What happens when your Flight Attendant misses his/her flight?

I have been a bad blogger, a very bad blogger. I would love to say I was really busy this summer doing all sorts of outdoorsy magical things, but that would be a lie. I was in summer school! It turns out my German was pretty lame in the Spring, and I flunked my qualification test with my company. So when the opportunity to take a 1 month intensive program presented itself, I jumped on it!

Since then, I have started and stopped so many blogs. Some about International flying, some about jet lag, some about the difference in International & domestic crew... all these are still to come (when I can eventually get around to it) but right now, I had a couple of seconds so I thought I would just blog about my experience today when I missed my flight.

Have you ever been on a flight as a passenger and heard the following announcement "Ladies and Gentlemen we are regret to inform you that we will be (x amount) minutes delayed, due to a missing cabin crew member!"

If you heard that announcement a couple of days ago heading to Florida... It was my fault! Well, not really my fault, only kind of my fault. The rest of the blame goes to horrible weather,  and horrible Montreal drivers & traffic. This morning I was up bright and early at 6am, if you follow me on twitter you'll know that I was not too thrilled about it either! I got up, dressed and was in the car over an hour before I had to be at the airport. Now, why would you do that Jenn... when you only live 35 mins from the airport? Well, in the last two days it has snowed pretty bad and the roads are bad and the drivers are worse Blah Blah, not to mention it was rush hour. Half way there my husband says "You have to be there in 20 mins and we're not even halfway... I don't think your going to make it!" So I call scheduling and let them know. I get Larry on on the phone... I don't know Larry, but he seems like a nice guy! (actually I don't know ANY crew schedulers... and I think I'm going to keep it that way!)

So, Larry asks me "Do you think you'll make it?" I tell him "At this point I honestly don't know!".  He tells me to call him back in half an hour. Half an hour passes, I got maybe 10 km on the highway from where I was when I first talked to Larry. I call Larry back, again he is very understanding, he tells me that it's clear that I'm not making the flight- but to head to the airport anyway and to call him when I'm nearly there. I call Larry back a final time, about 20 mins later. Yet I don't get Larry- I get Cynthia- and Cynthia's got something up her butt! Cynthia is not impressed  that I'm late for my flight, and is taking it so personally, you would think that any money lost is coming from her paycheck! Well, as you can imagine it doesn't take long before Cynthia and I get into it! We're arguing- yet both trying to be as respectful and 'professional' as possible. In the meantime I was texting all my flight attendant friends to get their take on the situation.

Now, the last paragraph might be really confusing if your not in the biz. So here it is- at my little airline (can't speak for the others) you are either present for a flight or not. However, not... is a big deal. You have to meet with one of your supervisors and it becomes a reprimand that stays on record... forever?! Although it's not confirmed I believe that 2 or more may result in termination. So, basically as a flight attendant there's only 3 really big no-no's you can make: 1) Be intoxicated on duty 2) steal from the company 3) not show up for a flight. However, we are flight attendants- not super heros! Everyone gets a flat tire, everyone has a family emergency (here and there), and everyone in their lifetime- at one point will get stuck in traffic... even Cynthia! So when you are not present and it's really not your fault it's called being 'not present without consequence'. As far as I know, you don't lose your hours over a situation like that, however... If you've over slept and missed a flight, that would be the kind of situation you would lose your hours over, because that would be considered "not present with consequence". In some cases the company will do everything in it's  power to help you to "catch up" to the rest of your cycle. Which means, if at any point one of your flights passes through home base you can take over from there. My cycle was passing through my home base again, so seeing as I would be missing the turn to Florida and catching up with it 10hrs later I thought Cynthia would let me go home and come back later. When I suggested this, Cynthia went ballistic. Threatening me that she would report me to the company as "not present with consequence"! Just for mentioning I wait out my 10 hrs at home and not in the crew lounge!! At that point I told her there was no conceivable way I was sitting in the airport for 10hrs when I didn't need to, and she needed to do/report whatever she felt she needed to do/report... and I wouldn't be showing up to continue the rest of my cycle! Shortly after hanging up with Cynthia I got a call back from her, apologizing and telling me to go home and have a good rest and to report back to the airport later to continue my flight! See that's the thing, when things go crazy at an airline, they go crazy for everyone- and she needed me! (... And I was happy for that because I didn't want to be reassigned to worse flying for the next 4 days.)

