We are Flight Attendants, AUA!

Ah Ryanair.... what's with the fanfare when the plane lands with Ryanair? It's like a "oh thank fuck, we made it!" tune

I wish i knew! It's supposed to be a "we're on time and/or early" fanfare but usually i just fold a napkin into a trumpet and make fun of it!

If I had a napkin I would do the same

Ask for one like 20 minutes before landing and go nuts! it'll always get a giggle!

What's something I can do (or not do) that I might not have thought of which would really make my flight attendants' jobs easier for the flight?

Y'know a few people ask that and i love that people actually ask it :). The only thing i've been able to come up with is, instead of using the call bell to ask for a coffee or something ask them if another drinks service is coming up soon. That way it'll get the point across that you'd like a coffee or something but instead of running back and forth to the galley to grab something for you i could just set up the trolley and go for it all in one go. (If someone asks for a coffee or something when i'm grabbing it for you i guarantee someone else will also ask, so instead of doing 5x30m dashes to get a few bits and bobs i can just sort it out on the trolley)!

But... it's RyanAir. Do people actually think "Oh someone's getting coffee, I want some of that overpriced stuff too!"?

You would be surprised! Especially if you're on a long flight, you just wake up and you smell coffee. I don't drink it so i don't know the allure but yeah!

You work a job that involves having to deal with all manner of people, in close proximity, in the sky, with many being ungrateful, and you don't drink coffee?

Energy drinks and lasagna, my friend, energy drinks and lasagna.

Genuine question: Cabin Crew shoes are like GOLD DUST to us shoe fetishists (I'm definitely among them). Have you ever considered selling your old/worn shoes?

Really gotta give you the award for the most original question here so far!

As a guy i would imagine they wouldn't fetch as high a price but i'm just asking my colleagues right now and their answer is simply "but my shoes aren't sexy". It's definitely news that their footwear would be something of desire!

Alot of sex in the hotels between flights?

Not as much as I'd like! Our airline generally flights from A-B-A or A-B-A-C-A. So we almost always end up back home at the end of the day. Only time I've had a layover was in Skavsta in Sweden. Their crew had run out of hours due to terrible weather so we had to fly them home and they'd drop us back the next day. Because we were flying home as passengers we could have a bit of fun and, well, the Swedes are a very welcoming and fun bunch!

Am a swede so I know all about it. Hope you make it back here soon

Really have to say that you guys are the best people ever! My colleague does flights once a week to Gothenberg and it's the highlight of her week. We also have a couple of Swede pilots and they're just hysterical!

How often do you have to hear references to the movie Airplane! ? Are you sick of them at this point? Have you ever had to re-inflate the auto-pilot manually?

I live a bit further east of where people have actually seen the movie Airplane! So i had a wonderful time showing it to my colleagues. I'm still waiting for someone to make an Airplane! reference :(. Movie related answer though, we do like to watch airline based movies to laugh at the inaccuracies in them!

I told the pilot at the end of my last flight as I was leaving the plane, "Good luck, we're all counting on you."

Made me laugh for two days and didn't care I was "that guy".

Dude i'd say the pilots get more airplane references than we do. I would definitely have a giggle if someone made one to me!

But Airplane/Flying High is totally accurate in every way.

In EVERY WAY.......... My cheeks still hurt from reinflating the autopilot.

Your new username is nogskill after that effort!

I think it was actually Nogagskill

is there anything that you guys do regularly on flights that would completely surprise the fliers?

You'd be surprised at the hobbies people have on flights! On the longer days where you will have a little while to sit down I've been taking up Japanese because i couldn't think of what else to do :D

Other than that there's no like drinking or rampant sex or anything on board, we're generally a pretty boring bunch!

What's your favorite Airport, and why?

For me it's a total tie amongst Paris Bauvais (BVA), Chania in Greece (CHQ) and Lisbon (LIS). Bauvais is always so very smooth in its procedures, the staff work crazy hard to make boarding go quickly and smoothly for us. Chania has a great atmosphere from the staff and from passengers, everyone always seems to have a great time and Lisbon has the coolest landings. You're right in the city center so you see buildings really quite close to you. I almost peed my pants first time landing there.

EDIT: Poor grammar. Thank you masked internet stranger!

