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Two Guys on a Plane
15 Common Misconceptions About Flight Attendants
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People have so many common misconceptions about us, flight attendants, and the aviation industry.
Being a flight attendant is all about ensuring every passenger is safe and comfortable on board. While we enjoy great flight perks and benefits, our schedules can be incredibly tricky to manage. In this episode, we’re breaking down the 15 common misconceptions people have about flight attendants and what our routine actually looks like.
Is being a flight attendant an easy job? Let’s laugh and talk about it!
Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Welcome to Episode #48!
[1:19] Drew: it’s fineee, I guess
[2:05] Rich & that intense encounter
[6:03] Misconception#1 - Just to serve drinks?
[8:46] Misconception#2 - Connecting flights attendant
[12:21] Misconception#3 - Flight attendants are smart and valuable
[14:55] Misconception#4 - No upgrades
[19:00] Misconception#5 - We can only assist you
[23:41] Misconception#6 - Flight attendant rates
[26:40] Misconception#7 - A regular route
[30:22] Misconception#8 - Flight attendants have unpredictable schedules
[32:29] Misconception#9 - Flying free-ish
[35:16] Misconception#10 - The accommodations we stay in
[37:29] Misconception#11 - Explore every city in 10 hours
[40:09] Misconception#12 - We know each other
[42:27] Misconception#13 - Dating in the industry
[45:36] Misconception#14 - Are we never home?
[47:49] Misconception#15 - This is probably not an easy job
[49:58] Galley Gossip
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Welcome to Episode #48!
SPEAKER_01We are talking about the common misconceptions that people have about flight attendants. I think these misconceptions are what most people think are conversation starters, and they're not. Who loves going to Orlando? There are people that love doing it. Name them. Dealing with pilots. There should be like a hazard bang.
SPEAKER_02There should be a hazard bag.
SPEAKER_01If you've ever told the flight attendant, must be nice getting paid to travel, there's a good chance you've accidentally repeated one of the following flight attendant myths that we're debunking in today's episode. We recently asked our audience on threads what are some common misconceptions that people have about flight attendants? Despite millions of passengers flying every single year, there are still a surprising number of misconceptions about what flight attendants actually do, how we get paid, and honestly who we are as people. Wait, we're gonna tell people how we get paid? Oh, we're gonna tell people everything. I didn't bring an abacus. I don't know how to explain it. Not the abacus. Today we are busting some of the flight attendant myths that we hear every single day in our lives as flight attendants. But before we get started, Andrew, how
Drew: it’s fineee, I guess
SPEAKER_01has flying been going for you lately? Um, you know, it's fine, it's just fine. I've been flying a lot of vacation routes, and it's the beginning of summer travel, so fine. It's just fine. I feel like a lot of people can relate to this right now. Or it's like it's not good, it's not bad, it's just fine. I read a good book the other day. Every time you say that, I get so jealous. I'm like, oh, you read a book? Um, it was way better than me doing anything else that day. I'll guarantee you that. Yeah. I read no books at work. Cried through a book the other day. Sounds amazing. Yeah, it's nice. I cried just because I was at work. How's
Rich & that intense encounter
SPEAKER_01your flying been lately, other than the tears? Um, flying lately has been okay. I had this weird interaction with a passenger the other day. It was Pride Month, and I was wearing, I mean, I usually wear like my rainbow apple watch band, but I was wearing like another Pride bracelet on the other side. And she looked at the you being too proud. I know. How dare you be too gay during Pride Month? Um, and she made a comment and she was like, What's that supposed to be for? And I was like, Oh, my human rights campaign pride bracelet. And she goes, Yeah, is that what you call it? Like, as if I made this up. Like, I didn't like the human rights campaign, it is not this like imaginary organization. And um, she got all like snippy with me. And um, I I was like, I don't know what you want from me. Like, I I'm proud of who I am. It's Pride Month, it's like not a big deal. And she goes, I just don't need you shoving it down my throat. And I was like, I didn't shove anything down your throat. I don't know what you're gonna report to my airline, but like calm down with the accusations. And she kind of like dropped it at that point. We move the car, we get through everything, and at the end of the flight, we're deplaning, and she just stops me and she grabs my arm, the bracelet arm, of course. What are we touching? First of all, don't touch. Why are we touching? Do not touch this. Do not touch the flight attendants, and she goes, I hope you find Jesus. And I'm just like, girl, give it a rest. First of all, Jesus loves us, he loves everybody. That's what I was taught growing up. And so don't come at me. Don't come at me with your agenda, speaking of agendas, and tell me that I'm not allowed to be who I am during Pride Month. Like, just piss off. And I was annoyed by the whole situation, but it was the like hopefully you find Jesus in such a condescending way. Like, you can't be religious or have faith without like and be gay at the same time. Like, just leave that, leave me out of that whole narrative. I don't want to be a part of your little story. So, yeah, that was fun. Sorry that was your experience. I've also been wearing a lot more pride colors. Um, mine's a little life vest, though. Um, from Fly GXH. Yeah, I love that. Which I love when I get so many compliments on it. It's my favorite. I need to wear that more to work because I really love that pen and it it's also very like work themed. Very work appropriate. Um, put on your gay little pride vest before anybody else. Don't inflate it till we get outside. Uh, but I am sorry that it was your experience. You shouldn't have to deal with that, particularly at work when you've been nothing but pleasant to people. Um because I've been a passenger on your airplane, and I I know you were nothing but pleasant. I know. That's how we met. And I won you over. But apparently, apparently I won't be dating this woman anytime soon. See how he doesn't talk about the time he was on my airplane. Do you want me to talk about that? No, no, let's save that for another one. As Meredith Parks would say, do you want to go there with her? Disengage. Do you want to go there with her? Disenging. Today's episode. We are talking about the common misconceptions that people have about flight attendants, which feels appropriate since that lady felt the need to pre-judge me during Pride Month. Correct. Um, but Pride Month is over now, and I've moved on from that lady's agenda. Um, but we're talking about some misconceptions that people have about flight attendants, and we all have heard these in conversation. There's always that one passenger or that one uncle or aunt at like a family reunion or family function that says something about your job where you think you have no idea what I do for a living, do you? Um, so yeah, we're gonna kick
Misconception#1 - Just to serve drinks?
