apply to become a flight attendant with OR WITHOUT training from The Travel Academy don’t get a second interview. But don’t let that deter you. I applied to a major airline, got an interview, and did not get hired. Shirley, the flight attendant I mentioned above, had an amazing career working six years for a prestigious charter airline. She actually wore white gloves and flew around the world twice. She also applied to a specific major airline 18 times – 18 TIMES! And never got hired. After sending an application to my airline, she was hired a few months later. Not only is she an amazing flight attendant, hardworking, always smiling, and lots of fun, she’s one of my favorite flight attendants to work with. The airline that didn’t hire her really lost out.

As for the money you’ll spend on one of these training schools, Flight Attendant Express, another company offering flight attendant training, states…

The reason these schools charge a lot of money and keep you for WEEKS and/or MONTHS at a time is because it takes a long time to learn Sabre, the computer system they teach, which is used for booking airline reservations. Keep in mind that the financial aid they offer is NOT free – it is a loan that must be paid back and it will eat into your paycheck for years! Our program is only $899 and includes your hotel room.

Their program is ONLY $899! That’s a lot of money to spend on a program that can’t guarantee a job with a company that is going to train you once you are hired. And yet you’ll still have to spend even more money once you are hired by an airline. My airline paid for our training, food, and lodging, but not our uniforms. Who knew blue polyester could cost $2,000? (It was pay roll deducted out our checks over the years) Your expenses don’t stop there. The very day my wings were pinned to my blue lapel, the airline flew me to my crew base where I was expected to find a place to live with only four days to do so before I had to fly my first trip. Nine times out of ten you will not be based in your hometown, which means you’ll need enough money to rent an apartment in whichever city you are based in.

Not to mention, flight attendants don’t make a lot of money. In 1995 I made only 18K – and I work for a major airline! After 9/11 flight attendants, at my airline, took a 30% pay cut, so new hires today aren’t even making what I made when I first started.

As for learning Sabre, unless you’re going to become a ticket, gate, or travel agent, you will not need weeks worth of training on the computer. Though it’s all a blur now, I’m pretty sure my Sabre class only lasted a day or two. That’s it. So save your money, apply to the airlines directly, and let them train you on their dollar, not yours.

For more information on how to become a flight attendant, read my Galley Gossip post, A question about Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, and other airlines who may be hiring flight attendants, and make sure to check out Cabincrewjobs.com for even more information.

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Photos courtesy of (flight attendant) Limeydog, (slide) Fly For Fun, (flight attendants) Nicholas McGowan

Galley Gossip: In-flight emergencies – what are the odds?

by Heather Poole on
Standing at row 33 behind the beverage cart, I handed a passenger a Diet Coke with extra lime. That’s when another passenger came racing up behind me and yelled, “There’s a fire in the bathroom!”

A fire on the airplane is one of my biggest fears as a flight attendant. Only because I’m quite familiar with how quickly a fire can get out of control. Once, years ago, I lit an Aveda travel candle and placed it on a shelf in the bathroom of my crash pad. As luck would have it, the Aveda candle was housed in a silver tin that got so hot it melted the plastic shelf. The candle dropped into a wicker basket full of tissue. Within seconds the flames climbed the walls and jumped onto the fluffy toilet seat cover. To make a long story short, I frantically fought the fire and eventually was able to put it out. I was lucky that day.

I looked up the aisle at the lavatory the passenger was now pointing at, and though I couldn’t see any smoke, I turned to my colleague and said, “Call the Captain. I’ll be right back.”

Did I happen to mention that FAA was on board scrutinizing our every move?

My heart raced as I walked up the aisle. I had barely cracked the accordion door open when I heard passengers coughing loudly throughout the cabin. Smoke began billowing out of the trash receptacle. A cigarette, I guessed.

“I can’t breath!” I heard several passengers scream.

Quickly I shut the door, opened an overhead bin, grabbed a bottle of halon, pulled out the pin, and pushed the lavatory door back open. Pointing the hose at the fire, I pressed the lever and sprayed. I also prayed. Two seconds later a colleague handed me another bottle of halon. When that was empty, another tank was placed in my hands. The smoke grew thicker and thicker as the coughing got louder and louder. A giant hazmat-looking-hood that covers the entire head and provides oxygen while fighting fires was thrust upon me.

While I continued fighting the fire, my colleagues moved passengers and oxygen bottles away from the lavatory. Because the flight was full, passengers were doubled up. Then my colleagues passed out wet towels and instructed passengers to use them to cover their mouths.

As soon as the fire was extinguished, the Captain’s voice boomed, “Flight attendants, prepare for landing!”

Frantically we threw everything into the carts and locked it all in place. It was then we took our jumpseats and tried to catch our breath.

“Very good!” our instructors called out.

