The Secret Life Of A Flight Attendant

Isobel

2010-09-08T12:32:00.002-04:00

July 21, 2010 was one of the best days of my life. I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. I love being a mother. It feels like it has been forever since I left the friendly skies, but I do not regret it at all. I love watching her experience the world around her. It truely is amazing. During my 6th month of pregnancy I was contacted by Spirit Airlines about an interview. Being as far along as I was it wouldn't have made sense for me to go, so I explained the situation and thanked them for the call.

I am planning on starting to fill out some applications when my daughter is about 8 months old. I am excited at the thought of flying again. I am not looking forward to the idea of sitting reserve again, but I know other flight attendants who make it work. Hope everyone is doing well. I still enjoy your blogs.

Where Have I been?

2010-01-11T10:03:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy in the past months I forgot to let you all know what happened. My fatigue was denied, which I appealed. But I ended up leaving the airlines for a different kind of life. I met the man of my dreams and we are now engaged and expecting our first child. I was lucky and became Tampa based for one month, but couldn't stand the thought of leaving James for ATL and the crazy life of reserve. It was a hard desision because being a flight attendant was my dream, but I can always go back and when I do I'll have a family to support me.

Good luck to everyone in the friendly skies. I'll be a stay at home mom for awhile. Who knows maybe I'll start a new blog, "The Secret Life of a Stay At Home Mom." ;)

Flight Attendant Fatigue

2009-06-19T22:00:00.002-04:00

Flight attendant fatigue, it happens. Although our employers expect us to be like the energizer bunny and keep going and going, sometimes your body just says no! This is an issue that should be important to us all. CWA-AFA is working to get the FAA to increase our rest times but that might take some time. So what do you do if you are fatigued?

I made a fatigue call about a month ago and have been regretting it ever since. I was going all over the place. It was day three of my trip and I had no clue what timezone I was even in. I remember waking up in complete panic as I looked at an alarm clock that said 6:00 and it being bright outside. I was convinced I had slept through the entire day. As I rushed out of bed my legs collapsed from beneath me as I found myself on the disgusting hotel floor. As I tried to stand up I was unable so I managed to at least crawl back into bed. I went back to sleep for a couple more hours and didn't feel any better so I made the call I would soon regret... Fatigue.

Now, you may wonder, why didn't I just call off sick on a trip? Because that would have required a doctors visit (my insurance hadn't kicked in yet) and it was a lie. I wasn't sick... I was exhausted.

Today, almost a month after I received the phone call with the final result of their "investigation" into my call... it was found to be an unjust fatigue call! Now is it just me or is the only reason we still exist on airplanes is because the FAA mandates that we be there for the safety of the PAX? If I couldn't stand or walk, how would they expect me to evacuate an airplane if god forbid we actually had to? Or even just the simple everyday safety demo?

A summery of my research has concluded that Fatigue is a direct term for the inability to exert force with one's muscles to the degree that would be expected given the individuals general physical fitness. In addition to physical, fatigue also includes mental fatigue, not necessarily including any muscle fatigue. Mental fatigue can have symptoms ranging from decreased wakefulness or just as a general decrease of attention, not necessarily including sleepiness. It may also be described as more or less decreased level of consciousness. In any case, this can be dangerous when performing tasks that require constant concentration, such as driving a vehicle.

Maybe I am just crazy but it sounds to me that even if you are mentally fatigued you would not be able to preform duties in an emergency.

So how did their "research" find my cause unjust? And why won't they explain their "research"?

Upon looking into the situation more after realizing what a big deal they were turning it into I found that they really have no way of knowing if someone is fatigued or not. So many lifestyle factors can contribute such as sleep patterns, health conditions, diet, problems at home, stress, working too many hours, and not having long enough rest periods to recover from sometimes 14 hour duty periods.

My only theory into why it has such a high point value is because I think they have to report fatigue calls (not sure of this), I think that maybe they "investigate" these calls to determine whether or not they need to report them. (please correct me if I am wrong, I have no idea this is just the best I can come up with) And that in some way fatigue calls may cause the company trouble with the FAA and they try to discourage it by calling it "unjust" and giving disciplinary action?

I don't really know where I am going with this, I guess I just needed to vent. However I am curious to know if anyone has anymore information about Flight Attendant Fatigue other than the study results that have been released. Has anyone else had disciplinary action taken against them for calling fatigue? Is this even legal? And if you're not a FA, how do you feel about potentially having FAs who are fatigued working your flights because fear of disciplinary action?

I <3 My Job

2009-06-17T10:36:00.002-04:00

I received an email that kind of opened my eyes. It said that in my previous post I didn't have the same enthusiasm as previous posts. This saddens me because outside of all of the company issues, I really love my job!

At this time I am having a few issues with the way things are being run. Luckily the AFA is working to change these issues in my company. I came in at a really crazy time, right in the middle of contract negotiations. Our contract is expired and no one can seem to agree on important issues such as the structure of our companies reserve.

But I feel lucky because this is an amazing experience. Even on my bad days all it takes is a little girl drawing me a picture to remember how hard I worked for this, and how badly I wanted it. I was so excited I received a comment card from a family that said that I made their first flying experience truly memorable. I am glad that I am able to make memories.

