What cabin crew REALLY think about you: Secret life of flight attendants revealed... including the hashtags they use to let off steam about badly behaved passengers
- Cabin crew swap horror passenger stories and brag over lifestyle online
- #crewlife #passengershaming #bringingbacktheglamour popular hashtags
- Anonymity and alcohol blamed for passengers' bizarre in flight behaviour
- Insiders share the highs and lows of a life in the sky with MailOnline Travel
Despite
ever growing reports of flights plagued by rowdy stag parties or
fights erupting over seating etiquette, the lifestyle of the flight
attendant still exudes the glamour and mystique of the 1960s golden era
in commercial aviation.
Through
social media flight attendants are now lifting the lid on their most
lively and unexpected cabin crew experiences. Typing #crewlife
#passengershaming and #flyingfeet into Instagram and Twitter unlocks a
world of celebrity encounters, crew confessions, drunken skirmishes and
the barefoot bandits that blight the aisles.
Some
of the industry’s most outspoken insiders have revealed to MailOnline
Travel the highs and lows of a life in the sky and how online
camaraderie ensures that the global community is more connected than
ever.
Scroll down for videos
On Instagram, Passenger Shaming reveals the passengers you don't want to sit next to on a flight
This picture posted to Passenger Shaming shows the debris cabin crew were left to deal with on a flight
A relaxing flight: Man spreading is taken to the next level up in the skies
‘No
flight is ever the same. You never know what to expect when you walk on
board. Every day is an adventure,’ Heather Poole flight attendant and
author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers, told MailOnline Travel.
‘Who
wouldn't want to spend a few days in New York or Paris or lying on a
beach in the Caribbean and get to stay in some of the best hotels?’
added Dan Air, the name behind Confessions of a Trolley Dolley which has more than 73,000 fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Dan
has worked as cabin crew for more than 10 years for a UK bases airline
and told MailOnline Travel: ‘The cabin crew community is far and wide.
‘Both
the blog and my social media are a place for cabin crew to come, have a
laugh, share their pictures and stories. I also share lots of old
pictures of the "jet-set" era with our #BringingBackTheGlamour
pictures,’ said Dan.
Air stewards also upload pictures of them enjoying their professions in the sky with tag #crewlife
Disgruntled flyers took to social media to post a photo of a person clipping their fingernails on a flight
Outlining
why the life of a flight attendant fascinates many, Poole explained:
‘It's not just a job, it's a lifestyle, which is why it's hard finding a
partner who can handle not just me, but my job - my life. It's a
strange, but wonderful, nomadic life.
‘Even though we're surrounded by hundreds of passengers, it can be a lonely lifestyle.’
Which is why social media is connecting and exposing the profession even more than ever.
‘Flight
attendants are big time social media users. It makes it easier to keep
up with our family and friends when we're all over the place, on totally
different time zones. Or when we're just too tired to talk because
we're all talked out after a four day trip,' added Poole.
Unsightly: Blocked sinks are a common sight for flight attendants to contend with
Head over feet: Feet placed anywhere but the ground dominated Passenger Shaming on Instagram
Happy holidays: Cabin crew were left a colourful surprise by a presumably young traveller
#Passengershaming
and #crewlife are popular hashtags dominating the cabin crew internet
used to tag gorgeous locations, views from the flight deck and more
often than not to share the bizarre requests, nudity and postures
adopted on board by passengers.
The New York-based former flight attendant Shawn Kathleen, who set up the Rants of a Sassy Stew blog
seven years ago and who invented the Passenger Shaming Instagram and
Facebook feed, has well over a quarter of a million people subscribed to
her feeds.
Ms
Kathleen says that she receives hundreds of pictures of scantily clad,
messy and inconsiderate travellers each week with the majority coming
from other passengers.
Limbs infringing on other people's space is a common Instagram complaint
Exposed feet are one of the most common complaints on Passenger Shaming's Twitter account
'The
people we discuss are a small number of people in the travelling
public. Luckily you meet some great people on the job and feel that you
can make a connection with passengers sometimes,' explained Kathleen to
Mail Online Travel.
Discussing
the oddity of some travellers, Kathleen recalls a time a passenger put
their query light on at 35,000ft to ask her if the plane was moving.
Feet frequently make an appearance where they shouldn't in photos on Passenger Shaming
Nothing seems to be off limits in the air, report flight attendants
Dan
said: ‘A lady asked me as we were cruising at 39,000 feet how the
emergency slides reached the ground. She believed that the slides could
be inflated from up there and reach the ground.’
‘One
time a passenger asked me if he could borrow my dental floss. That kind
of freaked me out. I mean where else in the world would you feel
comfortable enough to ask a complete stranger for something from their
toiletry bag?' asked Poole.
Limbs akimbo: Passengers will sprawl in any position to ensure that they are comfy on a flight
Total debris: Food, cutlery and tin cans smeared all over the carpet of this aircraft
A man sprawled out with his trousers undone as he sleeps on board a plane
Behind
the pristine uniforms and dazzling smiles, there is a darker side to
the profession which Poole blames on anonymity freeing passengers to act
anti-socially on flights.
‘On
a flight nobody knows who they are. They're not in their regular
circle. If someone cuts them off at drop off at school, they're not
going to freak out and flip the other parent the bird. Because they'll
see them again. People will talk. But on a plane...
‘Also
social media has made people internalise things more. Instead of
talking to people, each other, working thing out, passengers would
rather take to air their grievances. They get angrier and angrier as
they type,’ said Poole.
On Twitter members of the profession share humorous memes and GIFs
Sense of pride: Despite highlighting their gripes online, most air stewards revel in their role
Dan also expresses concern over the growing number of incidents and cabin crew abuse caused by intoxicated passengers.
'Now
we all enjoy a drink when we're going on holiday or catching a flight.
But the states some people get into is appalling and the abuse we often
get is unacceptable.'
The
online aviation community’s sharing is mostly light-hearted with many
of them acknowledging a love and sense of privilege at their sky high
profession.
Poole
noted: ‘It’s a gift and an education. It makes you realise you're not
the only person in this world, your way isn't the only way. It opens the
mind, and in turn the heart.‘
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