Stories of flight attendants about scary flights. Stewards and flight attendants: history of the profession and requirements. Reference. Blanket and headphones

Here are 10 Shocking Stories from Flight Attendants. If you've flown enough for years, you've probably heard the same in-flight instructions about how to fasten your seat belt, where to get off the plane, and what to do in case of emergency. Flight attendants know all the secrets and even the most experienced pilots cannot know what is really happening during their flights.

"My sister is a flight attendant, and she says that after she tells everyone to turn off all electronics, she goes back and takes out her phone and starts texting." "Pilot says: Turning off electronics on a plane is completely useless."

"Mobile electronic devices won't actually cause a plane to crash, but they can be very annoying for pilots. Just imagine flight attendants talking about sitting in the cockpit as the crew descends to their destination and hearing a cacophony of interference from 100+ mobile devices." suppressing the signal. I can’t find a free frequency, I’m changing the channel...”

2. Water in flight


"A former Lufthansa cargo agent says: Never drink water on a plane that isn't served to you from a bottle by a flight attendant. Don't even touch it. The reason is that the ports for cleaning the toilet [expletive] and filling the plane with drinking water are a foot apart." and sometimes they're all served by the same guy. Not always, but if you're not on the ramp. watchtower, you never know how it's done."

3. Blanket and headphones

“I worked in the southwest,” says a flight attendant. “These blankets and pillows? Yes, they were simply renatured and stuffed back into the bins between flights. The only fresh ones that I ever saw were on the plane that was flying, in the morning in the city of initialization Also, if you've ever spilled peanuts on your tray and then eaten them, or just touched your tray, it's more than likely that you've swallowed baby urine. I've seen piles of dirty diapers piled up on those trays, more than food. And these trays, yes, I have never seen them cleaned or disinfected even once."

"I used to work in a warehouse that supplied certain airlines with parts. The headsets that are given to you are not new, even though they are wrapped. They are taken off the flight, "cleaned" and then packed again."

4. Getting more space


"Armrests - aisle and sill: Reach along the bottom of the armrest, just as far as the hinge begins, and you will feel a button. Press it and it will raise the armrest. This adds a lot of space to the seat and makes getting in from the aisle much easier."

5. Captain


“...in addition, if a passenger makes a scene at Jetway, the captain can refuse them the flight, remove them from the board and fly off without them.

The captain has virtually unlimited power when the doors are closed. He is allowed to detain people, issue fines and even arrest a passenger."

6. In case of emergency


"If the oxygen masks go down, you only have about 15 minutes of oxygen for the plane to go down. However, that's more than enough time for the pilot to go into overdrive." low height where you can breathe normally."

"It turns out that 15 minutes is the FAA minimum standard. Not all flight attendants tell you that: Most oxygen generation systems through a chemical reaction can cause a burning smell in the cabin, but this is normal and to be expected."

"The air you breathe on an airplane is actually compressed air bled from the engines. Most (25% to 50%) is forced into the turbines, the rest for passengers. The air exits the airplane through a small hole in the rear fuselage."

7. Airplanes are allowed to fly slightly crooked.

Neither the pilot nor the flight attendant will tell you about this: “There is a huge list of things that may not be on the plane, but at the same time it will be allowed to fly.”

"This is called a Minimum Equipment List (MEL). Paradoxically, it is a list of what can be broken or damaged on board an aircraft while it is still airworthy. It should be noted that the aircraft's operational limitations change in this way to respond to broken parts. For example, if some navigation lights are broken, the aircraft can only be used during daylight hours."

8. Travel bonuses


"I work in Revenue Management for an airline. On average, a flight attendant told a secret, the most cheap time to buy a ticket is Tuesday afternoon. The cheapest time to fly is Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. This applies to flights to the USA in my experience."

"When drinks are being served down the aisle, you can ask for a full glass instead of a tiny cup filled mostly with ice."

"Flight attendants say they have a list of who's who and what seat they're in. As well as a list of frequent flyers. Or if they're employees or their families or friends. That's why you'll see them more rude with someone or more flexible for some others."

9. Luggage


"Small American low-cost airlines have RFID tags on luggage. It's important for the scanners to remove all the old tags. In this case, the luggage is tracked in real time. It's not 100% effective, but it works pretty well."

"My partner worked for Delta for 4 years as one of the guys who loaded and unloaded luggage. Nothing in your luggage is secure. If something is opened by accident, things will just be [expletive] stuffed back haphazardly. They throw suitcases , like volleyballs. TSA is a lie. Many decisions about loading or reassigning flights, etc. are made at the discretion of the employees."

10. They know when you're trying to join the Mile High Club


"It's usually a long line of people waiting to use the bathroom that gives you away, and nine times out of 10, it's the passenger who asks the flight attendants to intervene. Strictly speaking, it's not against the law to join Mile High Club. But it is against the law to disobey the crew members' commands. But if the flight attendant tells you that you should stop doing what you are doing, by all means, stop! Otherwise, you will have a very uncomfortable conversation when you meet. your half of the cell."

