My World As A Flight Attendant

A flight close to my heart. My first job after college was with the International Catholic Migration Commission / Joint Voluntary Agency. I did it for 4 years back in 1989. ICMC's mission is to "protect and serve uprooted people, including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, victims of human trafficking, and migrants - regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality." As part of the processing team, we processed the documentation of asylum seekers including refugees to enter the US.  Most of the refugees we processed were from Vietnam. It was an encouraging and fulfilling job, knowing that we were part of their dream to begin a new life in other countries, particularly the USA, after running away from their country due to economic & political issues. Most of them don't even know how to speak in English language, but they are legal migrants funded by the US government. They have their dreams too, to live in a free land. B...

I call it a great flight when passengers are having fun and appreciate us. Back in July, a group of 30+ passengers were on board our flight from JFK to Chicago.  They are from Wisconsin and they just came back from Iceland.  They told me they had a great time in Iceland. One of the couples gave us this chocolate from Iceland as a token of appreciation. They know that our jobs are stressful and they were thanking us for a safe flight.  They even have a printed label of the thank you note. That was impressive! Thanks for the sweet treats. And as we say in our announcement, "We are honored to be part of your journey." This flight was one of the most fun flights I have had so far.  We don't always get this kind of passengers, but when we do, I make the most of it.  When I have nice passengers, I also thank them for being nice.  They make our job easier and more enjoyable. I always say that being a Flight Attenda...

When you are a new Flight Attendant, you are on "reserve" and wait for the call of a crew scheduler to give you a trip. In July 2014, after a couple of days being on reserve and stand by at the airport, I was finally given a 3 day trip with Faye.  It was exciting but at the same time nerve racking. I told myself - this is it.  This is the real world of being a Flight Attendant. I can't remember any specific scenario we had on the flight.  But what I remember was that I was struggling with alcohol drinks. Because I rarely drink and don't know much about liquors, beers and wines, I was having difficulty identifying and remembering them.  I was lucky to be paired with Faye.  She was a little senior to me.  She's very nice, encouraging and fun to be with. We were helping each other all throughout the flight. I haven't flown with Faye again, since then. But we became friends. Our layover was in Arlington,...

New Orleans is one of the world's most fascinating cities. It is a home to a unique melting pot of culture, food and music. Tourists flock to New Orleans to attend the Mardi Gras season during February.  To attend the festival is on my bucket list. I will do it someday. I remember, New Orleans was my first good layover when I was new. I went to explore the city by myself. It was exciting! I had a trip with one of my favorite girls, Bethany back in May. We had a great day exploring the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, and shopping at the weekend Flea Market.  I bought a Mardi Gras scarf.  We enjoyed a good crab cake lunch, and beignet and gelato for desserts. A good layover in New Orleans is a favorite of many Flight Attendants. I am not a big drinker, but I can drink one or two. I had the rum coke that night and I liked it. To have fun in New Orleans is to experience what they have.

"Keep Climbing" is one of Delta's ad campaign.  It is a great tag line and I personally like it. While waiting for our passengers to board in JFK, I spotted this Delta plane that just took off.  I quickly grabbed my phone and took a snap shot.  "Flying is more than just a flight. Delta continues to elevate the flying experience." I believe that flying is more than just a flight. It is an experience, and this experience should be a good one. Not everybody wants to ride a plane.   Some people are afraid but they have no choice. Some people travel a lot as part of their work. Some people enjoy it and some hate it. We ride a plane for different reasons. On one of my flights,  I had a mom with 2 kids who were first time to fly.  Unfortunately, our plane had to make an emergency landing due to pressurization issue. I felt bad and sorry for them.   It was obviously not a great first experie...

During the whole month of October, we wear pink in honor of the Breast Cancer Awareness. This is a special month to strengthen our awareness, support the projects and those who have breast cancer, and commemorate those who died from it. While I was walking at one of the airports, I was approached by a lady who said she likes my scarf and thanked me for wearing it because her mom died of breast cancer. I have an Aunt who died from breast cancer. I am advocate of the pink month. My first flight in October was with my adopted son, Ryan.  It was a short 2 day trip, but we had fun. Later in the month, I had my friend, John who had a joy ride with us to and from Charlotte.  It was a fun trip with him as well. We are separated with different bases now, but this doesn't stop us from seeing each other. We met in 2014 and became friends since then. We love what we do!

Back in May, the company had a project called "Show Your Wings - Sunny Disposition."  The goal of this initiative is to achieve high level scores in customer surveys thus resulting in great customer service. The company promotes - "whatever the weather, always  pack a sunny disposition and extend a warm welcome to every passenger." I didn't have a nice smile on this photo, but I surely did support the project. They say that a smile is contagious, and it's one of the free things we can give. Sometimes, it's not easy to put a smile on your face when you are tired, having 5-6 flights that day, when it's too late at night due to delays, when you are in front of an annoying or upset passenger, when you are not feeling well, when you are not in the mood or just too early and don't have yet the energy in the morning, or if you're working with a difficult person. However, a fake smile would help. I try to put in a smile on the job, espe...

They love photos, too! On our flight to Buffalo on April 28, I had these sweet ladies who love pictures, like me. They were tourists and traveling to see the Niagra Falls. Two were from China and the other one was an artist from Russia.  They were having fun on our flight and taking selfies. They asked me if they could have a photo with me. Why would I say no? When it was time to deplane, this sweet lady from China kept hugging me. It's great to have nice passengers like them. I was glad to be a part of their wonderful travel experience.

          Bonjour and Merci are the only two French words I know. It means Hello and Thank You respectively. I hear these words a lot from our passengers on our flight to Quebec City. So I try to say it, too. The Old Quebec City sits on the Saint Laurence River in Canada. It is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage treasure surrounded by gorgeous landscape with a very European feel. My trip in August with this cool guy, Shamarie was a great chance for me to explore Quebec City. The weather was perfect.  As soon as we arrived the hotel, we just changed to our casual dress and we took a taxi to the City. We had a ride at the cable car and strolled the streets of Old Quebec City. We had dinner at Cotes Resto, overlooking the river and tried their French Onion soup.  We had gelato for dessert from an ice cream ...