Two Guys on a Plane

Landing the Flight Attendant Job: Getting Hired with Airline Recruiter Heather Phillips

• Two Guys on a Plane • Season 1 • Episode 8

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Hey friends! We’ve got a special one for you today – joining us in the studio is none other than our amazing friend Heather Phillips! She flew in just for this, and we couldn’t be more pumped to have her with us. Originally from Knoxville and now repping the Windy City, Heather has a wild, inspiring journey from answering a newspaper ad at 19 to spending 12+ years in the skies and now thriving as an airline recruiter.

In this episode, we talk about all things in the world of airline recruiting. Heather shares her best interview tips, what recruiters are really looking for, and how being your authentic self might just be your biggest asset. Plus, we take a fun stroll down memory lane, talking bleach-soaked dorm rooms, and our number one tip for flight attendants in training.

 

✈️ Timeline Summary:

[1:27] Non-rev travel hacks and the magic of StaffTraveler.
[4:22] Heather’s fearless leap into aviation – her first flight was to training.
[6:55] Transitioning from flight attendant to recruiter – how she made the jump.
[9:37] Why flight attendants wear all the hats – and why it matters.
[11:39] What recruiters really want – hint: it’s not perfection.
[15:13] Are you really being watched during your interview journey? Heather gives us the scoop!
[18:40] Do your homework – the importance of researching the airline before you apply.
[20:44] Representing your airline and aligning with its brand – the job is more than travel perks.
[22:31] Interview red flags and the surprising reason one candidate applied.
[26:27] How we met in training – pink polos, frosted tips, and flip phones.
[29:52] Dorm drama and Clorox wipes – Heather’s southern roots show up strong.
[33:16] “Calling and Cross Check” game – Heather’s lightning round travel faves.

Thoughts on this episode? Text us!

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This episode was brought to you by StaffTraveler, the #1 non-rev app. If you travel on standby and are looking to make your journey easy and stress-free, check out the StaffTraveler app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Visit stafftraveler.com/twoguys to learn more and sign up!

Download StaffTraveler, the #1 Non-Rev App!

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Rich:

You ever wondered what your flight attendants are really talking about behind the galley curtain? Welcome

Andrew:

to Two guys on a plane. Your go to podcast for an insider look at flight attendant life.

Rich:

We're your hosts, rich and Drew and we're here to tell you what really goes on at 35,000 feet.

Andrew:

So sit back, relax. We're ready for takeoff. Hi friends. Welcome back to two guys on a plane. Today is a very special day for us. Well, very special in many ways. One, it's our release day, and we are very excited to be leaving the studio here, and we are gonna head to our release party. And we are so excited for all of you to see what we've been working on. And because it's our release party, we have so many friends in town. One of our very good friends, Heather is in the studio with us today, and we are very excited to have a conversation with her little story about Heather. She is originally from Knoxville. She was born and raised in Knoxville, and now resides in Chicago. Heather and I actually started at our first airline together. So welcome Heather. We are so excited to have you here. Welcome Heather. Welcome to Two guys on a

Heather:

plane. Thank you so much for having me on I'm so excited to be here. Let me start off by saying how proud I am of you guys. Oh, you ever you're doing it? Look at you guys. We are.

Rich:

We're doing the damn thing. You're doing the damn thing. So Heather, before we get into your story and kind of everything going on with you these days, how was your flight in?

Heather:

Flight in was really good. Thank you so much for asking. Chicago's not

Rich:

too bad of a flight to Philly, right?

Heather:

It wasn't there was actually a seat open. Oh, that's

Rich:

beautiful. Yeah. Did you non Rev? I did, of

Heather:

course, of course. I Non rev everywhere.

Rich:

See, we're the same way people like buy tickets, and I'm like, No,

Heather:

I will get creative. I will go wherever I need to 100%

Rich:

Yeah, do you use staff traveler?

Heather:

What's staff traveler? I don't know what that is.