I even find joy in the older women stopping me with a "stewardess," others take offence to it. But I think it is a complement to be associated with the glory days of flying.

I feel bad that with working for a low cost carrier I can't provide simple amenities that customers want such as pillows, blankets, or even milk (due to no refrigerators). But I try to make up for it in other ways.

So if I discouraged anyone in anyway... stick with it, keep trying. Virgin America is hiring at this time and Jet Blue is supposed to be opening more English speaking positions at the end of summer.

Lessons learned at 31,000 feet

2009-06-14T09:32:00.002-04:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted so I thought I would give you all an update….

I haven’t really had time to keep my blog up to date and when I do have time I am just too tired. I have been working a lot and have had tons of crazy new experiences. People never cease to amaze me….

So my trips have been a blur so I can’t really go into details, but this is what I’ve learned in the past month…

When the airplane is going back to the gate due to a mechanical problem with the air conditioner there is no way to answer “Why can’t we just open a window?” with a strait face.
Your crew can really set the tone for what kind of mood you’ll be in for the next 2-5 days.
If you piss off crew scheduling you’ll find a 6 leg a day trip in the near future.
Never, ever, EVER call fatigue, even if you can’t walk…. It will come back to bite you in the ass.
In-Flight management must have already forgotten how challenging this job can be on the body, heart, and soul of us reserves.
That airsick bags are my new “duct tape”… 1,001 uses and counting!
That you can make grilled cheese sandwiches on a plane…
What crew juice is, the different names for it, as well as several recipes.
That our website gives carry on dimensions that are seriously too large for our overhead bins…
That gate checking bags can nearly cause a riot.
How to spot an over sized carry on across the room.
Truth or Dare is more fun at 31,000 feet
That oxygen bars are god’s solution to hangovers.
That it is always the little old women who know that they can’t lift their bags that pack the heaviest.
That there is no such thing as non-run hosiery.
Why some flight attendants wear thigh-highs
That UMs are worse than screaming babies.
That even UMs can find love on an airplane.
That business cards are a must because cocktail napkins are easy to loose.
That gate agents have feelings too.
That gate agents will put a non-ambulatory, blind, man who doesn’t speak a word of English on last and then try to close the door before we can even figure out how we are supposed to brief him.
That Seal-A-Meal I bought is the best $45 I’ll ever spend.
That you can heat Seal-A-Meal bags inside an airsick bag full of hot water and actually eat a hot meal on the plane.
That the ice packs that are used for injuries are better than the blue ice because you can refill them on the plane, the airport, and at the hotel… no freezing required!
That the view from the flight deck is breathtaking.
That even though the aft lav on a 717 says Push on the door people will still pull out the ashtray thinking it is a doorknob.
That the forward lav attracts everyone from row 1 -31
That the aft lavs are typically cleaner due to last lesson learned.
That it is possible for a crew to deplane a full flight only to find out as I preflight that they were missing a slide. (no joke)
That you should never tell a 5 month pregnant woman that her flight has been cancelled unless you plan on calling security.
That even though the wing flap is broken… we are good to go :-/
That layover hotels do not like skinny dippers!

As you can tell I’ve been busy learning some of life’s best lessons in the past month. I am happy to report that I will be transferring to the Tampa base starting July 1st. So hopefully I’ll have more time to keep up. J

My Second 4-Day!

2009-05-10T11:25:00.002-04:00

My second four day was a lot better than the first... I actually made it through all four days! Although I enjoyed my first crew a little more, my crew was nice. I flew R1 and I think I found a new favorite position! So here is a recap of my trip...

Day 1 - ATL - LGA - MKE

This trip started in bad weather and of course there LGA is notorious for long hold patterns. When we arrived upstairs we arrived to a bunch of grumpy PAX. The previous flight to LGA was cancelled so we had a lot of people wanting to fly standby on an already booked flight. We didn't even start to board until the time we were supposed to be leaving which had people in a not so pleasent mood. After we got on the plane and the doors were closed we ended up sitting for about another 10 minutes and finally we were off! People started to cheer up as time went by... We ended up not being able to do a full service due to turbulance and that upset some people.. it wasn't severe, but I was having trouble standing up. Then we were ready to kill ATC when we were told we would be in the air an aditional 30 minutes to to traffic in LGA. We finally were able to land and deplane and I was kind of happy to see them go. The Flight to MKE was very uneventful and I was happy when we made it to the hotel. I had a quick dinner and enjoyed the wonders of the sleep number bed.

Day 2 - MKE - BWI - BOS

Day two was amazing. I had so much fun! I started off the day with a blueberry lemon scone and a Bullfrog (mint mocha) from the coffee cart. The flight to BWI was smooth and pleasant. Then we flew to BOS. It was a short flight and we were a bit rushed during service, but over all it was great! I had an 18 hour layover in BOS and I took advantage of it. I took the train downtown and walked the entire Freedom Trail, I saw the duck statues, and I ate at the bar that inspired "Cheers." all in all it was a good time.

