Ah, the memories

Although I really should be turning my attention to other tasks, I couldn't help it. A former flight attendant classmate of mine has found my blog. I'm not a big promoter -- although a very select few may beg to differ -- so I'm honored that she sought me out and added me to her blog roll.

The number of classmates still working as flight attendants are dwindling, but I'd like to highlight blogs from two of the nicest women I had the pleasure to work with. They were nice in that I-value-you-as-a-person-and-will-go-to-the-ends-of-the-earth-but-I'm-also-damn-good-at-my-job-and-I-can't-let-you-do/have-that-right-now kind of way. Susan's Toes in the Sky blog and Kelly's Who Am I to Fly the Sky blog are bursting with flight attendant humor and wisdom.

Here's to you, ladies. I have many fond memories of early morning studying, Bennigans debriefing (may they rest) and stern discussions from Marco about Mr. January. Thanks for the memories, safe flying and happy blogging.

Graduation Day

I have my wings! During an FAA mandated graduation ceremony, my wings were pinned on by my favorite aunt and traveling inspiration. Naturally, the ceremony was followed by a cake and punch reception in the lunch room.

The path toward my wings was interesting, exciting, and trying at times. I fought fire, defended myself against hulking members of the Aurora City police force, served beverages from a cart throughout the HR and Executive offices, evacuated a mock up of an Airbus using two different exits, applied AED pads and administered CPR to a plasticized six year old, and passed nearly 30 tests with a 90% or better, among other things.

I still have to pass my Initial Operating Experience with another flight attendant standing over my shoulder marking a checklist while I do my job in the air, but I'm almost there. I can't wait to move past this step and get to the real flying part of the job. I'm looking forward to going to work and knowing that I'll be leaving my trainers and managers 39,000 feet below me and several thousand miles behind me. I do value my independence after all.

Evacuations, Emergencies, and Rejected Take Offs, Oh My!

We've begun week four of training, and the second "scary" week. Although not certified, I can now provide CPR to infants, children, and adults; treat major and minor bleeding; diagnose a stroke; recognize a shocky passenger; and clean up the products of motion discomfort syndrome without getting any on myself. A helpful hint from this lesson is that coffee grounds and brewing coffee help to cover up the odorous evidence of a sick passenger.

Our trainer sent us away for the weekend, closing with "Are there any questions about abnormal aircraft attitude?" sporting a big grin on her face. We were so punchy by that point that a friend next to me murmured, "A plane's personality really has nothing to do with the way it lands."

In all seriousness though, these two weeks are really where the fact that flight attendants are responsible for much more than your can of soda and bag of chips is driven home. Flight attendants become the first responders in medical emergencies and the last ones off in emergency evacuations. For these reasons alone, a nice big smile as you board the aircraft for your next flight is a great way to recognize this and say thank you.

Scary Week #3

At this point, I'm almost finished with what the instructors so aptly call "scary week #3." Today, for example, we got to watch videos of what it looks like to be sucked out of a plane at 40,000 feet, and how a plane will become entirely consumed by flames in less than three minutes. Oh yeah, and we're responsible for preventing these things from happening, and if we can't, for the successful evacuation of all passengers in less than a minute and a half. No pressure.

We also learned about this scary phenomenon called clear air turbulence. This is extreme turbulence that hits without warning. Meaning, the captain may not have time to turn on the fasten seat belt sign and he won't call back to alert the flight attendants. The important lesson here is: even if the fasten seat belt sign is off, it's a great idea to fasten your seat belt anyway whenever you are sitting down. And if the drink cart is in the aisle right next to you...don't be shy, please reach out and help anchor that puppy down or it can do some major damage too.

There's a lot more to this job than serving Coke and pointing to the emergency exits. It's a good thing the flight benefits are good!

A Day in the Life #1

Today's flight attendant lesson included our first exposure to "A Day in the Life" exercises. We all troop into the mock-up room where there is about one quarter of a fuselage set up with electricity, hydraulics -- everything a commercial airplane would have. We get to practice our jobs here before we're trying to figure things out at 39,000 feet in the air.

