For once, this is not a story about “the Ugly American,” instead it is of the “Insensitive Australian.” We are on our way to Los Angeles from Australia. Most passengers have settled in and are trying to go to sleep. We have bulk head seats. Therefore, there is a large space between us and the next passenger seat. Convenient for the lady sitting next to the window in the seat ahead of us (an Australian excited about her visit to America). She knows behind her is a large space to “land into.” And, that’s just what she did all during the flight, she would CLIMB over her seat and jump to the floor every time she wanted to leave her seat. The trouble was, she didn’t just land, she sometimes fell, onto our feet. Never an apology, just a stupid giggle. The attendants tried to stop her from doing this. She did not. So, for fourteen hours, we watched and felt this woman from hell do her thing! I think she was training for the Olympics!
Ellen Simonetti was a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines for 8 years until she was fired in 2004 for posting alluring pictures of herself in her uniform on her blog, Diary of a Flight Attendant. Ellen’s blog anonymously described her exploits as a FA, including dates from hell. But her identity was exposed once she posted her pictures. After her dismissal, Ellen fought back with a sexual discrimination suit, championed blogger’s rights, and wrote a book, Diary of a Dysfunctional Flight Attendant: The Queen of Sky Blog.
So what’s Ellen’s latest adventure? Hiltz Squared Media Group optioned the rights to Ellen’s book and commissioned her to write the screenplay for a movie. Ellen, who is studying Radio/TV/Film at the University of Texas at Austin, recently started another blog, The Queen of Screen Blog, where she solicits reader participation in the screenwriting project.
[Note: One or more links in the story were updated since the original publicaton date.]
New York Times columnist Michelle Higgins wrote about her two day stint as an American Airline FA (Flying the Unfriendly Skies). Michelle quickly gained an appreciation for what FAs have to deal with, particularly in regards to difficult passengers. Concern about passenger behavior is well justified as evidenced by this article: Man jailed for kicking cabin crew.
Michelle’s article includes quotes from veteran FAs bemoaning changes that have occurred in the profession since the more glamorous and freewheeling Coffee, Tea or Me? days. It also includes a video and a slideshow. Michelle also wrote an accompanying article (The Curriculum Is Emergencies) about her American Airlines FA school training, much of which involved learning safety procedures.
Joel Stein of Time Magazine wrote an article about his experiences as a FA with Delta Airlines (Scared of Flight Attendants? Become One). Joel’s goal was to become a FA in order to overcome his fear of FAs. In his article, written in a humorous vein, Joel describes some of his methods as being “unorthodox”, which is putting it mildly considering that he imbibed cocktails while moving the beverage cart down the aisle! A video about Joel’s training at Delta’s FA school can be seen here: What I Learned At Flight Attendant School.
Millions of men have fantasized about flight attendants. Much of it probably has to do with the sexy appeal that the airlines portrayed about FAs during less politically correct times. The instructional video below is designed to give guys a better chance of making their dreams come true. Whether or not following the advice would significantly increase the odds of landing a FA (maybe some FAs could comment on that), the lessons about general courtesy are good for everyone regardless of their intentions.
I don’t fly much, maybe two or three times a year tops. I flew to Florida this year to be in my best friend from high school’s beach wedding in June. I flew with Air Tran from Philadelphia and I had a stop in Atlanta. I should say here I NEVER have any issues at [...]
This was supposed to be the beginning of Mom and my great adventure. But boy did it start off wrong! I drove to Dallas to meet my 83 year old Mom and my sister Becky; she drove Mom down so she wouldn’t have to drive 150 miles by herself. We stayed the night at a [...]
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