Now, I am sitting on the sofa in the crew lounge and waiting my flight from Hong Kong to Chennai, India. Flight delayed again due to typhoon and flooding . I’ve been waiting for more than 3 hours.
Compared to the transit passengers who got stuck here, we lose nothing - once our duty hours exceed ( According to the law of Civil Aviation Department) , we will be released and go back home get another day standby. But passengers cant go anywhere and just wait. I totally understand how bad they feel when being stuck at outport.
Most of the flight attendants love long haul flights a lot such as 5-day patterns HKG- JFK / LHR/ SFO/ YVR etc because of long flying time and allowance( expenses offered by company). It sounds pretty cool right? Fly more then Earn more. Also we can go anywhere without paying for super expensive air tickets. For example, my family is in Vancouver and i just have to swap in any Vancouver flights for seeing them.That’s true! It really saves my extra time and money.
One more good thing is we don't really have to suffer from office politics very often (maybe just me haven't experience it) and no extra work after flights. Everyday you fly with different colleagues from different countries. If you are happy with them, then you guys can keep contact. Otherwise, you can keep silent until the end of flight and you guys won't see each other again ( of course still need to be sociable in front of the honorable passengers with your big smile and magic words). Those are the reasons I love my job.
At the same time, we always miss something important in our life due to many uncertainties. Just like I'm still upset about missing the last chance to see my beloved grandma on my way flying back home. You can't imagine how helpless I was when my phone finally got network after landing and I received a heartbreaking message from my mum 10hours ago. One time I almost missed my boyfriend’s art show in Vancouver because of aircraft problems in Hong Kong. I was almost pulled out from the flight. So lucky I could make it happen otherwise I would have missed something I looked forward to for long time.
I always break promises as well. Act like a liar - Always told my family how much I want to spend time with them at Christmas/ Chinese New Year / birthdays. but I never make it happen because I’m always somewhere else far away from home. There is always a crack in my heart I can never fix.
So, everyone!! Christmas is coming ! Hope you guys have great time with your family and enjoy every single fantastic moment with your beloved ones. Don't miss any more special and precious moments in your life.
Anyways, I'm still praying for the flight which can depart ASAP and for Chennai.
(Flooding in Chennai)
Have a great day MY FRIENDS.
Love,
Gladys
Please follow me @gladysmak if you wanna know more joys or hardships in my flying life
I'm always here to share my life and love with you. THANKS <3