Rich:

Staff travel. This is amazing. So staff traveler is like your life preserver when it comes to non rev travel, it is an app that you download. It's completely free. You can pay for credits if you want, but it is completely free. So basically, it's an app where you search city pairings and wherever you're trying to go. You could do connections, you can do all that sort of stuff. And you search. It populates all the flight information for everywhere that you're trying to go, all the airlines, all the flights, and you can select requests for which flight you want to look at loads for. So even if it's not your airline, you can look at loads for whatever airlines. You know how they have those, like Facebook groups, and it's like you're waiting forever for somebody to get back to you. Oh, yeah. This is all like, kind of already done for you. Sometimes it takes a minute for them to get back to you, but you put in requests, it gives you seats. How many are in economy? How many are in first class? All this stuff. And then it's such a game changer. Because, like, when you're panicked, and you're especially, like, Chicago, Philly, you got so many airlines that do that route, so it's like, Okay, I can't get on this airline. Let me run over to this airline. But I don't even know if they have seats. Should I even run over to this terminal? Like, let me check staff traveler. So it's a game changer. And you can put in loads for your own airline. Like, people put in requests, and whatever airline you work for, you can go in and they'll put in requests, and you can answer them and earn credits that way. That's my

Andrew:

favorite part of this app. Like, I know it takes credits to like, get loads, but you earn the credits by like, answering. So there is an incentive for people to answer your on like Facebook, like, with loads, with magic staff traveler, yeah, there's an incentive for people to answer you quickly, because they get credits to get loads for themselves.

Heather:

Well, that's exciting. Now I'm going to be downloading that app, yes, so that I can look so I can have all the knowledge and where I'm going. That's really cool.

Rich:

And they sponsor our show, and they've been so good to us, and this podcast literally couldn't happen without them. So we are so grateful for them, and you all should download staff traveler as well. Go to two guys on up. Nope, that's actually not the website at all. That's our website. Notice, staff traveler.com/two guys, and you can download the app for yourself and let us know how amazing it is. We'd love to hear your feedback about it as well. So

Heather:

awesome.

Andrew:

So again, thank you, Heather for being here with us today. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for traveling in to coming out with us tonight. It's so it's such a pleasure to have you here. I know that I mentioned in your intro that we started flying at the same time, but tell us a little bit about what drew you to aviation?

Heather:

Oh, well, so I was all of 19, which is hard to believe, because I look 19 now, you do 22 you know, I was going to school and I, you know, college, well, I was taking two classes and really skipping most of it, just because I was like, I don't want to go. And I remember I was having lunch with my dad, and he said, Heather, I found this newspaper ad hateful. Yes, I answered a newspaper ad.

Andrew:

Age yourself. We don't. I did it already. You don't have to talk about the newspaper you're

Rich:

calling back an earlier episode of our show where I made fun of someone in this room

Andrew:

taking. Wanted to talk about the newspaper part of all of this.

Heather:

So and he said, you know, if you're not, if you're not gonna go to school, then you need to get you a job with benefits. And I'm not teen. I don't know what benefits are. I'm like, okay,

Andrew:

so you heard flight benefits, and thought those are the only benefits that I need. Well, I

Heather:

just said, Okay, well, my dad is, you know, he's gonna kill me if I, you know, if I tell him I'm not going to school, he wouldn't have killed her. He wouldn't know. He wouldn't have, but he was, he just had this very, very dark stare. And so I went to an open house in Knoxville, read a an announcement, and made it all the way through the rounds, and they said, Well, what airport Do you want to fly out of? And I said, Well, this one. She said, Well, we, we can't fly you out here. The nearest one is, is Atlanta. And I said, Okay, I've never flown before, because my first time on an airplane was,

Andrew:

I need you to roll it back. Say one more time for everybody.

Heather:

So my first time on an airplane Is this real life? Was my dad driving me to Atlanta and getting on that airplane going to flight attendant training? And I thought, well, I better get used to this. So little fearless Heather, 19 year old, was I really thank her for that, because it's led me to, you know, being in the industry for almost 20 years and meeting and meeting awesome people. So

Rich:

were you little fearless, Heather? Were you afraid of flying when you first got on that plane? Or were you like, let's do it.

Heather:

I was, I wasn't scared at all. I just got on that airplane. I thought, Oh, well,

Rich:

this will be, this will be cool. Caution to the wind. Let's live my life. Yeah,

Heather:

I can ride. I was like, Well, I can, I can ride on the plane. I can't read in a car. So I wonder if I can read on this airplane. It makes me sick. Will I be able to read? But I was chatting the whole time with the people sitting next to me.

Andrew:

So funny. I love that. Yeah, so you're no longer a flight attendant. You have transitioned. You're now a recruiter. I am, yeah. How long did you fly?

