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Published On: Jan 19, 2009 02:43 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jan 19, 2009 02:43 PM
Flight Attendants - more than "trolley dollies" and "old boilers"
"I'm much more than a pretty face - and don't you forget it! I might save your life one day."
How people come to consult me always feels like
the spin of the roulette wheel: Did they hear about me and my work through word
of mouth, a previous client, an airline, another psychologist, a travel agent,
the Yellow Pages or this blog?
New clients seem to come in "runs". A run of those one week where it's turbulence at the centre of their concerns. Another week, it will be panic attacks on board. Lately it's been about safety - clients focussing on the extreme unlikelihood of an incident but believing it's their luck that the next incident will involve their flight.
Up to a point, one can use the safety statistics to begin the process of chipping away at assumptions which can be shown to be false, yet never tested. Other times, I feel like I'm going down a rabbit hole which is narrowing and I'm getting nowhere. In which case, we put the discussions of safety to one side, and perhaps focus on another aspect of their flying concerns, such as the physiological aspects of their fears This follows my belief that once clients can see and experience a reduction in uncomfortable sensations (e.g, heart thumping, legs twitching, perspiring, etc.) which they experience just thinking about an upcoming flight, we can make some headway with the safety matters.
(At other time, I go into clinical psychologist/therapist mode where the "action" may be more to do with relationships and work concers).
Eventually, it comes down to discussing human error as a partial explanation for why incidents occur. It's at this point we often discuss who's crewing an aircraft and their primary responsibilities.
Most clients say that the responsibility of the flight crew is to fly the plane, without knowing any detail at all of how this is accomplished nor the training required.
When it comes to flight attendants, many are surprised when I inform them that their primary role is as cabin safety officers. Serving drinks and meals is very much a secondary aspect of their role, even though it's the most conspicuous.
Flight attendants' lives look pretty glamorous, and indeed there are many benefits unique to their working lives. But at the end of the day, it's work. Sometimes, it's fun and exciting if you get a great crew and you're away from home for a few days in an exotic location, sharing first class facilities.
Other times, it might be up and down the coast, say between Melbourne and Sydney, or LA and Seattle, in an all coach setting with very little time between flights.
Fearful flyers often look to flight attendants as their cues to whether they should worry or not. Smiling, pleasant flight attendants are reassuring and comforting, and help keep fearful thoughts at bay. Worried, hassled, scowling attendants have the opposite effect, although I am quick to let clients know that a worried look on a flight attendant's face is unlikely to be about the aircraft's safety but perhaps some personal matter, like paying the last gas bill on time, or leaving enough food out for the cat. Or whether their evening dinner date will be on time. Or it could be the passenger in 6B gropes her each time she walks by his seat...
Cabin attendants take their safety roles very seriously, and take offense at being referred primarily as glorified waiters. Most of the time you will only ever see them in a safety role during preparation for takeoff and landing, where their task is to ensure the cabin is ready for that critical flight phase.
So aisle and floor areas need to be checked for baggage that may interfere with a quick emergency exit; that seat and tray tables are in the "locked and upright" position, again for unobstructed fast exits. And of course safety belts are fastened, so as to restrain you in case the plane comes to a very quick stop.
Of late, that safety work has extended to making sure mobile and electronic devices are switched off during the critical flight phases, and safety messages are delivered professionally.
(Small aside: Here in Australia, footballers are treated as heroes. During one fearful flyer course I ran for the now defunct Ansett Australia, the Cabin Manager who was part of the staff, had a run in with a leading hero about his use of his mobile phone at a prohibited time of the flight. Asking him several times to switch it off, he threatened to report the matter to authorities when the "hero" didn't desist. To which he was duly labelled, "You'd be a hero, wouldn't you...."
It was interesting to see how the airline backed him up when the story was eventually leaked to the newspapers, especially since the football league contract was a lucrative one. But the airline did back him, given the level of threat to safety cavalier footballers can pose, because of their hero status.
The same footballer by the way was at one point charged with sexual assault in an unrelated incident near a nightclub, and also the centre of a major scandal when he admitted an affair with a team mate's wife, and stood down from his position of team captain.
A further coincidence is that I once flew seated next to the same footballer as a passenger from Melbourne to Sydney, and he seemed a tad apprehensive that the plane wasn't following his expected landing pattern. We actually skirted Sydney airport to the west, before turning south onto the 16R long runway into Botany Bay. Small world, huh?)
That said, every so often a client asks what happens in an emergency, and it's then we can discuss flight attendant training. However, today I came across a very good blog called The Unknown Aviator, and its current blog entry concerns itself with flight attendants. The author speaks about being part of an emergency drill, acting as a passenger, during a cabin emergency simulation.
Here's a little of what was written:
Unfortunately most people underestimate the importance of the (flight attendant) role and the skills required to perform their jobs effectively. The term "trolley dollies" is often used to describe them which I think is very unfair although it has a nice ring to it :)
Let me briefly describe an occassion where I found a whole new level of respect for the members of the above mentioned profession. Not too long ago I had the opportunity (or perhaps the misfortune) of being selected as a guinea pig along with few other victims in a mock aircraft cabin evacuation trial which was being used to train cabin crew. I was placed inside an aircraft cabin mockup along with the other victims and we were being looked after by the soft spoken cabin crew as if it was a normal flight.
