A Day in the Life of an Air Hostess

No day is the same, it also varies on short haul and long haul routes as to what your responsibilities will be. So here is a general account of a Day in the Life of an Air Hostess.

4AM WAKE UP

I commute to the airport which normally takes me around two hours. I always leave plenty of time to avoid traffic on the M25, reach the car park, catch the staff bus to the terminal and have time to go through security and drop off my bag before our team briefing.

Report time varies depending on what trips you are doing so you have to be very flexible with your time. You normally get a roster a month in advance so you know what you are doing for the following month. There are short haul and long haul trips. You can also be given standby at least once a month. One of the standby is at the airport where you are there for six hours to cover any flights if someone is late or sick. The rest of the standby is at home, this is when you are on call at certain times of the day to come in for a flight if needed.

8 AM TEAM BREIFING

You sign into the computers and it will tell you the crew on your flight and what briefing room to be in. The crew is so large that it is quite rare to come across the same people, every flight has a different crew and so you meet new people all the time. The briefing covers a general overview of the flight numbers, everyone chooses their positions in order of seniority, there are questions on safety and emergency procedures and a few questions on medical situations. This is just to keep you up to date with the knowledge. The pilots come and introduce themselves and talk about the weather (turbulence) and flight time.

Long haul: The report time is an 1 hour 1/2 before the flight.

Short haul: The report time is 1 hour before the flight.

It is really important to be on time as the flight will not wait for you.

9:30 AM PRE FLIGHT CHECKS

It is crucial to do your safety and security checks before every flight. We search the aircraft, check the emergency equipment, check the catering for the flight and make sure everything is up to standard. We also do door and alarm checks. Once this is completed we begin boarding.

10AM BOARDING

Everyone gets into position as the customers get on the flight. We help show them their seats and store their bags away in the overhead lockers.

11AM READY FOR DEPARTURE

When everyone is on board and seated we take our positions for the safety demonstration. On long haul this is done via a video and on short haul we do it manually. We go through the cabin checking seatbelts and make sure the aircraft is secure. When all the checks are done we take our seats for take-off.

11:30 AM DURATION OF THE FLIGHT: ON BOARD SERVICE

Short haul:

On short haul we have a buy on board service in the traveller cabin we set up the till and bring out the trolley full of food and drink. The buy on board is all M&S products. After this we go through the cabin with our duty free so there is an opportunity to buy any last minute gifts. In the Club World cabin the food and drink is complimentary and we do a full service for them.

Once we have landed at our destination the cleaners come on board during turnaround. We normally have a mini break at this point. Unfortunately because it is a quick flight time we don't get off the aircraft although sometimes we can shop in the airport. The flight times can be between 20 minutes to 4 hours each way depending on the destination. There are a few destinations where you have a night stop these are normally on domestic routes such as Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Long haul:

On long haul the service is spread out. It begins with a bar round, so everyone can have a refreshment and peanuts. Then we bring out the food and wine, the food is different in each cabin and the service also differs. In our Club World and First cabin there are less people so the service is more personal, they also receive a three course meal and a snack bar where they can help themselves to more food and drinks. Throughout the flight we do security checks and juice rounds making sure everything is running okay and customers are happy and relaxed. Exactly 1 hour 1/2 before landing we do the final service which is another hot meal on a long flight (9 hours or more) or afternoon tea/ breakfast depending on if it is a day flight or night flight on a shorter long haul (4 hours - 8 hours).

10 PM (UK TIME) LANDING LONGHAUL

When we are coming into landing we check everyone has a seatbelt fastened and everything is secure. We finish our paperwork and lock the galley preparing things for the next flight. Once all the passengers are off the aircraft we do a security check. The best part is we skip the queues for passport control, security and collecting baggage. So we are first to our transport which takes us to the hotel.

DOWN ROUTE (1-5 DAYS)

The amount of days we get down route can vary on location it normally is a short stay of 24 hours although you can be lucky and have up to five days on a trip. The crew normally meet up for dinners and adventures. It is important to take advantage of where you are and to enjoy your time down route. This is defiantly the most rewarding part of the job and it makes all the hard work worth it.

NIGHT FLIGHTS

Normally for our long haul flights when we return to London it is a night flight. This is when you will be up for over 24 hours. It is important to get some rest before pick up. If your stay is 24 hours then you will not be on any timezone. It does feel weird doing a full face of makeup and putting your uniform on at around 7pm whenever you are in the world however if you convert that time to the UK it is normally midnight! It is a struggle but as soon as you are on the aircraft you become alert. During the night flight I talk to passengers in the galley and drink a lot of tea to stay awake.

When you are back home you are a zombie. My landing day is spent in bed catching up on sleep and watching Netflix. You get a few days off before the next trip. Then you do this all over again....

SUMMARY

This job is a lot of hard work however you play even harder. To get paid to travel the world staying in five star hotels and in the most incredible destinations, you really can't complain. This is a dream job and I wouldn't change any of it!

The way I view it is the flight is the work and that only lasts a few hours but when you are down route that is when the fun and adventures begin.

The postings on this site are my own and are not intended to represent British Airways' views or policies.