Heather:

So flew for about 12 and a half years, and then been in recruiting for about seven now, so

Andrew:

wonderful, yeah, well, that's why we have Heather here today. We are going to talk about interview tips. Yeah,

Rich:

yeah. There are so many ways to get into the aviation world, and the interview process is such a wild journey and varies so much for people. So we figured we bring in our little expert here. I know Heather doesn't love that word when I use it, because she's like, No, no, don't hold me accountable. But I'm not an expert. She is the biggest expert in airline recruiting

Andrew:

stuff because, as I told you a few weeks ago, I answered a newspaper ad and was basically like, if you follow all of these steps, you definitely have a job. So yeah, I can't even attempt to tell you how to interview these days,

Rich:

yeah, but now you're on the other side of the table. I'm on the other side. So what made you go from flight attendant to recruiting? Well, it was, it

Heather:

was kind of a fate situation. The airline that I was working for, it was a regional at the time, not the regional that we met at, but they were, they were overstaffed, and I was looking for something else, like, what can I do? Admin looked on our website, and they were looking for recruiters, and they said we would like flight attendants, because at the time, I was hiring pilots. And they said, Well, we, you know, flight attendants know the schedule, the personality. And so I thought, well, they can only tell me, No fearless Heather again, and so I interviewed and started and got into recruiting that way. Learned a lot, for sure, that's amazing. Yeah, enjoyed it.

Andrew:

Do you think your experience as a flight attendant has, like, helped or hindered you in this new role? I

Heather:

think it's helped me a lot. Because what, what I would say is that even as a flight attendant, just fly around, you learn so much about the industry, and I learned a lot about different, different airlines, different, you know, ways of the business, what to look for, you know, hearing hearing people talk that weren't flight attendants, you know, like pilots or gate agents or anything like that. Just just talk and and learning that way. I feel like my experience as a flight attendant did help me, and my aviation experience, too, with with hiring. So it's helpful to be able to one relate to the people on the other side of the table. I mean, again, I'm not at the time, and when I was a recruiter for pilots, I wasn't a pilot, but being able to have that knowledge and be able to go, Oh, I know where you worked, okay, I know what what that is, yeah, I love that. Yeah, I really

Andrew:

do. I'm glad that you were able to take your experience as a flight attendant and turn it that way. Yeah, it makes me really happy.

Heather:

I think with being a flight attendant, something that I do want to acknowledge is that we even flooded tenants. You they you have to work with very limited resources, and there's a lot of stuff that you kind of figure out. So true, yeah, but as a flight attendant, you really learn a lot about being resourceful and figuring things out yourself. So because I

Andrew:

don't think people realize how many hats we actually. Wear. Oh, my God, it's so true. I mean, I know that we try to limit our job, but realistically, we wear all the hats all

Rich:

the time well, and even with all those hats, like we have so many different roles there that also that there's so many facets to each of those roles too. It's like people don't realize, okay, yes, we're trained in x, y and z, but then there's so many scenarios and situations that arise outside of that scope, and it's like, okay, I have to think fast. So like, you need exactly it was innovative and creative because you're up there, you you don't have technology, per se. Oh, I mean, we do way back in the day when we were answering newspaper ads

Buzz Burbank:

together,

Andrew:

like we had the resources that we have now. But, I mean, you've got somebody who's missing their connection because they're trying to get to a funeral, and so you're trying to play the role of a customer service agent to help someone figure out how they might fix the situation before they get down so they're knowledgeable of what's going on. There's just so many hats that you're actually wearing with, like, very, very limited resources. You're 100%

Heather:

correct. Yeah. I mean, and again, I've had training to do what I do. I didn't just figure it out. Nobody was like, here you go, learn this system. But just having the knowledge just around, you know, being able to actually have that before going into it is really kind of cool,

Rich:

yeah. So what's one thing? I mean, obviously, you're probably looking for certain personality types when it comes to, you know, hiring agents, hiring pilots, hiring ground people, and then when it comes to hiring flight attendants. Like, what's one thing specifically that you're looking for when you're looking at flight attendants and like, what? What makes you go? This person's got it, this person's gonna kind of do it well,

Heather:

well, I think being yourself is super important in any role that in this, this can go out to, not the aviation industry. I think being yourself is important because, you know, people who are on the other side of the table, if they're so nervous, you know, it's hard to get their authentic self and their and get a good, you know, read from them. I remember one time I was interviewing and the person on the other side of the table, I was so nervous that my teeth were chattering, and at that time, I didn't know, but they were just like smiling at me. And I thought they did nothing to try and call me down. And I thought, if I'm ever in that position, I want to make sure that I'm keeping the person comfortable. Yeah, so, and I know it's very a lot of people, especially when you go to if it's your dream to be a flight attendant, your dream job wherever, there's a lot of pressure, like, I can't mess this up. That's so true, and so don't worry if you mess it up. We're not looking for a perfect person. We're not looking for perfection. We just want you to be yourself. Of course, you know, you have to be able to have that customer service in any role, really, in aviation. I think, of course, people who like, we just talked about those people that can they make those quick decisions with safety as the top priority? Because, you know, we like we said, you know, we're flight attendants. People only see the.co pouring and the, you know, telling you not that you can't put your bag there, but really it's, it's safety that we that is our number one thing. So can they do this but also act in a safe manner, right?