SPEAKER_01off the list with our first one, which is flight attendants are just there to serve drinks. Such a common misconception. People really have no idea the amount of safety stuff that we do. I remember when I started flying, I sent my mom that um YouTube videos of that reality show of a bunch of flight attendants going through training at I think it was Frontier or something, and they like lived in a house. I mean, it was very d dramatized or whatever. Um, but it was I don't think it was. I've been through training. That jokes the house part was kind of the training part. I watched that, but it's all training side, it really that is the only like depiction of flight attendants in the media that I've seen where it explains all the crap that we go through to learn how to do this job. Correct. And so I always think about that because people really think we're just there to answer questions and show you how to buckle your seatbelt and give you a soda. I think it's really funny because in one of our very first episodes, I made a comment or a joke that like we had 30 seconds of training on how to open a soda can. And like the comment section went mad over this because like the people really think that that's what our job is. And they were so surprised that of six weeks of training that we would get 30 seconds of training on how to open a soda can. There's I mean, really no customer service training built in most of our trainings. Our training is very heavily safety and security. That's what we're there to learn how to do. And we exaggerate a lot on this show and in our storytelling about being flight attendant. Exaggerate not every one of us, yeah. Not Andrew, definitely not Andrew. This is really one of those things where we are dead serious. It is like a bullet point in a whole book of flight attendant knowledge, like service training is so minimal. Yeah, every airline, even the airlines where you think they have better service training. I've heard some airlines they push a galley cart up and down the classroom, like tables and pretend to serve each other. I've heard some airlines like go around their corporate office and like push around a service cart for the day to like interact with people. That seems like a nightmare, but like it's still not 30 seconds, but it's like an hour worth of training on how to like not that deep lock and more than like how to serve the cart off the cart. What they're learning is how to lock it and how to use the cart safely. I mean, that's what we're being taught how to do. Because once again, everything we do is rooted in safety. Correct. Yeah, it's such a common misconception. What's next? Uh,
Misconception#2 - Connecting flights attendant
SPEAKER_01flight attendants can help with connecting flights. People think I can't even not laugh at myself for saying people think we are like customer service representatives, and while our job has a customer service component, we can't rebook you, we can't talk about your bags and your luggage and where that's going. We can't change your seat assignment. Like, we have no power, and I tell everyone this flight attendants have no power off the aircraft. Like, what is happening on the aircraft is what we're responsible for. Your safety, not even the whole aircraft, the part that you're sitting on is the part that we have control over. The only thing we have control over. That's why whenever something goes wrong, it's like best that can do is get you another diet coke, maybe comp you a cocktail. Like, we have no power, we can't give you miles, we can't rebook you, we can't give you food vouchers when things go wrong. Like, we have so little power, and so it's always funny when people are like, Well, you can't you can't rebook me on this. I personally can't do much of anything. I also I think it's really funny, like the in the olden days, um, way back when I maybe understood like this question because we didn't have access to all the things that we have access to now. But like you have a better ability to rebook you than I do. I don't have some magical phone on the airplane. I don't know why they think we have some magical command center in our um galleys, but I don't have some magical phone that connects me with customer service to like help rebook you. They're tracking you. If you miss, they'll rebook you. If you think you're gonna miss and you don't think you can make your 20-minute connection through whatever airport you're landing in, most airports have apps and Wi-Fi and customer service chats for and I hate to be like that's not my job, but like it's not. I mean, it's really not. And you hit the nail on the head with like technology nowadays. You via your airlines mobile app or website or Twitter or whatever the case may be, can get more done than I can as the flight attendant on a plane with little to no connection to the outside world. Um, and I really feel like that's such a missed opportunity for people nowadays, where I'm like, the technology is there, you can get to them faster than I can even find someone to talk to. Because I promise you, uh your airline is going to respond to you, the customer, way quicker than they're gonna respond to me. You know about delays before I know about them. Isn't that the worst? You're on a plane and everyone's phone is dinging and you're boreding and you're like, why is everyone mad at me all of a sudden? Tell us about this delay. Oh, you told me about the delay. As soon as I hear the Unison um text message ding start at row one and make me lay back, I know exactly what's coming for me. And I know exactly what I need to do. Hide bolt to the back of the airplane with my head down because shit is about to hit the fan. Um, I usually run into the flight deck and I'm like, can you make an announcement real quick before I get a bunch of questions? Because I don't have answers for this. Back in the day when we didn't have strict um minimum career requirements like we do now. I would just wander under the Jepridge and be like, someone help, please. Is there anyone out there? Someone help me. Someone's sending the lifeboats, Jack.