Day 3 - BOS - BWI - CUN - BWI

Whoever thought to make CUN a turn is a moron. It was long and boring because going there we only had 10 PAX. I personally felt it was a waste of fuel and resources, but what do I know? Because there were only 10, service was so easy.. but then there was nothing else to do for the flight. It was very hard to stay awake. We did a big no-no and got off the plane to check out Duty Free and was chewed out by the base manager... however the gate agent was the one who said we could. Coming back we had 30 PAX. 30 on a 737 is almost as sad as 10. Another super easy flight... but my goodness it drains you when there is nothing to do. We only had 10 hours in BWI so I made sure to get some sleep because I was still exhausted from BOS.

Day 4 - BWI - ATL

It was a 6:00 check in and one of our crew overslept. Other than that I couldn't have asked for an easier day.

Over all this trip was easy and fun but there was nothing really eventful.

An Email From A Reader!!! (How Exciting!!!)

2009-05-03T20:39:00.006-04:00

Today I received an email from one of my readers (I still get excited that I have readers!!!):

Hello,
I came across your blog while researching how to become a flight attendant.I am a 20 year old college student who is very interested in making this my career choice asap.I have decided school isn't for me and that I would love to be part of a flight crew.
I am wondering, how did you go about getting an interview?I have no idea where to start the process and I thought I would contact you to find out.
I meet the basic requirements of: high school diploma, correct height (5'4) and years of excellent customer service experience (retail). Is this enough to impress an airline?
Your blog is a great read! Thanks for you time.

-Jackie

Jackie,

First off, thank you for your email! I love getting email :) I am happy to see that you are doing your research. It made me think of the many hours I spent googling every ounce of information I could find about the job and what I should expect during training. You are about to start a very exciting journey! I like you am/was a 20 year old college student. This is a wonderful time to begin. You meet the basic requirements so that is an excellent start! You also mentioned that you have years of customer service experience which is a must have to get your foot in the door. In fact with my airline they require a minimum of two years. My first recommendation is to go to AirTran.com (they are hiring). Fill out the application and with job history make sure that you include every job (no matter how long it lasted) and explain any gaps for the past 10 years. Since we are the same age I am pretty sure you haven't been working for the full 10 years... this is okay, just explain that you were a student. There is also an assessment at the end of your application... it is important that you do well on this.

Next is the difficult part.... waiting. I was lucky and received a response within the week, but others that I talked to waited up to a month... My recommendation is to wait a week and if you haven't heard anything go ahead and give them a call. The recruiters are really busy and sometimes people fall between the cracks. Just make sure that if you do call you are professional, kind, and upbeat. First impressions are key, especially when you are potentially competing with hundreds of people for a spot in training.

After you receive an invite you will attend an open house... aka cattle call. Be sure to wear a dark suit, makeup and to wear your hair up. Also make sure to be on time, and smile... they are always watching.They will tell you the ins and outs about the job. At the end they have you read an announcement, with this relax and take your time and be sure to read loudly and clearly. They then tell you that they will be doing call backs for face to face interviews in a week. I was a nut and constantly checked my email, four days later it came! My invitation for a face to face! I was so excited.

For my face to face I showed up two hours early because I had to drive to Orlando and didn't want to be late. I was so nervous but I was also very excited. My recruiter reviewed my job history with me and then asked me a series of questions about my past experiences. I was warned by a friend that if you don't have an experience to make one up... be quick on your feet. Also never say anything negative about yourself or previous employers, if they try to get something negative turn it into a positive. :) After what seemed like a million questions she said the words that I'll never forget..."I'm sending you to ATL" Of course I misunderstood because it was for a group interview, not training like I thought.

The group interview was a little nerve racking... They only asked two questions. My theory is that it was to catch people who slipped through the cracks. They let you know in a couple of days if they want you to come back for your HPE and Uniform Fittings. If you make it this far you are pretty much in. The HPE is simple exercises to make sure you can meet the requirements of the job and to make sure you know proper lifting and bending techniques. After this they give you a information packet to study and tell you that you'll know by the end of the week when training will begin.

Classes always start on Monday, so you fly in Sunday afternoon/night. The classes themselves are easy. As a instructor says "If you study and pay attention and meet me half way, I will make you a flight attendant." Make sure to study, do what they say, no matter how silly it may seem. There are tests once a week usually on Mondays... You have to get at least a 90%. But don't worry it is all material you've seen before... Be sure to study that packet for your first test. Also in class they give you review questions... make note of these, you usually see them again at some point.

After it is all over you get your wings. Honestly I was excited but I didn't understand why some of the other girls in my class were tearing up... that is until I walked in the room and saw my parents... then the waterworks started. It truly is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is the first time that I have really followed a dream and succeeded. They say that once your a flight attendant, there is no going back, and it is true... It gets in your blood. It has only been two weeks and I honestly can not see myself doing any other job.

I hope that once you get your wings you'll feel the same.

Please feel free to send me any other questions. I am still tickled that people actually read my blog :)

Katie

The first trip... fabulous or the trip from hell?

2009-04-30T16:23:00.002-04:00

So my first trip had an amazing start...

I had an awesome crew, great pax, even some kick ass layovers! It was all good until day 3 when suddenly I felt dizzy and weak on my ATL-MEM. I managed to start feeling a little better after my lead fed me some oatmeal. But that didn't last long... From MEM - ATL I was in the lav throwing up almost the entire flight... By the time we landed I was so weak I could barely lift my laptop bag. They called crew sched and I was taken off the trip and then the fun really began.

