
A travel writer who went behind-the-scenes on a British Airways flight has opened up about her eye-opening experience. From discovering that some on-board tasks are harder than they look, to hearing their true feelings towards passengers' inappropiate behaviour, she shared what surprised her the most about working for the UK's flag carrier airline.
With reports of booze-fuelled antics on flights on the increase, Natalie Wilson said she was "surprised" to learn that "it's hard to cause scene with flight attendants in the sky".
Relaying what a flight attendant named David said to her, she wrote for The Independent: "[He said] Customers are my bread and butter. I need them there to do my job, so nothing actually winds me up that much.
He reportedly said to her: "We like it when customers are excited about flying."
The same cabin crew member also emphasised the importance of service to customers, adding: "Service is important but secondary; safety is behind the scenes."
While some passengers on flights have ruined the experience for others due to inappropiate behaviour, British Airways has specific policies regarding alcohol consumption in place to try and avoid this.
If a passenger's behaviour becomes disruptive due to alcohol consumption, the airline reserves the right to take necessary actions.
This can include removing the passenger from the flight or reporting the incident to authorities.
Staff also have the right to refuse passengers onto the flight if they are drunk or under the influence of drink or drugs.
Like other airlines, British Airways has experienced incidents involving drunk or disruptive passengers, though such occurrences are still relatively rare.
Natalie's analysis of her flight experience comes after a former cabin crew member shared a rarely-known, yet beneficial, secret about the airline.
Speaking to The Metro, Saskia Sekhri claimed that lots of airplanes have an on-board wardrobe - and passengers are welcome to use it.
She explained: "Most aircraft are fitted with wardrobes but it's not common knowledge - I'd say it's like the Narnia wardrobe, you only know if you're in the know.
"Crew may use the wardrobe to hang up their blazers or waistcoats during service, but usually we'd just store our belongings in the overhead lockers.
"If you look next time you're one of the first to board, you might notice bags already in the wardrobe with a red CREW tag."
Saskia does however point out that passengers are most likely to find a wardrobe on long-haul aircrafts, instead of short-haul ones that have less room.
She added: "It would usually be our more premium cabin customers that would ask to utilise the wardrobe, but I'd always offer to hang a long/smart coat up for any customer during boarding, there's nothing worse than a creased coat."
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