SPEAKER_00Who's got the violin? Get it ready.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. Uh, that's funny. What's next, Rich? Next up is flight attendants aren't educated or intelligent. Ooh, that one sends me over the edge because
Misconception#3 - Flight attendants are smart and valuable
SPEAKER_01most of us, especially these days, have a college degree or more, like, or have a master's or a doctorate, or wherever the case may be. Um, it's definitely gotten to the to the point where it's not required to be a flight attendant, but it is preferred as it is with most jobs. And so to say that we're uneducated is severely underestimating. I promise you, everyone on that airplane that is working is more educated and more intelligent than you are. Because you can't find one A. Ooh, I thought you meant me, and I'm like, where are you going with this? No, like crew, they're all more educated and more intelligent because we were able to find one A. Yeah. I think there's this narrative too that the industry has painted where okay, pilots are skilled labor because they have to go through years of training. Yeah. Whereas we're unskilled labor because we only go through a few weeks or a couple months of training. But when you add those descriptors to a position to a person, you really take out the value that that person offers. It doesn't matter if you're skilled or unskilled, quote unquote, what are you doing? Like you're well, your job matters. Every job matters, every job has purpose. And so it always frustrates me when we get that label. Because I'm like, just because our job is deemed unskilled by some greater power in the industry doesn't mean that we're not worthy, doesn't mean that we're not worthwhile. Yeah. And like you mentioned, all of almost all of us have college degrees at this point. And most of us are doing, and we've talked about this in other episodes, we're doing really cool things outside of being a flight attendant. I'm always amazed by that because you fly with people who are literal doctors, and they're like, Oh, I just do this as like a fun side hobby. It's like what you're so cool. Like, so many flight attendants are doing just not incredible things. Yeah, they're doing really cool things. And they put that that education to good use in both in the profession as a flight attendant and in outside things that they're doing with their life. And I'm always blown away away by the amount of intelligence in our work group, and we're so severely underestimated for that fact. What's next? Uh, flight attendants can upgrade you. That is not true. It's not not true. It depends
Misconception#4 - No upgrades
SPEAKER_01on where you're trying to go. Some airlines will uh give us the capability uh to do minor upgrades on our tablets, so we can upgrade you within the classic cabin that you are to like one of our premium seats. Um, I don't think we can upgrade you to like from coach to first per se. I don't think that's we don't yeah, that feels like an accurate description because especially in certain circumstances, the plane is full, you have an empty exit row. We're not really supposed to, but if there's some sort of scenario where you need to reaccommodate a family or someone does something nice for somebody, you can in certain circumstances upgrade somebody in that regard. But no, you're not gonna on a wide open flight move from 32B to like 1A and get first class treatment because you winked at a flight attendant. Like that's that's not gonna happen. I think there is I think this misconception happens because these seats didn't used to be monetized. Um, so like within the within like the coach cabin. And now they all are. And now they're all monetized, like all the seats are monetized. And I think that people like haven't really seen, I mean, they've seen the industry change that direction because they know they have to pay for that seat online, but they still think we have the freedom to like move people around. And unless there is a reason for us to have to move somebody, we're not allowed to like comp those things. Yeah. And if we, I mean, I think a lot the biggest misconception here is that people think we can do it for free. We can move you. I mean, most airlines have the ability to do some sort of upgrade for you, but there is gonna be a fee for that. And I think the misconception is that people don't understand that by doing it for free, like it's considered theft for a lot of us at this point, like, because that is a way that the airlines are charging, and it's no different than how we comp alcohol. Like, if you can't account for what you've done and how you've done it, ultimately it falls back on us. So your flight attendant isn't being rude by telling you no, is that they don't want to take that hit. They're trying to protect themselves and their own job and that's and I've seen this go the wrong way, you know. Especially, you know, we've talked about this in past episodes. Like, should I tip my flight attendants? You've had situations where someone has tipped a flight attendant, and then that person has then given a passenger a better seat, and that right there is immediately viewed as theft because you now took a bribe from a passenger and gave company product away at no charge. Right. Um, and I think that's where there's kind of this very gray area of you know, what is deemed a flight attendant's doing something nice for somebody and a flight attendant is stealing from the company because that line is a huge one and one that can seriously affect flight attendants negatively and maybe even lose their jobs, and particularly in the day and age that we live in, like anyone can say anything and be like, Well, I handed them cash and I didn't get the seat that I wanted. Like, I I'm so I'm just not playing for it. I'm not I'm not down, right? I'm not doing it. Yeah. And call me mean, call me rude, and flight attendant if you want to, but call me whatever you want, but I'm not losing my job for your own. I'm going to follow the policies that the company has put in place for me to follow. Yeah. And I'm going to do the job that they've asked me to do as uh kindly and politely as I can possibly do it. And all of these seats, like you said earlier, having an upgrade fee or whatever. People are viewing this as like, well, I paid to upgrade and I didn't get upgraded. And it's like, you paid to sit in a middle seat closer to the front as opposed to a middle seat closer to the back. That was your quote unquote upgrade. Right. You know? Correct. It's not all first class, babes. Right. It's not all first class anymore. It's rarely, it's rarely first class. It's the middle seat up front where you might get a free one free liquor. Next up, we have flight attendants are there to put your bags up for you. Hmm. Listen,
Misconception#5 - We can only assist you