Rich:

I, and I never really thought about it from your perspective. I've personally never done in your recruiting, but I really love what you said about it's not necessarily just what we're looking for in these people. It's like that we as recruiters need to be like, a supportive, safe space for this person to feel like they can be themselves. Because, like, I think back on my interviews, and I did a couple different airline interviews, and I remember one of them, this guy, it just made me feel so small, like the way he spoke to me, I was like, I hate every minute of this. I want to get out. And then the interviewer actually got hired. The person interviewing me made me feel so comfortable and like, welcome. And I felt like at home there in that interview. So I just felt like we could have a candid conversation about, you know, the job, and about questions and things like that. So I never thought about that. But that's awesome that you are able to, like, do that for people. Because I think, you know, people get nervous during interviews all the time, and it's like, so normal, and you think, oh, that's gonna shoot me down, like, that's gonna make me not get this job. But, you know, going into it, it's nerve wracking.

Heather:

It is especially, you know, the flight attendant interviews. You know, if you're, you're looking to get in the industry or do interviews. I know everybody's reading everything on the internet, and everything on the internet from the moment you walk in the door, or even riding the shuttle over, everybody is watching. And so that does give a lot of fear to people. And I would just say, if you get in that interview room and you are nervous, it's okay to say, Hey, I'm just gonna take a sip of this water, just for a moment, and answer that question for you. So it's okay to, like, gather yourself, but I we know that you're nervous. We get it. We know because we've been on the other side of the table at some point, even if we've they've recruiters, not been a flight. Tenant before they've had to interview. So most of us on the other side, myself included, can be kind of a hot mess,

Rich:

relatable. I'm like, I

Heather:

like cheese. That's my fun fact. You know what I mean?

Rich:

I mean loving cheese is definitely a great fun. Yes, it is sharp cheddar. Can you answer that question for us, though, are they really watching you on the shuttle? Are they watching you on your flight to your interview? Is that all true? Well, you know, I do, you know, or for, like, a confidential file situation,

Heather:

for me, I'm in the, I'm in the interview room, so I'm the one, you know, yeah, yeah. And again, I hire for, for more than just flight attendants, but I've, I've been, you know, in the interview room. So I'm separate from from the big thing I just go and get the candidates saying

Andrew:

is, assume you're being watched. Don't act like you're being

Heather:

watched. Again. I'll just say, just be yourself, you know. But be professional, just like any any place that you would go into, you know,

Andrew:

so hot tip number one, be yourself. Be yourself. Any other hot tips?

Heather:

Be yourself, you know, especially if you're coming to an interview and you know it's going to be a long day, put some snacks in your bag. Bring a water, but yeah, just just, if, just be prepared. Have extra copies of resumes and cover letters and be organized. You know what I mean? Like, look, I did that. Yeah,

Unknown:

I didn't, I

Heather:

don't even think I had a resume. I probably, like, wrote it on Word or something. I didn't know I was just like, I didn't have a 10 year background. I had, I literally

Andrew:

made this comment the other day. Yes, we were talking about how we became flight attendants, and this was part of it, because they, like, we, we got to the interview room, right? They put an application in front of you, and you're trying to fill it out, and then they want a 10 year background history, work history, which I probably didn't have, but I also I didn't have, like, screenshots or Google or addresses and things like, I'm over here, like, stressing that this, instead of putting, like, the correct address, like, I transpose something for the address of the company that I worked for. Oh, yeah,

Unknown:

I'm like, I don't know the fax number. I think I was on my so much. Yes, no

Andrew:

way. They stress so much your work history and your criminal record that I was like, Oh, my God, I need to put down every speeding ticket that I've ever like. And so in 1996 I got this one speeding I wasn't driving them. Just yeah,

