Air travel would not be nearly as comfortable if flight attendants were not responsible for the comfort of passengers. At the same time, work in this profession is considered quite prestigious and highly paid. Therefore, many young girls want to work as flight attendants. Let's find out how much Russian flight attendants earn at Aeroflot.

Main responsibilities of flight attendants

But first, let's look at the basic duties that a flight attendant must perform.

A flight attendant is also officially called a flight attendant. For the first time, employees serving passengers in aircraft cabins appeared in Germany in the late 20s of the last century, and in the 30s in the USA, girls began to be involved in this work. This, in fact, is how the profession of a flight attendant arose.

The responsibilities of a flight attendant include the following tasks:

• passenger service;
• maintaining cleanliness in the salon
• coordinating the actions of passengers or their evacuation in case of an emergency;
• informing passengers.

Due to the specifics of the job and the likelihood of foreign passengers in the cabin, a flight attendant serving international flights must be fluent in English. In addition, any flight attendant is required to have certain knowledge of the rules of behavior in the air, the structure of the aircraft, and etiquette. Representatives of this profession must be physically and psychologically comfortable with flying by air, and also have a high level of self-control.

An applicant for a flight attendant position must meet certain physical parameters (height, weight, age). An acceptable age for a flight attendant is up to 30 years and a height of 165–175 centimeters. So, due to the specific parameters of the aircraft cabin, tall girls cannot be flight attendants. Although there is no mandatory condition for a flight attendant to have a higher education, reputable companies only hire employees with one. But studying at flight attendant school is mandatory for absolutely everyone.

Work at Aeroflot

Aeroflot is deservedly considered the largest and most prestigious airline in Russia. This company is the very first organized in our country. Its history dates back to 1923. Aeroflot has 161 aircraft at its disposal, and including its subsidiaries, 260 aircraft. This air carrier operates the largest number of flights in Russia. Despite the fact that the company is considered commercial, the controlling stake is owned by the state.

Among other things, Aeroflot is distinguished from its main Russian competitors (Transaero, S7 Airlines, UTair, etc.) by the most acceptable working conditions, as well as for full-time flight attendants and pilots. Therefore, many applicants for the position of flight attendant want to work at Aeroflot. But, as practice shows, it is quite difficult to get there, because everyone knows how high the competition is for this vacancy, and the selection is quite tough.

What does salary depend on?

The salary of any Russian flight attendant, including Aeroflot, depends on a number of factors. A significant influence on a flight attendant's income is the total length of service and the number of hours flown. The greater their size, the greater the salary. Those employees with less than 80 hours of flight time receive the company's minimum wage.

A very important factor influencing the salary is the absence of complaints from passengers. After all, if there are justified complaints, the flight attendant immediately loses the right to a bonus.

Flight attendants who serve international flights earn more than their colleagues who work exclusively on domestic flights. In addition, they receive additional pay for speaking English. True, this knowledge must be periodically confirmed in special exams.

One of the most important components affecting the income of flight attendants is the financial policy of the company in which they work towards its employees. That is, there are airlines that pay more than others, but there are also those that try to save on employee salaries.

Salary at Aeroflot

Now we have come close to the main question that interested us, namely, how much money do Aeroflot flight attendants receive? The average salary of a flight attendant at this company is 50 thousand rubles per month.

The salary of new flight attendants who do not yet have the required flight hours varies from 20 to 30 thousand rubles. But, as soon as they fly the required 80 hours, the income increases sharply. The minimum salary for full-time flight attendants with the required number of flight hours is 40,000 rubles and, under certain conditions, can even reach 90,000 rubles per month.

Additional bonuses

In addition to the basic salary, the Aeroflot company can award its employees a number of additional financial bonuses and bonuses in case of high-quality and exemplary performance of their immediate duties.

A flight attendant has the right to a significant discount when flying on company aircraft if she is flying as a passenger. This discount can reach 90% of the ticket price.

In addition, she has the right to a guaranteed flight once a year to any point in the world where there is passenger air service.

How are your competitors doing?

Now let's find out how much a Russian flight attendant earns while working for Aeroflot's main competitors in the air transportation market. The earnings of a flight attendant at Transaero vary from 15 to 70 thousand rubles per month. Moreover, the income of employees with the required number of flights starts from 30,000 rubles. At UTair they earn even less: from 15 to 60 thousand rubles per month.