SPEAKER_01at the end of the day, we're there to assist you, right? Um, we are allowed to assist you with your bag. And sometimes that assistance is putting a tag on your bag to send it to baggage claim. Um, the truth is, and I always wonder this, I had somebody, I had a ground agent bring a bag on the plane for somebody the other day. Um, and he was like, Well, I'm just gonna put this up because they can't lift it. They just had surgery. And I stopped him at the boarding door because like they pre-did this before the passenger was even like brought on the plane. And I was like, Captain was standing there, another flight attendant was standing there, and this ramper was trying to bring the bag on the plane. And I said, I where's she sitting? And he was like, uh, like mid-cabin, not near any flight attendant. And I said, I just I just really don't understand why we're not tagging it. And he said, Well, what do you mean? And I said, Well, if you have to put it up for, that means someone has to get it down for her. So, like, who's doing that? And like not interrupting like the whole process of deploining and things, like wouldn't it be smarter to put a tag on it? Can't since the person can't physically handle their bag. The Catherine was like, I'm I'm gonna agree with Andrew on this one. Like, logic is sound. To be fair, I feel like it's in that person's right to have their bag with them on board if they want that. Like everyone should deserve the same opportunity to have that, whether they physically can or not. Do you not do you know what I mean? I mean, I get it, but if you're not traveling with anybody who's and half the airlines aren't allowed to like physically put it in and out of the bin, so but the wheelchair It wasn't a wheelchair, it was who it was just a passenger who said they couldn't lift their bag. No, I who put the bag in. The ramper did. That's what I'm saying. It was someone that worked at the airport for the airline that did it. It was trying to be nice, yes. Right, and I I'm saying I applaud that. I'm not saying I don't applaud that behavior. I just if they if they have already pre-told you they cannot physically handle the bag, who's taking it out of the bin for them? I mean, I guess in theory, another passenger, and we're just hoping that someone is going to be nice enough to do so. But I think this is a bigger conversation about people who maybe have disabilities or other restrictions that may limit them from like handling their own baggage too, because I don't think anybody should be denied the opportunity to have their bag on board if they want it. Like that should a hundred percent be allowed, whether you're physically able to do so or not. You know what I mean? Agreed. But I then the question comes into play of well, who is responsible for? For that, because it's specifically not flight attendance. And yes, there may be a ramper or a wheelchair assist person that can help with that and is willing and able to do so, but who sets the precedence? Who decides who does that and who doesn't do that? And I think that's where the urline industry is really wrong in this area of things because they have not clearly defined who's helping who in this situation. And I think that was the point that I was trying to make. Like who helps the person if we already know that they can't do it, but who's doing it? Like so isn't it easier just to get gate check it for them, to gate deliver it for them? Like there are so many processes that airlines have to accommodate people. I mean, that's certainly an option. Like that like you said, we're always required to assist and we will assist, but what that assistance looks like may not necessarily be what somebody wants to happen. It may be moving bags around for you so that you have space to put it in the bin. It may be a gate check tag, but you know, there are it's not always going to be us physically lifting the bag in and out of the bin for you. Because um some airlines actually prohibit that from happening. Oh yeah, it's almost never going to be that. That's why I said, like, who it mattered in the story who was doing this. Was it the ramp or was it us? Was it whoever? Um, because that makes a huge difference in the story. Yeah. Well, and that was my concern because once it gets brought on, if I can't fight back to get to this person to get the bag out, I can't rely on some random passenger to get the bag out of the bin.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that was my thought process at the time.
SPEAKER_02What's next?
SPEAKER_00Uh flight attendants get paid uh when they show up for work.
SPEAKER_01Well, they don't.
Misconception#6 - Flight attendant rates
SPEAKER_01No, they don't. I do get paid when I show up for work. I don't get paid the whole time I'm at work. I get paid per diem the second I start showing up to work, but I do not get my full rate. And while some might argue our full rate is more than we deserve, I disagree. Um my full rate isn't even half of what I deserve. I think the thing that comes into play here is how many different rates we have, depending on what we're doing in the day. I mean, you've got your per diem rate, you've got your flight hour pay that's only from you know break release to break release, and um then you've got sit time, and you're still at work, you're still required to be there, but what are you getting paid during that time? And I think there needs to be more of an industry standard of flight attendants get paid X amount of dollars while they're at work, period. Because you can't tell me that I am getting paid a different rate during boarding than I am in flight. I'm working just as hard, if not harder during boarding than when I'm doing the rest of my in-flight duties. So making those judgment calls for flight attendants is crazy when you the people that are making these decisions don't do what we do on a regular basis. Right. Yeah, I mean, we are seeing an influx of uh like contracts that are getting more pay. We're seeing boarding pay, we're seeing sit pay, we're seeing a lot more. But again, it's not your full rate. Um, you're not being paid your full rate while you're there. And also, like you're not being paid, you're still even with these things, you're still not being paid for the full time you're at work. Uh because the sit pay doesn't kick in until you've sat for so long. The boarding pay only lasts for so long. Depending on who's doing it, the boarding pay only lasts if you actually push the plane on time. If you go back to the gate and reboard, you don't get it again. I mean, everyone has a different version of this. I was like, I'm not even going to the fact that you wouldn't get it again is crazy. You're doing the same job again, all over again. There's just too many things across the industry that are not consistent in this realm that it seems insane to me. Like, why are we not all paid for boarding? Why are we not all paid for sit time? Why are we not all paid for dealing with whatever? I don't even know. Like, why are we dealing with pilots? There should be like a hazard bay. There should be a hazard bay. Um, just you know, there's things across the board, across the industry that I really think we love you pilots. We do really do. We're just poking fun. We do love most of you. Most of you. What's next? Um, flight attendants have a regular route. I love this question. So is this your regular route? Uh yes, it is. They love
Misconception#7 - A regular route