Heather:

no, yeah, no, we weren't driving in 1996 Yeah, be yourself. Be yourself. Be organized. Be organized. Have extras. Have extras. And my big one, it doesn't matter if it's aviation related or not, but wherever you're going to interview, research the company. Oh, please do that. Sure. Research crucial, that is, it is because you need to figure out what company or what area that you really feel like you can represent. Do you want to go in there? Do you, if you look at their values, look at find out what their culture is like, Can is that a place that you could put a uniform on and represent like? Is that, you know. Do you feel like you could do that? Yeah. Also, what's important to you is a good corporate social responsibility. Important to You. Are they doing the things that you want, you know, right? Things like that. So I think that also you got to find out why, why do you want to work for that company? Because they're going to ask, you know, and why do you want to do that job. I'm

Unknown:

sure they want specifics. They want specifics.

Andrew:

Yeah, sounds like because you pay well, is not a good enough answer. Well,

Heather:

that is fair. I need a job, right? We Yep,

Andrew:

because when I went into mine, because you put an ad in the newspaper, was enough reason for my dad

Heather:

just clicked it out because I didn't have a laminator. Yeah, but that, and then, of course, you know this being, you know, flight attendant centric, I would say that if you have the desire to be a flight attendant, they will ask you, why would you like to be a flight attendant? So if you could formulate your answer, besides loving people and traveling because everybody loves people, I can't count them. Many times people have told me they love people. I was like, Well, okay,

Andrew:

yeah. I didn't say that, yeah. My second interview, I got asked that question, and I did not say that I love people. I did say that I

Heather:

love to travel. I mean, honestly, that's why we're all here. I mean, it's yeah, we're all here for that.

Rich:

That's been such a cliche in the industry for so long. I really thought people would have given up on saying that

Andrew:

by now. I truly answered. I talked. The rate people, because they are a necessity for me to do my job, and I love to travel. And

Heather:

y'all know me, I've probably made a little jokey joke, and I went, I love people, and I like to travel. And then I said, No, really, and then gave them my answer. So yeah.

Rich:

I mean, yeah, starting that off as a joke is is obviously a cute way to do it. But some of these people are serious, and it's like every airline is so different to like, you can't just go in with generic, canned answers. You really do need to know about the company. Like we joke as flight attendants around the world, we all do the same thing, but when you start breaking it down, like, schedules, destination service procedures, even emergency procedures, commands, like, all these things were different. So it's like you really got to know, Is this the place you want to be? Yeah, well, and for

Andrew:

one to five hours a day, or even more, if you're flying long haul flights, but you figure you're putting on a uniform and you are going to be the representative for that company. Do you align with that company? And can you sell that brand? Because you are now the poster child? Yeah, you're selling that company. Yeah,

Rich:

you're representing times your airline merges with another. You don't have a choice in that anymore,

Andrew:

and you keep trying to bring your old airline into the new airline.

Rich:

So you you mentioned all of these kind of hot tips and the dues of the interview. What are some things that have stood out to you or interviews that you've had with, like, red flags where you immediately are like, Oh, this person's a no. Like, don't do this in an interview.

Heather:

Well, I think, you know, for me, I'm assessing a lot of things. You know, you're looking at your you know, one customer service experience you're looking at, you know, can they are they? Do they have the ability to make quick decisions, like we were talking about, can I trust them to make a quick decision when it really matters? And I think we know what we're talking about. So what? I put my family on an airplane with them as well, but I will be honest. You know, sometimes, you know, people will will interview several times for the position. And I do believe timing is a is a thing. So if you, if you don't get it the first time, keep at it, keep going. Learn from your interview, find out what you need. I would say, you know, I don't really have a whole lot of red flags. Is just dependent upon the candidate, but, but, yeah, making sure that you can do the job and know why you want to do it is

Andrew:

really here we are wanting the hot gas. I know not gonna give it to us. She's so peaceful.

Heather:

Well, I will say that the one answer for me, I said, you know, we we asked, you know, why would you like to be? And she said, I want to marry a pilot. And I thought, and afterwards I was go home, I said, I really appreciate her honesty. Yeah, she, she was super honest about it. Thought, you know, if you move forward, I hope,

Rich:

did she get the job? Um,

Heather:

I'm gonna, I'm gonna politely decline, I'm gonna politely decline

Andrew:

back, but gosh, I hope she got her pilot.

