For many people, being a flight attendant is one of the best and most glamorous jobs in the world. Apart from being paid well, they also have the enviable perk of seeing the world and meeting new people all the time. They also get free hotel accommodation, and some airlines even give flight attendants’ immediate family members free plane tickets to selected destinations.
But just like any other job, being a flight attendant or cabin crew has its downsides. There’s the long hours, as there are some instances that work can take up to 16 hours per flight. You also have to deal with rude passengers and the occasional corpse on your flight.
Some flight attendants took to Reddit to share some horror stories about their job, and they also gave some important tips for passengers, such as not walking barefoot on the plane.
A flight attendant who goes by seeyou_never on the website wrote, “Do not walk around barefoot…my last flight an elderly man accidentally [expletive] on the floor, stepped in it, and walked on like it was nothing.”
Another poster echoed the flight attendant’s warning, saying that someone at one time or another has “probably thrown up on the floor by your seat.” Also, they warn that whatever damp puddle you’re stepping on in the bathroom is definitely not water, so put your shoes on.
To ensure that you’re getting freshly-prepared food, one said that if a meal service is being offered, go for the kosher option because the food was made on the same day of your flight. However, don’t put your food directly on the tray tables because those are rarely sanitized.
New flight attendant ICameHereToDrinkMilk warned about obnoxious behavior on the plane. The worker said that if you tell the pilot that you don’t feel safe sitting with a certain passenger or sharing the same flight with a particular person on board, “you can and most likely will be removed from the plane.”
One flight attendant said that people get drunk faster on board due to the air pressure, so make sure to limit your alcohol intake to a single glass of wine on the plane.
“It’s not a bar,” said former crew member BowieBlueEye, adding that there’s no bouncer to get you off the plane. However, there’s a chance that you could get offloaded or blacklisted by that airline.
Meanwhile, other posters gave some lesser-known details about their job, with some saying that the carrier hold often carries more than just plain luggage.
“Mail, light cargo, and dead people are often flying with you,” said porkadachop. The Reddit user also said that bags that are marked fragile will get treated as roughly as other bags that aren’t marked, and if your bag misses a connecting flight, it will get transferred to a different plane going to the same destination.
For more, check out Jobs & Hire’s report on the things parents do that make daycare workers and babysitters resent their job.
