Flight Attendant Horror Stories : 1

1.We were flying out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a husband and wife boarded the plane. They were "tan and popular" types, as I call them. She had on her sarong and gold lamé heels and her husband had on his golf outfit. They were very hoity-toity nouveau riche and obviously thought they were hot stuff. We had open seating in coach at the time, so the agent had told everyone to find an empty seat and settle in. This couple went ahead and took two open seats that were in first class instead of in coach, where they had purchased their seats. I was the one pulling tickets and I would not have noticed except that the agent then brought two people up who actually had those seats in first class. So I approached the couple that had seated themselves there and asked them which seats they had, and they told me they didn't know but that they had been told to take any open seat. I apologized but told them that the first class seats were taken by paying customers and that they'd have to go find seats in coach. And the woman said, "But we're already sitting here. We've already put our luggage in the overhead bin, we're not changing seats." She kept saying it was ridiculous, and that we had already delayed them into San Juan and that the least we could do was give them a first class seat. She was causing a scene and her husband was just sitting there. Finally they went back to coach and I thought that was the end of it

Use of portable electronic devices board an aircraft

Rule 29B of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 deals with the use of portable electronic
device on board an aircraft in flight, as it may cause interference with the navigation
or communication system of the aircraft. An aircraft is deemed to be in flight when
all its external doors are closed following embarkation until any such door is
opened for disembarkation.
 

2. There has been a demand from the travelling public that the use of mobile
phones may be permitted in aircraft after landing during taxiing. The issue was
examined and it emerged that after landing and during taxiing to the parking gate,
the aircraft does not depend on any navigational aid operating on the same
frequency as that of the portable electronic device or a frequency close to it. It was
also observed that ground staff of various operators working at airports are
allowed to use portable electronic device in the air side of the aerodromes without
any problem. Based on this premise, several countries allow the use of mobile
phones once the aircraft has landed and is taxiing to the gate.
 

3. In view of the above, rule 29B of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 has been amended
vide GSR 726(E) dated 3rd September, 2010. The amended rule provides that the
Pilot-in-Command may permit the use of cellular phones after the aircraft has
landed and cleared active runway. However, this facility will not be available during

low visibility conditions, as determined by the DGCA. A copy of rule 29B, as

amended, is enclosed herewith.
 

4. All airlines are advised to modify the in-flight announcement accordingly and

report compliance by 22 October, 2010 positively. 

 

-As per the Circular issued by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA,India)

Things That Flight Attendant Won't Tell You !

1. “Want to start off on the wrong foot with me? Put your carry-on in a full overhead bin, leave it sticking out six inches, then take your seat at the window and wait for someone else (me!) to come along and solve the physics problem you just created.”

2. “Yes, passengers are incredibly rude, but stealing a beer, cursing out passengers, and jumping out of a plane the way Steven Slater did is not the way to handle it. You disarm an unruly passenger by introducing yourself, asking his name, and saying something like ‘I’ve been incredibly nice to you for three hours. Why are you treating me like this?’ Generally that gets the other passengers on your side—and sometimes they’ll even applaud.”

3. “We don’t have a boyfriend in every city. And our median age these days is 44.”

4. “If you’re traveling with a small child and you keep hearing bells, bells, and more bells, please look to see if it’s your child playing with the flight attendant call bell.”

5. “An all-too-common scenario: I hand you a cup of coffee and say, ‘Cream and sugar?’ You say, ‘What?’ I say, ‘Cream and sugar?’ You say, ‘What?’ Come on, people. What do you think we’re going to ask after we’ve handed you coffee? Your favorite color?”

6. “The lavatory door is not rocket science. Just push.”

7. “No, it’s not OK to come back into the galley to stretch and bend over with your rear end in my face while I’m in my jump seat during my only break, trying to eat a meal.”