Rich:

Yeah, maybe she found him on Tinder or something. You never know. She could any other funny interview stories that you can share with us. I don't

Heather:

know funny but, but the ones that are probably my favorite. I had someone I hired, and this was years ago, and they were so excited and grateful because it was their dream, and they finally made it. They finally made it, and they hugged me and my interview partner, and they cried, and they said, Thank you so much. I never thought that I was gonna get to do what I do, because they had a different backstory, and that was probably my favorite. So, yeah, yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, when people cry in front of me, I won't tell you I'm a sympathy crier. We'll cry with you. So

Unknown:

say I'm a crier. Yeah, we love crying. You started boo hoo and and Heather

Andrew:

is gone. I love that story. My second time around, I literally, I'd been escorted out of so many rooms that I got put in an elevator with a recruiter at the end of the day, and like I was being ridden down the elevator, and I just broke down in the elevator, and he was like, what's wrong? And I was like, I'm so used to this. I said it was so nice to meet you. Thank you for the day. Yeah, I was so ready to be escorted out, and the next thing I know, I'm being taken into an HR room, and I was like, bawling, and my parents get on a flight with him, like, six months later, or a year later, or whatever, because they're on their travel benefits. And he was like, Oh my God, I know your son. He like, cried like a baby. It is. My mom was like, what? And he was like, no, no, no, no. And, like, the best way, like, you could tell he's been trying for this for so long, but you know, as a regional flight attendant, like, it's really hard to, like, transition out of that. And I had been trying for so long that by the time I got the job that I have, I, like, literally put me in an elevator, and I was, like, bawling because I knew. I was done. I knew that that was how,

Unknown:

oh yeah, you really, you really,

Heather:

right. Are just like, well, right? I guess they don't like me, yeah,

Andrew:

turns out they love me. That's, that's my thing. Keep going, right, keep trying, yeah, you know you have to, you have to it really. I mean, truthfully, it is a it is a timing issue, just as much as it is an experience issue,

Heather:

just and, you know, I often tell myself this just about with anything is what is for you will not pass you by, just again. But keep at it. What is for you will not pass you by.

Rich:

Sage advice, really, is I really, I mean, it's so universal, like it just works for everything I've always believed in that, like, you really just have to lean into whatever the universe sends your way, like, Absolutely it's meant to be. It's gonna happen. And I know it's cliche, but it's the damn truth. It's

Andrew:

not because we're universe people. That's how we live our lives. Yeah, every day. Yeah, yeah. It's really, really true, absolutely. Okay, any other hot Gus or tips you want to share with us.

Heather:

I think that's it for now. Yeah, unless you have any more that you want me to share, I think that's it. Yeah,

Rich:

don't the major, major interview related questions. Um, but wait before we let you go, Heather, I want to know how you all met. Because did you guys train together? We did, yes, you did train together. We did back when you were, yeah, little babies, little babies. We were, we were little babies,

Andrew:

yeah, you were 19. I was 20. Well, we met in introductions for training. We got a new higher class together. We've been flown from our respective cities. I don't know. I don't remember the exact moment that we met, but I did tell you, like, without a shadow of a doubt, the moment I knew I was gonna love Heather for the rest of my life. Okay, so when did we meet Heather?

Heather:

Okay, so I remember it was after, like, you know, they bring us in. We're in our blues and blacks than we do the whole day. And then I remember we were all walk, I think we were walking to the store, and you had on a pink polo, like an eyes on polo, oh for sure, with the collar popped up.

Andrew:

There was probably two polos with the both of the collars popped up, if I know there

Unknown:

was a blue one underneath. Was that when he had the

Andrew:

spiky hair, probably red with some blonde in it,

Heather:

so it was dark. But you had, you had, like the the frosted tip, I could

Unknown:

visualize it, seen the pictures, and I had a pink

Andrew:

Justin Timberlake. I look like another Backstreet Boy,

Heather:

but yeah. And you had, I think, a red flip phone. And I had a pink flip phone, and I think my phone rang, and it was an 80s ringtone. Sure was, because back in the day you could have everybody, yeah, and I believe it was Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel, which is for you, it was, if you ring my phone now, that's still my ringtone.

Rich:

If you ring my phone now, if my phone makes any noise, it's going right out the window. Do not make a sound.

