This was published 8 years ago
Cabin crew life: The glamorous life of flight attendants revealed via #crewlife hashtag
By Soo Kim
Just another day in the office: Adding a bit of glamour to a jet-setting life.Credit: Etihadairways/Instagram
From glorious sunset selfies in the cockpit or with celebrities, to layovers in Hawaii and five-star hotel stays, cabin crew have shared nearly 1.2 million photos of their high-flying adventures across the globe using the hashtag #crewlife on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Tom Cross, a pilot with the Sydney-based regional airline QantasLink, who has around 50,000 followers on Instagram, is said to have been recognised by passengers on board and at the airport from his various photos posted on Instagram, some of which have had more than 5000 likes, including of views from the cockpit and him swimming in Victoria Falls.
"It is interesting meeting numerous people who have recognised me from my photos," he told the Mail.
"There are a large number of people fascinated with my job as a pilot and ask many questions about working under the Qantas name and how they themselves can get into a position like mine" he added.
"As an airline employee you get to travel the world for free or a very low cost on your own time" Jeanerys De Santiago, a 25-year-old flight attendant from Florida, told the Mail. She has been pictured on Instagram in various parts of the world including on beaches in Cancun and Hawaii as well as at Niagara Falls and Christmas Eve in Mexico City.
"When you are working, the layovers are the best part of the job. We could be in New York for breakfast and dinner in Milan or London one day, and Bogota, Colombia, the next," she added.
See also: The truth about being a flight attendant
Some members of Etihad Airways cabin crew were seen taking a group selfie with Fast and Furious film series actor Vin Diesel as well as with German golfer Martin Kaymer in Abu Dhabi (pictured below), while others were seen in a convertible car cruising to or from work.
But some cabin crew members have also highlighted the difficult realities of life in the skies, including long working hours, time away from their families and the exhaustion of being "constantly on the go" as well as the unglamorous aspects, such as consecutive stays in mundane-looking hotel rooms, while tales of on-board drinking and debauchery among cabin crew are nothing new.
British Airways was forced to launch an investigation in 2013 following complaints from passengers about the alcohol-fuelled behaviour of its off-duty cabin crew on a flight to Washington, while a YouTube video showing two female attendants stripping down to their underwear - shot in a hotel during a stopover between flights – also angered bosses at the airline.
But most may be unfamiliar with aisle surfing, where cabin crew "get a meal tray, then stand or sit on it at the front of the airplane. On takeoff, you attempt to aisle surf all the way to the back of the plane," according to "Betty", whose column "Confessions of a Fed-Up Flight Attendant" appears on Yahoo! Travel.
"It's rare, but there are flights where there are no passengers on board. With no passengers to see us we can do things we would never do in the sight of paying customers. This is when we go aisle surfing" she said.
The Telegraph, London
See also: Confessions of Virgin flight attendant
See also: What it takes to be an Emirates flight attendant
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