Come me fly with me! ✈️ A whole new career opportunity?

A friend has recently retired from a long career as cabin crew with BA. She was on the old contract which was much more generous than today’s and latterly she worked in First Class, having her pick of flights for her work and then free flights for herself and family. Her daughter, who was at school with my youngest, had seen lots of cities on flying (ha, see what I did there! ) visits by the time she was 18. Her brother has trained as a pilot now.

The scariest cabin crew we’ve come across were with Icelandair in the 1990’s. They only seemed to employ fearsome-looking middle aged women who ran an extremely tight ship…um…airplane. There’d be no trouble from drunks on planes if they crewed all aircraft. 😂

I didn't get through because of my height 😫

The first time I travelled to the USA in 1996, I was surprised at how old the cabin crew were.
Males were easily in their 50/60s and the ladies were 50s. They were very efficient and professional. It certainly burst my bubble of stewardesses being glamorous 20 something models.
I hate flying so not an enticement for me.

I shall immediately practice chanting 'Chicken or Beef' to improve my chances.

kittylester

I failed the interview years ago - not glamorous enough, I suspect.

Of course I am much more glamorous now so should get in easily.

Maybe someone enterprising like Branson will start an airline for people who like the company of ‘glamorous grannies’!

A friend of mine got a job with Monarch many years ago when she was in her late 30's. She wasn't the regulation height but she was bilingual. She told me that as part of her training the would be stewardesses had to swim fully clothed in a swimming pool with a wave machine and they collectively had to inflate a life raft and pull everyone out of the water. They were given old uniform dresses to wear and hers came down to her ankles! She told me she had to pull it up around her waste.
I also have relatives that are or have been air crew for apposing airlines. One lot for Virgin on one side of the family and the other for BA. My sisters daughter is now approaching her 50's. She does the long haul flights so effectively only works about 10 days a month.
However I would be no good because I swim like a brick!

We had a memorable flight once, starting with an older woman with wild hair and blouse half in and half out of her skirt calling for families with young children to come forward first at the boarding gate. When the usual chancers with no child in sight surged forward, she barked at them to sit back down and sarcastically asked whether they were deaf or didn’t understand plain English. I did wonder whether strong drink had been taken but it also crossed my mind that I would enjoy that job.

I'm sure it's nowhere near as jolly spiffing as it's knocked up to be. While my diplomatic skills and self-confidence have improved as I've aged, my groans as I urge my arthritic hips and knees up and down the steps would not be so welcome, so sadly it's a no from me.

No good for me. At the first sign of turbulence I'd be hiding in the galley sobbing "we're all going to die..." The benefits I got from taking a fear of flying course when I was 50 have worn off in recent years.

JaneJudge

can we wear sensible shoes?

I've noticed in recent years that the cabin crew only wear their smart heels before and after the flight.
During the flight they always change into flat shoes.

Weren't aeroplanes wider in the 60s and 70s? I don't remember trolleys going past and knocking people's arms and legs. Or...... have we all got wider?

We could have a zip wire to dangle from thus eliminating the need for our zimmer frames, crutches etc.

My new career when I stopped nursing was working for 3 years as a donor carer with The Blood Transfusion service..

I think its great to have more mature people. I remember flying Aeroflot in Russia in the 80s and some of their stewardesses definitely werent in the glamorous or young categories. Of course there are weight limitations. I think that they have found a link between constant flying and miscarriage so using older women would be safer

I am enjoying retirement far too much to go back to work and as I hate flying there is no way I would consider a job as a stewardess.

Nor do I find grown-ups behaving childishly or rudely easy to deal with, so if I do come out of retirement I will go out as an old-fashioned Scots Nanny for young children, who will learn to do as they are told!

Travelling in the US I've seen any number of 60+ women working as cabin crew.

I got chatting to a few in a coffee shop - two were returning to their former careers after being widowed and one was a retired nurse who had taken it up in later life. All were supplementing their pensions and taking the opportunity to see various family members who live throughout the vast USA.

My DiL was a senior flight attendant for Monarch in the days when they were more glamorously called pursers. She told me that the code for the plane being in serious trouble and likely to crash was, ‘Purser to the flight deck’ - repeated twice.

I do wish she hadn’t told me. It was ages before I stopped holding my breath every time I heard the ‘bing’ before an announcement. 😂

Nurses who are fed up with pay and conditions will be applying.

I flew for nearly 40 years. I loved it. I only stopped on the lockdown. I could not go back to getting up at 3am for a 12 hour day or two nights out of bed in a row…. It’s a job to start when your young so your body can get used to the tiredness.

As long as they match the Virgin Red lipstick!

A widowed relative whose only child is now 20, has just left a lifetime career and joined BA as cabin crew. She is tall, beautiful, glamorous, and aged 60!

can we wear sensible shoes?

I suppose if they introduced zimmer-trolleys it might work.

Glorified waitressing.
I tried waitressing in wedding venues in my yoof many years ago.
I kept bashing people in the head with trays.
I can’t imagine what I’d be like on an aeroplane I’m still just as clumsy.

I was a "stew" with Pan Am. As soon as I left the airline went bust! I only joined because I was in San Francisco and wanted to get back to London, which I couldn't afford. Saw an ad in the local paper and went off to the airport for an interview. As luck would have it, PAA were keen to recruit "foreign" girls and, despite my obvious incompetence, I was in. I decided this might after all be an opportunity to see more of the world and spent a happy, though occasionally exhausting, couple of years. It was interesting how my stock with young men increased - same girl, much better profile.

The hostess on our recent flight had just started at the young age of 53 said he really enjoyed it