The FAA guy didn’t respond. He just sat there taking notes.

“Now grab your manuals and let’s go over what just happened,” an instructor said. And that’s what we did. We all grabbed our in-flight crew manuals and discussed what had happened and what we could have done better.

The above scenario took place in a controlled environment during my flight attendant recurrent training session. (Click the link to read what happened last year) It was also a re-enactment of what actually took place on a flight earlier this year. Each year flight attendants are required to go through hours of intensive hands on training, practicing everything from CPR to what we should do in case of a terrorist attack, and each year I leave the training facility feeling prepared for just about anything.

Whenever I write a post centering around customer service or flight safety, it never fails, there’s always someone quick to point out how rare it is that an in-flight emergency will occur. And that’s alway following by how bad customer service is today and how flight attendants should be replaced with vending machines – vending machines! I kid you not.

Besides having a very large woman pass out on top of me in the middle of the aisle, a man traveling from an international destination vomit all over my crew bag – and uniform blazer, a woman go unconscious not once, but twice, during a meal service, and wing flaps that wouldn’t go up one occasion, or down on another, resulting in the aircraft being met by dozens of emergency vehicles on the ground while I sat in my jumpseat ready to pop a slide and command an evacuation at any moment, not much has happened during my fourteen years of flying. The one and only time I had a serious medical emergency (a woman had a heart attack) two of my crew members happened to be qualified nurses and in business class traveled a group of doctors on their way to a medical convention. Like I mentioned above, I’ve been really lucky.

So what are the odds that an in-flight emergency will occur on one of your flights? I don’t know. What I do know is that I was surprised to meet several flight attendants at recurrent training this year who had, in fact, experienced several emergencies – each!

After fighting the fire, I found myself practicing CPR on the floor with a flight attendant I’d never met before. He was in charge of the AED, which meant he was the one delivering the electrical shock when advised. “Have you ever had to do this in real life?” I asked as I pulled off a pair of plastic gloves and placed a pocket mask in a box being passed around the room.

“Twice,” he said as he got to his feet and helped me up.

“Twice?” I repeated. “Are you serious?” I could tell by the look on his face it had greatly affected him.

The next class involved going through a planned emergency. A planned emergency happens when flight attendants are alerted in flight by the cockpit that an emergency landing will take place. Flight attendants will then go through a planned emergency check list step by step until all tasks have been completed. Remember the miraculous Hudson River landing? That was a planned emergency landing.

As we sat on the mock airplane waiting for the instructors to announce the names of the “working crew” I sighed. The stress was getting to me. “Thank god I’ve never had to do this in real life,” I mumbled to the guy sitting beside me.

“Oh I’ve had four planned emergencies and one unplanned emergency.”

I just looked at him. Then I said, “No offense, but I hope I never have to fly with you!”

“Why?” he asked, still smiling. “I’m lucky!” That’s when I realized he was lucky, very lucky indeed!
Then he added, “During one of the planned emergencies I worked with a flight attendant who had brought along his 8 year-old son. Can you imagine? What are the odds that the day you bring your child on a flight you’re working is the day an engine catches on fire and you have to make an emergency landing?”

Just then an instructor called my seatmate’s name to play the lead flight attendant during the planned emergency landing we were about to re-enact, along with eight other names. Mine wasn’t one of them, thankfully. Even so, I shook my head as I sat in my seat, just like a real life passenger, and thought about the so-called odds and what it all meant. I mean what were the odds that the one guy in the room most qualified to handle a planned emergency landing would be called out to role-play the flight attendant in charge? What were the odds that my CPR partner would have had to actually perform it in flight on two seperate occassions? What are the odds of anything, really? And in the end, do the odds even matter?

Are you a flight attendant who has experienced an in-flight emergency? Share your story here!

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American Airlines flight attendant accused of racist remark

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Dudu Nobre, a Brazilian singer, has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines. He, his wife and producer are looking for $4 million in damages, claiming that flight attendants used racial slurs when talking to him and that they stabbed his producer with a sharp pen. So, the next time you’re wondering what could make the long flight from Sao Paulo to New York worse, in a world where amenities and seat space are declining seemingly daily, Nobre is equipped to let you know.

One flight attendant is said to have called Nobre a monkey repeatedly in Portuguese during the flight – pushing it further by making monkey-like sounds. Apparently, these sounds are the closest thing to comment, as American Airlines is remaining tight-lipped.

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Galley Gossip: A weekend in Chicago- talking about blogging & a quick trip report

by Heather Poole on

It’s been a few years since I’ve had a nice long layover in downtown Chicago, so I’d forgotten what a truly wonderful city it is. You see, whenever I’m visiting the Windy City my crew and I usually get stuck at an airport hotel, if we even leave the airport at all. So when I got an invitation to speak at the travel blog exchange conference, I decided to make it a long weekend. I also decided to bring my mother along.