Editorial incidentally begins a series of materials about people for whom tourism and travel have become full-time work. Our first interview is with Tatyana Kiselchuk, journalist, editor-in-chiefbit.ua and WiseCow video lecture, and in the past - an airline stewardess"Aerosvit" and " Kharkov Airlines» .

It’s worth considering right away important fact: I haven’t worked as a flight attendant for three years now, and there is a ghostly hope that something might have changed. There are many people who fly to work, for example, in the Emirates and are absolutely happy. For me, this was never an option, because the contract is signed for three years, and in my head I do not exist anywhere outside of Ukraine. But my colleagues have repeatedly told me that the flight attendants there have decent salaries, adequate passengers, normal conditions, and they are really happy with their work.

After university I wanted to become a journalist,but I had no experience, no acquaintances, nothing. Like Brautigan: no publication, no money, no star, no fuck. So I needed to find any other job.

I have never had any romantic illusions about aviationand I wouldn’t have gone on my own, either then or now, but the total feeling of uselessness and lack of understanding of what to do with myself, which remains after our higher education (hello, aviation!), pushes me to any job. But if life hadn’t forced me, I would never have become a flight attendant.

One day after drinking they called me and said:« Tatyana Mikhailovna, we invite you to an interview, wear a black skirt and a white shirt» . And they hung up. I was so happy that I was called for an interview that I didn’t ask where. One could basically guess, because it happened in Boryspil.

In the morning I took a drink and came for the interview.Forty girls were sitting there. I asked, where can I get a job here? Everyone looked at the sheets of paper, repeated something in English, and looked at me like I was an idiot.

I go into the office, and there are 12 people sitting there - pilots, psychologists,senior flight attendants, and they start to mock me.

True, I was not forced to dance and undress (and some were forced).

They asked me to show something on the map and asked why my hair was down. Without thinking twice, I found a pencil on the table and pinned my hair with it. I say:« Well, it’s so beautiful now, okay?» The aviation delegation was amused by this.

Apparently, that’s why they took me, it’s a test of stress resistance and solving problems in a non-standard way.

In general, from my group of 40 people(and there was a morning and afternoon interview) they took me and two other girls: everyone else left, shedding crocodile tears. Neither then could I understand their despair, much less during work. Maybe what they don't passed that interview was the best thing that happened to them.

Then the second circle of hell began, and its name was the medical board.Dozens of doctors, analyzes and tests. Some of the doctors were so inadequate that it was time to treat them, not us. The psychiatrist considered us all crazy. The gynecologist firmly believed that all the girls who had sex but did not have a ring were whores, which she urgently informed us about. The ENT specialist was deaf, the dentist had rotten teeth, the nurses were screaming, the lines were long and languid, like Doronin. After a week of hell, all the marks about your physical fitness stood, because, as you know, only the dead and greedy fail the medical examination.

The third stage, in my opinion, was the most interesting.Preparatory courses lasting one and a half months of daily classes. Since the training took place in Boryspil, the guys and I rented some run-down apartment in the city and began to study. There were a lot of subjects: aviation safety, first aid, air code, aviation English, etc. I was only 21 then, and as a righteous person, I studied honestly and a lot.

In parallel with theory there was practice:we jumped from the ramps, inflated the raft in the pool, went to the plane to “arm the doors” in normal situations and “throw them out” in emergency situations, learned to remove the pilot from the helm in case of so-called pilot incapacitation, put on masks, simulated emergency situations and shouted commands, got acquainted with kitchen and emergency equipment.


The final stage before flying is the exams.The day before, I studied the questions somewhere, memorized all the tickets and passed with 100 points. Of the two parallel groups with a total of 30 people, everyone passed.

Each flight attendant has his own number and his own duties.The Boeing 737 usually flies four people, the Boeing 767 - eight, but there is a reinforced or double crew. On the 737, number four is responsible for emergency equipment in the rear of the plane, stationary fire extinguishers in the lavatory and security in half the cabin. The third number is responsible for the kitchen equipment and meals, and the second number hangs out in the nose of the plane. It must be said that hazing reigns on board. Firstly, the second number bears the attacks of the first number, who works for a very long time, and secondly, there are two more pilots ahead who are also bullying you. You have to bring them goddamn tea or food or some shit. For example, the pilot tells you:« Make me green tea». And you immediately panic, look for a box of green tea, remember there - no sugar, no lemon, make it, take out a bag or don’t get it (and just try not to take out the bag in time - death to you), insert a stick to stir, and bring it. And the pilot tells you:« So that's it. I told you - no sugar, no lemon, so that I don’t have any preservatives in my tea. And you took it for me and inserted a plastic stirrer into my tea. Are you stupid, tell me?» And you just try not to cry.

This is your main task on board - not to cry.

I don't remember my first flightand all the first nine flights too. The tension has reached critical levels, the brain tends to forget what we don’t like.

You fly nine trainee flights with an instructor.(the ninth is an exam), after which you become a full-fledged flight unit. Although in the roster (aviation schedule) the letter N is delivered to you for another three months, and the crew knows in advance that they are flying with a newcomer - hazing continues for another season. Then, little by little, you become “one of us.”