8. “If you have a baby, bring diapers. If you’re diabetic, bring syringes. If you have high blood pressure, don’t forget your medication. That way, I’m not trying to make a diaper out of a sanitary pad and a pillowcase or asking over the intercom if someone has a spare inhaler.”

9. “Just in case you hadn’t noticed, there are other people on the airplane besides you. So don’t clip your toenails, snore with wild abandon, or do any type of personal business under a blanket!”

10. “If you’re traveling overseas, do yourself a favor and bring a pen. You would not believe how many people travel without one, and you need one to fill out the immigration forms. I carry some, but I can’t carry 200.”

11. “Passengers are always coming up to me and tattling on each other. ‘Can you tell him to put his seat up?’ ‘She won’t share the armrest.’ What am I, a preschool teacher?”

12. “I hate working flights to destinations like Vail and West Palm Beach. The passengers all think they’re in first class even if they’re not. They don’t do what we ask. And the overhead bins are full of their mink coats.”

13. “Do you really have to go to the bathroom right now, while we’re wrestling a 250-pound food cart down the aisle? You can’t wait 90 seconds for us to pass?”

14. Do not poke or grab me. I mean it. No one likes to be poked, but it’s even worse on the plane because you’re sitting down and we’re not, so it’s usually in a very personal area.  You would never grab a waitress if you wanted ketchup or a fork, would you?

15. We’re not just being lazy. Our rules really say we aren’t allowed to lift your luggage into the overhead bin for you, though we can “assist.”

16. Is it that difficult to say hello and goodbye? We say it 300 times on every flight, and only about 40 people respond.

17. I don’t care if you want to be in the mile-high club, keep your clothes on. Who decided the mile-high club was something that everyone wants to do anyway?  It’s cramped and dirty in those bathrooms.

18. If you hear us paging for a doctor or see us running around with oxygen, defibrillators and first aid kits, that’s not the right time to ask for a blanket or a Diet Coke.

19. The only place you are allowed to pee on the airplane is in the lavatory. Period.

20. Don’t ask us if it’s okay to use the lavatories on the ground.  The answer is always yes.  Do you think what goes into the toilet just dumps out onto the tarmac?

21. You really expect me to take your soggy Kleenex? Or your kid's fully loaded diaper? I’ll be right back with gloves.

22. Sure, I don’t mind waiting while you scour the seatback pocket and the floor for candy wrappers and other garbage, then place them in my bag one by one. I only have 150 other passengers to serve.

23. I’m sorry it’s taking forever to get you a wheelchair, but that’s one thing you can’t blame the airline for. The wheelchair service is subcontracted to the cities we fly into, and it’s obviously not a top priority for many of them.

35 Secrets Your Pilot Won't Tell You

What You Don't Want to Know

“I’m constantly under pressure to carry less fuel than I’m comfortable with. Airlines are always looking at the bottom line, and you burn fuel carrying fuel. Sometimes if you carry just enough fuel and you hit thunderstorms or delays, then suddenly you’re running out of gas and you have to go to an alternate airport.” -Captain at a major airline
“Sometimes the airline won’t give us lunch breaks or even time to eat. We have to delay flights just so we can get food.” -First officer on a regional carrier

“We tell passengers what they need to know. We don’t tell them things that are going to scare the pants off them. So you’ll never hear me say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we just had an engine failure,’ even if that’s true.” -Jim Tilmon, retired American Airlines pilot, Phoenix

“The Department of Transportation has put such an emphasis on on-time performance that we pretty much aren’t allowed to delay a flight anymore, even if there are 20 people on a connecting flight that’s coming in just a little late.” -Commercial pilot, Charlotte, North Carolina

“The truth is, we’re exhausted. Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break. That’s many more hours than a truck driver. And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can’t pull over at the next cloud.” -Captain at a major airline 
What We Want You to Know