I wonder if there's any crew schedulers out there with similar blogs?

Later that day, when I got back to the airport to catch up with my cycle, (headed for Toronto) I got a phone call on my mobile as soon as I stepped onto the plane. It was Larry! Larry sounded panicked. " Jenn I need you  on the Chicago flight... 10 minutes ago!" Next thing you know, I'm running off the plane, through the airport, through security, through customs & immigration and all the way through the USA side of the airport. Phew! Thank God I'm young, I would like to see a senior mama do that! Arriving extremely disheveled on the plane, everyone on the plane starts to applaud me. Now, all of us flight attendants have been through this. Getting my trip changed at last minute was due to another flight attendant getting in a car accident, but when the gate agent made the announcement for the Chicago flight being delayed all she said was, "It is delayed due to a missing Cabin crew member!" So when I arrived onboard everyone just assumed I was that missing crew member, and not someone who had just ran the equivalent of 10 km's, had to throw out about $25 worth of food that was for my 4 day trip ( because you can't bring it into the USA) and now because of that the flight was still going ahead and not being cancelled. A lot of Flight attendants get pissed off when people clap sarcastically... but i'll never turn down the opportunity to be applauded- fake or not! ( how sad am I! Lol)

All in all is was a rough day, but I made it through. I can say honestly that I hope that is the last time I am ever late again- but something tells me that living in a place like Montreal where you can get 30 cm dumped overnight... that's not really realistic!

My little cousin has followed in my footprints!

I couldn't be prouder today, my little cousin is an F/a with my company! After braving initial training, 

 

a move 600km's from home,

and apartment hunting in a new city,

- she's done it! Today she starts her 1st day of flying, well hopefully! She's on reserve, so it's a waiting game to see if they call or not, hopefully they do! I'm not going to lie, I did call crew scheduling to see if we could fly together for her 1st flight- "Not gonna happen" came the burley voice down the other end of the line! OK!  

So, I'm off for a 3 day cycle! Will we cross paths? Will she fly at all? I don't know really i'll I can say is how proud I am and I hope all my coworkers treat her as if she is their little cousin and don't play any mean tricks on her! Good Luck Melly Smelly! Here's to many years of amazing flying!

xoxo

Jenn

My 1st day back at work in nearly 4 months!

A porn star, an aborted landing, disabling a pax, and finishing with a lovely layover- my first pairing back...It was a doozy! 
My 1st day back started @ noon, but I woke up much earlier to make sure I had everything. (Which I didn't- of course! Because everything always happens to me. Earlier in the week I had ordered another uniform skirt because on my last shift working in the airport, I got home and realized that one of the "teeth" in the zipper had fallen out and therefore couldn't go up or down anymore! So I called our uniform supplier and told them I needed a new skirt asap for my 1st flight back on Friday. The uniform supplier called me Thursday afternoon to pick up my new skirt, I got there right before it closed. Later that night, as I was laying out my uniform, I took my skirt from out of the box and surprise! surprise, it was a vest!!! I called the supplier the next morning to inform them of their mistake, and they told me the skirt I had ordered was now on back order until August! Brilliant!! So, now the question was how was I going to get into a tight skirt that's zipper won't budge? I managed! I was very eager to get back to work!) So the next morning I arrived at the crew lounge an hour early for my  flight, and I was greeted by mandatory grooming and manual checks! FUN!
After the drama subsided, I met my in-charge and headed down to the plane with her. Surprisingly, a lot had changed and I had also forgotten a lot.
We arrived at the gate and to my surprise, who was operating the flight with me? "MoMo"! If you didn't read my last blog "MoMo" was the flight attendant I flew with when I injured myself almost 4 months ago! So it was a nice reunion. Thank God for her being there, she helped me remember where things were and what I had to do. Surprisingly once onboard i didn't need too much coaxing it all came right back to me! 