Today three of my classmates were flight attendants on the perfect flight: no over-sized carry on luggage, no screaming babies, no medical emergencies, etc. They had to do their pre-flight checks, board everyone, prep the galleys, make all the announcements, demonstrate all the safety information, and provide food and drink service. Although this was a perfect flight, it really illustrated how much there is to remember and take care of before you throw emergencies and other hang ups into the mix.

This was a great exercise. We had a lot of laughs. Mostly from the tiny key board the trainer used to make the ding sounds one would normally hear whenever the seat belt sign was turned on, for example.

It's OK, I Know First Aid -- Sort of

The past two days of training have been dedicated to first aid. What's interesting is that we do not actually get a Red Cross certification because then we can be personally held liable for any injuries we cause to the patient. This speaks to the sad state of our society. Specifically, how litigious we have become. One person's good deed gone wrong is another's lottery ticket to easy money.

Not to stomp on my soap box, but if you're having a medical emergency on board, pray there is also an EMT or nurse flying with you. Yes, as flight attendants we must all prove we're capable of administering basic first aid, including CPR, but that does not mean those skills will transfer to an emergency situation. A person whose livelihood is to be a first responder to accidents is really your best bet. They are tested everyday and are confident of their skills in emergency as well as classroom situations.

Training Flight #1

This past Saturday was my first training flight. It was a turn to NY-LGA. We were on the ground in New York for all of 40 minutes. It was exciting to finally be up in the air putting everything we've been learning about in the classroom to use.

The real flight attendants on my flight have been with the company from the beginning. While they all had a lot of little tips to make the job easier/more efficient, the mantra of the flight seemed to be, "I know they taught you to do it this way, and do it that way for the test, but this is how we really do it up here." I was surprised how soon they started in with this, not knowing if I was the tattle tale type or not.

I was the safety information model on the leg out. I managed to keep up pretty well, but probably looked like a puppet with a broken string up there. Once we reached cruising altitude, I was in charge of passing out the snacks. It felt like this duty took forever, but when I got back to the galley and asked the flight attendant, he said snack service went faster than it usually did when he worked with other trainees.

My least favorite parts of the flight already are trash pick up and compliance check. We are not allowed to say "trash" when collecting trash. It might be misconstrued as an insult to a passenger. And, we're not supposed to let the passengers put their trash in the bin themselves. We are expected to touch every single piece of trash in the cabin of the plane -- yippee. Every time the captain turns on the fasten seat belt sign and before take off and landing we have to do a compliance check to make sure every one's seat belts are buckled and their seat backs and meal trays are upright. This includes waking people up if they're sleeping and their seat belts are not visible.

The flight, although fairly bumpy, went smoothly. No medicals, no disturbances, and I didn't spill hot coffee on anyone.

Another One Terminated

Last Friday we did our self-defense training off-site from headquarters where we usually have class. Unfortunately, one woman got lost and didn't make it to class on time. The next day we all went on our first training flights. She was told not to report for her flight and to be at headquarters at 7:30 Monday morning to hand in her badges.

The farther along in training we get, and the better we get to know each other, the harder it is to lose someone. And for some reason, we seem to be losing people with more rather than less life experience. Now that we're more than half way through training, hopefully we won't lose anyone else.

Wheelchair Day

Up until today, one day on crutches and three months in a leg immobilizer was all I had ever experienced as far as limited mobility goes, thank goodness. Today I had another opportunity to see what it was like to try and function without full ambulatory capability. Part of in-flight training is to spend a day in a wheelchair so that we can learn to empathize with people with disabilities and to try to begin to think ahead about what those people might require and how we can best accommodate them. Today was my day.