I was taken to my Inflight Manager's office and could barely walk and spent about a half an hour with my head in the trash can as they tried to figure out what to do with me. They decided I couldn't fly home until I had been cleared by a doctor so I was sent to the Aeroclinic upstairs. I don't even remember the wheelchair ride up there. When I arrived they slapped a mask on me and did a pregnancy test... after that was ruled out they discovered I was very dehydrated. I was hooked up to an IV and slowly started to feel a little better. The next thing I know they are asking me where I have flown in the past week and then because I was close to some of the Swine Flu outbreaks they contacted the CDC. They were trying to figure out if I needed to go to the emergency room to get tested or not. After deciding I can't fly I was sent back to Inflight and they put me up in a room for the night. After I woke up I was feeling much better and went back to the Aeroclinic to get cleared. The doctor on staff was upset that they didn't test me yesterday so I was sent for testing and luckily it came back negative... I do not have the Pig Flu!!! I was finally cleared to fly and now I am back in TPA for the weekend looking forward to a few days of bed rest and a clear liquid diet...

Who knew my first four day would be so eventful?

Half way through my 4 day trip....

2009-04-29T01:03:00.002-04:00

So I've made it half way!!!!! I flew ATL-BWI-MCO and had a 10 hour layover. A friend from Orlando came to hang out and that was pretty cool.... The hotel was awesome! Then today I am in BMI I had a 19 hour layover in a hotel called The Chateau. It is amazing!!!! I totally raided the maids cart because we have bath and body works products in our rooms!!!!! I got a little tipsy by the pool but over all it was a good time and it has been an awesome trip!

Crew Sched!

2009-04-27T05:43:00.002-04:00

I got my first call from crew sched on Friday night. They told me I had the weekend off so I took advantage of it and went to IND. I got back last night with another message saying that my sched has been changed! Instead of home reserve this week I get a 4 day trip!!! I am all over the place so all I know is that it my first stop is BWI. I can't wait! I am still on call so it could change but I really hope they don't. That's about all for now... more to come soon!

My First Week

2009-04-25T15:42:00.002-04:00

So I had a few days off and then I had my first flight a San Juan turn. I was so nervous but it turned out really well. There wasn't anything too eventful except for the fact that I was flying lead on an overbooked flight. My pax were very supportive and gave me an applause after my safety demo announcement. When we were over the Bahamas I got to go up in the flight deck. It was such a beautiful view! The only problem I had was after landing check when an entire row stood up. The woman at the window seat wanted to use the lav, I informed them that the seat belt light was on and one girl got in my face because the window pax "was sleeping when the light was off." I just backed up and told them that we would be on the ground shortly and to please take your seats. I walked away and that over. I didn't get to stay in SJU long but the flight back only had 30 pax and most slept the entire flight back. It seems like it takes a lot longer when there is less to do.

I went back to the hotel and woke up early for another turn... this time DFW. Again it was a simple trip there and back. I flew L2 so I was in the back. On our trip back we experienced some turbulence so I was tripping because I am not used to it yet. Now for the fun part... I did something I said I would never do... I gave my number to a pax! When he was first boarding the plane I thought he looked very sharp in his Air Force uniform, he said he was on his way back home to IND, my hometown! So later when I was on the cart he started talking to me because he remembered that I had mentioned that I was from Indy and we started talking a bit. He was napping the second time I went through. When I was breaking down the cart I wrote my number down on a napkin and stuck it in my pocket and went about my business. Later on I noticed a water bottle on the floor next to his seat so I went to pick it up and we got to talking for a little while. He is actually going to be based in TPA where I live. He seemed really nice so I reached in my pocket and discreetly handed him my number and said to call me if he wanted to get together sometime. I went ahead and walked away and then I started to doubt myself... I hadn't even thought to ask if he had someone back home, I was a little embarrassed because I never give out my number unless someone asks me. So when I stepped off the plane I was very surprised to see him waiting for me because he accidental dropped my number. :) I ended up hanging out with him until his connecting flight arrived. I ended up having the next few days off and because I couldn't get into TPA I went up to IND to visit family and gave him a call and we might get together later!

It's finally over!

2009-04-16T17:53:00.002-04:00

So I was out of my mind for thinking I could blog and go to training... I didn't really have a lot of down time... training was amazing... but very intense! You definatly earn your wings!

So I passed my final exam with flying colors and I am graduating tomorrow!!! I am so excited! I just tried on my uniforms and they are a little big so I am going to have to alter them when I get home. I am very excited that my parents have decided to come all the way from Tampa to see me get my wings. I also recieved information about my OE flight.... My first flight is to SJU!!!! I can't wait!

I also found out that I am aloud to state my airline, I work for AirTran! We are number 1 in quality!!!! I also have to state that any views listed on this blog are my own and not the views of AirTran.

Things are getting better!

2009-03-31T18:45:00.002-04:00

So I can't even break down the last week because it has been such a blur... I am having the time of my life learning the skills I will need to use in the friendly skies.

We are starting to learn our evacuation drills and aircraft information. It has been pretty awesome so far. I had a test yesterday and I passed with a hundred!

We also did a Security Self Defense day. It was pretty intense. We talked about what happened on 9-11 and it was a little difficult to talk about. We listened to a recording from one of the FAs who was able to get in touch with reservations and it was very hard to listen to. But we learned how to defend ourselves and I hope that I never will have to use these skills.