The incharge gave a phenomenal briefing and just before boarding, the agent came down to tell us about a problem VIP who was giving her trouble up at the gate. At the mention of the VIP, we all sat up straight and asked who it was. After the mention of her name, I was still unsure of who she was the rest of the crew explained that she was a local "porn star" I'm still unsure of exactly what she does, since she's not exactly a porn star, but has her own local channel where she gives advice on the art of seduction to women, and also preforms some "soft-core" stuff on there as well!  ??

Anyway, after explaining why she was giving her a hard time, the agent said "I'm just going to tell Donald duck, 'No!' ". Who?? The agent said "Just wait until she gets onboard!"

So, after setting  up the galley, and once boarding was complete I took a walk up to business class. There, in the last row of business was "Donald Duck" in all her glory. It was one of those cases of BOTCHED plastic surgery. She literally had a "bill" extending from her face! It made me wonder if her bill had anything to do with her teachings on the art of seduction? I'm sure it did- because it didn't seem like her 'perfect 10' traveling partner minded her lips too much! 

Off to LGA it was! The passengers were stranger then I had remembered... this could also be becuase of summer flying. Summer passengers are not our regular guests, and therefore are a little more unsure of our products and service. I couldn't remember the last time I had to list what we actually had in the trolley. In all my first flight back went off without a hitch, and I had my fabulous crew to thank.

On arrival back into YUL, and once passed customs and immigration, I walked through the international arrivals hall. While talking to my crew and over all the buzz and talking I heard "Is that Jenn?! I think that's Jenn... JENN? JENN?" I turned around to see a friend  that was with me in my German classes. What are the chances? It was so nice to see her, and secretly it's always been my dream to have someone in the international arrivals hall, be waiting for me with a big poster and maybe flowers! HA! I guess I'll settle for someone just knowing me while they're there waiting for their mother. 

After a 2 hour wait in YUL, it was off to Chicago. The flight was easy peasy, the plane wasn't full. Service went quick and I was looking forward to my 1st layover in ages! At the top of descent, the in-charge told me to stow everything in the galley quickly and to take my seat as soon as possible because we expecting some serious turbulence on approach into Chicago. I took my seat, and boy was it bumpy. The kind of ride you have to do heavy breathing through to keep your stomach out of your throat! Then, if you can imagine it got bumpier! I was sitting at the back of the aircraft all alone, and wondering "Is it always this bumpy?". Just as I thought we were about to land, we didn't, and I distinctly felt us start to climb again into the raging turbulence! Why me? The captain called, we had just aborted our landing  and had to divert because of a storm over the ORD airport! He said he was waiting to hear back about Milwaukee or possibly Toronto as alternates. A couple of moments later he called back, we were going BACK TO YUL, due to the amount of fuel we had left. Great!

After we made our announcements and reached a comfortable cruise, the seatbelt sign went off and there was a flood of people who came to use the lav at the back. I guess I wasn't the only one the turbulence scared the coco out of because after a couple of minutes the whole rear of the plane smelt terrible. I excused myself and went to the front in search of lav spray, none to be found. So, I always have a back up and reached into my coat pocket for my personal air freshener (which, by the way is the best $1 investment I have ever made!) At this point my in-charge was with me in the back galley and we started to chat, I sprayed a little in the galley, so I could stop gagging, and then opened the lav door and discharged it twice. A couple of moments later, I heard a soft moaning coming from the lav... THE LAV!!! There was someone inside when I sprayed it!!! I turned and looked at my in-charge, at the same moment the door swung open and a lady came out holding her eyes! I had maced her!!! The poor thing was just trying to use the toilet and I disabled her like an mugger! I apologized profusely! I think she was embarrassed more then anything! Poor thing! 

After arriving back into YUL, I had an impromptu layover back home. (Btw, a little FYI... impromptu layovers are awesome to check up on your partner and see if s/he has anyone over! That will scare the coco out of them!)