Our flight from New York departed to Chicago on Friday. Saturday we spent the entire day wandering around and exploring the city. More about that later. Because on Sunday, I, yours truly, actually sat on a panel with some of the most powerful travel bloggers around. In fact, I took a seat right between Sean Keener (co-founder of Bootsnall) and Nomadic Matt. And on the other side of Matt sat Michael Yessis (co-founder and co-editor of WorldHum). Honestly, I’m not even sure what I was doing there, but I was very excited about it and I do hope someone photographed it. Because we were there to discuss how to keep a blog lively, I won’t bore you with the details of “lively” blogging, but I will share a few of the questions and answers I think you might find interesting.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE STORY ON YOUR BLOG AND WHY: I couldn’t narrow it down to just one post, so I shared my three favorite posts…

  1. THAT DAY – 9/11: This is the most serious post I’ve written to date. The best part was AOL featured it on 9/11 last year and it inspired millions of people to share their own stories of that tragic day, a day that not only took so many lives, but also completely changed the way we travel today. Some stories were so emotional they made me cry. Powerful stuff.
  2. FLIGHT ATTENDANT PET PEEVE #1: ANSWER PLEASE – This is my very first Gadling post. Over 700 people responded and the majority of those comments were not nice…not at all! In fact, it felt like 700 drive by shootings. I learned very quickly I needed a tough skin in order to write about what I do for a living, and to shake things off, and not take the comments personally. That was a huge lesson. I now work hard to show that flight attendants are nice, good people, who are also smart and interesting. Because we are!
  3. THE HOTTEST TREND ON THE AIRPLANE SINCE THE MILE HIGH CLUB: The laviator post is one of my favorites not just because it was featured on MSNBC and National Geographic, but because so many people responded and joined in the fun. I never expected that! I love including my readers, whether it be by having contests, sharing letters, stories, photographs, whatever, so if you’ve got something to share, let me know!

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR READERS: An escape from day to day life. At least that’s what I hope to provide for readers who are unable to travel as often as they’d like. For those who do travel regularly, a chance to see what’s going on behind the galley curtain. Because aviation enthusiasts really are curious. I also enjoy educating my readers by allowing them to “see” what it’s really like to be a flight attendant and letting them know why we do the things they do, because honestly, we really aren’t on a power trip, we’re just enforcing FAA rules, rules that are really quite simple.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR BLOG ALIVE WHEN YOU’RE NOT TRAVELING: Thank goodness for readers who inspire posts with their comments and questions.

And now for my quick trip report….

WHERE DID I STAY? Hotel Burnham. We got quite a deal on Hotels.com. For just $129 / night we had an amazing view on the 15th floor in the refurbished, 105 year-old, Reliance Building . Located in the theater district, the pet-friendly, boutique hotel is a short walk from Millennium Park. In the lobby they offer a complimentary wine reception from 5-6 pm. The rooms are plush and tastefully decorated, the beds are comfortable and set against a bay window overlooking the city, and a zebra print bath robe awaits you in the closet. What more could you ask for? A Nordstrom Rack, you say? Right next door.

MY FAVORITE MEAL? Fish and chips at The Gage. They weren’t too crispy or even greasy. They were, however, perfectly flakey. Not only is the food amazing, but the portions are huge. The atmosphere is a mix of cool and contemporary, and while the prices are a tad bit high, it’s totally worth it. Especially if Oliver is your server.

MY FAVORITE THING TO DO? Walk around Millennium Park. I don’t know what I loved more, the Opera singers practicing at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in the middle of the afternoon, the gorgeous gardens at every turn, the kids splashing around in Crown Fountain, or the family fun festival we were lucky enough to run into, all while just wandering around.

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10 annoying passengers as told by a flight attendant

by Scott Carmichael on

Here at Gadling, we love stories about annoying passengers. It gives us a chance to read about the kind of things that annoy us when we travel, and there is something deeply satisfying knowing that we are not the only ones that get annoyed when we bump into one of these annoying people.

Our tart friends over at Lemondrop have compiled a list of annoying passengers, from the perspective of a flight attendant.

Now, this is of course nothing new, as we have our very own Heather Poole who has her own fantastic lineup of “pet peeves”, but it is interesting to see the overlap, and which things seem to annoy flight attendants the most.

And while we are on the topic of annoying people, check out our own list of ten annoying passengers, listing everything from “the escalator obstacle” to “the recliner“.

And fear not – Gadling will soon be publishing a list of airline employees that annoy us. It’s going to be quite the list, and I’m willing to bet it lists a couple of employees that have made you roll your eyes in the past. And lets be honest, who hasn’t come across a flight attendant who has the kind of attitude that makes you wish he/she stayed home that day.

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