Cabin Crew Confidential

Buckle up!

Hi I am Ava Sky,

I will take you on my journeys across the globe and tell you stories that only the 'insiders' will know.

I am talking about being a cabin crew member for almost 10 years.

I have been a journalist with a Political Science degree, a diploma in aromatherapy, owned my own business and yes finally became an International cabin crew member. The best days of my life.

Our training and screening, to become a cabin crew member, was ruthless and tough.

I applied for a prestigious airline on the dare of a friend.

I was enjoying my work as a national journalist, but times were changing and the work in the 'field', covering murders, rape court cases and rescueing animals from poor areas, were getting more dangerous by the day.

So me and my friend applied. It was a magical call from the airline, inviting me for an interview with me to a board for some intimating and testings questions.

What is weight and height and do you have any eating disorders or addictions?? I was a bit thin at the time, because of my vegeterian diet, but heaven thanks they sent me to testing my mathematical and written skills.

After that thorough medical tests were conducted, including blood tests to detect any drug abuse.

Now the waiting started for the airline board of directors to decide who will make the cut...

I received a call from a clerk at the airline base to report for training the following week. I was more than elated and danced in my apartment with my dog in my arms. Nut crazy doesn't explained what I did that day.

If only I had known what the training involved.

The studying and subsequent exams that followed was much heavier than my degree studies.The airline terms used, was also foreign to most of us. I started feeling really dumb.

"Arm the doors, double check and double cross, deflate the shute." What the freak is a shute and how do you arm a door with no guns?

we had to study the outlay and equipment of all the various aircrafts we had in the fleet, which included Boeing and Airbus. They were all different. My favourite has always been the Boeing 737, a smallish aircraft that was really sturdy and flew us safely during storms and heavy winds.

The practical training started in a huge hanger with a coverted Boeing 747' s body.

It had fire alarms, built in smoke and yes the shute we deployed to the floor of the hangar.

Ava Sky