Paris Bauvais (BVA),

urgh, worst airport in the world! :D From a passenger view, at least.

Oh yeah? how come?

I don't know if it's the worst airport in the world, but to us Parisian, it's the "Ryanair airport". It's small, far from Paris (1h by bus) and it usually equates with low-cost cramped travel. Although, the first time I went there, I thought the logistics was quite neat, the buses are synchronised with the planes and the planes are often on time.

Yeah I totally get you. A lot of the low-cost airlines choose to go a bit further out of the way to get a cheaper deal!

:( I'm from Lisbon and I'm a 'failed pilot' since I couldn't afford the course even though I tried hard.

I've always wanted to land on that airport, it's just great.

Aww man i'm really sorry to hear :( was it the cadet school you couldn't afford or the absurd hours?

Beauvais

Forgive me :( sad thing is i speak french so i should've been paying attention :(

I'm a ramp agent for AA, why do you guys need so much ice and then dump it out the bay door anyway?!?! Jokes, of course

Ah we're just making sure you guys are working hard! We're way cooler (heh, ice joke) because we bring it from the crew room so you guys don't need to worry about it.

Always thinking of you guys! <3

Funnest part of always traveling?

Hardest part of always traveling?

I can answer both in one fel swoop! Hypoxia! When you are in the air working for up to 12 hours a day you are completely starved of oxygen. By the end of the day you'll either be completely shattered or high as a kite. Let me tell you you sleep like a baby when you get home!

Are the O2 levels in planes really different enough from outside ground level? I always felt tired after flights but figured it was just the flight and travelling.. Even with a roomy seat in business / first or coach on an empty flight, I always feel tired after a flight.. Never would have thought its an O2 issue

Oh yeah, big time. Aircrafts aren't airtight, you're always going to have some air bleed out during flight. As a rule the flights are usually pressurized to about 6000 feet or so. As a result you're always going to get a bit woozy if you're flying for a while. This is the exact reason why you cannot drink your own alcohol on board. A beer or 2 on a long flight might be ok but if you drink like you would on the ground you're going to be wasted in 1/4 of the time, easily. It creeps up on you really hard. It's known as hypoxia if you want to read up on it!

What do you have to do to become a flight attendant?

So you start with an evaluation day. Basically it's like a massive interview. You'll have a written and oral English exam, you'll go through the usual interview hoops.

Afterwards you'll be asked to attend a training course in one of the airlines' locations. Ryanair has one in Wicklow (i could be wrong) and one in Hahn airport, Emirates has theirs in Dubai Etc.

Before you start your training you will need to provide a full background check, criminal record check, multiple professional and personal references, visa details etc. If you have been in certain countries you'll have to give very very precise details on what you've done.

Your training then goes over airline law, safety procedures, firefighting, first aid. Very very intense training course. Most people at some point during the course will need a hug! Some airlines then will do extra courses on cocktail making and the like.

Once you're finally finished all that you then get shipped off to your base, you then have to jump through all the hoops in that specific airport to get your security clearance. Once you're done ALL that then you can be a flight attendant :D

Have you ever had someone trying to be a part of the 'Mile High Club' on a plane you were attending?

We've all been pretty fortunate to never have had someone try! We're on 737's, they basically have no space to hide. the bathrooms are too small to really fit 2 people in and the galley is right beside the bathroom door so if you can get it done you'll have to be ninja-levels of stealthy!

Be honest The bathrooms are too small to fit one person into.

I'm pretty short so it's just the right size for me >:D bit of good news i flew in one of the planes with the new seats and if you're finding space a bit lacking there's a bunch more legroom for you :D

Im absolutely terrified to fly. Every time I do I always think the worst. I know statistics say blah blah cars are more dangerous, but in a car, I can at least have a chance of surviving an accident. A very robust piece of aluminum barreling at the earth near 500mph is grounds for an instant death, no matter what.

Does the pilot inspect the plane prior to flying it? Have you ever had a pilot refuse to fly a plane because he thought it wouldnt fly from A to B safely?

Is there a specific thing to watch for during turbulence to indicate shits getting real? Like flight attendants abandoning the trolley so they can sprint to their seats?

I know there are differing stages of turbulence, which one should I begin kissing my ass and praying to the one true god?

