Not for me either. Not glamorous, not enticing, not interesting.
I suppose I feel strongly about this because I had a roommate who flew with TWA, and a sister in law who flew with American. The airlines drug them thru the dirt over all the years they flew. Sigh.
I actually haven't flown since before the pandemic but I've heard all kinds of stories. I mean, flying wasn't flawless even before lol. I used to do 3 or 4 trips a year and never loved the chaos of airports.
Sorry you had such an awful time. Air travel these days is so hectic, and the staff are all under a huge amount of pressure. Even if you fly, you rarely have time off in another country. My aunt was an air hostess in the UK in the 1960s. It was very different. She had a couple of days off between each flight, often in another country. As a wedding present the airline gave them a round the world ticket!
Hola! A friend was desk manager at Mexicana Airlines in San Francisco, and more or less ran MX's SFO reservations office. But when push came to shove and there was a dissatisfied or jacked up customer, Sherry got called to handle. The story is wild--the woman and husband lived in Puerto Morelos, and she'd just get hyped when she flew. So her husband just called Sherry and there at the counter for all to see, Sherry had to talk her down, fun job, no? But the weird thing is--Sherry ended up eventually retiring and moving to PM, became real not pretend friends w. Joanna and Lucky (yes, really) and pal'ed around together. Joanna is a piece of work still, but they are no longer in PM. They'd bought their house without a title (these things happen) and had to split. Sherry retired long before MXcana went bust. And lives happily in another part of MX, and maybe those earlier days were a little easier, no testing, less people, etc. This was the 90s.
Wow, that sounds like a <dream> job. Not. I would have quit too.
The Covid testing. Those swabs were the worst.
All of us oilfield guys got swabbed every 2 or three days for the duration. This went on for months. If you tested positive they hazmatted you out of there, along with all of your immediate reports/contacts/ office mates. If you didn’t drive yourself to work that morning, a special bus with plexiglass dividers would pick you up and you’d be dispatched back home with another batch of the recently diseased.
It happened to me. I was quarantined on site 3 days until the bus arrived. It did feel like the apocalypse. They took away all of our rights and didn’t even bring coffee in the morning. I was so pissed off about the coffee.
I had the same dream! And then a 30 hour position in the airport lounge opened up with my fav airline.
I don’t end up going for the job, and I’m so glad I didn’t. We’ve had opportunities to travel, some for for my hubby’s work. And with my kids now gone, it feels like we can do more spontaneous weekend trips.
If I had the job, I would be working weekends and odd hours.
It’s funny how we imagine a job being a certain way but then we get into the training process and look around, wondering where everything went wrong, and how we misunderstood the job description so disastrously. I wonder what the failure/success rate is for that role.
Right? I thought it would be so awesome. It would be a work-from-home thing where they come in and custom set up your office with all the gear required. In hindsight, I was just desperate for a job after a year of post-pandemic unemployment. The reality was that I'd never have been able to afford to live on their wages. And with the metric tonne of information we had to learn, it wasn't even worth the money.
The way you wrote this felt like I was right there with you. Since I love to travel as well, I've often looked into airline jobs but never followed through. Thanks for sharing so I don't have to.
Working in a call center trying to straighten out airline reservations sounds like appropriate punishment for certain political miscreants I can think of. This explains why I'm always nice to gate agents and ticket counter folks, because I truly don't know how they face their jobs every day. As for the glam flight benefits — since my son is a major carrier pilot, my hubs and I get passes, but it means flying standby, which means we've sometimes been left standing by the gate while the plane full of paying passengers took off. If you like suspense with your travel, maybe that's another benefit ;-)
Lol Jan, coincidentally, I've been a buddy pass partner too. A friend of mine worked for Air Canada. I've experienced my fair share of being stranded halfway to somewhere. The stress almost wasn't worth it 🙄
What a great career your son has, though. That's brag-worthy!
Oh, I brag every chance I get, about both my boys (the other one is, ahem, the VP of Digital Marketing for the Space Foundation). Maybe it helps that I raised them on Star Trek ;-)
What could go wrong with a highly condensed training program for a stressful job😠 I'm thinking it could have been a different experience and you might have had a job you enjoyed (but not as much as the one you have now!)