“Some FAA rules don’t make sense to us either. Like the fact that when we’re at 39,000 feet going 400 miles an hour, in a plane that could hit turbulence at any minute, [flight attendants] can walk around and serve hot coffee and Chateaubriand. But when we’re on the ground on a flat piece of asphalt going five to ten miles an hour, they’ve got to be buckled in like they’re at NASCAR.” -Jack Stephan, US Airways captain based in Annapolis, Maryland, who has been flying since 1984

“The two worst airports for us: Reagan National in Washington, D.C., and John Wayne in Orange County, California. You’re flying by the seat of your pants trying to get in and out of those airports. John Wayne is especially bad because the rich folks who live near the airport don’t like jet noise, so they have this noise abatement procedure where you basically have to turn the plane into a ballistic missile as soon as you’re airborne.” -Pilot, South Carolina

“At some airports with really short runways, you’re not going to have a smooth landing no matter how good we are: John Wayne Airport; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Chicago Midway; and Reagan National.” -Joe D’Eon, a pilot at a major airline who produces a podcast at flywithjoe.com

“I may be in uniform, but that doesn’t mean I’m the best person to ask for directions in the airport. We’re in so many airports that we usually have no idea.” -Pilot for a regional carrier, Charlotte, North Carolina

“This happens all the time: We’ll be in Pittsburgh going to Philly, and there will be a weather delay. The weather in Pittsburgh is beautiful. Then I’ll hear passengers saying, ‘You know, I just called my friend in Philly, and it’s beautiful there too,’ like there’s some kind of conspiracy or something. But in the airspace between Pittsburgh and Philly there’s a huge thunderstorm.” -Jack Stephan

“You may go to an airline website and buy a ticket, pull up to its desk at the curb, and get onto an airplane that has a similar name painted on it, but half the time, you’re really on a regional airline. The regionals aren’t held to the same safety standards as the majors: Their pilots aren’t required to have as much training and experience, and the public doesn’t know that.” -Captain at a major airline

“Most of the time, how you land is a good indicator of a pilot’s skill. So if you want to say something nice to a pilot as you’re getting off the plane, say ‘Nice landing.’ We do appreciate that.” -Joe D’Eon

“Cabin air is not as dirty as people think. A portion of the air is recirculated because that helps to reduce humidity. But it’s run through hospital-quality HEPA filters, and it’s actually cleaner than the air found in most public buildings.” -Patrick Smith, commercial pilot and author, askthepilot.com

“No, it’s not your imagination: Airlines really have adjusted their flight arrival times so they can have a better record of on-time arrivals. So they might say a flight takes two hours when it really takes an hour and 45 minutes.” -AirTran Airways captain, Atlanta


When to Worry “It’s one thing if the pilot puts the seat belt sign on for the passengers. But if he tells the flight attendants to sit down, you’d better listen. That means there’s some serious turbulence ahead.” -John Greaves, airline accident lawyer and former airline captain, Los Angeles

“There’s no such thing as a water landing. It’s called crashing into the ocean.” -Pilot, South Carolina

“A plane flies into a massive updraft, which you can’t see on the radar at night, and it’s like hitting a giant speed bump at 500 miles an hour. It throws everything up in the air and then down very violently. That’s not the same as turbulence, which bounces everyone around for a while.” -John Nance, aviation safety analyst and retired airline captain, Seattle

“Is traveling with a baby in your lap safe? No. It’s extremely dangerous. If there’s any impact or deceleration, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose hold of your kid, and he becomes a projectile. But the government’s logic is that if we made you buy an expensive seat for your baby, you’d just drive, and you’re more likely to be injured driving than flying.” -Patrick Smith
 
When Not to Worry

“Pilots find it perplexing that so many people are afraid of turbulence. It’s all but impossible for turbulence to cause a crash. We avoid turbulence not because we’re afraid the wing is going to fall off but because it’s annoying.” -Patrick Smith

“People always ask, ‘What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you?’ I tell them it was a van ride from the Los Angeles airport to the hotel, and I’m not kidding.” -Jack Stephan