SPEAKER_01to ask that. Well, for you, it uh is I just I've been working the same like four flights for the past ten years. Well, this is the thing where I think seniority comes into play massively. Yeah. Because as a new hire, like I don't have a regular anything, right? I barely even know what day it is. Like I'm working whatever I'm working, whenever I'm working, because of whatever they give me. Um, but as seniority goes on, there's some people who like to work the same trips and gravitate towards the same route. But that is not the norm, that is not standard for everybody. You're not, um, I think of View from the Top. Remember with Gwen Paltero when she's like, I got first class, Paris International. And then, like, before that, she was on uh what Cleveland. And it's like Cleveland is my route. Like, it's not how it works, you're not one or the other. Um I love sitting on a jump seat and explaining this to people because I love the way our schedules are built. And I'm like, no, there's this computer program that like takes all the individual segments and like builds it into trips, and then we get to bid on it. And like just because this one route exists this month doesn't mean it's gonna be built the same way. Next month, like this one route may be a two-day today, it might be a three-day next month. Who who knows? Like this month, sure. Yeah, I got a lot of Charleston layovers. Next month they went away. I don't know where they went. Yeah, so I'm gonna go back to Cleveland, you know. It's like you just never know. It's like the weirdest thing our flight intendant bidding is like this weird little silent auction where like every month you go in and you're like, Oh gosh, I hope I get this trip to Cleveland. I don't know, maybe. And then it depends if you're line bidding or using PBS, and that's a whole nother podcast episode. Because that's crazy how those things happen. Mom, if you're listening, line bidding is when there is a preset schedule for flight attendants of different lines, as we call them. So you have like a whole line of your month, and there's like probably a thousand different options, let's say, and you pick in order which line of schedule you want. You don't get to choose days and times, it's whatever's preset in that schedule. And then, mom, if you're still listening, I hope you're still listening. There's PBS, which some airlines have, which is a preferential bidding system, where it's more of a cherry pick your trips kind of situation. Like, okay, well, I want to go to Chicago on this day, I want to go to LA on this day, and you can pick and choose your trips that you're a computer system based on your choices says here's your what you get. Yeah. So yeah, a little silent auction game that we play every month, which is super fun if you win. I love it so much. I'm coining it. You should let's get a trademark lawyer in the house. Uh yeah, but so some of us do work the same routes a lot, some of us don't. It really seniority is a big play in whether or not we're working the same routes or not. And honestly, it really just depends on if the airline has the same roots for us to work, yeah. Um, but we all have our choices and our preferences, and some of us love going to Orlando and some of us don't. Who loves going to Orlando? There are people that love doing it. Name them. Name them. They know who they are. Name them. They know who they are. Name them. You know who they are for me. My group that love Orlando. I'm not sure about those people. Uh, what's next on our list? Is it my turn? Uh yes, I believe. Flight attendants work a set number of days per week. This is similar to the root question. We kind of just answer
Misconception#8 - Flight attendants have unpredictable schedules
SPEAKER_01this a little bit, but people think that it's like, okay, so you work like Wednesday through Saturday, you work Monday through Thursday. Like, what's your schedule? And it really depends on the flight attendant. Because I feel like it changes so much. Like you could work every day of the week as long as you're in a day off. Thanks, FAA. Um, but it really depends on the flight attendant. Yeah, and I I mean, for me, it depends on what I have going on in my real life. Um, we've talked about this in a podcast episode before, how we bid. Um, but I think what's important to remember with how much we actually work, we are contractually obligated to work a minimum amount of hours, and we have a contractual most of us have a contractual max amount of hours that we can work. Um do we some do. Not all of us. Some have a contractual max. Well, for bidding, there's a contractual min and a contractual max. Oh, okay. Actual working, there's not. That makes more sense. Because I was like, I can stack as many days as I can squeeze into a schedule. I was speaking just for bidding. There's a contractual min and a contractual max. Yes. Different contractor pilots bid um in a month. Um, so if you're working your men, you could be working four days a month if you're holding high time flying, you're holding low flying, even working men, you could still have to work ten days a month. So it really just this is back to the seniority. It really seniority is important here. Because you could have a four-hour work day, or you could have, and I'm talking flight hours, or you could have a 10-hour workday, and that changes everything, right? I mean, you could work four days a month, or you could work 20, like it really just depends. So that's why I like them 10-hour ones, so I can work 10 days a month and be out the door. I know it makes me uncomfortable. I don't I don't want to fly that many hours. Do you know? Uh, sometimes surprising. What's next? Uh flight attendants fly for free. Ish. Ish. I'm gonna go heavy on the ish on this one.
Misconception#9 - Flying free-ish
SPEAKER_01Um I think what people have to remember is that we do get benefits. Um, so we do fly standby for free. If there's a seat on the airplane domestically, um, we do that for free. Um, and we have agreements with most of the other airlines, like there's an interairline thing that so we can all fly each other. Yeah, we have agreements, especially in the US, where we can fly each other for free. Um, I think where the ish comes into play um is that for international flying, we're still required to pay taxes, or if you're flying another airline, there are discounted tickets that we can purchase, um, and those cost us money. Um, so we're not free free and we're still paying to fly standby. So even the flights, even the fees that we're paying, we're still paying to maybe hopefully get a seat if uh someone doesn't show up. Yeah, I think that's a pretty good description of it. I mean, it is free-ish, you know, like domestically it's free, but also as much as that is nice, it's never a guarantee. Right. You never know when something's gonna fill up. You never know when you think, oh, I'm gonna make it to this event, and something cancels or something fills up, and it's it's a great perk, don't get me wrong, but it does come with its caveats because you just really never know if you're gonna get what you think you're gonna get when you want to get it. Um, and then same with international thing, challenge accepted. Challenge accepted. Um, but when it comes to international, same idea, except you're paying for it. Um, you know, and there are days where we've flown, you know, from here to Paris in first class, and we've loved every minute of it, and we feel luxurious and glamorous and all the things. And then there's days where on the other end you're trapped somewhere, squeezed into a middle seat in the last row. Well, not even that, like before that, you're trapped somewhere for days because you can't get on a flight home. So it's not for the faint of heart, it is a really nice perk, but you gotta know how to use it. It's like I always think about like Sabrina the teenage witch when she like gets her magic powers. Like this feels like that because you're like, oh, I have powers, but I like I have to know how to use them. And I feel like that's how non-rev benefits are because you're like, if you use them poorly, of course things are gonna end up bad. But if you know how to use them and and know how to work things to your advantage, you can figure it out and end up doing some really cool things. Yeah, what's next? Next up is flight attendants only stay in five-star hotels.