I'm not even sure what to think anymore because I have been so busy. It is a lot to cram in to four weeks :)

But I'll update soon and hopefully I'll be flying with you all after the 17th!

FA Training! I made it!

2009-03-25T17:53:00.002-04:00

So after all of the fun happenings over the past couple weeks I was able to finally go to training! I arrived Sunday night and checked into my hotel. It is unfortunately in the bad side of college park. But other than the fact I can not safely leave the hotel it is going well.

Sunday -

I arrived earlier than my roommate. I went up in the room to discover only one real bed, the other was a rollaway. I decided first come first serve... but this came back to get me later on. I went downstairs and got to know some of the people from the class ahead of me. When I got back my roommate arrived. She was understanding and said that she would have done the same thing, so I didn't feel so bad. But I did not get any sleep in that bed... There is a bright light that shines right in the window and there were some crazy people out in the parking lot all night... including a drug dealer, hookers, and a car break in! My hotel is also conveniently located within walking distance of a bar and a strip club!

Day 1 - Orientation -

After getting hardly any sleep the night before my alarm clock went off at 6:00. I got ready and went downstairs for my "hot breakfast" which is a joke! Having toast and a waffle machine apparently qualifies as a hot breakfast. My hotel also features a state of the art fines center where none of the equipment is working! I got on the shuttle to the training center and although I was excused I was excited as can be! It was just an orientation and it felt like the longest day of my life. By the end of the day I was so exhausted but I had to stay up because it would be my only opportunity to have a shuttle to the grocery store until next Monday. After that I called it an early night and tried to go to sleep as my roommate stayed up all night studying.

Day 2 - My first day of class!

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach but I still was able to pull it together and make it to class. I passed my first test with flying colors, although some of my classmates weren't as lucky. But we have an opportunity to retake one test. It was another long day, but we received our FAMs and we learned how to bring them up to date. We also received our first homework assignment. When I got home I relaxed ordered pizza and wings, did my homework, and called it a night.... I have a feeling when I start I'll be a "slam clicker"

Day 3-

Today was awesome! I learned how to do the "safety dance." We also had a pilot come in and teach us about how the aircraft works. It was very interesting. We also learned about our policies on guests with disabilities. My classmates who failed their test did their retakes and unfortunately one did not pass so she was sent home. It was a wake up call for a lot of my classmates. But I am still pretty confident. I know I can get through this... I just have to apply myself...

Well the "free WiFi" at this hotel sucks so I will try to keep up with my blog... but there are no guarantees...

Good News and Bad News

2009-03-17T09:20:00.002-04:00

Last week was just a mess. I talked to two different people and one said there would be no more classes this month, and the other said that there would be. I explained the situation with my passport and they went ahead and moved my class to the 23rd. I was a little disappointed, but I was very relieved that I would still be able to go.

After that was taken care of you will never believe what arrived on my doorstep Saturday afternoon... My Passport! The person from the Passport Agency told me Tuesday! I wasn't sure if I wanted to be happy or mad. I am glad that I received it early so I don't have that added stress this week. But I am a little upset that I would have been able to go. I know I did the right thing though because I had no way of knowing if it would come earlier then they said... especially after it came later then I was originally told.

So I am now set to leave this Sunday, and I am really excited! I am packed, I have my passport, so now I can just relax for a few days. :)

I Hate the Passport People!

2009-03-11T10:53:00.002-04:00

So my passport, which I paid an outrageous amount to expedite, was supposed to come today. I checked the status on the status checker online and it still wasn't up so I was worried and called. I was put on hold for thirty minutes only to discover that I will be receiving my passport one day after my training starts!

I am pissed!

So because the regular amount of time for a passport is supposed to take about 3 weeks I am pissed that I had to pay an extra 75 dollars. I understand that because the expedited ones are running behind the regular ones would be too, but don't have your workers saying 2 weeks door to door if you can't guarantee it. They could have just as easily said 2-3 weeks door to door.

So now I can not go to training which really pisses me off. Because I've heard that XYZ is only having two classes this month and they aren't sure when they will have more. I was in the second class. If I miss out on this job and end up with a passport that I don't even need, that caused me to miss out on this job.... I will be beyond pissed off!

But I will still try to see the sunny side of things and be happy that I have more time to study my information packet. But hopefully I will get to use that knowledge.

Less Than a Week to Go

2009-03-10T09:30:00.003-04:00

I have been extremely busy packing and going through things to get rid of. I am such a pack rat and my mom wanted me to go through my stuff and downsize since I won't be here as often. Asking a pack rat to downsize is cruel. But as I go through most of this stuff my thoughts are going "I haven't seen it or used it in years so I guess I don't really need it."

I have also been trying to decide what to bring with me for the month. As silly as it sounds I packed an entire suitcase full of food! They don't provide meals so I wanted to go prepared. I figured I would take away the stress of grocery shopping, and save money by not eating at the local restaurants. But seeing as how I have an entire months food in one suitcase, you can imagine it is not the healthiest food, but when I die I will be well preserved. I still will have to go to buy a few things like laundry detergent and cold foods. But now I know I won't go overboard.