Comparison results:

We found out how much money a flight attendant earns at Aeroflot and at the main competing companies. It can be stated that earnings at Aeroflot are significantly higher than those of competitors. This is facilitated by the company’s prestige, dominance in the air transportation services market and the support of government agencies, which are the company’s main shareholders.

The income of Aeroflot flight attendants significantly exceeds the average monthly salary of the population in Russia as a whole. Therefore, it is quite logical that the majority of applicants for the position of flight attendant want to work in this prestigious airline, which provides its employees with a high level of wages.

@alenastewardess

Flight attendants are the people who, together with us, make it possible for humanity to travel by air. They are the ones who do everything to make the flight comfortable, and the passenger to be well-fed, energetic and satisfied with life. It is they, and not anyone else, who will come to the rescue and calm you down when, surrounded only by clouds, and you begin to panic due to shaking, and also feed you, bring a glass of water and a blanket with a pillow.

So let's look at them, at these beautiful, brave and hot air guides.

1. Alena, @alenastewardess

Alena is an Aeroflot flight attendant who blogs on Instagram and Youtube. In addition to the fact that she delights subscribers with her stunning photos, the flight attendant publishes very useful posts: about why the taste of food becomes different, talks about aerophobia and “prepares” passengers for flights.

2. Kayla, @ohmykaylagirl_k

This is exactly the one that comes to you in your fantasies, we found it. Asian beauty, combining Thai and Chinese blood, posts photos from which you can gradually turn from an aerophobe to an aerophile. She also surfs.

3. Evelyn, @evelinxmartin

Evelyn is a cheerful, bright girl who is only 21 years old. The Englishwoman works as a flight attendant and also maintains her own beautiful and cheerful blog, in which she talks about her life in general. The only negative is that she does this, of course, in English; but even without understanding the captions you will enjoy her page.

4. Christina, @kristinacheh

Christina is in “Victory” and delights her subscribers with photographs from the most beautiful places. You can also find out some interesting facts about the work of flight attendants on her page. For example, did you know that their vacation lasts as much as 70 days? She also has incredible tattoos on her thighs.

5. Nerea, @believendfly

And this is Nerea Martinez, a flight attendant from... Have you forgotten what we're talking about here yet?

This is a flight attendant from Barcelona, ​​Spain, and looking at her photo you can really forget that we are talking about heaven here.

6. Yana, @______yan4ik______

Ukrainian beauty stewardess.

7. Irina, @avokhsi

One can, of course, only envy the Aeroflot company, because their flight attendants are incredibly beautiful, smart, positive and self-possessed girls. One of them is Irina. And she's not the last!

8. Christina, @kristinastewardess

Christina, who is also from Aeroflot, passionately loves her job and periodically devotes her posts to it. For example, after an 8-day break, Christina was already pining for her favorite job, she writes that she loves to take care of every passenger:

“...meeting and serving passengers, helping mothers with children and passengers with disabilities... and I like it all so much!”

9. Victoria, @vikmichailova

A girl with an exotic appearance, delighting passengers and Instagram users.

10. Galina, @galinochkin

Another incredibly beautiful flight attendant at Aeroflot who travels around the world. On her page live photos from the most distant and legendary places: New York, Bali, Miami, and everything you can only dream of!

11. Hannah @hannawillroth

American Hannah not only works as a boat attendant, but also does fitness, surfs, walks in the mountains, in general, lives to the fullest.

14. Mariam,

The profession of a flight attendant is often associated with beautiful, smiling girls who do nothing but fly from one part of the world to another. Not everyone can get such a “dream job”, and it actually doesn’t have many positive aspects. Candidates for the role of flight attendants must have excellent health and a whole list of certain qualities and skills. And before you take off on your first flight, you will have to undergo special training and master skills from a dozen related specialties.

What does it take to become a flight attendant?

The qualities that flight attendants must have relate to personal characteristics, appearance and acquired skills.

Flight attendants usually hire people with certain external characteristics and between the ages of 18 and 35. The height of future on-board service employees is limited to the range of 165-190 centimeters. Girls' clothing size should not be larger than 46.

Airlines give preference to pretty, well-groomed people. There should be no visible tattoos or piercings on the body, at least in areas exposed while wearing the uniform. It is also preferable to have hair of at least medium length so that it can be easily collected into the hairstyles established by the corporate style.

Among the acquired skills, the most common requirement is knowledge of languages. A future flight attendant should master at least English. On international flights other languages ​​are often required. At the same time, you must speak clearly and distinctly; speech impediments and an unpleasant voice are unacceptable for a flight attendant.