Before each flight there is a briefing:you come to the “flight house”, smoke 100 cigarettes (although you can’t smoke in uniform, of course), and then they ask you:« So, Tanya, nine steps at emergency landing » . And a hundred million more questions: how to open an oxygen cylinder, how to administer it, what is the Heimlich maneuver, blah blah blah. There are 600 pages of manual, and you have to know them, otherwise you will be kicked off the flight. They check your appearance, for example, whether your lipstick matches your manicure. A cruel archaism, but there was nothing to be done: if the nails are red, then the lips should be red. No one cares that you look like a cheap whore with red lipstick. Rules are rules. Then they check a stack of documents, then passport controls, and the pre-flight check of emergency equipment, food intake, etc. begins. And then the passengers arrive.

People on earth are normal, but as soon as they board an airplane, they are possessed by an evil spirit.. And even more so, something happens to people who come on charter, because these are obviously people who fly rarely and mainly to resorts. And all they do is frantically consume tomato juice and become endlessly indignant.

As Louis C.K. says:“People used to travel from New York to California for 30 years, and during that time someone gave birth to children, and someone died, and now his flight is delayed for a couple of hours, and he is already screaming like he’s insane.” Once upon a time we arrived in Istanbul with a long delay, and one nice woman, leaving, said:« I wish you would crash» .

When you're a waitress in a bar, you can take off your apronthrow it in the client's face, send the boss and leave. But you can’t get off the plane anywhere, and this pressure drove you to madness.

Not in any Ukrainian airline,As far as I know, there is no division: newcomers fly to Berdyansk, and old-timers fly to New York. Everything here is more or less fair. But if you were included in the conditional"higher" circles and wanted more flights to a certain city, you went to the flight scheduler and said: “I need a flight to Tel Aviv,” and you put in money, booze, candy or whatever they had, and somehow everything worked out. This was not always nepotism and corruption, and was done out of the kindness of one’s heart. One day, my friend and I asked for a shared flight to Bangkok because we really wanted to hang out together, and they gave us one.

“You’ve probably seen half the world.”How many times have I heard this phrase! This is partly true, of course, but the situation needs to be clarified here. Flights are divided into short, “medium” and trans-haul. A short one is, for example, Kyiv - Prague, flight time is about 2 hours. There is no such definition as “average”, this is how I explain flights on which you could get off in another city, but the time to walk is critically short, for example, Copenhagen or Stockholm at night - you have 15 hours, no more. Trans-haul ones are Beijing, Bangkok, New York, after a flight of more than 9 hours you spend in the country from 3 to 12 days.

There is a good aviation thing: “How do you like your work? “Yes, I like it, but the road is tiring.”

There were “squares” -for example, they send you to Odessa, and you fly from there: Odessa - Istanbul, Istanbul - Dnepropetrovsk, Dnepropetrovsk - Istanbul, Istanbul - Odessa - that turned out to be four legs in one day. There are 130 people on a small plane. On four flights this is 530 passengers and 530 times even just to say"good afternoon" and "goodbye" - I already want to howl. And there are delays that increase the working day, people are late and angry. If you fly like this for four days in a row, you might end up shooting yourself.

I don’t remember how legal such volumes of work are,but the airline had a loophole. You sign logbook at a briefing where it is written that you do not mind flying more than 90 hours a month.

On the one hand, we were taught well,constantly reminded that “in aviation everything is written in people’s blood,” therefore any small rule that seems insignificant must be followed. On the other hand, the whole system was built in such a way that even if you wanted to follow all the rules (and you did, because you were young, ardent and firmly believed in the importance of your work), then you had little chance.

For example, to check all the pockets of chairs, tables,vests and shelves, about three minutes are allotted for foreign objects. It’s physically impossible: to crawl under every chair, touch every vest, while simultaneously reaching for the unit by the window, open every table, look into every pocket and shelf - no matter how hard you try, miss, say, a knife that could have been stuck in an entertainment magazine in pocket, very simple.

Fortunately, we are not a terrorist country,at least one terrorist attack was: I flew with flight attendant Suzanne, who took part in the release of passengers. But in the entire history of independence there has not been a single disaster involving Ukrainian airlines. In the 90s there were only terrible stories about brothers in crimson jackets, showdowns right on the stripes and a complete lack of control, but now, thank heavens, there is no such thing.

We had a cool instructor aviation security, who told great stories, such as how bees were trained to detect drugs.

When the bees found cocaine, they released their sting and died, that is, if there are a bunch of dead bees on the suitcase, it means cocaine, that’s the story.

When I started working,We weren’t even given plastic handcuffs and were taught to tie the hands of violent passengers with men’s belts. Then a loophole appeared, and we were still given a pack of handcuffs on the flight. True, all this is useless, because when a passenger begins to row, it is almost impossible to restrain him with available means.