As far as clothes go.... I have no clue what I want to bring, I mean it was snowing about two weeks ago in Atlanta but now it is warm out. I'm not sure if I should pack for cold or warm weather or for both. And although training is business attire, I'll have days where I might want to go out and do something and then I need gym clothes because there is a fitness center at the hotel. But what I am most excited about is the indoor heated pool and whirlpool!

Another major worry that I have is that I am going to fail at this. I'm sure I have a slight advantage over some because I haven't been out of school for very long. But it has been awhile since I've been in an actual classroom. I did my senior year of high school online, complete with open book tests. And my one semester of college I took plenty of online courses and rarely showed up for the regular classes. So I have a feeling this is going to be a real challenge. But once I get through it, I know it will be worth it.

I can't wait until I can get started. I am still reviewing the packet they gave me with my terminalogy and airport codes. Most of it is common sense. But some of it is a little confussing. Where on earth did they come up with RSW for Fort Myers, or HPN for White Plains? And everyone says that those should be the ones I will remember because they are so weird... but most of the others are common sense so I get to those and think wtf?

I am still waiting for my stupid passport. It will be two weeks tomorrow and I was told 2 weeks. What worries me is you can check your status online and it can't even find me. They cashed the check so they better send me a passport. It's enough to make a girl go crazy.

It's Officially Official!

2009-03-06T12:09:00.000-05:00

I have been cleared for training! I leave on the 15th and start class on the 16th!!! I am so excited! Now I just need to figure out what all I want to bring with me :)

What a day!

2009-03-01T08:37:00.003-05:00

Friday I went back to ATL for processing and what a day! I was so nervous that I only slept for about an hour the night before. I got to the airport and had issue with TSA because the suit I was wearing had a built in top and they kept telling me to remove my jacket and I couldn't and they were really starting to get mad at me even when I was showing them it was attached. So finally I just asked if they would like me to remove my shirt, and they shut up pretty quick.

My plane left at a reasonable time. I was lucky the middle seat was empty on the flight but in the aisle was this annoying pax that felt the need to keep touching my arm and when he slept he snored. But it wasn't a normal snore, it sounded like he couldn't breath because he was gasping for air. I also was around a lot of sneezing sick people which reminded me to add Airborne to my list of things I want to keep in my rollabord.

We hit bad weather in GA and had to circle the airport once before landing. There was a lot of traffic coming in so I was still sitting on the plane in taxi when I was supposed to be boarding the shuttle. I was worried so I ran the dreaded call button and asked the FA if she could call someone to let them know that I was late, because I forgot the numbers at home. She not only told me who to call but handed me her phone to use. I thought it was very nice of her. I got in touch with my recruiter and she said not to worry that another shuttle would come.

I waited out in the cold and there were two other people. I wasn't sure if they were waiting for the shuttle so I just kept to myself because I was tired and lacking caffeine. Eventually the shuttle came and it turns out they were in my group. They turned out to be very nice.

We waited for what seems like forever at the clinic to get started. First they gave me a drug screening and also checked my urine for protein, blood, and sugar. I had to fill out a really long form about my previous medical history. And then they weighed me and measured my height. According to them I grew, I was about 5'6.

I did an eye exam. Then I was put in a waiting room where they did my blood pressure and was told to strip down and put a gown on. It was taking awhile so a nurse came in and gave me orange juice and pretzels. When the doctor finally came she seemed very nice. She did a lot of normal things but the weirdest thing was when she told me to turn my head and cough. I always thought that was a guy thing. But who knows? The strangest part was that no one, including the guys had this happen to them.

After that I went back to physical therapy and I had to walk between two tables to show I could fit in the isles. I had to pull back something really heavy, lift a 40 pound suitcase over my head. Show I have the arm span to work the emergency exits, and push this huge heavy cart and then pull it back to me. Everyone said pulling it was hard, but for me it was the pushing. Then they took my blood pressure again.

I have no clue if we actually passed or not. We were still waiting so me and one girl wanted to grab something to eat. The driver said there was a Wendy's just down the street, so we decided to go. It was sprinkling and very cold outside, but we made it there with hardly any trouble. After we ate it was pouring so when we made it back to the clinic we were soaked.

We took the shuttle over to the training center and filled out our paperwork for a background check. We filled out our I-9 forms and they made sure we had passports, or a receipt for one. After that we went for fingerprinting and uniform fittings.

The women's uniforms had a lot of choices a pant outfit, skirt outfit, two different dresses, and different cardigans and scarves. I tried on the two dresses. There was one I knew I wanted with gold buttons up the front of it. I tried it on and if I do say so myself, I looked hot! I tried the other dress that was a little more plain and simple and it looked adorable on me. So I chose the two dresses. I've got the sexy, and the sweet and innocent.(:
I chose both the square and rectangle scarf and a nice black trench coat. They also ordered our rollabords. We also got a study guide for training! I'll know more when all the information comes back!

We took a shuttle back to the airport and went ahead through security. We had a lot of time before the flight so we grabbed a snack and headed over to the terminal. We found out our flight had been moved so we went to the new gate and there was a plane boarding going to Indianapolis. They closed the gate and it started with only a couple people asking to board, and then it turned into a long line. It delayed our flight and finally I was able to go home! I slept most of the flight home because I was exhausted. We hit some turbulence over the gulf that woke me up and then I made it to the airport.

