From Breakfast in Warsaw to Lunch in London: My Journey as a Flight Attendant

There are extraordinary professions, almost magical, that each of us dreams about in childhood. Achieving them seems nearly impossible, which makes them all the more romantic and alluring. Which girl hasn’t admired ballerinas, dreamed of appearing on the silver screen, or confidently striding down a smooth runway? As a child, I dreamed of becoming a flight attendant—a beautiful woman navigating the skies in a crisp uniform, stylish hat, and with a charming smile. Today, the beauties seen by everyone who has ever flown, even just to Turkey, are called flight attendants. Their profession is filled not only with amazing experiences but also with dangers and grueling work. I was fortunate enough to interview a woman who spent about 2000 hours in flights and learn what it’s like to live in the sky.

Why Did You Decide to Become a Flight Attendant?

The dream of becoming a flight attendant came to me at 16. Before flying home to Yekaterinburg from a vacation in Antalya, I was in a car accident with my parents. The bus taking us from the hotel to the airport overturned because the driver fell asleep at the wheel. We refused hospitalization to not miss our flight, so covered in blood and with injuries, we went to the airport. On the plane, all the victims were allocated a separate section of seats in the cabin so that other passengers wouldn’t ask unnecessary questions. During the flight, one flight attendant helped me with food, drinks, medicine, and bandages. She was so caring that I was deeply impressed. From that day, flight attendants became my ideal embodiment of femininity, care, and selflessness. And I wanted to become one of them.

There wasn’t much risk in changing professions—this was my first official job. I joined an airline when I turned 21.

How Did Your Loved Ones React to Your Decision to Fly?

All my friends were supportive. My parents were concerned about two aspects: first, they were sorry that I didn’t finish my studies and transferred to part-time when I was only a year away from my diploma; second, they were very worried about my health. Since childhood, I’ve had vision problems. Knowing the high requirements of the Aviation Medical Commission, I doubted they would accept me. I have a fairly weak immune system and had minor heart issues at 16.

The Aviation Medical Commission is a very serious health check. First, you spend two weeks gathering results from various tests, examinations, and X-rays. Then you see specialists, hoping they won’t nitpick about any deviations from the norm.

My tests weren’t immediately successful: I had to retake some, undergo additional psychological evaluations, and even search for a non-existent tumor on my thyroid gland because of a tattoo that the therapist didn’t like. So when I finally received flight clearance from the chairman of the Aviation Medical Commission, I was ready to cry with happiness.

What Skills Are Needed to Get On Board? Tell Us About Your Experience

To become a flight attendant, you don’t need to know or be able to do anything in advance, except perhaps speak English. The process is simple: you choose an airline that interests you, fill out an application on their website, and wait for an interview invitation. If the HR department likes your candidacy, they send you for a medical examination and enroll you in a three-month training program.

Training is divided into theoretical (2.5 months) and practical (15-20 days) parts. Six days a week, trainees undergo training at the Aviation Training Center, where they learn emergency procedures, service technology, transportation rules, aviation security, medicine, and other disciplines. After obtaining the necessary certificates, trainees go on probationary flights, during which their acquired knowledge is tested, and they learn to work in real flight conditions, beyond the classroom. After this, the trainee passes a qualification commission, receives a uniform, and begins independent flights.

What Exactly Does a Flight Attendant Do?

In short, it’s ensuring safety and providing service on board. About 2-2.5 hours before the flight, the flight attendant arrives at the office, meets all the other cabin crew members in the briefing room, listens to information about the flight, receives their area of responsibility and duties on board, answers check questions, and then goes to the airport for a pre-flight medical examination. The doctor checks the pulse, asks brief questions about general well-being, and gives permission to perform the flight.

Upon boarding, flight attendants check emergency equipment, receive food for passengers and crew, equip the cabin and toilets, and prepare to welcome passengers. Usually, 40 minutes before departure, passenger boarding and baggage loading begin. Twenty minutes before departure, the doors are closed, passengers are fastened, and informed about the location of emergency exits and necessary equipment. The captain gives the crew the command to fasten their seatbelts, and the plane takes off.

During the flight, flight attendants serve passengers, maintain cabin cleanliness, and respond to passenger calls. Before landing, the cabin and passengers are also prepared. After the aircraft taxis to the stand and passengers disembark, flight attendants inspect the cabin for forgotten and foreign items, objects, and inscriptions. Ground cleaning enters the plane, and if necessary, the food is changed. The return flight follows exactly the same procedure. After returning to the base airport, flight attendants hand over the loaded equipment to the airport expeditors, the senior flight attendant conducts a short briefing, thanks the crew for the flight, and the flight attendants go home.

What Are Your Relationships with Colleagues Like?

The flight attendant team in my airline was predominantly young. During a long flight or a multi-day business trip, it’s very easy to make friends—everyone seems like peers to each other, and common topics are quickly found. It rarely happens that the crew flies in the same composition. With some colleagues, I might not fly together for six months. If you don’t like someone or there’s a conflict, you just have to endure until the end of the flight—most likely, you won’t see each other again. Many started relationships, got married, had children, and then returned to flying together. I myself made no less than a dozen close friends during my time working there.

Tell Us About the Most Memorable Moments That Happened on Board or with Passengers

Thanks to this job, at 22, I contracted chickenpox. It happened in the middle of summer when we often transported large groups of children to foreign resorts in Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Greece. I discovered chickenpox on myself in the middle of a business trip when we were flying from Novosibirsk to Barcelona. For the first time in Barcelona, and I had dizziness and pimples all over my body. Half of the crew refused to sit with me at the breakfast table. Fortunately, one of my colleagues had chickenpox as a child, so we spent that day together, walking around the center of Barcelona and shopping at the sales.

Have you ever mentally said goodbye to life?

I was lucky; no life-threatening situations happened to me. Nevertheless, I am sure that it is not perceived as scarier than it is. During three months of training, almost every day at the end of the school day, we were shown films about disasters and plane crashes. The theme of the film most often coincided with the topic we were studying at that moment. That is, if we were studying the topic ‘Fires,’ we were shown a film with a relevant plot—a fire on board an aircraft. But they were shown too often. At some point, I personally began to realize that we were being prepared in this way to come to terms with the fact of death, to be ready for this every time you board the plane. You think about it while checking the emergency equipment, you think about it while demonstrating emergency exits to passengers, you think about it before the plane accelerates, you think about it…

For more information on aviation safety, you can visit the Federal Aviation Administration website.