Help put my mind at rest with flying. Please.

Hey i'm so sorry that it took so long to get to you! This AMA should have a dedicated team of answerers! holy moly!

Before we even look at the aircraft you have a team of engineers doing very thorough checks on everything you can imagine to make sure everything is up to scratch. I've had a flight delayed for 6 hours because one of our seats wouldn't go all the way back into position and they had to fly in a brand new seat for us. Then both the flight attendants and the pilots do ANOTHER full sweep of everything, all the safety equipment from start to finish. If something isn't right then we have to fix it. Every time we hit the ground we have to do another sweep of all the areas that could be affected during the flight (landing gear, wings, you name it, we check it).

Every time we are about to land or take off the pilots go through a full A4 sheet of checklists to make sure they do the takeoff or landing just perfectly every time

For turbulence the only thing, and i really mean the only thing you need to look out for is the cabin crew jamming the trolleys into the seats and sitting down with the passengers. You'll feel it long before that happens though. We will never leave a trolley unattended because it becomes another bit of debris that could hurt someone.

There's only been 1 or 2 recorded cases of planes going down specifically because of turbulence, and one was entirely pilot error (going over a mountain and didn't take into account the 150mph wind going into his face).

I promise you i wouldn't do my job if i didn't feel safe doing it :)

aircraft maintenance guy here

Do you ever get people blaming you when we have to ground or delay an aircraft, and if so, do/how do you explain to them that it's for their safety and/or completely out of your or the pilot's or even sometimes the airlines control?

Hey man! Gotta say love what you guys do, it's so rare to see any kinds of faults in an aircraft and only have you guys to thank so keep up the awesome work!

I've only had a tech-fault based delay once. One of the jumpseats was buggered and needed to fly another one in. People generally are fairly considerate to us when it comes to that sort of stuff. They generally just ask what's up, i'll explain roughly what's going on, reassure that we wouldn't take a risk and they're totally happy!

Ah that's great.

I've had some experiences where we need to replace a seatbelt and people cuss us out. They don't really get that it's the law and it's not really our choice or fault lol

I've even had complaints from people where we had to ground an airplane to fix a cabin door. The metal was bent on it, so it wouldn't create the proper seal to allow for pressurization. I worked a 17 hour shift that day to get it back in service lol

People just don't seem to get the importance of this stuff, but glad you've had more pleasant experiences.

Jesus you serious? Man that totally sucks! Like i'm surprised people have no problems losing the ability to breathe during a flight but hey, i'm just a sucker for my oxygen!

Keep up the awesome work dude :D.

Since you mentioned in other comments you were a guy - sorry if this seems rude - Are you gay? Is that just a horrible stereotype? Do people assume you are gay?

Not rude at all! It says ask us(me, they've gone to sleep now) anything! I'm bisexual but with a favor towards girls. Definitely nowadays you'll see more straight flight attendants than gay. During training there were about 150 guys and 3 of them weren't straight. At work I don't think people assume i'm gay so i think that stereotype is changing quite a bit. I do sometimes put on a bit of camp at work though.

Have you ever encountered a situation where the pilots have gotten ill, and been forced to enlist the aid of an ex-combat-pilot to ensure a safe landing?

Yeah, it was horrible. ATC were asking us to play the clarinet, saying that we'd be ok if we were on instruments. There was a conga line of people taking turns shaking and slapping a woman in the face, and one of my coworkers almost caused a young girl to die with her guitar shenanigans!

Why are international Asian flight attendants mostly attractive/young, but not the same for Western international flight attendants?

I can only go on theory here but maybe the asian airlines have slightly more relaxed rules to makeup. I know for a fact the western ones have very very strict rules on what you are and are not allowed to wear makeup wise. The results can be very surprisingly different to what the ladies look like off duty!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how safe is it to drink the water offered on flights?

Because I remember reading a post a while back saying the conditions in which the water is stored is pretty bad and may not be hygienic.

The water on our aircrafts are not for drinking purposes. We sell bottled water for that reason. If you're getting a tea or coffee well the water's boiled so it's much much safer to drink but yeah we normally bring our own bottles of water for that same reason.

What about the ice?

Ice is brought in by us from a separate company, nothing to do with our water.

