My OE was a one day 3-leg flight starting and ending at Rockford, my base. We were scheduled to leave at 3am for South Carolina, pick up our soldiers there, drop them off at their new base in California, then ferry flight home. Since we had a 3am departure time, we have a ‘show time’ of an hour an a half prior to that. So, I was up at midnight on Thursday, ready to start my day! When I got to the airport, a couple of the other crew members were already there, including the Lead Flight Attendant, Vicki, who was FANTASTIC. I don’t think I could have gotten luckier with a nicer and more helpful lead. She briefed the 8 of us on details about the flight and some emergency equipment questions, and we were ready to head out to the big 757 waiting for us out on the tarmac.
That was the moment that it really hit me that I’ve come A LONG WAY in the last 2 months. Here I was, walking out the doors of the airport into the 2am darkness in my uniform and heels with MY CREW and their rollaboard suitcases, the air cool and breezy, on our way to the aircraft that was all lit up and waiting for us to board. Since I was a little girl I’ve always been fascinated by stairs leading up to a plane on the tarmac, and it couldn’t have been more fitting that this was the way I’d be boarding my first working flight.
Because we didn’t have passengers on our first leg to South Carolina, it really gave me a chance to get familiar with everything on board, ESPECIALLY all the compartments in the galley. (The galley is the ‘kitchen’ area that only crew members are allowed in… all the silver doors that slam shut and lock tight, that flight attendants are always fussing with because they never know where anything is. Ha!) I DID get to do a mock food/beverage service to practice, and I served the rest of the crew our first hot meal of the day; eggs, a breakfast burrito, muffins, and a nutri grain bar. That’s one thing about this airline that is different than any other nowadays: WE STILL SERVE FOOD, and a lot of it. In fact, I will never EVER go hungry, that’s for sure!
After I got done serving and cleaning up the galley, Vicki told me I could sit down and relax for the rest of the flight. But after I finished my meal, the captain asked me if I’d like to go sit in the cockpit for landing! HECK YEAH I WOULD! Ha! We had a crew of 3 officers in the flight deck, all of which were SUPER friendly and funny. Eric was the Captain flying the plane, Mike was the First Officer sitting next to him, and Ted was the In-Flight Relief Officer that sat behind the captain. (He also referred to himself as the ‘Eater‘, because he basically just got paid to eat the entire day. Haha!) So they had one jumpseat open, and on ferry flights with no passengers, they’ll occasionally ask a flight attendant if they’d like to come in for takeoff or landing.
When I got in there, Ted briefed me on what to do in case of a possible emergency landing… exactly like training had taught us to do (Nice job, Ted!)… and he helped me get into the CRAZY 5-point seatbelt that goes over each shoulder, around my hips, and in between my legs. I also got to put on headphones and listen to them communicate with Air Traffic Control about altitude, spotting the runway, and conditions on the ground. It was tricky to see clearly because it was only 5:30 in the morning… it was pretty cloudy and the sun hadn’t even come up yet. Looking out the window from the cockpit made me feel like I was in a helicopter… I totally forgot there was a huge plane behind me! The guys were so nice to me and were joking that this was their first day, too. They sure did have a HILARIOUS sense of humor (sarcasm.). HA! Once Eric spotted the runway, we started heading towards this glorious lighted pathway that was still pretty far away. He was steering the plane based off of all these controls and lit up computer screens… I have NO IDEA who has the brains to come up with such fantastic pieces of equipment, but our lives are literally in their hands every single day. As we approached the ground, it counted down loudly; 25, 20, 15, 10... I think they said 5, but by that time I was just waiting for impact. Sitting there in that seat made me feel like I was on a ride at Great America actually, especially when the wheels touched down for the first time and we bounced a little bit. It was such an exhilarating feeling once he started putting the breaks on and that seat was saving me from flying forward. WOW. I was in love!
So this is where my job actually begins. We came to a stop, opened up the door, and stepped out onto the stairs. I caught a HUGE morning whiff of… military base… and went back inside the plane. Hahaha! It smelled stuffy, swampy, and a little musty. Sorry, South Carolina! We waited about an hour until the troops were ready to board our plane. We found out our 134 passengers were U.S. Marines, ages 18-30. (Ya-hoo!) I was shadowing Marla, a gorgeous older blonde woman who has worked for American AND United in the past. And just by looking at her, you can TELL she has experience. We were at the front of the plane on the right side working the galley. I also got to do the Safety Demo in front of the ENTIRE plane. It was humiliating, actually… I didn’t know whether to smile the whole time and look cheesy, or not smile and look bored like other FA’s on other airlines?? I think I found a healthy medium. I hope I didn’t look too nervous, but I WAS!!
My first beverage/food service with passengers went surprisingly well. We started at row 15, and worked our way back up to the front. I still don’t completely understand the pattern… I honestly don’t think there IS a pattern, but don’t you think there should be? I asked that question, like, 3 different times in 3 different ways, and no one could answer it! So I just made up my own… I guess. One of the guys handed me a little present after I served him a drink… it was a cute little wire figurine that he had bent out of a paperclip. It was so neat. My ‘Figurine from a Marine!’ I graciously accepted it and put it in my vest pocket to keep forever! It’ll be good luck from now on.
After the Marines finished their first hot breakfast meals, most of them were ready for a nap. Probably 90% of the guys on board were sleeping peacefully for most of the flight! So easy! When we finished collecting garbage and cleaning up the galley, we had about an hour of downtime before we started the second service. Yep that’s right… MORE food. This time we were serving sandwiches, chips, pasta salad, and a candy bar. And more pop. (Those guys LOVED their Dr. Pepper, with NO ice! Isn’t that funny?) Before I knew it, the 4 ½ hour flight was coming to an end, and I was honestly getting a little sad. I was especially sad to say goodbye to the cute guys in 7F, 15C and 16D. Whoo-hoo! The descent was a little bumpy because we landed in the hot California desert, and as hot air rises, the landings are always bumpy. The base we took them to looked hot, dry, and desolate. I overheard one of them saying they were going to be there for 6 weeks, and they’d be dropped in the middle of the desert for most of the time. Eek!
After the plane was empty, all the crew members gathered in the middle of the plane near the open L2 door and we had a debriefing about our awesome day. I felt so lucky to be apart of such a wonderful team of people… flight attendants, pilots, AND mechanics! We were on the ground for maybe an hour and a half, just enough time to re-fuel and for the pilots to fill out some paperwork… then after the flight attendants prepared for takeoff we all spread out and had our own areas of the plane to ourselves. I was in row 5 on the left side looking out the window, and I caught a glimpse of the base’s ground controller directing us towards the runway. He gave the pilot a salute as to say, ‘thank you’, then he turned around and ran away.
After I snacked on yet ANOTHER hot airplane meal of chicken and rice (and CAKE!), I curled up and took a little nap in row 6 under 3 pillows and 2 blankets. I woke up with about an hour left until landing. During our descent into Rockford, one of the pilots got on the loudspeaker and jokingly started singing “I’m leaving… on a jet plane. I don’t know when I’ll be back again…“, and then REALLY thanked us for being along with them for the ride. Trust me, it was my pleasure! We landed at 6pm and it was still a sunny & beautiful Friday evening in my home sweet hometown of Rockford, IL. Have I mentioned yet that I feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the WORLD to be able to travel and get paid for it, and always come back to where I started? Well, I am!
Cheers! Until next time...
Lisa :-)
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