Misconception#10 - The accommodations we stay in
SPEAKER_01You're funny. Your laugh sends me over the sometimes. I didn't say this is necessarily my idea, but there is this common misconception that we are staying. Actually, there's a lot of common misconceptions around us in hotels because there are some passengers who are like, Do you guys bunk together? And I'm like, Did you see our captain? If you imagine if I had to share a room with that guy, I would be running for the hills. Um, but there's a lot of misconceptions about where we stay and how we stay and all that sort of stuff. And like, no, we don't pay for our own accommodations. Yes, sometimes it's a really nice hotel. Also, sometimes it's like a not so great La Quinta by the Pittsburgh Airport where like someone might be smoking in your room right now, and you don't understand how that's happening to you. Very descriptive right now. You just I mean, I listen, my first year of flying, there the pictures were painted. Yeah, um, but you know, you it it's a mixture. I feel like for the most part, airlines try to put us in really nice accommodations, but they're not all winners. They're not. Um, but they do understand. I think most airlines understand that these are places where we are for a few hours, so they try to make them relatively decent. I was talking to someone about this recently, and they were like, Well, the airlines want us to be put in dumps because they want to save money. And I'm like, believe it or not, no, they don't. They want us to stay in nicer hotels because they don't want to hear from us, they do not want to hear from us. They know we will blow up their inboxes, we will call all the phone numbers that we can find and bitch to everybody that we know. So trust me, the airlines they that feels like the same flight attendants who are like they're firing all the old the senior flight attendants because they're too expensive, right? Right. I'm like, no, no, it's not happening. No, I don't think so. The airlines want fewer problems, not more problems. What's next? Uh flight attendants get time to explore every city they fly into. If you think that 10 hours worth
Misconception#11 - Explore every city in 10 hours
SPEAKER_01of rest is enough time to go explore a city um between the hours of like 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Then yes, we get to go explore every city. I don't need sleep, I'm gonna go out in Cleveland. This always kills me because people really have this idea that we're you have big plans for your layover, right? It doesn't matter where we are, and it kills me on the turns too, because we'll be doing like a cancun curve. And they'll be like, You're gonna go out for the on the beach for a few days. And I'm like, few days. Days? I'm here for 45 minutes. There's no beach involved. And then like, hopefully you get stuck here. And I'm like, hopefully I don't because that good for that. Is not gonna be good for anybody because it means a bunch of passengers just got stranded. It also means I'm probably gonna sit in this aircraft for the next three or four hours until cruise scheduling figures out what they're gonna do to me, and then another two hours until hotel desk figures out what they're gonna do with me and where they're gonna put me. I mean, 18 hours later, I have to take all of those angry people back to their destination. I'm good. Late and mad. Correct. I'm all set. Yeah, thanks though. But yeah, people really think that we're like always somewhere for days. Like, I love landing in a place like Rome, and they're like, How many days will you be here? And I'm like, just the day. Just just and they're like, Oh, that's what's funnier than the people who think that you're doing days in Rome or the people who think that you're turning around and going right back. Another miscon misconception there is, yeah, do you turn around and go right back? It doesn't matter where you landed. Ever. You could fly from LA to Dubai, and they'd be like, So do you just you just turn around and go right back? No. We've been on the plane for 87 hours. Like, what do you think is happening here? I think these misconceptions are what most people think are conversation starters, and they're not. Stop asking these questions. They do though. They think they're making like cute little small talks. How's your day? Maybe how's your day been? Yeah. Would be a better conversation start. Even a more like if you want to ask questions about the trip, that's fine. But a more casual, like so. What kind of trip is this? Or like, yeah, where how long of a trip are you on? Where does your day end? Like, what does the next few days look like for you? Like, you can find an open-ended way to ask us this without being seeming like a complete num-nuts. So just turn around and go right back from New York to Beijing. Yep, sure. All right, what's next on our list, Rich? Next up on our list is flight attendants all know each other. We do. I know Dave. I know your cousin
Misconception#12 - We know each other
SPEAKER_01Dave. No, but my friend, Betty. Yeah, I know. She was based in Columbus. You you weren't there. I tell you there. I tell everyone. My aunt always say yes. Always say I know these people. Because they don't know. They have no idea. Oh, I met Betty once. I ran into her yeah in St. Louis. She's so sweet. You're so lucky to know her. I always I always answer yes. Wait, this makes me love you a little more because this is adorable. That's so nice. I don't ask who they fly for, I just say some random airport.
SPEAKER_00I've met them.
SPEAKER_01And she works at, and then they fill in the blanks.