I don't think that would be for me either. I would have a problem remembering codes in rapid fire too, especially under duress. Good for you for trying. I probably wouldn't have even gotten that far. I wanted to be a nurse but when I watched medical shows on television, the doctors would bark out orders rapid fire to nurses and I know I just couldn't do that -- I would end up killing someone for sure. Great post.
Isn't it funny what we think we'd like to do? When i was a teenager, I wanted to be a criminal lawyer but as soon as I realized I'd have to defend guilty people, I was like NOPE.
That would be me too. Retaining information as a rep for an airline sounds daunting. Good on you for trying. I once met a gal who knew a bunch of empty nesters and retirees who worked for Alaska Airline for the flying discounts. I looked at their job board and there were no openings. I imagined Mercer Island (fancy area) moms sipping their lattes from their built in espresso and frother machine, upgrading folks because they were nice to her on the phone. Haha.
Thank goodness now I don't have to wonder what the job would be like. My hands get clammy just driving someone to the airport. As white-knuckle flyer, I can't imagine actually doing a job like that.
Not for me either. Not glamorous, not enticing, not interesting.
I suppose I feel strongly about this because I had a roommate who flew with TWA, and a sister in law who flew with American. The airlines drug them thru the dirt over all the years they flew. Sigh.
So glad you escaped this fate.
I gotta be honest, it has never (and will never) dawned on me that working for an airline is any way, shape or form, or form prestigous.
These days, I find flying an airline complicated enough. Can't even IMAGINE the stress of working for one. Thanks to you, I don't have to!
I actually haven't flown since before the pandemic but I've heard all kinds of stories. I mean, flying wasn't flawless even before lol. I used to do 3 or 4 trips a year and never loved the chaos of airports.
At their best (which is so incredibly rare), I love airports.
Sorry you had such an awful time. Air travel these days is so hectic, and the staff are all under a huge amount of pressure. Even if you fly, you rarely have time off in another country. My aunt was an air hostess in the UK in the 1960s. It was very different. She had a couple of days off between each flight, often in another country. As a wedding present the airline gave them a round the world ticket!
Wow yah, I bet the 60s were a completely different ballgame! I have friends who have made careers as flight attendants and they seem to love it.
Hola! A friend was desk manager at Mexicana Airlines in San Francisco, and more or less ran MX's SFO reservations office. But when push came to shove and there was a dissatisfied or jacked up customer, Sherry got called to handle. The story is wild--the woman and husband lived in Puerto Morelos, and she'd just get hyped when she flew. So her husband just called Sherry and there at the counter for all to see, Sherry had to talk her down, fun job, no? But the weird thing is--Sherry ended up eventually retiring and moving to PM, became real not pretend friends w. Joanna and Lucky (yes, really) and pal'ed around together. Joanna is a piece of work still, but they are no longer in PM. They'd bought their house without a title (these things happen) and had to split. Sherry retired long before MXcana went bust. And lives happily in another part of MX, and maybe those earlier days were a little easier, no testing, less people, etc. This was the 90s.
Wow, that sounds like a <dream> job. Not. I would have quit too.
The Covid testing. Those swabs were the worst.
All of us oilfield guys got swabbed every 2 or three days for the duration. This went on for months. If you tested positive they hazmatted you out of there, along with all of your immediate reports/contacts/ office mates. If you didn’t drive yourself to work that morning, a special bus with plexiglass dividers would pick you up and you’d be dispatched back home with another batch of the recently diseased.
Omg lol. The way you described that 🤣 Hazmatted out on a special bus. Very apocalyptic!!
It happened to me. I was quarantined on site 3 days until the bus arrived. It did feel like the apocalypse. They took away all of our rights and didn’t even bring coffee in the morning. I was so pissed off about the coffee.
As you should be!!!
I had the same dream! And then a 30 hour position in the airport lounge opened up with my fav airline.