I went home and went to bed. Although I don't actually remember going to bed.

The Last Minute Flight

2009-02-26T19:59:00.004-05:00

So yesterday my flight for this morning was canceled and I was supposed to receive a new flight ASAP. Apparently according to XYZ ASAP means 12 hours before the flight.

I ended up staying up yesterday for a full 24 hours. I went in with Marvin to work and never made it back to bed until 1:00 this morning. Surprisingly I woke up at a decent hour today, but I consider 8:00 to be sleeping in.

I waited frantically all day for a phone call or an email telling me when my flight was supposed to be tomorrow. I called all three of my recruiters several times and sent them each several emails. Finally I gave up and stopped worrying about it.

They waited until almost 6:00 at night to inform me that I have a flight in the morning. So I have been trying to get everything together because I wasn't sure if I was going and for how long.

I will be coming back again tomorrow night, and as long as nothing comes up on my background check or my drug test, which I know are both clean, my next flight will be for training school!!!!!

I have been very excited from the time I received my first email, but now I am really getting excited. I can't believe I am doing it, or that I made it! I can't wait until I can go to training school! I can't wait until I pass and have my parents come up to see me get my wings! I can't wait to get my adorable uniforms.

Most FAs aren't very fond of the uniform, but I am excited about them! Over all I am just so excited! But I think it is about time for me to head to bed so that I can get a good nights sleep, so I'll be fresh and ready in the morning!

Good night all! Pleasant Dreams and Safe Travels!

A Birth Certificate, A Passport, and A Canceled Flight

2009-02-25T15:43:00.003-05:00

I've been up since one this morning. I went in to help Marvin at work and after I got home I couldn't sleep. I was way too stressed about my passport crisis. The post office said it would be delivered anytime between 8 to 3. 10:30 rolled around and I was starting to worry a little. Finally around a quarter till noon the doorbell rang!

I was happy to see that he had an express mail envelope for me. I still had to get everything together. I went to Walgreen's to pick up my passport photos, they came out awful. I look like I weigh about 20 more pounds. I had to go get an express envelope and stamp from the post office, and then it was off to the government center!

I got there and there wasn't very many people so I just had to fill out the form. I had everything filled out only to realize I left my drivers licence at home. The woman said it was required but it clearly stated on the paperwork that Marvin could have filled out a form stating that I was who I said I was, along with my student ID and Social Security Card. She also said it had to be filled out in black ink. There was nothing on the form stating that I couldn't use black ink, but I went home and grabbed my licence and filled out the form again.

So it is supposed to take two weeks door to door for me to receive my passport. I was a little worried when she took my birth certificate. She said it would be returned to me, I didn't even have it for more than an hour. I was worried because my recruiter said I needed a receipt for an expedited passport, and although that is what I ordered my receipt is just for the 25 dollar fee the court house charged me.

I got home and checked my email only to find that I didn't need to be so worried after all. My flight was canceled and was going to be rescheduled for Friday. I am really glad because I was going to have to be up at 3 AM to make my flight and I still have to iron my suit and run some more errands, which means I would have been running on very little sleep.

I am still trying to figure out why they want me to bring a money order for a processing fee. It seems kind of strange that I have to pay them. Oh, well...

I also need to work on getting the money for my uniforms, I have a feeling that they are going to want my down payment at the fitting. If they do I will be disappointed because they didn't mention it and $150 is kind of an inconvenience if you are not expecting it. But with XYZ I've learned that I should expect the unexpected.

Have a great afternoon... I'm going to bed!

A Passport,A Birth Certficate, and A Short Notice Trip

2009-02-25T03:20:00.005-05:00

Well it has been one bumpy ride. It's been awhile since I've been on. Last Friday I went to Atlanta only to have a late flight and a long, long, long day. I slept about 13 hours after I made it home. But here is the fun part!!! I got an email on Monday saying I have a flight on Thursday, I am going for orientation, a physical, a drug test, finger printing, and uniform fittings. The stressful part about this wasn't the 3 day notice on my flight, but the fact that I need a receipt for an expedited passport... and I don't have a birth certificate as I am writing this.

So I go on google and see about getting my birth certificate and there is no way it would be delivered in time if I ordered it through the website. I have tons of family up in Indy but there is only a short list of people who can obtain your birth certificate. So I was at a dead end. So I went on google to see if there was any way I could possibly get a passport without a birth certificate... it can be done but it is a royal pain in the ass!

Now as I am starting to get my hopes back up I am searching for all of the information I will need. I also need signed affidavits from family saying that I was born where I say I was born... Well I could only find a few documents that could possibly qualify, but there was another problem!!!

When I was born my last name wasn't Coffey, it was Ransom! Everything from the hospital said Ransom, and some of it had my name spelled with a C instead of a K! So basically it was useless! I even emailed my ex to see if it was still in the safe, but no response from him.

So I finally decide to try my dad up in Indy. He lives in a different part and it is a long drive from Spencer to the East Side of Indy. He agreed to do it and I gave him all the info and asked him to overnight it. He called me around noon yesterday to tell me it was sent. It is guaranteed by 3 or it is free... but since the passport office closes at 4:15 if it is any later than 3, free or not it is kind of useless. So my career at XYZ potentially lies in the hands of my mailman... I hope my parents tipped him well at Christmas!