Heather:

Yeah, I don't. I don't have it on it like that anymore, but, like, if I were to need it, but, and we just kind of, like, started talking about music and 80s music, and then I think we locked arms, and that was it. And we were friends. We were friends from there, yes, and we've been friends since, but

Andrew:

when we started training, they put us in a hotel room, because, you know that the companies run multiple classes at a time, most of them have some sort of dorm situation. The dorm was full, so we got put in a hotel room and we were hanging out in a boardroom. About a week into training, we got transitioned to the dorm rooms. Okay, we do my sweet, sweet southern friend Heather was a pauld by the living conditions. Well, I don't blame her. Nobody wants to live in a dorm, so she we didn't have Uber at the time, so she took a taxi cab to the nearest Walmart, where she got bleach and all of the cleaning supplies. She spent her entire per diem check from training on cleaning supplies to come clean her room from top to bottom. It took everything in me to keep Heather from purchasing, not renting, purchasing the carpet cleaner to come

Heather:

I was going to that store, you know how they have the big shampoo out front. I was like, I've got to get that. And my roommate, bless her, she I took all the bed stuff off, and I was like, don't sit on that bed, because my grandmother was always, always taught me, like, you know, clean. And if the your socks are black with dirt, you know that's an unclean place, and my feet were, my socks are black dirt. You're not I'm washing everything. I washed all the bad stuff. I cloroxed all the dishes. I'm

Andrew:

100% certain she moved in new mattresses. I I can't remember for certain, but I'm I'm pretty sure I saw her walking by the. Pool with a mattress.

Heather:

I mean, I would have, if I had had the money. But they also had these, these kind of creepy looking art pieces of little kids, like above our beds, and I take them down, and then the the housekeeping would come up and put them back up. And I was like, these kids are haunting

Rich:

me. Hotel artwork is terrifying. Anyway, some of it's real weird. I

Unknown:

thought those little

Andrew:

brother and her roommates, brilliance, though, helped me pass training. Because, you know, when you have to like, place, the emergency equipment, right, like your tests, or whatever you have to like, you know, you get those airplane diagrams where you have to like, write in where everything belongs. I walk into their room right before this test, and there's a giant picture graph of an airplane. Like, they just put the whole thing on the plane, like, on the wall. Instead of this artwork, they like, put up an airplane. So they just lay in bed and stare at it and be like, that's where that goes, where that goes. Yeah, that's where that goes. And pro tip, right there? Yeah? Oh, pro tip, yeah. That's amazing, yes. And every time we went into their rooms. That's what we did. We like, sat in the room, and we're like, and this is where this is and where's that. And we were always studying, always, I mean, you are in training,

Heather:

yeah, but we would just be like, in the car, be like, Okay, tell us this briefing. We would do it right. But do you remember, I have to bring this up, how, when they were talking about pre flighting, how we all thought, I don't know how we're going to get this prey flight done in this like, 15 minutes, four hours. I've never the plane. We're going to be delayed because I'll be back here.

Andrew:

Just so you know, pre flights is where we like, run through the airplane and check all the equipment before we're safe to fly. It's like a safety check that we do. And in training, they're like, telling you all the things you have to look at, it, all the equipment, and you're like, I'm never gonna get it done in five minutes. Like, I can't do it because

Heather:

you're reading your manual. But I've got a

Unknown:

couple times sure

Heather:

is the gage. That's an FPS. So

Rich:

then it gets easy. Did your your hotel bleach situation? Did that ease up as you started flying and staying in some hotels that were maybe questionable, or were you kind of OCD about cleaning those hotel rooms when you started

Heather:

flying? So that was really my big dose there of anxiety. But once we started staying in different places, it got

Rich:

okay. Now, of course, it was really just that bad of a place. It

Heather:

was really just, you know, it was, I wouldn't say it was terrible or bad, but I had only been at home in my in my, no, that's fair, my parents in my grandparents house, where, if bleach was involved, it had to be pretty terrible. I had just knew what my grandmother would I'm

Andrew:

sure it's not as bad, but I have no doubt that Heather has a pack of Clorox wipes in her bag right now to, like, wipe a toilet when she gets to a hotel. Why

Heather:

you? Why you gotta call me? It's one

Andrew:

of my favorite memories I've never, never. It's with the day that I fell in love with Heather. Well, well,

Rich:

Heather, we want to play a game with you that we're gonna start playing with all of our guests, and since you are a first official guest on our podcast, we want to play a little game with you. So we're gonna do a quick calling across check, calling and cross check. And it's a lightning round of just fun questions to kind of

Andrew:

ask you. So don't put a lot of thought into it. Just scream the first thing that pops, whatever,

Heather:

exactly, and I am ready.