SPEAKER_00She has the the hair with the together. No, remind me. Remind me who she is.
SPEAKER_01It's uh what color? Yeah. This is why I perpetuate this myth. I'm the reason people think that we know this is never leaving this list. I just say yes. I'm not gonna lie, that's actually really endearing, and I support that. Why not? Because I do. Who does it hurt to say who does it hurt? And I always feel bad when they're like, oh, you don't know her. And I'm like, maybe I probably do. I don't know, which you know you just asked me if I know Susan. You didn't give me a last name. I absolutely know Susan. I love flying with her, she's such a sweetheart. If they give me like first, last name, and like base, oh, I'm not base there. I don't really, but otherwise, if you just say my friend Susan's a flight attendant, I've flown with Susan, she's such a doll. This is where we're so different because immediately I know like six Susans, and a solid three of them are amazing. Figure out which one you want to do. A solid three of them are horrible, and I cannot be a liar. Because if you know that Susan, your friend Susan is not my friend. But if you're talking about that Susan, like she was a sweetheart, and I love her, and I really can I cannot blindly agree to to loving a Susan I don't love. You can do it. I have faith in you. I don't know about that. What's next? Uh, flight attendants and pilots are always dating. I think the term dating is loose here. Oh, is
Misconception#13 - Dating in the industry
SPEAKER_01it? Yes. Okay. So what are we doing? Well, there's you're not a pilot. I'm a flight attendant. So are you. There's a misconception that we're all sleeping together. Everybody's sleeping together. The whole crew is sleeping together all the time. And yik. Yeah. Um, and I I hate that stereotype because it cheapens us, it cheapens our profession and makes us all seem gross. But also there is some truth to like flight agents and pilots and crew members are meeting up and developing relationships and whatever. And there's some of that that's very great and like works out well in the long run. But the the narrative of we're all stereotypically promiscuous, I hate that because it really just cheapens our whole profession, it cheapens our work group, it cheapens who we are as people, and I hate that aspect of it because there's so much more to us, but also at the same time, we're traveling, we're alone. Like sometimes you meet people on the road and you hang out with them and you date them and whatever. Like that does happen, but this is not the norm. It's not like every crew you walk on board and you're like, Oh, these two are probably sleeping together. Like, that's not the norm, that is the exception, you know. Two flight attendants who have dated and gotten married. It there is something to be said about like dating within the industry, though. And like I don't think we're all sleeping to with each other to cheapen it, but I do think that it's easier to be like in a relationship with other people in the industry who get what you're doing because so much of this has to be explained and so much time away causes jealousy. So I do see where we gravitate towards each other for like dating and relationships and things. Um obvious, obviously. Oh, is it obvious? Obviously. No, I think you really really said that beautifully because I think it there is something to be said about uh being with somebody who understands your day-to-day and what you go through. And I think you know, people assume oh, Vladimir's pilots are doing whatever. And it's like, no, sometimes we're just uh together and we understand what each other's going through, and that means more. Like I remember dating somebody when I started flying, like very briefly, it was like you're very distant, like you're just you're yeah, I'm always somewhere on the city. Literally in California and you're in DC. Like, what do you want from me? Uh-huh. And it's when what do you want for me? And it's it's being with people that don't understand it and don't appreciate it, yeah, that makes you feel like I should date someone in the industry. So it's not, you know, the most common thing, but there is something to be said about being with somebody who understands you. Okay, what's next? Rich. Next up, flight attendants are never home. Oh, that's true. That's not a misconception. We both fly turns,
Misconception#14 - Are we never home?
SPEAKER_01we're home every day. Um, this is another one of those things that I love about the job, though, is you can be home every day if you want. You can work in nine to five if you want, you can do turns, you can do two days, you can do five days, six days. Like you have multiple types of trips that can fit the schedule that you want. And so, you know, we joke about this a lot. People always ask, are you never home? And it's like, oh no, I'm I'm probably gone for two weeks and a month, but I'm also probably home every day for two months. Yeah. Or I'm enjoying my life, enjoying my husband, enjoying what I've built with him. I think this one too uh is kind of seniority-based. I feel like when you're lower on the totem pole and like reserve works more days, less money, so they're giving up more of their days off to make more money. I feel like there is a point in your career where you do feel like you're not at home as much. I mean, there were there have been points in my career where I felt like my mortgage was paying my mortgage was just paying for a big storage locker. Yeah. And that's a really good point. I I think it really does depend on seniority. In the beginning, I was never home. Yeah. But we have reached a point in seniority and in life and our relationship where like we're prioritizing our time at home instead of being all over the place. So I think I mean everyone is different in this. So some people are gonna be home, some people are not, even if they are like some people don't even have homes because they don't need them. They like fly and visit friends instead of like they literally have a storage locker and just literally. I couldn't do it. I don't think I could do it. I applaud you if you're that person and that's the life you want to live, but I can't do it. I love people like that though, because I'm like, you really took this job and made it whatever you wanted it to be. I love them so much. I till they bring 17 bags on the plane. Yeah, I there's the best part of this job is really that you can just keep making it your own as time goes on. Over and over and over again, it's always changing. All right, what's the last one? Last one being a flight attendant is an easy job. Oh, super, for sure. 100%.