The next day, the in-charge and I caught up with the rest of our pairing, or at least half of it! Sweet! That night my layover was in YOW, which happens to be the home of the fabulous Mrs. McGoose- who just happens to be my bff that I met in initial training! So, we had an amazing girls night in after a little clothes shopping. We ordered in some chinese and  reminisced about 1st getting hired at our airline and all the drama that went on in house hunting after we transfered!  We talked for so long, that the next thing we knew it was already 3am and I had to be up at 5am, but it was totally worth it. 

First pairing back was great! Hope the next one goes as well! Crossing my fingers!

Being grounded is no fun!

                                                

Being a Flight Attendant is a very physical job. We push, we pull, we cram, we strain, we lift, we rest while bitching to each other and repeat. Then there's turbulence, runaway carts, and passengers' flying elbows. So it's inevitable, that at some point in your career- your going up getting injured. Getting injured sucks. For all the obvious physical reasons, but it also sucks because working on the ground compromises all that amazing flexible free time, that we flight attendants love. 

In early March, I hurt myself walking up the bridge of an airport when the wheels of my suitcase got stuck under a piece of metal. I hadn't realized that my wheels were caught I just thought I needed more momentum to get over the "lip" of the bridge. I turned around and gave  it an almighty pull with my left  arm. OUCH!! In that moment I felt a ripping/searing pain go through my chest on the left, my left shoulder all the way down to the tips of my fingers. I wondered for a moment if my arm was still attached- (it was!), but I was in a world of pain. I continued on for the next two days trying not to use my left arm too much but without being a burden on the rest of my crew. Thankfully I was working with one of the nicest, funniest, and caring crew members I have ever met- let's call her "MoMo". Thank God for her. She covered for me on flights when my arm started getting sore from pushing and pulling the trolley's around. By the time I got back to base I was finished, in every sense of the word. I filed my paperwork with my company, went to see a supervisor, and have been nursing my injury ever since.

After numerous doctors appointments and x-rays, I'm back at work on light duties. I work at the airport a couple days a week, timing the arrivals and departures of flights.

I miss the camaraderie of being in the galley with the crew. I miss (even the domestic) travel. I miss just being on the plane!

However, I love having been home every night. I love having home cooked food every night, and my BED my precious BED! Nothing can beat sleeping in your own bed.

On the upside, i've been trying to manage with the weakness in my left hand by taking up knitting. It has been really fun learning a new skill... even if I am slowly feeling more and more like a 26 year old turning 70!

Life on the ground has it's ups and downs... right now I'm trying to focus on the positive to keep my sanity!

 :)

Reserve... or slave?

Last night I bravely checked  out my schedule around 7:30pm, thinking there wouldn't be anything planned yet for today. Of course I was wrong. What I saw was one of the longest, most "productive", (code for working such long days you can't remember what city/ time zone your in, or even why your wearing a flammable uniform in the sky!) schedules I have worked in a very long time! And *Gasp* it was 4 days long! What makes me laugh is that you can ship me half way around the world, or on a trans con milk run with 8 separate flight legs in the same day, or even a charter (most dreaded flights... for most people) But I don't do pairings longer then 3 days! 

I moaned and groaned over it for about 2 hours before I finally decided to call them and acknowledge my assignment for the next day. When I checked the crew list I saw a familiar name, that put me at easy with doing such a long pairing. Later that evening, after The Office, I remembered I had about 4 million loads of laundry to do before I could pack my bags. Then my OCD kicked in, Now I'm not sure if this is flight attendant thing or if it's just me or if, in fact I actually do have OCD but for some reason getting ready to leave for a couple of days sends me into a "massive clean freak"! So even though I was fairly tired and ready to head to bed to prepare for my 5am wake up, I decided, this was the perfect time to clean the living room and take down the christmas tree ( Don't judge). After the christmas tree came down, it was time to start folding all the laundry. Then by midnight when my bags were still not packed , and neither was my lunch or my flight bag, I was utterly discouraged. Don't get me wrong, my place was immaculate but I couldn't go to bed without my bags packed. Half an hour later I was getting cozy in bed doing that thing were you say "... If i go to bed now i'll get ______ hours sleep." and as I was setting my alarm I said a little prayer... hoping they cancelled my flight.