I am a shuttle driver for flight crews from the airport to their hotel. What is something funny/entertaining I could do to brighten your day?

For me at least give me a high five on the way in! I sometimes take the shuttle in and the guy has absolutely zero english but gives a very firm handshake every time. Gives me a nice smile to start the day dude! Anything we can do for you?

Damn, talk about a service industry answer! You're a great fit for your job!

I'm being dead serious too though! If the guy driving my shuttle was a little more consistent (no idea if he's going to show up or not on any given day) i'd go with him the whole time!

Do you really appreciate it when people bring you all chocolate or is it just creepy now?

People bring us chocolates?! When did this happen!? Only time it's ever happened to me was new years eve when a lovely lady gave us some ferrero rocher. It would have made my day except for the fact that i helped a lovely couple get engaged the flight before!

Story time?

STORY TIME! We're about half way through our flight on new years eve and this guy comes up to us in the back with absolutely zero english and passes us a piece of paper that says "I want to ask my girlfriend to marry me, can you please make PA" "Can i please have everyone's attention, can [passengers name] please listen to her boyfriend for a moment, there is some important information he would like to share. So i went to the front and paraphrased it, (correcting grammar and making it a little less super-formal). He asked, she said yes. They got a couple of free bottles of prosecco for their troubles and i swear to jebus i've not seen a happier couple. The guy had a massive grin for the next 3 hours and she was just crying her eyes out. It was such a sweet moment. I still have the piece of paper with the message!

I think my now-wife would have murdered me if I proposed on a Ryanair flight.

I've heard people saying the same but hey, they couldn't have looked happier if they tried! :)

Picture time!!! Please OP.

OP Delivers

If someone gave you chocolates would you do or treat them differently?

Yes and no. Like if someone comes in just like normal, takes their seat or whatever i'm totally cool but if someone comes up and specifically goes out of their way to make you feel better about yourself i might give a little leeway when it comes to something like change or something small. Mostly my attitude towards them changes, like i know for a fact that if i ask them to do something in general i feel they'll be happy to do so, so i don't feel like i have to be more assertive!

That being said if something's affecting safety or security no amount of chocolate will let me bend those rules :P

Who was the worst person you ever had to share a plane with, and why?

Do you mean a passenger or another flight attendant/pilot? For a passenger it's gotta be the lovely gentlemen in another comment going to tenerife. They had just decided that making our lives miserable was their idea of fun. It was so bad that even other passengers came up and offered to beat the crap out of them.

As for other staff there's only one guy that comes to mind. For a little exposition our salaries are slightly based off sales. Our little computers calculate what we sell and give us commission. We all have agreed that it's a terrible system as some of us are doing stuff that won't mean sales for us, so we use each others computers to make the sales as even as possible for everyone. This guy, though, will do everything humanly possible to ensure he does the least amount of work while maximizing profits and will lie through his teeth when confronted about it. We are all fairly sure that he won't last much longer in the company because of the overwhelming agreement that he's not someone we want to work with.

From a safety and security perspective he has to really be pushed to remember some procedures when we all work really hard to ensure that we know exactly what to do in whatever situation.

Have you encountered people who have a "thing" for flight attendants, on the job or not, and/or asked you to take part in role play?

I saw some cops last night get kisses by a bunch of ladies and thought of the "sexy flight attendant" scenario. Cops didn't seem too enthused.

I'm a guy so i don't think it would affect me so much but usually we kinda share everything and honestly It hasn't happened!

I went out with a passenger once just for a date and it was a little tough to keep the conversation away from work. Of course it could've just been tough to keep a conversation going and that was the only thing we really knew about each other. I'd be so uncomfortable doing something like that just because i don't find the job particularly sexy :P

This thing about "crop dusting"... is it true? Do you fart at your passengers?

I've heard of this as well but I swear i have never ever heard of anyone doing it! Hopefully this is the answer you were hoping to get!

What's the worst airport y'all had the misfortune of visiting? Thanks for doing this AMA!

Dude you're very welcome! For the sake of being nice I won't single out a specific airport but i will say that some of the smaller Spanish and Italian airports, from an operational standpoint, are somewhat less fun to fly into. Usually the staff are too lenient on what passengers can bring onboard and it usually ends up with either a delay or an argument because we then have to put someone's bag in the hold. Usually out of those places we're expecting a delay because of this reason.