The "captain" shortly announced that an emergency landing was about to take place and we had to assume the crash positions. At this point we were all happily sitting in our seats looking around with silly smiles and not taking it seriously at all. Shortly before "landing" the crew underwent a startling transformation which at the time reminded me of Bruce Banner and his alter ego. They rapidly moved from seat to seat to ensure we all assumed the brace position and our belts were fastened etc.
After the "landing" which was accompanied by very realistic crash noises from the surround speakers in the cabin and smoke being released into the cabin the crew made us unfasten our seat belts and shouted out instructions and literally pushed us out of the "plane" as fast as possible in as orderly a fashion as possible. Gone were the "welcome aboard", "thank you for flying with us" tones. They were replaced by "get the **** out of here before i kick you out" tone which no none dared question. It is difficult to describe the entire exercise in words but the professional and almost military like manner in which it was executed was most impressive.....
The one thing that really struck me was the drastic change in behaviour of the crew and the effective way in which they herded us out of the "burning wreck" and got us all out as soon as possible. You may think you can ignore the routine oxygen mask demo at the start of every flight but you certainly cant ignore them in the event of a real emergency. I almost felt that they would physically attack me if I didnt listen to them and did what they said after the emergency was declared. This I felt was exactly the kind of approach that should be taken as their advice is probably the only thing that will save your life in a real emergency.
Therefore in addition to serving coffee and tea these people are directly responsible for your lives in the event of a crash landing. It is their duty to stay calm and ensure the passengers are evacuated as swiftly and as safely as possible. If an aeroplane catches fire after landing then the first few minutes if not seconds are the most important. It is vital to evacuate the aeroplane before the fire takes over completely. It is the crews duty to ensure that panic and fear does not overcome the passengers. In a smoke filled aeroplane it will be the "trolly dollies" and their male counterparts who will have to ensure the emergency doors are opened and the passengers including the old and frail, the disabled, the kids are all safely evacuated before worrying about their own personal safety."
So next time you contemplate sneering at the work of a flight attendant, hold back and reconsider.
They are like icebergs. Almost certainly you will only ever see a small proportion of their training in action. The rest is stored a rehearsed knowledge actions, reviewed and refined for the unlikely time it will be needed to save lives. So while certain airlines seem to insist on flying across the Pacific with rather mature cabin staff, fearful flyers can take comfort in the many years of training and experience they have. It's that which will save your life, rather than a pretty smile or handsome bearing.
New clients seem to come in "runs". A run of those one week where it's turbulence at the centre of their concerns. Another week, it will be panic attacks on board. Lately it's been about safety - clients focussing on the extreme unlikelihood of an incident but believing it's their luck that the next incident will involve their flight.
Up to a point, one can use the safety statistics to begin the process of chipping away at assumptions which can be shown to be false, yet never tested. Other times, I feel like I'm going down a rabbit hole which is narrowing and I'm getting nowhere. In which case, we put the discussions of safety to one side, and perhaps focus on another aspect of their flying concerns, such as the physiological aspects of their fears This follows my belief that once clients can see and experience a reduction in uncomfortable sensations (e.g, heart thumping, legs twitching, perspiring, etc.) which they experience just thinking about an upcoming flight, we can make some headway with the safety matters.
(At other time, I go into clinical psychologist/therapist mode where the "action" may be more to do with relationships and work concers).
Eventually, it comes down to discussing human error as a partial explanation for why incidents occur. It's at this point we often discuss who's crewing an aircraft and their primary responsibilities.
Most clients say that the responsibility of the flight crew is to fly the plane, without knowing any detail at all of how this is accomplished nor the training required.
When it comes to flight attendants, many are surprised when I inform them that their primary role is as cabin safety officers. Serving drinks and meals is very much a secondary aspect of their role, even though it's the most conspicuous.
Flight attendants' lives look pretty glamorous, and indeed there are many benefits unique to their working lives. But at the end of the day, it's work. Sometimes, it's fun and exciting if you get a great crew and you're away from home for a few days in an exotic location, sharing first class facilities.
Other times, it might be up and down the coast, say between Melbourne and Sydney, or LA and Seattle, in an all coach setting with very little time between flights.
Fearful flyers often look to flight attendants as their cues to whether they should worry or not. Smiling, pleasant flight attendants are reassuring and comforting, and help keep fearful thoughts at bay. Worried, hassled, scowling attendants have the opposite effect, although I am quick to let clients know that a worried look on a flight attendant's face is unlikely to be about the aircraft's safety but perhaps some personal matter, like paying the last gas bill on time, or leaving enough food out for the cat. Or whether their evening dinner date will be on time. Or it could be the passenger in 6B gropes her each time she walks by his seat...