Rich:

All right, I will go first window

Andrew:

or aisle, aisle, favorite hotel chain on layovers. Oh, Hilton,

Rich:

most underrated layover city I've had

Heather:

a good time in, like Des Moines, but also, but, but I feel like, you know, I don't want to take that answer. Love it that one, and I would say, Where's another place that I've had a good time at? There's, like, Manchester, New Hampshire one. There was, like, a really good restaurant that we had a great time at. Yeah,

Andrew:

airport you dread flying through, like, connecting in

Heather:

sometimes anywhere in the Northeast after three o'clock. You're

Rich:

not wrong. You're not lying. You're not wrong. There go to airport, meal or snack.

Heather:

Okay, I don't feel allowed to sound brand name, but Starbucks and then snack I like to get, like grapes, if they've got fresh fruit, yeah? Okay,

Andrew:

healthy. So not beef jerky.

Unknown:

No, I'm aware bingo.

Andrew:

Favorite aircraft type,

Heather:

you know, my my baby was the Embraer 145 my little longer, but I can't fall asleep turbo prop, though that's the only plan I can fall asleep on as a turbo prop,

Rich:

yeah, lulls you to sleep. It does favorite song on your travel playlist, right now,

Heather:

right now. Oh, you're y'all are gonna laugh at me. Probably great. Bulls by Nellie, right now, yeah, that's what I've been bumping all right into it if I'm be bopping through the airport, probably,

Rich:

oh yeah, you're painting a picture here, right? I'm very selective. This is why we love Heather.

Andrew:

Passenger behavior that instantly gives you the ick,

Heather:

oh, gosh, if the flight attendant comes around and asks somebody Okay, would you mind putting your bag or do this? And someone argues like that happened today, and it took everything in me to be like, you know, you're not in charge here. Put your knitting underneath the seat for 15 minutes. You're not gonna die. You're not gonna die. If you don't have that, you

Andrew:

may actually cost someone else to that's the part that I don't understand. Like, why are you arguing with this? We don't like telling you Yeah, but sorry, your answer is going to cause a rant. Go

Rich:

so much for us to fail miserably at that we should start a podcast. What's one item that is always in your carry on?

Heather:

Always in my carry on is going to be this is so random Ziploc baggies. You just never know when you need them. Oh, because, like, you get a you get a good breakfast, and you're gonna be gone for the day. I'm gonna get some mayonnaise packets and some of them hard boiled eggs or flying

Andrew:

with somebody the other day who made fun of my item. It's tinfoil for the same reason, that's squares of tin foil

Heather:

over your coffee or whatever. Correct

Andrew:

last question, what's one? What's your dream destination that you would love to travel to but haven't yet?

Heather:

So I would really, really, really, really want to go to Greece. I want to go to Greece so bad. I highly recommend

Unknown:

it. I just everything

Heather:

that I've ever seen about it, just that the colors of the sea, absolutely the beautiful architecture. Take me there now. It is

Rich:

as magical in person, if not more than the photos. Honestly, it really is just that, yeah,

Unknown:

yeah. Absolutely live there. You know,

Andrew:

food, you know, Rich and I travel for food. The food, it's the colors the sea, the people, but the food, you have to go to

Heather:

Greece. Oh, done. Let's go now.

Andrew:

Well, Heather, we thank you so much for being here with us. Thank you, Heather, thank you for sharing your experience and advice. We appreciate you so much, particularly for flying all the way here today just to hang out with us this evening. I know

Rich:

it means the world to have you. Thanks for coming on our show.

Heather:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited I'll be using staff traveler now from now on.

Rich:

Thank you all for tuning in this time. We really appreciate you guys being here, and we want to give a special shout out to our Patreon subscribers. If you haven't joined us yet, go to patreon.com/two guys on a plane to support our show and join an amazing community of people. We've got tons of behind the scenes footage, extra bonus clips and content. We've got exclusive merch, early access to new episodes, and, yes, even virtual happy hours with yours truly. Come hang out with us and join the community, and thank you so much for supporting our show. We could not do this without you. If you liked today's episode, go ahead and share it with a friend or leave a review, and we will see you next time.

Andrew:

Join us for more humor, heart and stories from our beverage cart

Rich:

Bye, bye. This episode was brought to you by staff traveler, the number one non rev app if you travel on standby tickets and are looking to make your journey easy and stress free, check out the staff traveler app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Visit staff traveler.com/two guys to learn more and sign up

Buzz Burbank:

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People on this episode

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Drew Henderson

Host
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Rich Henderson

Host
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Marc Ronick

Producer