Looks like you're a Ryanair crewmember - how do you like Ryanair?

D'you have any thoughts or opinions on the rumors going around regarding service to the US?

(previously removed for non-question content, but re-submitted below) I'm stateside in the OCC of an express carrier making lives hell (not scheduling - I'm dispatch, telling the pilots where to fly...). I just want to say if I bump into you or your friends during a trip abroad, having never been to Ireland, I'll happily buy the first round.

Yeah I sure am. Honestly there are a lot of ups and downs to the job in comparison to other airlines. Because it's a low fare airline you tend to attract people that are a bit more laid back about things, so i feel it's easier to have a laugh with people onboard. That being said the general complaints towards the airline are usually aimed towards us so it's obviously not very nice. As a company all in all they're really not bad and it's a great opportunity to break into aviation. A lot of my coworkers have gone on to get jobs in Emirates, Etihad etc.

The Trans-Atlantic rumors have been going around forever and, although i do not speak on behalf of Ryanair in any way shape or form. I would imagine that we would at least be waiting until the changeover from the 737-800's to the 737 Max 6's would be complete before even thinking about it. Even then with our current setup it would only maybe be from the Canaries/Dublin to very east coast US.

Aw dude you should do an AMA on dispatch! I've literally no idea what fully goes on in your job but it looks awesome! I'm based in Poland right now so find your way here at some stage man! It's pretty sweet!

Seriously, you didn't just say there were a lot of up and downs for an airline job, did you. ;)

I think i did. In fact, i'm almost positive i did. What of it? I can make lame puns too you know! :D

Some simple questions: how much do you make, what skills are required, and would you recommend this job to a 24 y/o single guy just recently out of college? Tnx.

Pay is completely dependant on what airline you're with and where you are. Here they base the pay off where you're based and the cost of living there. Norway and sweden having some of the highest pay and Poland having some of the lowest (comparatively it's effectively the same in terms of what you can get with your money).

If you want to do this job i'd say what you need is the world's most positive attitude and the ability to work your butt off. The days are crazy long and you'll be really earning your sleep. If you can keep your head under stress and keep going then it's actually a pretty awesome job. If you're looking for work for a couple years until you figure out what you want to do i'd say it's a fantastic idea. If you're looking for something really long term to settle down with then i'd maybe say look at ATC, getting your pilots' licence or something similar.

I am very interested in this position, where would you recommend I begin my search?

Have a look on each airline's websites, they'll usually have open days or something where you can ask to go in and have a look. Most companies will do a lot of recruiting before the summer so best to be looking between now and march! Good luck dude :)

What's the worst case of plane sickness you've come across?

Poor guy flying into Paris Bauvais. Coming into land he just decided that his stomach was not his friend and spewed all over the passengers in front of him, the wall, the floor. We had to spend about 45 minutes just cleaning up that area. The poor guy was mortified, he was so polite and nice throughout the flight but just couldn't do anything about it, he didn't even notice he was feeling ill til lunch came back up.

Wow, that's awful. I used to get plane sick all the time whenever departing my hometown, but it was just a quick run to the bathroom. That would be awful.

Yeah i felt so bad for the guy because he was at a window seat as well so couldn't do a thing to get out in time.

Obligatory mile high club question.

Caught anyone? What do you do with them if you do? Best belligerent passenger story?

Obligatory really boring mile high club answer really. Never caught anyone trying but honestly i have no idea. If they try it in the galley or seats or something they'd probably be arrested at arrival for indecent exposure but is it strange that i'm honestly not sure other than that?

Our "worst passenger" award definitely goes to 3 charming gentlemen heading to Tenerife who genuinely believe that because they paid for the right to get on the aircraft that they could disregard almost every safety rule that there is! They got so drunk off their own stuff (already illegal) that they were throwing up in their seats. They refused to stay in their seats when the pilots needed to go to the bathroom (could be considered attempted hijacking) and practically every tiny thing with them would be an excuse for them to get atrociously aggressive with us. They faked anaphylactic shock while landing to score some free water. In the end they were met by the lovely airport police and banned from flying back with us. For an added kicker we were the only short haul airline that would get them close to home. I've no idea how they got home but i guarantee they spent at least 4x the cost of their ticket.