We have a really old aircraft fleet,but it's not as bad as they say. IN"Aerosvit" there was the following situation: they had only one plane of their own. It was a Boeing 737-200, which even in my time did not fly, but this"two hundred" was necessary for the existence of the company. By international rules, at least one aircraft must be purchased from the airline. All other aircraft were taken into"dry» leasing , that is, the remaining 9 boards were rented. I once asked the pilots, they say, what to do, we fly in troughs. But all our pilots were hardened guys who had flown for many years in Africa, transporting on leaky corn trucks toilet paper and sausage, so they said that it was better to fly on old planes. They are supposedly tested, and you know them. I can’t judge because I’m not a pilot, but it’s worth saying that all planes undergo multiple checks, up to an almost complete check of all components every few years. And, of course, after each flight the plane is checked and adjusted. True, one day we lost a piece of the reverse. We flew to Kaliningrad, sat down without it and stood for a long time - twisted, turned, repaired and flew back.

My favorite theme is the sunset of Aerosvit.I remember cases when we really didn’t have kerosene to refuel, and only one plane stood shiny in parade, on horseback, beautiful, who flew to Barbados (those who know will understand).

Aerosvit planes were constantly arrested,because the company owed money to all the airports for airport fees, for “twisting” the landing gear, for catering, for all this. For example, in Novosibirsk we stood for five hours with passengers on the runway in an already sealed plane, gave them, the poor, water and could do nothing. Everyone has weddings, funerals, people are late, they yell, the plane is grounded - and all this in a closed space.

For the last three months we have not been paid our salaries at all.Most have not yet been paid and will never be paid. This is Ukrainian aviation, baby. I remember that crews flew to Canada for nine days without daily allowance and ate mivina or even refused these flights. It would seem, who in their right mind refuses flights to Canada? And here.

Once we flew to Thailand, I remember this flight well:It’s winter here, but here it’s +40, we’re standing there - three pilots and ten flight attendants, we can’t breathe, we’re all fine - and the bus doesn’t come for us. Because they didn't pay for the bus in Bangkok either. We had a “nut cracker” - a telephone for conversations. The captain gets it, calls someone, but no one knows anything, nothing happens, “you haven’t paid” - that’s all. And we are standing near the airport, and there are crews nearby - English there, Russian, some other. And one by one they come and take them away, while we stand and smoke. We’ve been on our feet for 18 hours already, standing and staggering. Someone takes out a bottle of whiskey, another whispers that you can’t drink it, but then the captain - a stocky chief pilot with more than 100 thousand hours of flight time - says “let me take a sip,” and the bottle begins to be passed around.

And then, when three hours later someone comes to pick you up and takes you to a hotel, they don’t check you in there either, because - suddenly! - didn't pay. Then all this is resolved, of course, but it happens through great humiliation, and through national humiliation too.

The biggest tragedy of the collapse of Aerosvit- these are people who could not find themselves “on earth”. I only know five people, including myself, who are professionally happy.

For me, leaving aviation was the right thing to do in life. For most, this is a protracted drama. People work in call centers, in taxis, and are constantly trying to get back. They return and find the same situation.

Just a few days ago I met my colleague with whom I flew on two airlines. Now he flies in the third and says that their daily allowance is paid with a delay of a year (!). I do not have censorship words to express my position on this matter.

A separate story concerns denunciations.Maybe, of course, three years have passed and something has changed, but in aviation there is always a very tense situation within the team. It was created artificially, and this didn’t happen in the old Aerosvit until they recruited newcomers along with me. But when we recruited about 200 new people, the old close-knit team at first didn’t like us. But since we were all young, we endured everything and we didn’t even have the thought of contradicting anyone.

There was one guy who liked to snitch on the team.It’s worth saying that “post-flight debriefings” in aviation are just black drinking sessions. And one day the crew in New York had a lot of fun (rest time allowed), and the hotel was in Chinatown, a very tall building. And two flight attendants, men about 40 years old, hung this guy head down from the balcony. It's like in the movie - New York, traffic is rushing by, and the guy is hanging upside down. “Are you going to knock again, you bastard? “No, no, guys, never again.” And they dragged him back. I don't think he knocked anymore.

At UIA, as far as I know, the situation was even worse.They didn’t take many flight attendants from Aerosvit there, because it had a more relaxed atmosphere, but at UIA everyone walked quietly. And my favorite story is how one flight attendant flushed another’s passport into the vacuum toilet on board.

It always surprised mewhy people around me thought that working as a flight attendant was cool. Men's eyes light up because they immediately want to get you into bed, and women are wildly delighted because they also want to be flight attendants. And for some reason everyone around you thinks that your life is good, because you are still small, you have no experience, you earn your thousand dollars, and for some reason everyone thinks that this is okay. But in reality you are delivering tea. BRINGING TEA, CARL. And you can, of course, say, yes, I am responsible for security, but how are you responsible? Did you count the vests and see that the pressure in the oxygen tank was normal? Well, well done, che.

During my flights there were a couple of unpleasant stories.One day the landing gear did not extend, and just the day before we were told how Polish pilots landed the plane “on its belly” and they were given heroes of the country for this. Because this is an incredibly difficult maneuver: the distance from the engines to the ground is very short, the plane rolls when landing, and if the engine catches the runway, the plane burns to the ground in 90 seconds. But in the end the landing gear came down, but for some reason the instruments just didn’t show up. We sat down quite decently.

In general, no matter how I feelto the inner workings of Ukrainian aviation, statistics do not lie: the plane is truly the most safe look transport.