Cabin attendants take their safety roles very seriously, and take offense at being referred primarily as glorified waiters. Most of the time you will only ever see them in a safety role during preparation for takeoff and landing, where their task is to ensure the cabin is ready for that critical flight phase.
So aisle and floor areas need to be checked for baggage that may interfere with a quick emergency exit; that seat and tray tables are in the "locked and upright" position, again for unobstructed fast exits. And of course safety belts are fastened, so as to restrain you in case the plane comes to a very quick stop.
Of late, that safety work has extended to making sure mobile and electronic devices are switched off during the critical flight phases, and safety messages are delivered professionally.
(Small aside: Here in Australia, footballers are treated as heroes. During one fearful flyer course I ran for the now defunct Ansett Australia, the Cabin Manager who was part of the staff, had a run in with a leading hero about his use of his mobile phone at a prohibited time of the flight. Asking him several times to switch it off, he threatened to report the matter to authorities when the "hero" didn't desist. To which he was duly labelled, "You'd be a hero, wouldn't you...."
It was interesting to see how the airline backed him up when the story was eventually leaked to the newspapers, especially since the football league contract was a lucrative one. But the airline did back him, given the level of threat to safety cavalier footballers can pose, because of their hero status.
The same footballer by the way was at one point charged with sexual assault in an unrelated incident near a nightclub, and also the centre of a major scandal when he admitted an affair with a team mate's wife, and stood down from his position of team captain.
A further coincidence is that I once flew seated next to the same footballer as a passenger from Melbourne to Sydney, and he seemed a tad apprehensive that the plane wasn't following his expected landing pattern. We actually skirted Sydney airport to the west, before turning south onto the 16R long runway into Botany Bay. Small world, huh?)
That said, every so often a client asks what happens in an emergency, and it's then we can discuss flight attendant training. However, today I came across a very good blog called The Unknown Aviator, and its current blog entry concerns itself with flight attendants. The author speaks about being part of an emergency drill, acting as a passenger, during a cabin emergency simulation.
Here's a little of what was written:
Unfortunately most people underestimate the importance of the (flight attendant) role and the skills required to perform their jobs effectively. The term "trolley dollies" is often used to describe them which I think is very unfair although it has a nice ring to it :)
Let me briefly describe an occassion where I found a whole new level of respect for the members of the above mentioned profession. Not too long ago I had the opportunity (or perhaps the misfortune) of being selected as a guinea pig along with few other victims in a mock aircraft cabin evacuation trial which was being used to train cabin crew. I was placed inside an aircraft cabin mockup along with the other victims and we were being looked after by the soft spoken cabin crew as if it was a normal flight.
The "captain" shortly announced that an emergency landing was about to take place and we had to assume the crash positions. At this point we were all happily sitting in our seats looking around with silly smiles and not taking it seriously at all. Shortly before "landing" the crew underwent a startling transformation which at the time reminded me of Bruce Banner and his alter ego. They rapidly moved from seat to seat to ensure we all assumed the brace position and our belts were fastened etc.
After the "landing" which was accompanied by very realistic crash noises from the surround speakers in the cabin and smoke being released into the cabin the crew made us unfasten our seat belts and shouted out instructions and literally pushed us out of the "plane" as fast as possible in as orderly a fashion as possible. Gone were the "welcome aboard", "thank you for flying with us" tones. They were replaced by "get the **** out of here before i kick you out" tone which no none dared question. It is difficult to describe the entire exercise in words but the professional and almost military like manner in which it was executed was most impressive.....
The one thing that really struck me was the drastic change in behaviour of the crew and the effective way in which they herded us out of the "burning wreck" and got us all out as soon as possible. You may think you can ignore the routine oxygen mask demo at the start of every flight but you certainly cant ignore them in the event of a real emergency. I almost felt that they would physically attack me if I didnt listen to them and did what they said after the emergency was declared. This I felt was exactly the kind of approach that should be taken as their advice is probably the only thing that will save your life in a real emergency.
Therefore in addition to serving coffee and tea these people are directly responsible for your lives in the event of a crash landing. It is their duty to stay calm and ensure the passengers are evacuated as swiftly and as safely as possible. If an aeroplane catches fire after landing then the first few minutes if not seconds are the most important. It is vital to evacuate the aeroplane before the fire takes over completely. It is the crews duty to ensure that panic and fear does not overcome the passengers. In a smoke filled aeroplane it will be the "trolly dollies" and their male counterparts who will have to ensure the emergency doors are opened and the passengers including the old and frail, the disabled, the kids are all safely evacuated before worrying about their own personal safety."
So next time you contemplate sneering at the work of a flight attendant, hold back and reconsider.
They are like icebergs. Almost certainly you will only ever see a small proportion of their training in action. The rest is stored a rehearsed knowledge actions, reviewed and refined for the unlikely time it will be needed to save lives. So while certain airlines seem to insist on flying across the Pacific with rather mature cabin staff, fearful flyers can take comfort in the many years of training and experience they have. It's that which will save your life, rather than a pretty smile or handsome bearing.
Posted: Friday - March 11, 2005 at 04:50 PM |