I never knew the seatbelt sign went on when the pilot leaves the cockpit. I'll have to watch next time I fly.

Yeah it's a thing they've done since 9/11, you'll only really notice it on really long flights though where they actually have to pee or stretch their legs for a sec!

This story makes me smile.

And a little extra karma, one of the gentlemen spent the last 45 minutes throwing up because he drank too much. I had to look concerned but inside there was a very very cruel smile >:)

Where were they from?

Not gonna say for the sake of fairness. The place they're from doesn't need any bad press from 3 buttholes.

How often does it seem married pilots cheat with the flight attendants?

Unfortunately i'm full of boring answers today! Never happened with where we are. The pilots are proper gentlemen (and ladies), are polite, friendly, do their job and go home!

Best thing to do to become a flight attendant convention?

First of all you need to be able to handle 200-300 people walking around and drinking on you. Then you need to be able to play wonderful music to get everybody dancing. If you can provide drinks for free that would also be fantastic!

Edit: Thanks for the gold, rich stranger! I love you!

The extra inch or two for my bag to be considered "all the way under the seat in front" of me- why is this really needed? I'm guessing a safety issue, but another inch? Really? (I know I'm generalizing, sorry)

I'm gonna guess you haven't flown with us in a while now. If i remember correctly we ditched that rule to an extent as part of this "always getting better" initiative where we're trying to be more lenient on rules like that that weren't hugely affecting safety while royally annoying people.

The main exception to that would be if you were at an emergency exit row and you put something under your seat, it has to go all the way under because that thing is gonna fly right at my face if something goes wrong :P

What is the favorite airline you ever flown? Was it Emirates?

This is probably really sad but I don't really get to travel as a passenger all that often. I flew with BA a while ago on a transatlantic flight and i thought that, although boring, it was really comfortable and nice! My colleague flew home christmas day with AlItalia and she absolutely loved it, very very comfortable environment.

What is the weirdest thing someone has tried to put in the overhead storage?

Easy! Not me but a few friends of mine do some flights to Morocco. Their favorite things have been being unable to land because there was a chicken running around the cabin and someone had left a baby in the overhead storage!

So my friend who really wants to be an air hostess wants to know, the things you hate about being a flight attendant?

The single thing that really gets our goats is that generally you are not respected. You have to work really hard and know a lot to get the job and you really have to get used to the fact that people will only look at you as a glorified waitress.

Have you ever been sexually harassed during a flight?

Not me. I'm clearly not pretty or female enough :D It does happen unfortunately, although it's not commonplace. Incidents like that are handled with zero tolerance though. A colleague had it happen to her and they were immediately arrested and banned from flying with us ever again.

[deleted]

Yeah although I'm assuming you're from the US and it's popular opinion that you guys get way more scary turbulence than we do! Now for me it's just kinda of "wheeee".

There was just an incident over Alaska. Last week. Air Canada Shanghai to Toronto. Sever turbulence injured 20 people who were not wearing belts. Diverted to Calgary. Good times!

Oh yeah saw a report on that yesterday i think? Seatbelt sign is there for a reason folks! wear em!

I have a 9 hour flight coming up in 2 days and I've never been a fan of flying :( how do you reassure passengers (even though I know) that we are all incredibly safe on the aircraft? I know this question is super unoriginal but I always get spooked when I have to fly home.

Oooof you going transatlantic? Long flight ahead of you dude, bring a laptop with something to do! :D

For me every single time i just tell them how many flights i've done so far, in the past 6 months it's way over 500 hours at an average of maybe 2.5 hours per flight so something like 200 flights. That's more than my parents have in their entire lives. I also tell them how many crazy security procedures are in place to make sure everyone is totally happy and safe. I also let them know that there is no amount of money in the world someone could give me to do this job if i didn't feel it was safe.

Have you ever been to a flight attendant convention? Are all of you as awesomely crazy off duty as the ones I have met there?

There's only been one nearby that I've seen and it was for any aircrew or flight attendants. I didn't go because i had work the next day and knew there would be drinks involved. It does seem to be a common trait of us though that we're completely bonkers off duty. Because a lot of us are living away from home and we'll change bases quite a lot the novelty of a new place keeps reoccuring. So it can kinda be like going on holiday a lot.