To hear me tell you, this is the crappiest job in the world.But even I loved something about this job. I loved being in different parts of the world, even if it was a round trip flight. I called it “globe syndrome” - I just imagined where I was at globe, and how quickly she got here. I liked to sit in business class while relaxing on transhaul flights and write down fresh impressions of the countries I had just visited. I loved taking off and landing in the cockpit, especially during sunset. I liked taking books with me and photographing them on board. I liked watching the endless changes in the celestial landscape: staring out the window on board is a sacred activity.

Not long ago I flewand realized that three years later I remember every last detail on board. I can distinguish between the landing gear release push and the usual bumpiness, even if both shocks occur almost at the same time, I can distinguish between the pilot-in-command and the co-pilot by the rate of speech, I can recognize the face of a deported passenger. I still remember all the welcome and interim texts by heart, I remember the emergency procedures and commands that need to be given. I can calm a person with aerophobia, I can supply oxygen and I can inflate the ladder too. Apparently, the definition “there are no former flight attendants” is correct, and no matter what I say, aviation is an integral part of me. And this is forever.

More about aviation:

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1. ABOUT PROFESSIONALISM

When I first came to Aeroflot, my mentor, an aunt about fifty years old, told me: “Masha, you should walk around the plane as if you have a spot in your ass.”

2. ABOUT THE HINDUS

The flight Moscow - Toronto is usually only Indians. I call them “hoter-water” because they always ask for hot water. Hindus are terribly demanding and always tell you to do all sorts of nonsense. I didn’t understand this for a long time and asked my friend, an Indian, why they are like that? He says: they are all mostly from the village - the lower class. No one has ever served them in their lives, and here a white man is running around on their orders - they are going crazy. They have a caste society, and it is a great honor for them to touch a white person.

3. ABOUT SOCIAL stratification

About three years ago I noticed that our people began to treat you as servants. This was not the case before. Here is a flight Moscow - London: one passenger, already drunk, takes out his bottle, although we are now prohibited from drinking your own alcohol on board. I tell him - he doesn't listen. I take away the bottle, he takes out another one and starts taking everything out of my cart and throwing it away. I look: his friend is normal, not drunk. Calm down, I say, please, my comrade. He answers me: “You are a servant, go and work.” This is offensive to the point of tears. I don’t know what is causing this change in attitude towards us. Maybe because the difference between the classes has become more noticeable, and they want to emphasize it as often as possible, or what?

4. ABOUT TRETYAK

You can tell a lot about them by how passengers behave on an airplane. For example, Tretyak was driving - he behaved very calmly and normally: he greeted us when he entered, and said goodbye. Khakamada was driving, we said to her: “Good afternoon,” she didn’t even look. It seems to passengers that we don’t notice anything, but we notice everything. Probably only for teenagers now a flight attendant is that same romantic creature. Like Doronin in the film. They write me notes: “Masha, give me your phone number.”

5. ABOUT THE REASONS OF DRINKING

I used to be terribly angry with passengers because they all got drunk on the plane. Or someone will follow you around the entire flight and tell you what kind of wife he has, what kind of house he has in Vladik and what kind of dog he is. Then I realized why this was happening. Only a few can admit that they are afraid to fly. In fact, everyone is afraid. I smile at them, reassure them, take them under my wing. Few people know this, but one glass in the sky has the same effect as two on earth: you get drunk very quickly. There is such a special air there. It is believed that because of it, the brains think worse: reading, for example, is difficult. Our flight attendants generally say that this air dries out the brain. On the other hand, they say that because of him we all look young.

6. ABOUT PERSONAL LIFE

They tell me I'm beautiful. On earth, men are crazy about me. In the sky, normal business class men will never get to know you. Maybe at the beginning of the 2000s this was still the case, but now it’s not. If it happens, it’s only on flights to Havana. They're flying there - I thought they were only in movies - real boys from the 1990s, with two-finger gold chains, shaved. We transported the peripherals. They say: “Well, really, bring us some vodka.” They explained to me that they go there for cheap prostitutes.

7. ABOUT ORPHANAGE CHILDREN

Three times we took children from orphanages to New York. They flew to the screening. It is immediately clear from him that he is from an orphanage: he is six years old, and he behaves like an adult, very independently. And they are all like wolf cubs: they ask for several cans of cola and sprite. And bring it, and bring it. They stuff it into their pockets. I feel very sorry for them. One day we were flying, and one ten-year-old girl kept crying and crying and refusing to eat. I ask: what's wrong with you? Their teacher explained to me: they took her to see her and she really liked her American parents, but they didn’t take her.

8. ABOUT OKULOV

One flight attendant once carried Okulov (Valery Okulov - head of the Aeroflot company. - Esquire). We have now installed new seats in business class, “cocoons” - their outer seat does not move, but you can move the inner one this way and that, you can even lie down. But the truth is that they all break down very quickly: sometimes even half of them don’t work. Okulov was flying with some members of the government. One cocoon was not working on this flight. Okulov knew which one, and sat in it on purpose.