“I’ve been struck by lightning twice. Most pilots have. Airplanes are built to take it. You hear a big boom and see a big flash and that’s it. You’re not going to fall out of the sky.” -Pilot for a regional carrier, Charlotte, North Carolina

 We Don't Get It

“Most of you wouldn’t consider going down the highway at 60 miles an hour without your seat belt fastened. But when we’re hurtling through the air at 500 miles an hour and we turn off the seat belt sign, half of you take your seat belts off. But if we hit a little air pocket, your head will be on the ceiling.” -Captain at a major airline

“If you’re going to recline your seat, for God’s sake, please check behind you first. You have no idea how many laptops are broken every year by boorish passengers who slam their seat back with total disregard to what’s going on behind them.” -John Nance

“There is no safest place to sit. In one accident, the people in the back are dead; in the next, it’s the people up front.” -John Nance
Advice for Nervous Fliers
“The smoothest place to sit is often over or near the wing. The bumpiest place to sit is in the back. A plane is like a seesaw. If you’re in the middle, you don’t move as much.” -Patrick Smith

“If you’re a nervous flier, book a morning flight. The heating of the ground later causes bumpier air, and it’s much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon.” -Jerry Johnson, pilot, Los Angeles


What Really Drives Us Crazy
“Please don’t complain to me about your lost bags or the rotten service or that the airline did this or that. My retirement was taken to help subsidize your $39 airfare.” -Pilot, South Carolina

“Here’s a news flash: We’re not sitting in the cockpit listening to the ball game. Sometimes we can ask the controllers to go to their break room to check the score. But when I fly to Pittsburgh on a Sunday afternoon, the passengers send the flight attendants up at least ten times to ask us the Steelers score.” -Commercial pilot, Charlotte, North Carolina

“I am so tired of hearing ‘Oh my God, you’re a girl pilot.’ When you see a black pilot, do you say ‘Oh my God, you’re a black pilot’?” -Pilot for a regional carrier


Those Silly Rules, Explained
“We don’t make you stow your laptop because we’re worried about electronic interference. It’s about having a projectile on your lap. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get hit in the head by a MacBook going 200 miles per hour.” -Patrick Smith
“People don’t understand why they can’t use their cell phones. Well, what can happen is 12 people will decide to call someone just before landing, and I can get a false reading on my instruments saying that we are higher than we really are.” -Jim Tilmon

“We’re not trying to ruin your fun by making you take off your headphones. We just want you to be able to hear us if there’s an emergency.” -Patrick Smith

“We ask you to put up the window shade so the flight attendants can see outside in an emergency, to assess if one side is better for an evacuation. It also lets light into the cabin if it goes dark and helps passengers get oriented if the plane flips or rolls over.” -Patrick Smith
 
It's Not All Glamour Up in the Air
“When you get on that airplane at 7 a.m., you want your pilot to be rested and ready. But the hotels they put us in now are so bad that there are many nights when I toss and turn. They’re in bad neighborhoods, they’re loud, they’ve got bedbugs, and there have been stabbings in the parking lot.” -Jack Stephan