A person must have a higher or at least secondary specialized education in the field of transport services or related ones. Experience in this area will not be amiss. During the training, you will also have to partially master the roles of a firefighter in order to be able to localize and extinguish a fire, a paramedic to provide first aid, a rescuer to evacuate passengers in emergency situations, and others.

In addition, the candidate for the position is an excellent swimmer and stays afloat. He has no criminal record, but he has a foreign passport, excellent health and an extensive list of positive personal qualities:

• punctuality so as not to be late for a flight
• stress resistance, which will allow you to maintain calm and a smile on your face in any situation, for example, when
• attention to detail to maintain a high level of service and the ability to notice danger in time
• tolerance and diplomacy, which guarantee equal treatment of all passengers and quick, painless resolution of conflicts for the company’s reputation

Airline requirements

The requirements for flight attendants by some airlines are strict and sometimes a little strange. Aeroflot in 2017, because of them, he even found himself at the center of a scandal, when one of the current employees accused the carrier of discrimination due to restrictions on clothing sizes. Currently, in job vacancies, the company only specifies that applicants have at least a secondary education, excellent oral and written English in addition to their native language, communication skills, responsibility, and the ability to discipline themselves and others. But among the unofficial requirements:

• age restrictions - to start a career in this field, ideal candidates are considered to be people aged 18-26; experienced flight attendants are allowed to join the company up to 35. In fact, by the way, these limits are more flexible
• good figure, which allows you to wear a uniform from sizes 42 to 48, and average height - 160-175 centimeters

Look at the review of training at the Flight Attendant School at. The author tells what subjects students master and how the process is organized.

S7 accepts people who have graduated from at least college for flight attendant training. Applicants must have an Intermediate level of English or higher. And among the required personal qualities there are the same as those, plus resistance to stress and the ability to work together with a team.

British British Airways There are no age restrictions for flight attendants - such requirements for vacancies are prohibited in the country. But girls should not have visible tattoos, piercings or hair longer than shoulder length. The carrier also has strict requirements for the ability to float on the water - its onboard service employees swim at least 50 meters.

IN Emirates Previously, people who were born exclusively in the territory were hired. Applicants had to demonstrate knowledge of the history of their country and “fit” into breast size requirements. According to the rules of admission, it does not exceed 75C.

And this is not the most surprising thing that employers can demand. TAM Airlines accepts flight attendants with jungle survival skills. Jet Airways And Lufthansa prohibit newcomers to the field from tying the knot with anyone. And here Aigle Azur refuses women whose hips exceed 100 centimeters.

How and where training takes place

Flight attendant training takes place directly at airlines and in specialized educational institutions. In state Russian universities and technical schools, the faculty is called in the spirit of “Service in Transport”, “Service in Air Transport” and involves obtaining higher or secondary specialized education in this field. You can master a similar profession in:

• Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation
• St. Petersburg State Civil Aviation Administration
• St. Petersburg ATU GA and their branches throughout the country
• Flight attendant school

In Belarus, such courses are organized by Belavia, and in Kazakhstan, Air Astana allows you to undergo training.

In terms of timing and cost of training, it is better to take courses with air carriers

You won't have to pay for airline courses. Admission to training guarantees employment. On it, according to the contract, in subsequent years you will compensate for the preparation costs. The duration of the courses is limited to 4-6 months, while in technical schools it takes 1-2 years, and in universities – 4-6 years.

Before starting training, future students, in addition to collecting standard documents, must undergo a medical and flight commission. It places quite stringent requirements on the health of flight attendants. Companies are looking for applicants without chronic diseases, with perfect teeth and vision, physically developed, resilient and able to withstand overload.

After enrolling in an educational institution, future specialists become familiar with the training process, which is divided into 2 blocks: theoretical and practical. Much more is allocated for the first time. During the course, flight attendants learn how to serve different types of passengers, including rowdy or unaccompanied children, learn to evacuate people in all sorts of conditions, provide assistance and even deliver babies. Also in schools, students are introduced to the art of makeup in order to always look presentable, and take express English courses with an analysis of standard and conflict situations.

At the initial stages of practice, future specialists hone their skills on simulators that simulate real aircraft. At the end of the course, after passing the exam, flight attendants also train in real flights. As soon as a person accumulates 30 hours of test flights, he is transferred to the main staff of the company and sent into the skies as a more or less experienced employee.