9. ABOUT SERVICE

I read in one magazine how they work singapore airlines. The flight attendant comes up and asks: what size slippers do you wear? This made me both funny and sad. In our business class, for which a passenger paid four thousand dollars, he asks for, say, socks. They bring it to him - but only in child size: sorry, but no more. Or for some reason the blankets were not delivered to us. Either there are no headphones, or the lamp above your head does not turn off. Sometimes 90 percent of all these things don't work or they just don't exist. And all the shots are flying at the flight attendant.

10. ABOUT DIFFICULTIES

One of our flight attendants fell from the ladder and broke her skull. I had to leave work. Her insurance was not paid because she allegedly did not hold on to the railing and was wearing boots of an unknown type. Recently they bought huge Airbuses - instead of the required five people, they put four people on the flight, two boys, two girls. This is so that in a hotel you can then pay not for three rooms, but for two. We also recently came up with new uniform. The designers sewed an experimental batch - everyone liked it, especially the shirts, which all had embroidered rhombuses. But when the whole batch arrived, the fabric was different, and the embroidered pattern was not so cool.

11. ABOUT SEX

It is true that passengers regularly go to the toilet to have sex. I just don’t understand how they can? It's unpleasant there. Or they will cover themselves with a blanket - and right in the salon... And what can the girls and I do - we just walk around and giggle.

12. ABOUT THE DANGERS

Passengers think that traveling by plane is the same as traveling by tram. Nobody understands how much this dangerous transport. Our crew was flying alone and found itself in a zone of increased turbulence. The woman did not wear a seat belt - she was thrown so much that she broke the ceiling with her head, then hit her back on the chair. She died on the plane. Or this. It’s funny for me to talk about this, but in fact it’s a very serious case: a woman sat on the toilet in the toilet and for some reason pressed the flush button. The vacuum device sucked her in so much that she sat there for almost the entire flight. Only then was she able to get up. Now I even have this habit: when I’m on the bus, I immediately look where the emergency exit window is. I never sit in the middle on the subway, but only at the end of the car. And in minibuses I make sure that the aisle is not blocked with things.

13. ABOUT ADDITIONAL EARNINGS

Many people have their own business here. If you carry alcohol, you hand it over to the bar. On one bottle you can increase 400%. Or someone will ask you to carry cognac through customs: they will pay 20 euros per bottle. It was customs who used to be friends with us, but now, after all these scandals, that’s it. If you don't pay them, the cops will already meet you. Some people donate fur coats to stores, others donate laptops. Previously, it was even possible for a flight attendant to bring a car without duties. One of our girls was recently called to the police. They say that some stewards bring drugs from India. Could you, Galechka, tell us who and how many, and who their dealers are. She says: “What will I get for this?” And you, Galechka, they say, will green corridor. That is, they offered her to carry the drugs herself.

14. ABOUT YOUTH

I know why all the flight attendants look young. You run to your flight, and all your problems remain on the ground. It's like living in a seaside town: it seems that all the people in the world do is relax. And it seems to us, flight attendants, that all people only go to the seaside and to London to make money. You rotate among successful, cheerful passengers, and then suddenly you realize that you are nothing of yourself. I think the reason for the youth of flight attendants is this illusory life of theirs.

My wife works as a chief flight attendant on an airliner. In the morning she woke me up, kissed me goodbye and went to work. Personally, I didn't like her work. You know yourself, plane crashes happen: sometimes the pilots fly the plane incorrectly, sometimes the engine breaks down, sometimes terrorists take over. In general, when I turned on the news in her absence, I drank valerian and prayed. I was very afraid for her. How many times have I told her: “Get the hell out of this job!” But she answered this with a gloomy look: “It’s up to me to decide!” And then she kissed me on the cheek, and the argument ended.

I sit down to watch the evening news. They show a plane crash. I recognized this plane - the plane in which my wife was. They said that all the passengers and crew were killed, except for the chief stewardess, she was missing. "This is a miracle!" - I shouted. I went and told the police everything I knew about my wife. “They will definitely find her,” I thought, returning home. On the way, I was attacked by a woman whose face was covered with a hood. She covered my mouth and led me around the corner. I didn't have time to understand anything. She took off her hood. It turned out to be my wife.

Can't be!

Honey, have you seen a doctor?

Yes, what if you get a fracture from a fall?

No, everything is fine.

Mmm, why didn’t they tell me that you were alive and found?

Strange, okay, let's go home?

And we, holding hands, went home. When I came home, I wanted to complain to the official about this “police” and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. I dialed their number, but my wife said there would be time for that. I agreed, and we began to live as we lived.

3 days passed, I noticed that something was wrong with my wife. She and I often argued, and in response to my simple request, she screamed, screamed and slapped me in the face. When I wanted to hug her, she even took the knife, but a moment later she put it on the table. It became suspicious and creepy.

I couldn't stand it any longer and went to a friend's place. I decided to call there and solve everything, but they called themselves. I picked up the phone and said:

Hello, hello, we'll tell you some bad news. Your wife's body was found far from the crash site.

This phrase probably turned all my hair gray. In order not to look impolite, although I had no time for this politeness at all, I said:

Bad, but thanks for letting me know. Goodbye.

All the best, goodbye.