Are there rules for FAs about consuming alcohol x number of hours before a shift?

Oh goodness yes. If you drink literally anything 8 hours or less before your shift you're as good as gone, or arrested, or both. If you're going out properly you really need to take care to make sure you are 100% sober and ready to work the next day, if anybody suspects you of not being fit to work it will spell BIG BIG trouble for you.

I am pretty terrified of flying, and I'm flying internationally in 10 days. I'm not going to cause havoc or anything selfish like that, but I am already very nervous. I have flown several times before, but do you have any tips that you have seen people do to chill out? I'm not really a fan of drugging myself up as I'm really petite and it actually does different effects to me than others.

Tldr: do you have any tips for nervous and anxious flyers that don't involve dramaine or the like? Plsssss help.

I wouldn't drug myself and I definitely wouldn't drink (it affects you really heavily when flying). If you don't have a good set of noise cancelling headphones i would strongly advise you to get a set and watch your favorite show or something on your laptop. If you have a good set you'll not even notice the sound of the engines too much and you start to forget where you are. Ask to swap to an aisle seat and maybe go up to whoever you're flying with and ask to chat with them about their experiences or something like that.

Where are you heading to? Are you looking forward to being there??

What movie is the most accurate in presenting how an airline really is?

For me at least it seems to be the opening couple of scenes from "Larry Gaye: renegade male flight attendant". For how you feel on board it can really be a lot of people coming to you for stuff at the same time! Very overwhelming sometimes!

Sooooooo, is it a myth or not that there is a lot of.... Let s say.... flirting between flight attendants?

It's not a myth :D. To summarize why; If you're a woman you're going to be working with maybe 100 women and about 6-7 guys (not including pilots). You're usually going to be away from home in a place where you might not speak the language. Most towns surrounding airports are filled with people who work there so generally there's not a huge amount of choice. That being said there are quite a few that are happily married and wouldn't even dream of flirting with someone or anything like that!

Would you be willing to post from the plane? /r/toiletselfies

Flying to Tenerife tomorrow so i'll have some spare time! I'm on it sir!

When you guys comp my booze does that mean she liked me?

Just to clarify, are you drinking your own alcohol on board or did you buy a bottle in the duty free and keeping it in your luggage? If it's the former it could be a smartass way of saying "you're not supposed to do that". If the latter she could just like your choice of drink!

When first class has room, what must I do to get upgraded? Lots of times coach was full and 3 or 4 seats were open in 1st. How do we get a freebie?

I wish i knew myself. The airline I work for has a business class area but only the emergency exit seats have the extra legroom. Best thing to do is just ask. I don't think you'll get killed for checking :D

Do you intentionally hit people's elbows, knees, and feet with the cart when you're rolling up the aisle from back to front says "scuse the cart....scuse the cart please?" (I know the answer is 'yes', because I've seen flying waitresses doing it several times.)

I certainly don't aim but it definitely happens. It doesn't help that people in the aisle seats try to spread their limbs as far across the aisle as possible :P

I'm sitting in an airport now waiting for a flight that has a layover, and there is another direct flight (same airline) to my destination that leaves within 10 minutes.. Does the concierge have the ability to move my flight?

Edit: I mean within 10 minutes of my original flight, but its still a couple hours away.

This is unfortunately something i've very little experience in honestly. I would imagine no because the amount of fuel, weight of aircraft, luggage and stuff like that is built with you being on that plane. Of course you'll get a couple of no-shows on that flight but I would honestly just ask really politely and see what they can do, if you've got like a couple hours extra before your flight they might be able to set it up.

I once had an early morning flight to Amsterdam. On that flight there was an incredibly cute flight attendant. She went about her job, and i wanted to talk to her and maybe ask her out on a date. My question is this: How do flight attendants feel about passengers wanting to ask them out?

For me it's happened once and if i'm in the area i'm definitely giving her a call! There have been a few times now where people have given numbers and that sort of thing and honestly it will depend on the person but usually it's quite a nice feeling. Especially if you've seen our uniforms (not exactly flattering, got new ones coming out next month though that look a really really good!)