Tokyo to Seattle to Anchorage to Colorado Springs to Killeen And Back To Seattle
As I write this, I am commercialing home on an Alaska Airlines flight. What a week it has been! I flew from Tokyo, Japan to Seattle, landing around 9 am. Several of us were only home for rest for about 10 hours before showing up to the next flight. Even though we were home, I refer to this as my “Seattle layover.” We had an overnight flight from Seattle to Anchorage, which is only a few hours but we were still recovering from the jet lag from the Japan trip so we were exhausted. The layover in Anchorage was about 21 hours of sleeping. No getting up for the company paid breakfast. No going out to enjoy the snow or find food. Nothing but sleeping before getting up to head out & do it all over again when we flew from Anchorage to Colorado Springs to Killeen, Texas, where we then ground transported three hours to DFW before flying back to Seattle. The exhaustion is real but at least I’m heading home. In all, this duty day is over 21 hours so when that happens, the company is obligated, per our contract, to allow us to put a meal on our company credit card & to provide an in base hotel so that we don’t have to drive after such a long day. I love the meal vouchers because I like to apply them towards something pricey that I might not get otherwise! Like the time I was in Honolulu at Five Star Poke and I ordered the biggest, most expensive poke option with the ginger lemonade.
As we arrived at the airport prior to heading to the plane, we became aware of several schedule changes. Some of the flight attendants, including our lead, were no longer on the flight. Additionally, our travel department made a mistake with our start time so we were really late to the aircraft. Fortunately, some of the other fight attendants had ferried in on the plane so they were already there & could get the ball rolling on the daily preflight operations.
Since our purser called out, someone had to fill that role. The ask for volunteers and then if no one wants to do it, someone will be assigned. I love to be acting purser so I said yes right away. The only downside was that this decision was made when I was practically on the plane so I had no time to prepare and get organized. People don’t realize what goes into being a flight attendant and even moreso when it comes to the purser role. It wasn’t my first time flying as acting purser so I at least had a little context for what I was getting into.
Overall, it was a good trip. The purser works closely with the pilots, and all the pilots were great! I’d worked with some of them before but some of them were new to me but I actually genuinely enjoy getting to know our Captains & First Officers. They’re generally less drama than some of the flight attendants. We had an inflight supervisor on board, who filled in as a flight attendant on the trip so we would be staffed appropriately. He was my R1, which means we were working side by side, which was beneficial to me because he’s a great resource for me to utilize but it also made me second guess myself on a lot of my decisions that I would have otherwise been confident in making. There were several flight attendants on the airplane who were very senior to me & didn’t want to fill the purser role for the trip & they were all extremely encouraging & supportive of me in the role. They don’t like the responsibility because they don’t feel like the pay differential is enough. I feel the opposite! I mean, sure, a bigger pay differential would be nice but I love the responsibility & the learning opportunity it provides. Its good preparation for if & when I decide to apply for a purser role but it also helps me to become a better flight attendant because I have to know or find the answers and I have to be prepared for any given scenario, emergency or otherwise.
I feel like the first leg of the trip was a little messy as I got my act together but after I was able to get organized, and the rest of the trip ran smoothly, exhaustion & all.
The cool thing about my job is we are a charter airline who flies the military so as I looked around the aircraft, I was surrounded by a sea of members of the airforce in their fatigues. I never stop being impressed by it. My favorites are the Marines! When they board in uniform & have their weapons, there’s a very specific process that goes into making sure all weapons are accounted for & I enjoy watching it. No marines on this flight though!
There was a little drama on the trip but… these things happen. When you fly with so many flight attendants, with so many different personalities, in sometimes intense situations, and the days are long & tiring, you’re bound to have personality clashes & issues. It is what it is! Everyone maintained their professionalism and we were all able to power through the trip.
Now, I head home & am reminded of the camaraderie that flight attendants share, regardless of which airlines we work for or how long we’ve been in aviation. I always wear my flight attendant badge, even when commercialing, because it makes for a smoother airport experience but it also lets the working flight attendants know that, “hey, I’m one of you! We’re in this together!” Sometimes, you have a crew who isn’t impressed but more often than not, they take extra great care of us & this flight has been no exception! As soon as I saw down, the AFT flight attendant asked if I was also a flight attendant. During the flight, my crew & their crew chatted, comparing upcoming trips and they were so kind to all of us, giving us Meditteranean snack boxes, cheese trays & sandwiches as no cost, just to be nice. I love it when we’re fortunate enough to have a crew who shows us kindness after our long days! I remember flying home on Qatar Airways, from Qatar to Seattle, and they handed each of our flight attendants HUGE bags of snacks to take with us & were so accommodating to us, Qatar to Seattle is a serious long haul so they understand our life!
Now, five of us are on this plane, sitting through turbulence & about an hour away from landing in Seattle. One of us went home to Dallas. Two are heading to Baltimore for another trip. I honestly don’t know where our supervisor ended up! Soon, I will take a shower to wash the day away & climb into my big King sized hotel bed where I’m sure I will sleep for many hours.