The next morning, the alarm cut through my dreams and bleary eyed I got up to go cook and prepare enough food for 4 days. I prepared sandwiches, salads, breakfast burritos(more on this in a bit) soups, and lots of fruits. Then I get dressed up, do up my "stew do" & "stew make up" and bring my bags  to the front door. I have scheduled my company provided cab for 6:30am. At 6:40am I'm standing by the front door ready to go and my cab has still not arrived. I'll call scheduling and let them know. They tell me it will be there momentarily. At 6:50am I call back to tell them that the cab is still not here, and although I live close to the airport I don't think i'll make it from my door to the aircraft door by 7am. They reassure me again that it will only be minutes until it arrives. Now, normally this is the kind of situation I pray for, I pray that the cab just gets lost and never makes it to my house so that I can go back to bed. But today, after preparing all my food, and getting all dressed up- I'm kinda disappointed that I may miss this Pairing. Finally, at 7:20 I call scheduling for the last time to tell them that the reality is that this cab is just not coming. The cab  does end up showing up, and I'm in heaven because at this point I'm pretty sure that by the time I get to the airport, the flight that is scheduled to depart @ 8am is going to have left and they'll send me back home. I get to the airport go to the crew lounge to check-in and print out my flight details. Slowly I make my way to the gate, expecting to see an empty gate along with an empty lounge. Well the lounge was empty but the aircraft had not pushed back yet. I walked down the bridge to find all the passengers boarded on the plane and the crew waiting for me! Ughh- They delayed the whole flight for me!

Oooh the joys of Reserve!

But in the end I'm working with some great people for the next 4 days, so, no complaints!

Breakfast Burrito

Now, this might not be too interesting if your the kind of person who is constantly trying to come up with creative ideas on how to eat healthy and cheap on the go. However, if your like me and spend lots of money and calories on eating out at the airport and at restaurants on layovers, this may be a good tip for you... All you need is an oven!

What you'll need:

3-4 large eggs OR egg substitute (healthier option)

1/4 cup of each, Onion, Green & Red Pepper

1/4 cup of skim milk

(Slices of turkey bacon, if desired)

1/4 cup no fat sour cream

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 low fat (skim) cheddar cheese (grated)

4 tortilla

Mix first 3 ingredients all together in a bowl together and scramble it all together in a frying pan.

(at this point you can add some pieces of turkey bacon to the mix if you want)

Once everything is all cooked up together,

Lay out about 1/4 cup of the "fry up" onto  a tortilla and then add a couple of sprinkles of cheese on top. Once eggs have mostly cooled off, put tortilla laying flat  into a ziplock freezer bag. Makes 4 or more. 

Tip: you can put them in  freezer bag individually OR layer 2-3 tortillas in a ziplock freezer bag with a piece of wax paper (and paper towel for extra absorption) in between them if you'll be on a pairing for a few days. Now you have breakfast for every day that you'll be gone.

"burritos" will start to de thaw throughout your pairing- be sure to keep them cold at all times. Once you get on the plane, take it out of the ziplock bag & pop it in the oven for about 8 mins. Do Not try cooking if still frozen!

Add salsa, and sour cream- and voila!

Everyday flight attendant life...

So, this is my new blog. Fear not, I haven't given up on my other blog flightattdntjenn.blogspot.com There will be many more stories to add to this collection, I just wanted to start  a blog that was more about everyday life as a flight attendant and leave my other blog as a "funny stories" blog!

Everyday life isn't always as glamourous, fun or exciting... BUT it's definitely interesting in a social experiment  kind of way.

With my job, even schlepping to work becomes a blog worthy thing! ... or at least i think so!

So, here's to a new year and a new blog!