Seasoned Air Asia Flight Attendant Reveals Why the Job is NOT for Everyone

Being a flight attendant is perhaps one of the most sought-after jobs for millennials, because it comes with a lucrative income and offers them a chance to travel the world, for free!

Source: etoday

But after reading this experience written by a seasoned Air Asia flight attendant on Fly Gosh, I’m sure you will have a whole new perspective about this job.

Although the article was written two years ago, we reckon this exclusive insight will give you a better idea about the life of a flight attendant.

He wrote:

“As we have just moved to KLIA2, and there’s no proper parking at the terminal yet for the staff, so we have to park at LTCP (Long Term Car Park) where a shuttle bus will pick us up from there at a frequency of every 15 minutes.”

Assuming your reporting time is at 6am, you probably have to depart from home at 4.15am, taking into consideration the travelling time from home and waiting for the shuttle bus. I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing while taking public transport right? It’s all about timing.

Another thing is that even though your STA (standard time of arrival) is clearly stated at 3pm, you can’t go home right after you touch down!

“You’ll need to wait for the passengers to disembark, clean the aircraft, return to the office for debriefing and hop on to your transport. All these routines will usually take more than 30 minutes!”

“Then, you arrive home by 5.30pm. You take a bath, have dinner, watch some TV. And if your reporting time is at 6am again the next day, you might want to turn in early.”

So, how does the working week of a flight attendant look like?

“A normal roster pattern consists of 4 working days and 2 off days, or 5 working days and 2 off days.”

“Bear in mind, on your last working day before your off days, you will probably be touching down between 10pm and 2am. And you have to sleep early on your last off day because you’ll need to report early in the morning the next day.”

“If you do the calculation, you only have one and a half off days. Unlike standard working hours, you get to finish work at 5pm on Friday and enjoy the rest of the weekend, and also you have off days during public holiday.

Besides, you should also know that the application for annual leave requires two months in advance to be processed, and they’re not always approved. As such, you might miss out on certain family events.

As we all know, the airport is huge and flight attendants need to be punctual. This means that you’ll have to walk at a very fast pace from the office to reach the departure gate in time. For ladies, the extra challenge is doing so in heels! 

Source: flick river

As you can see, being a flight attendant is not as easy as you think. So, unless you’re truly passionate about becoming a cabin crew, you might want to think twice before walking in for the interview.

Plus, we heard that the interview can be pretty tough and training is rigorous!

Also read: Depressed South Korean Student Reveals Why He Wants to Commit Suicide