I came to find that when I wanted to get people's attention so they would move out of my way I couldn't, and when I didn't want to attract their attention, that was all I could seem to do. My classmates were very good about checking in on me and seeing if I wanted a push anywhere while we were on breaks. And I even had a nice guy from the accounting department offer me a push out of the blue.

The whole exercise was very eye opening to say the least -- and I didn't even have to hassle with boarding an airplane, saying good bye to my wheelchair and worrying about someone taking me off the plane and reuniting me with my "legs" on the other end of the trip. While it's a relief that my "wheelchair day" is over, I also have more respect and awareness for people who live with disabilities and other challenges everyday of their lives.

Another One Lost

In the flight attendant world, they really aren't kidding when EVERYONE tells you to be on time. This morning, another member of our class was terminated because he was 15 minutes late. Originally, he was nearly an hour early, but realized he had forgotten his badge at home, so he started to go back to get it. When he realized he wasn't going to have enough time to make it home and back, he turned around and started back toward headquarters, but wasn't able to get there for the start of class.

To the trainers' credit, whenever they have to let someone go, they usually do it in such a way that other people in the class don't realize what's going on right away. We didn't really know that this gentleman had been terminated until well into the afternoon. I think part of that is due to the fact that the longer we all make it through this process and the better we get to know each other, the less we want to believe that someone would get fired for something like tardiness. The moral of the story is: being early with all of your badges, wings, manuals, etc. is being on time and can literally determine whether or not you have a job from one minute to the next.

50% Recycled Air

Here's the gem I picked up from training yesterday. The air inside a pressurized Airbus cabin is only 50% recycled. And, what's even better, is the air that comes out of the vents overhead (the gasper vents if you want to get technical) is 100% new air, or air from outside the plane.

The moral of the story: if someone next to you is coughing and wheezing, it might not be such a bad idea to raise yourself up in your seat a little and put your face as close to that vent as possible, breathe normally, and hope for the best/pray for good health.

Our First Fieldtrip

Today was an exciting day at training. We took our first field trip to the airport and toured the crew room. They were also having a ramp employee appreciation day, so we got to go down to the ramp and watch them have their BBQ and play dunk the executive in the dunk tank. It was an interesting way to meet the leadership of the company -- sopping wet and shivering slightly.

I successfully passed the Federal Aviation Regulations exam this morning. Tomorrow morning's "memory challenge" will be all about company policies and responsibilities. Yeah!

One Lost Already

Today was the first official day of flight attendant training. We began the day with a series of five "memory challenges" -- four written and one oral. In order to remain in the program, you have to score a 90% or better on each of the 26 exams given over the course of training. You do get one chance to retake an exam, but five exams (or euphamistically, memory challenges) on the first day really upped the ante. And unfortunately, there was someone in our class that did not score 90% or better on at least four of her exams and she had to leave the program.

First and foremost, a flight attendant's duty is to ensure the safety of the passengers, which explains why such high test scores on regulations and procedures are required. Today was a harsh illustration of how seriously this duty is taken. It was especially sad to see this person leave because she uprooted her whole life to take this job. She sold a business, her home, her furniture, and most of her other belongings to relocate in order to be closer to the airport. Not to mention the fact that she had already gone through all the physicals, background checks, and badging appointments to become an employee. Her uniforms are probably on their way to Denver as we speak, for goodness sake!

Sadly, I think the flight attendant training is set up to reward good test takers and weed out those people who do not naturally perform well on tests. It is hard to see someone with such enthusiasm for the job be asked to leave on the first official day of training because she missed a few too many questions on the exam.

Almost There

Tomorrow marks the first day of flight attendant training. All the requirements and hoops I faced just getting to this point have left me with a constant feeling of, "I'm almost there." Just one more doctor's appointment; just one more trip to the airport. Well, today really was the final appointment before training starts tomorrow. I am an official badge-carrier at my airline and DIA! Now all I have to do is study for the five tests we'll be having on Monday. Can you say, "Please remove the safety information card from the seat back pocket in front of you"? I'm almost there.