How to arrange international flights

To fly abroad with a Russian airline, you will have to obtain a separate permit. Students receive a certificate of the opportunity to work on international flights after training on simulators of suitable airliners and simulators that test the body for endurance in an environment similar to the conditions of long flights. In some airlines you will take it right away, as part of the main course. If such a program is not provided, you will have to travel abroad and study there.

The work of a flight attendant has always been surrounded by an aura of romance and mystery. Boys and girls dreamed of becoming flight attendants or air hostesses, because the opportunity to travel is the dream of any child. And in the dreams of a grown-up child, this is also an opportunity to travel for free.

Many girls, dreaming of becoming flight attendants, see this as an opportunity to get married successfully, boys - just to see the world. But these dreams do not always coincide with reality, because The work is difficult both physically and mentally and is not always compatible with the understanding of normal family life. But, nevertheless, the dreams of many come true - they get this job and do not regret it. So how to become a flight attendant, and what is the salary of a flight attendant in Russia and in other countries?

Average salaries of flight attendants on aircraft

The salary of flight attendants is much higher.

table 2

Average all-Russian salaries of flight attendants

Benefits for flight attendants

• Receiving a percentage of the price of goods sold on the plane.
• The vacation lasts 42 days (up to 70 days on some airlines).
• All employees and their relatives have a discount on flights with the company.
• A flight attendant/steward has the right to a free flight to any region of the world once a year.
• Responsible employees receive additional bonuses.
• Pregnant flight attendants are not fired, but transferred to ground staff. After maternity leave and returning to work, they are given a “refreshing course” so that they can remember all the nuances of work.

Positive aspects of being a flight attendant/steward

Negative aspects of the profession of a flight attendant/steward

• Long business trips.
• Physical activity (you have to stand a lot, pressure changes, time zone changes, walking in heels).
• The need to combat air sickness is a consequence of turbulence.
• The mood should always be good, even if you come across a “difficult” passenger.
• Serious airlines do not hire people without experience.
• Problems may arise in family life.
• The birth of a child may be at risk.
• than ships sink or trains derail, but in any case a person swims better than he flies.

How much do flight attendants earn?

Salaries in different countries

If we compare the salaries of Russian flight attendants/stewards and foreign ones, the difference is visible to the naked eye (Table 3).

Table 3

Salaries of flight attendants in different countries

How much do flight attendants earn in different countries?

Salary in different airlines

To understand how the salary of a flight attendant/steward is determined, let’s give an example of the requirements for working in business aviation:

Education	higher, specialized secondary, knowledge of language (English), correct speech.
Employment	combination, shift work
Previous work experience	service sector, flight attendant in business classes
Required compulsory training (2 weeks)	educational program “Luxury and VIP service in business aviation” with a certificate
Responsibilities	luxury level service on charter flights, VIP service, ordering meals, aircraft equipment and order in the cabin, 2 weeks work - 2 weeks off.
Salary	2-4 thousand euros per month, daily allowance – 5-7 thousand rubles. in a day
Special conditions	concluding an agreement with a foreign company, flying around the world

The average salary of a flight attendant depends not so much on the country, but on the airline and its popularity in the world (Table 4).

Table 4

Airline	Salary of a flight attendant/steward (per month)
S7 (Siberia, Russia)"	25-70 thousand rubles.
Utair (UTair, Russia)	from 30 thousand rubles.
Ural Airlines (Ural Airlines, Russia)	70 thousand rubles.
Emirates (Emirates, United Arab Emirates)	160-180 thousand rubles
Azur air (Russia, Azur air)	70 thousand rubles.
Air Astana (Kazakhstan, Eir Astana)	120 thousand rubles.
Qatar Airways (Qatar)	2300-2500 dollars.
Pobeda (“Pobeda”, Russia)	60 thousand rubles.
UIA (Ukraine International Airlines)	15 thousand hryvnia
Lufthansa (Germany)	2-7 thousand euros

Where do future flight attendants study?

• Airlines are announcing a competition for flight attendant positions.
• After passing the interview, the applicant is sent to a medical examination.
• In case of successful selection, a referral is issued to courses paid for by the company, which last from two to three months.
• A stipend is paid during your studies.
• If the exams are successfully passed, 30 hours of work with an instructor begin. After this, a preliminary permit is issued, and later a permit to work independently. A flight attendant/steward receives an entry level of experience – 3rd class.
• Training can be carried out independently and at personal expense. The search for work also occurs independently.