Mitka, Alina has come to see you.

Close the door, don't let her in!!!

But it was too late. She walked up to me and pulled a knife out of her pocket. Before using this knife she said:

Are you sure I'm your wife?

At that moment, the creature’s face changed; it was so scary and terrible that just the sight of it almost stopped my heart. It was useless to scream and run, and I met my death.

I see white light. There is a plane there from which my wife got out. She extended her hand to me, I touched her, and she led me there...

edited news Lida Lazareva - 15-07-2015, 17:13

To the uninitiated, the work of flight attendants seems like a wonderful pastime with flights to the sea, affairs with passengers and other airborne romance. The stewards and flight attendants themselves usually recall different stories. Lenta.Ru talked to flight attendants about rowdy passengers, charter flights to the sea and permission to fly.

Alina, Transaero: “We are not in Europe”

“Domestic flight. We had already closed the doors, sat down and were preparing for takeoff. Suddenly I hear someone calling us. I run up and see: a passenger has opened an emergency exit to the wing. I ask him: why? He replies: “It’s getting hot.” When we took off, we were afraid of depressurization throughout the flight. The pilots closed the hatch, but the second pilot couldn’t do it, so the commander had to get involved. If this had happened in Europe or the USA, after such an act the man would have been removed from the flight and severely punished, but here he flew to his destination. Upon arrival, a police squad was waiting for him, who simply talked to him.

Evgeniya, Aeroflot: “They demand a book of complaints”

“Once on a flight, a very drunk passenger had an urge to “before the wind” right on takeoff. At this time, the toilets are still closed, and everyone sits with their seat belts fastened. The man tried to relieve himself in the passage, but we managed to persuade him to be patient.

Another time, even before takeoff, two passengers did not share the luggage compartment and, swearing heavily, began to throw each other’s things around the cabin. They were going to fight, but we didn’t let them.

Sometimes passengers think that they are in a restaurant and are very upset when they get fish instead of meat. This happens, for example, when you sit at the back of the cabin. A scandal begins, shouts of “give me the complaint book!”

A separate topic is children. Some mothers refuse to fasten their children’s seat belts during takeoff and landing because “they might cry.” The fact that, first of all, the safety of the child himself, and at the same time those around him, depends on this - this does not bother them. Screaming kids, by the way, are not a problem for us. Now, if children are running around the cabin, then there is a risk of running over them with a food cart (very heavy, by the way). Well, in general, they greatly interfere with passenger service.”

Photo: Alexander Kryazhev / RIA Novosti

Irina, Yamal: “We have to pump it out”

“I have had the opportunity to provide assistance when someone became ill, or when a child choked. The impressionable then write in the book of proposals and on the website, admiring how we fight for the life of the passenger. Once a child of about three years old choked. Of course we helped. So the eyewitness then shook our hands and thanked us, although he was a stranger to this little guy. This is, of course, very pleasant. In situations like these, passengers truly understand why a flight attendant is needed on an airplane.

One day a young man became ill. He was shaking and throwing himself either hot or cold. It didn't look like an epileptic seizure. We didn't leave his side the entire flight. Doctors later said that he was poisoned.”

Olga, UTair: “They didn’t let me rest”

“Flight Moscow - Murmansk. Everything was as usual: they seated the people, prepared for takeoff, and took off. While serving passengers, I heard loud screams and someone swearing. Turning around, I saw that a conflict had broken out between six women. Half were flying to celebrate something, half were flying to bury someone. The women flying to the holiday were tipsy, playing cards and laughing loudly. In general, the passengers quarreled and threw small objects at each other. We reassured them, of course, but I also heard a lot of things addressed to me. In Murmansk, the police were called because the women violated the rules of behavior on board the aircraft and insulted the crew members.

It didn't end there. I was asked to go with the passengers to the police for further investigation. In theory, at this time I was supposed to rest before the return flight. The result is a fine for violent passengers for violating the rules, the prospect of a lawsuit and my four-hour stay at the police station.”

Irina, UTair: “We saved a life”

“Flight to Gelendzhik from Moscow. They offered passengers hot meals; there was about an hour left before Gelendzhik. An older woman got up and wanted to go to the toilet, but collapsed in the aisle and lost consciousness. She was flying alone. We stopped service and rushed to her. They tried to measure the pulse, but it was faintly palpable. Her face was pale gray, her lips were blue, and sweat poured down her face.

The plane was fully loaded, but there were understanding people who gave up their seats, and we were able to place her on a row of seats. They tried to bring the woman to her senses. Unfortunately, our first aid kit does not contain any serious drugs or equipment, so we can only provide pre-medical assistance using the simplest means. Among them are stimulating napkins for breathing (replacement for ammonia), nitrospray (for heart patients), as well as an oxygen cylinder - it, like nothing else, helps out in such situations, since in case of heart failure, as a rule, there is always not enough air. One of the passengers, a doctor, also helped. Together we literally fought for this woman’s life. She periodically came to her senses and muttered something incoherently. Didn't answer questions.