I don’t end up going for the job, and I’m so glad I didn’t. We’ve had opportunities to travel, some for for my hubby’s work. And with my kids now gone, it feels like we can do more spontaneous weekend trips.
If I had the job, I would be working weekends and odd hours.
And also working for just above minimum wage.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks for sharing yours as well! I suppose airline jobs are not all they're cracked up to be lol.
It’s funny how we imagine a job being a certain way but then we get into the training process and look around, wondering where everything went wrong, and how we misunderstood the job description so disastrously. I wonder what the failure/success rate is for that role.
Right? I thought it would be so awesome. It would be a work-from-home thing where they come in and custom set up your office with all the gear required. In hindsight, I was just desperate for a job after a year of post-pandemic unemployment. The reality was that I'd never have been able to afford to live on their wages. And with the metric tonne of information we had to learn, it wasn't even worth the money.
Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that Julie!! I actually love flying and really wanted the job for the perks. But not enough to stick this out.
Ooooph, you really made me feel the high stress of that! A Covid test, daily?????! Gah 😩 No thanks to all of that!
Yes, DAILY!!!! It was awful!!!! Definitely not worth getting put of bed early for.
The way you wrote this felt like I was right there with you. Since I love to travel as well, I've often looked into airline jobs but never followed through. Thanks for sharing so I don't have to.
Hahaha maybe it wouldn't be miserable for everyone but honestly, it just wasn't for me 🙄
Working in a call center trying to straighten out airline reservations sounds like appropriate punishment for certain political miscreants I can think of. This explains why I'm always nice to gate agents and ticket counter folks, because I truly don't know how they face their jobs every day. As for the glam flight benefits — since my son is a major carrier pilot, my hubs and I get passes, but it means flying standby, which means we've sometimes been left standing by the gate while the plane full of paying passengers took off. If you like suspense with your travel, maybe that's another benefit ;-)
Lol Jan, coincidentally, I've been a buddy pass partner too. A friend of mine worked for Air Canada. I've experienced my fair share of being stranded halfway to somewhere. The stress almost wasn't worth it 🙄
What a great career your son has, though. That's brag-worthy!
Oh, I brag every chance I get, about both my boys (the other one is, ahem, the VP of Digital Marketing for the Space Foundation). Maybe it helps that I raised them on Star Trek ;-)
How lovely, Jan. Although, with you for a mom..I'm not surprised 💖
So sweet of you to say that, Kristi -- but I don't take credit for their accomplishments. That way I don't have to take blame either ;-)
What could go wrong with a highly condensed training program for a stressful job😠 I'm thinking it could have been a different experience and you might have had a job you enjoyed (but not as much as the one you have now!)
So true, Donna. It was Westjet and I'm pretty sure they were just panicking to restaff ppst-pandemic. But ugh, the information overload!!!
Also, they pay absolutel garbage 🤣 I wouldn't have survived long without some kind of other part time job.
I don't think that would be for me either. I would have a problem remembering codes in rapid fire too, especially under duress. Good for you for trying. I probably wouldn't have even gotten that far. I wanted to be a nurse but when I watched medical shows on television, the doctors would bark out orders rapid fire to nurses and I know I just couldn't do that -- I would end up killing someone for sure. Great post.
Isn't it funny what we think we'd like to do? When i was a teenager, I wanted to be a criminal lawyer but as soon as I realized I'd have to defend guilty people, I was like NOPE.
That would be me too. Retaining information as a rep for an airline sounds daunting. Good on you for trying. I once met a gal who knew a bunch of empty nesters and retirees who worked for Alaska Airline for the flying discounts. I looked at their job board and there were no openings. I imagined Mercer Island (fancy area) moms sipping their lattes from their built in espresso and frother machine, upgrading folks because they were nice to her on the phone. Haha.
Great essay.
Lol!! That could be a reality show 😁
If this job had been flight attendant, maybe I'd have stuck it out but that call center chaos had to go.
Thank goodness now I don't have to wonder what the job would be like. My hands get clammy just driving someone to the airport. As white-knuckle flyer, I can't imagine actually doing a job like that.