Luckily I might have a loophole if it doesn't come in time. If I am taking antihistamines, it could raise my blood pressure and make me fail my physical... Which means I can reschedule! I have never been so happy to have a cold in my life! I actually thanked God for my cold, as silly as it sounds. If I do get my birth certificate I will have to be a little uncomfortable and not have medicine until after the physical, but it's worth it.

This has been more of a rant than a blog posting, but I needed to vent. And you can now see what exciting stress XYZ has been putting me through. I was told I wouldn't need my passport until later on in the game, and the crazy thing is I was talking to my mom about ordering my birth certificate earlier that morning. But I am going to stay positive and have faith in the mail man, and hope he doesn't have a sub tomorrow!

I'll be back with more later about my adventures with my passport!!!!

The One On One Interview

2009-02-17T00:08:00.005-05:00

Well I should have known from the very start of the day that it was going to be a wonderful day. I woke up early before my alarm and had everything ready to go. I got ready and was off to Orlando, where my interview took place. As soon as I got into the car I turned on the radio and Zeppelin was playing so it was already a good start to my journey. Along the way just about all of my favorite songs and groups were playing which distracted me from my nerves, as I am one of the crazy people you see rocking it out in the car, singing and all. I ended up stopping at a Starbucks once I got closer because I arrived about an hour early and I had a coupon for a free tea, and I figured out why they give you a free drink, because it is impossible to walk out with just the free drink. Several pastries later I went back to headquarters.

I still arrived about 45 minutes early and signed in and got my badge. There were others waiting in the lobby for their interviews so I made small talk only to find that interviews were running way behind. I was patient and tried to make friends because I could potentially be training or even rooming with some of them in ATL. When my time came I was so nervous, every time someone came out they didn't say good bye or thank her for going to ATL so I was worried that it was going to be hard.

I got back there and it was like your typical interview with lots of questions about situations you've experienced. I answered to the best of my ability and maintained a smile and a positive attitude and even threw in a couple jokes to break the ice. It apparently worked because she invited me to ATL for the next step! I was so shocked a REALLY??? popped out of my mouth and she was amused because I seemed so shocked. She said she thinks I will make an excellent flight attendant and not to be so nervous because I made an impression on our first meeting and that is how I made it to this point.

She booked my flight I leave TPA at 7 AM Friday and arrive back later in the day. I am really excited that I've made it this far so quickly. I have to fix my ticket because she misspelled my name, but that shouldn't be a big deal. When we were going back to the lobby she explained to me that not everyone would be going to ATL so she didn't want me to thank her as I left out there and to keep my best "poker face" on. I let her know I'm a little nervous about getting around ATL alone because I've never been there and have heard horror stories. She did let me know that one of the women I was talking to earlier will be on my flight and just to stick with her. I found this to be exciting news because we got along pretty well.

So I came home and spread the news and everyone was pretty happy for me. I have so much to take care of before March... And so my journey continues!!!!

The night before...

2009-02-15T21:13:00.003-05:00

So tomorrow is a big day. I have my one on one interview with XYZ Airways! (For those of you who know me you know which airline I am referring to, but to anyone else who comes across this blog, this is what I will refer to the airline as.)

I pretty much took it easy today as I continued to surf the net to read anything and everything on flight attendants that I could find. I've been doing this since last Sunday. I also went over interview questions and continued to study airport codes. I am so nervous about tomorrow. But the way I see it, I made it to the one on one so as long as I don't screw up tomorrow I've got this!

Later in the evening I decided to make a sweets run at Publix, I was craving chocolate cake with butter cream icing! Later on I decided that I wanted a different scarf to go with my outfit. So I went out searching... although it was all ready later in the evening and being Sunday most places were closed. I checked Fashion Bug, Ross, Bells Outlet, and then I decided to check Michael's to see if they carried fabric. They didn't so I went to good old Wal-Mart! They had some lovely red fabric and I got a half a yard for only $0.75. I don't have a sewing machine so I decided to get some iron on fabric edging not knowing what a pain in the butt, and my poor little fingers, it would be.

I got home and decided to iron my suit and make my scarf. I cut it to the size I wanted and then I had to figure out how the edging worked. It had two lines of glue so I tried to speed up the process and fold it over and try to iron it but it wasn't working. So I carefully did one line of glue and then folded it over to do the other side. After completing this my french tips manicure that I spent an hour on was ruined and almost all my finger tips were burnt! :)

Now I am just waiting. I hate this part, I am starting to wonder if they make you wait on purpose. Who knows...

Anyways I am going to try to get some sleep because even though my interview is at 1:30 (I lucked out) I still have a two hour drive to get there. So good night all... Pleasant Dreams.... Wish me luck!!!

Hello!

2009-02-15T17:53:00.001-05:00

So technically I am not a flight attendant yet. I am in the interviewing process. I will not list the airline because I've read about what happened to a previous Delta employee, she was fired for her blog.

I am writing this blog to keep my friends and family updated with the entire process from getting hired, training school, and my adventures after I become a flight attendant. I plan to include a lot of pictures of all of the places I visit and the cool things I see.

I also plan to write as an outlet because so far this process has been making me crazy, but in a good way!