They did a heart massage. It was scary that a person could die in front of your eyes, and you were unable to help him. In agreement with the commander, the crew decided to land at the nearest airport to hand over this passenger to doctors. Forced landing we did it in Rostov. At the moment of decline, the woman felt a little better, she responded to our questions. The most important thing for us was to determine whether she had heart problems, maybe she was hypertensive or something else. The passenger did not know of any chronic diseases. In preparation for landing, we soldered it with water.

A team of five doctors arrived in Rostov. We told them about what happened and what means we tried to help - everything we used. They threw up their hands and offered to continue the flight. They said something like “there are only 50 minutes left to fly, and in Gelendzhik she will receive treatment.” It was obvious to us that the passenger would not survive another takeoff and landing. Rostov doctors did not want to take responsibility. As a result, passengers intervened in our altercation, and the woman was nevertheless taken to the hospital.

Surprisingly, there were also passengers who were indignant, snorted and declared that they would not fly with our company again - “with such unscheduled landings and delays.”

One more time we flew by charter from Hurghada to Moscow. The passengers, of course, were tipsy - after all, they were on vacation. But a whole series of passengers ran away from one woman with her spoiled children. They tried to make comments to her, then they came to us to complain: their neighbor began to be rude to them and threaten them with violence. We allowed one passenger to change seats first, who complained about a lady with children. Then to another girl - again from the same row. In general, we did everything to quell the conflict.”

Natalya, UTair: “They ask for oxygen, then vodka, or to sew up their pants”

“Then I was still working at Siberia Airlines (S7). A week or two before this incident, two of our planes crashed. We operated a flight from Domodedovo on a large “carcass” (TU, a family of aircraft from the Tupolev Design Bureau, - approx. "Tapes.ru"). The man sitting in the last row was very nervous. First he asked for water, then he demanded oxygen, then he demanded vodka. We were waiting for documentation on board and were ready to close the door and remove the ladder when, at the last minute, a Muslim passenger ran into the cabin.

She walked through the cabin with a suitcase, which was difficult to place on the shelves above the passenger seats. We had to put it in the oxygen compartment, between the toilets in the rear. She herself also sat down at the end - not far from the nervous man.

The situation has strained us. There was a “jock” in our crew, and we asked him to stay in the tail section for the entire flight and watch these two passengers. Our foreman panicked the most, four hours in the air. She understood all the responsibility and possible consequences. We were, of course, just fantasizing, but at the same time we were on our guard.

One day our crew spent the night in a city on the seashore. We decided to take a little walk and drink local wine, but the commander refused. He is an interesting person, loves to joke, but at the same time speaks extremely slowly. We are accustomed to this manner of communication, but from the outside it may not seem entirely adequate. The next morning we undergo a medical examination to obtain permission to fly. The doctor decided that the commander was under the influence of psychotropic substances and did not allow him to fly with the conclusion “inability to control the crew and the aircraft.” After much discussion, we were eventually allowed to fly, albeit with a two-hour delay.

One more time we operated a daily flight to Kharkov from Moscow Vnukovo. The plane is small, and the passengers are always the same - people fly every day to work and return home. One day a businessman was flying to Kharkov, with whom we exchanged a few words. The next day we returned to Moscow. During the flight, a man turned to me with despair in his eyes - he had a business meeting planned, and his trousers were torn at the side seam. Since I always have thread and a needle with me (tights or stockings can easily get caught during our work), I decided to help him out. He looked joyful, like a child. The man had to take off his trousers, but I gave him a blanket, which he wrapped around like a skirt. In about ten minutes I sorted out the seam that had come apart. The passenger was happy.

I once worked on a flight with three stops. From final destination They flew back in the same way. And of course there were transit passengers, flying with us until the very end. Before each takeoff in transfer cities, I announced the entire route with all landings. Then - the destination to which we flew to this moment. Parking at airports was a maximum of 50 minutes. I somehow got wrapped up and forgot where the plane was flying this time. I had to ask passengers for help to remind me. They, of course, helped me out."

Victor (company name not disclosed at the request of the flight attendant): “They wanted to solve us”

“We were operating a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk. There were 3 guys working, there were no girls. Passengers boarded and took off. A fairly drunk citizen in the economy room demanded cognac. Once they answered that there was no alcohol - he started screaming and being indignant, so he had to come up again. The passenger announced that if they didn’t pour him cognac, he would “kill everyone here.” We are tired of this, and we qualified his actions as a threat to the crew and passengers. In reality, of course, it was just a drunken man who wanted another drink. In general, they tied me up and made me sit in the service part of the plane. In this form he spent the rest of the flight - all three and a half hours. Upon landing, he was handed over to the police; I don’t know what happened to him next.”

Artem (company name not disclosed at the request of the flight attendant): “Yelling in unison”

“The greatest number of screaming children interfering with normal work is, of course, during the holiday season. And they all scream in unison. Passengers who consider themselves very important persons are extremely annoying. It seems to them that they came to a restaurant, and we have to dance in front of them for their five thousand ticket. Usually these are men who also write all sorts of nonsense in the book of complaints. Scary stories in my practice, fortunately, it was not. Of course, it happened - it threw me up half a meter while descending. But this is, in general, quite normal.”

The names of some of the characters in the material have been changed at their request.

 

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