MRO Industry Grappling With Engineer Shortage

The maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry needs to boost the size of its workforce to cope with the world’s growing feet of aircraft at a time when engineers are coming under increasing pressure on the job, making the industry less attractive to new recruits.
“This industry is 24/7 and has a harsh demand on a person’s time,” says Alex Choo, assistant honorary secretary of the Singapore Institute of Aerospace Engineers (SIAE), as well as a qualified engineer.
Choo was addressing delegates Nov. 2 at AVIATION WEEK’s MRO Asia conference and exhibition in Singapore.
He says the shortage of skilled and qualified maintenance engineers means those that are in the industry are being required to work longer hours.
Choo says many MRO firms are trying to make up for their staff shortfall by poaching from other MRO companies. The other tactic MRO firms are using is to recruit maintenance engineers from the air force or related industries such as the marine industry, he says.
But a longer-term solution is to get schools to include aerospace in their curriculum, he says, referring to both vocational training colleges as well as high schools.
Kingfisher Airlines Maintenance Instructor Chander Mohan Bhatia told delegates that the global economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 saved India’s airline industry from experiencing an acute shortage in engineers as well as pilots and cabin crew. But he says now that the airline industry is picking up again—and aircraft orders are being filled—we are going to get a shortage of manpower.
Even if MRO firms train new people, it takes one and a half years for these recruits to get up to speed and become useful, he adds. He also stresses that the MRO industry needs to ensure it recruits people with the right attitude and aptitude.
The need to attract more people in the industry has added impetus in Singapore because the local authorities have forecast that the city-state’s new MRO hub, Seletar Aerospace Park, will create 10,000 jobs over five years, says Choo.
03/11/10 Leithen Francis/Aviation Week

Pilot Recruitment at RYANAIR

Flight Crew minimum requirements

Requirements for Pilot applications: You must speak fluent English, posses a current Class One Medical and EU passport without any restrictions (applications are accepted from citizens of the accession countries which joined the EU in 2004).There is no cost for the assessment and there are no additional simulator costs for rated captains.
Current Vacancies:
Direct Entry 737 Rated Captains - Pilots who have at least 3,500 hours total flying time, a minimum of 2,000 hours on a Multi-crew, Multi-engine aircraft weighing in excess of 20,000kg with an established airline, a minimum of 800 hours (Pilot in Command) PIC on a medium jet aircraft in excess of 20,000kg and 500 hours PIC on the B737-300 to 900 series may be considered for direct entry command. Applicants must also hold a valid JAR-FCL or an EU National Licence. If you meet these requirements and would like to register your interest, please apply by clicking on the following link: https://frd.ie/pilot/pilot.html
Please note this link is for applications from Captains who meet the above criteria. Applications from candidates who do not meet these criteria will not be processed.
Cadets – (No airline experience)
If you hold a JAR Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), have completed the theoretical knowledge for the ATPL(A) licence, hold a certificate of satisfactory completion of an MCC course and have a valid multi-engine instrument rating you can apply online at CAE (www.cae.com/cts/ryanair) or Oxford Aviation Academy (www.bfsaa.se) to register your interest for our Cadet Programme.


Ryanair is an equal opportunities employer. Applications for employment can only be made through the channels detailed on this website. Applicants who canvass (by phone, direct contact or through existing employees) will be disqualified. Please note that due to the high volume of assessments, Ryanair operates a policy of not providing reasons or explanations to unsuccessful applicants after assessment.

Bomb found in Dubai sent on passenger planes

Dubai: One of two powerful bombs mailed from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues traveled on two passenger planes within the Middle East, a spokesman for Qatar Airways said Sunday. The US said the plot bears the hallmarks of Al Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen.
    The airline spokesman said a package containing explosives hidden in a printer cartridge arrived in Qatar Airways’ hub in Doha, Qatar on one of the carrier’s flights from the Yemeni capital San’a. It was then shipped on a separate Qatar Airways plane to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, (UAE)where it was discovered by authorities late on Thursday or early on Friday. A second, similar package turned up in England on Friday.
    The airline spokesman did not give any timeframe for the two flights.
    In Washington, President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism adviser said Sunday that authorities “have to presume” there might be more potential mail bombs like the ones pulled from planes in England and the UAE.
    Al Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen is suspected of mailing the bombs. The group was behind a failed bombing on a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas that bore some of the same hallmarks as this plot.
    In Yemen on Sunday, police were searching for additional suspects after arresting a female computer engineering student suspected of mailing the packages and also detaining her mother. Both arrests were on Saturday.
    U.S. officials said suspects in the plot include the bombmaker suspected of designing the explosive used in the failed Christmas airliner bombing.
    The bombmaker is a key operative in Al Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AP