Misconception#15 - This is probably not an easy job
SPEAKER_01No, no misconception there at all. I've made a meme about this probably a thousand times, and I'm about to post this again tomorrow because I think it's so funny. But if a flight attendant says, um, this job is easy, and like another flight attendant agrees, it's easy. But the second a passenger says, Oh, your job must be so easy, hell no. It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. You don't know the struggles I go through. Here's all the things that have gone wrong. But if someone says, Oh, that sounds really hard, I can never do it, you're like, it's the easiest job in the world. It's the easiest job in the world. It totally depends on who came at you and how they came at you on how you answer that question. I had this lady the other day on the plane, because that's what reminds me of this. Is that exactly? She was like, Oh, I'm too old, I never do your job. And I was like, No, you're not. And everyone can do my job, it's the easiest job in the world. Then and two minutes later, another passenger is like, You're so lucky. And I'm like, No, I'm not. No, I'm not. This is the worst. I'm paying for like everything I've ever done in life on this one flight. Yeah, this is like that that like trend that goes around on social media where it's like none of us have had unique experiences. We've all lived the same life because that's exactly how it is. Correct. Well, galley gang, that's it for the myths on our list today. But hopefully, we've helped clarify some things for you for folks and debunked some of our favorite myths of being a flight attendant. And did we skip any? Let us know. You can click on the show notes and tap on send us fan mail. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know if you skipped anything and keep us on our toes. Let us know if there's anything about flight attendant life that we have missed. Okay, before we go, do you have any galley gossip for me? Galley gossip. I thought you'd never not some galley. It's my favorite segment of the show. So, for those of you that don't know, galley gossip is our favorite segment. It is where we share stories from our audience of crazy, wild, funny,
Galley Gossip
SPEAKER_01humorous, heartfelt things that happen to you on an airplane, whether you're a flight attendant or you're just a passenger. Um my favorite part is that Rich picks them and reads them to me blindly. I do. And this is actually this is a good one. Um, I really like the story, and I think there's a lot to talk about here. This is from Alexis from uh San Diego to Seattle. I love when people put their thank you for giving us your name and city pairings. She said I was sitting in first class, not a flex. My company pays for it, which becomes relevant later. Wait, she was a passenger. It's not a passenger. Stew it's not a stew story. There's been a couple lately that have been passenger. I know. I love when we get not a stew story. Alexis says, since I travel for work, mostly domestic, about once or twice a month, I have a routine. Safety video ends, over-ear headphones go on, eye mask follows, and I'm out. First of all, love that you listen to the safety demo. Shops to you, Alexis. I generally don't wake up until the plane lands because landing physically rattles me back to consciousness. My seatmate about better pilots for one of your planes. She's obviously flying the 7-3.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01My seatmate was kind enough to grab my bag from the overhead band and I thanked him. He then said, with his whole chest, of course, that's what a good seatmate does. Not just sleep the entire flight. I gave him a look, he continued. You probably don't fly up here that often, but in first class, when you're paired with a seatmate you don't know, you make conversation. You're polite, but you're young, you'll learn. I am not young. I am 42, I'm Korean, and I'm black, so I will look 25 forever. This is not a complaint. I do fly up here a lot, but I had zero interest in sharing any of that with him at this point. You shouldn't. You don't have to justify anything. Amen, Alexis. Some man. Instead, I reached back into my grandmother's archives and I pulled out something she used to say to people who had genuinely lost the plot. Let me see if I have some change in my bag. So you can go buy some business to mind. Get him, Alexis. I don't know if there's some unspoken rule in first class, but I feel like keeping them myself and not being a headache for the airline staff is all that's required, no? Um, yeah. True for me. Alexis, let me just say frankly, I think you nailed it. I think you were the perfect passenger. You got on, you knew what seat you had, you were comfortable, you bothered nobody, and this man went out of his way to be a dingbag. Dingbag? Is that a thing? I don't know. I don't know what I mean by dang, but it is today. But seriously, like these grown men love to tell women, and especially people, people of color, like you know, what it's like and what the experience is, and that sort of stuff just drives me up a wall. Yeah. Um, so Alexis, you did nothing wrong. You're an amazing passenger. Thank you for sharing that story with us. But screw that guy for sure. Don't pay him, no mind. I don't really like to talk to other people on an airplane. As a passenger. Yeah, and you shouldn't be required to. Correct. There's no requirement to do anything. I'm very much even if like headphones, book, nap, like I this is my experience, and I want to make it what I want to make it. You say good morning, I'll say good morning. If you want to chit-chat, I'll try. Um, but I'll, I mean, I try to make it pretty clear that like this is my time. I don't really want to be a part of your experience. Right. Nor should you be required to like this idea that you owed it this man anything isn't anything. Right. Like, get on, give a head nod, go to sleep. You know, maybe you did your little like courtesy head nod or hello or whatever. But like, you don't owe anybody anything. You're you're not required to sit there for a meal service and like be this man's dinner partner. Now he's taken his nice gesture and turned it into something so crazy. He could have just left your bag up there and not said anything to you, but he pulled your bag down just so he would have a reason to be like to talk to you. Oh, yeah, I'm I did such a good job for you. Aren't you proud of me? Like, what isn't a grown man needing to be I don't know, like patted on the back for having manners? I don't know. Uh I hate that he weaponized that moment and like say tried to villainize you and make you feel like you're less than but you would have been my favorite passenger that day, and I would have brought you all the drinks in first class. I would have you during deep planning, I would have been like, Do you want anything to go? Because you slept the whole time. I didn't get to do anything. I had extra warmth. Do you want to take some with you? Like, I would have I would have been trying to do all the things, but um, thank you for sharing that story. Keep your stories coming. We love reading them. Go to two guys in a plane.com slash podcast, click galley gossip, and share your stories with us. We'd love to hear from you. Join us next time for more humor, art, and stories from our beverage card.
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