In February of this year, several Aeroflot flight attendants filed a lawsuit against the airline. The reason is alleged discrimination and infringement of the labor rights of flight attendants due to their appearance. According to the flight attendants, Aeroflot carried out mass photography and collected data on the clothing size of flight attendants, and then announced that “only the young and thin” would be able to work on international flights. According to airline representatives, such requirements are fair, because flight attendants work “on an aircraft with limited space” and for each additional kilogram of flight attendant weight Aeroflot has to pay 759 rubles per year. Inde spoke with an anonymous flight attendant about whether there is discrimination in airlines based on the external appearance of flight attendants, how to calm down an inappropriate passenger, where the food left after the flight goes, and why flight attendants cannot wear a beard or sew up their clothes.

Models vs. astronauts

I was 19 years old. I’m originally from Tatarstan, but from the age of 16 I lived in Moscow and worked as a model in a small agency, which allowed me to earn good money and travel. After three years of work, I wanted to quit everything and leave there, without giving up a good salary and travel. I accidentally saw an advertisement on TV about recruiting for a flight attendant school and decided to call.

I studied in Moscow at Aeroflot - this is one of the few Russian airlines that independently trains its employees. The admission process is simple: first you submit an application, then you go through the casting and start studying. Of course, there is also a flight attendant school in Kazan, but at first I didn’t trust it because I didn’t understand whether their certificates would be valid in airlines, and whether I could get a job if I completed training here. I felt calm at the thought that after training I would immediately get a job at Aeroflot. Such convenient conditions impose certain restrictions on you: according to the contract, you must work for the airline for a specified amount of time, and if this does not happen, you must pay a penalty. I’ll say right away: I didn’t fulfill my contract.

The airline selects flight attendants two to three times a month: it depends on the season and the overall need for specialists. The first mandatory rule of casting is the dress code: you need to wear classic clothes - a strict white shirt, a black skirt, preferably a pencil skirt, closed black heels about seven centimeters high. Aeroflot also asks you to take red high-heeled shoes with you: they have a dress uniform. Makeup should be moderate: soft lipstick, small eyeliner, calm manicure. Long hair must be tied up and short hair must not extend below the collar line due to safety requirements. From jewelry - only stud earrings and wedding rings.

When I went through the casting, there were about 70 applicants - both girls and boys. Everyone is tall, slender, beautiful, and nervous, as if they had come to an audition for a modeling agency or a movie shoot. You go into the commission’s room, hand over a completed questionnaire and answer a variety of questions - about yourself and behavior in simulated situations. Often interviews are held in English and you are given tasks based on flight practice. Therefore, if you are going to the selection, study at least the terminology - what emergency doors, fire extinguishers, oxygen masks, and so on are called in English. If you do not have professional knowledge, then most likely the commission will focus on the external data of the applicant. Some time after the interview, you are contacted by phone and informed of the result. I don’t know how many people were taken from my stream then.

After the casting, you begin training. You need to go daily to the training center, which, as a rule, is located near the airport, and during the first two months undergo a major medical examination. In total, you need to take about 20 short- and long-term tests. Almost all of them are paid, you have to do them at your own expense. Tests cost a pretty penny. For example, eight years ago it cost me 15 thousand rubles. But I was glad to know that everything was fine with my body. Many of the tests need to be confirmed every six months and year, which means there will be new costs. True, they are already carried by the airline you work for.

At some stage of the medical examination, it begins to seem that you are going to be an astronaut: you are also forced to run and swim. We don’t have standards like doing 20 push-ups in a minute or running a kilometer. But physical stamina is essential for a flight attendant to even open the plane door for passengers and carry heavy food carts. If you fail the medical examination, there is no point in studying further: this means that you are not suitable to work as a flight attendant due to health reasons. If you pass the medical examination, it means that for the duration of your studies you will be provided with a hostel near the airport and a scholarship - approximately the average salary by Kazan standards.

The average length of training is six months, but this varies depending on the airline and the type of aircraft you are studying for. At Aeroflot, training lasts longer due to service standards. Transaero flight attendants, who were trained for the Imperial class, had to know all the basics of etiquette and food presentation. They could study for a month what wine goes with what food, how to set the table, and so on.

Future flight attendants are trained in aircraft qualifications, taught medicine, life safety, service and maintenance, document management, cargo transportation, etiquette, professional English, emergency instructions and psychology - for a better understanding of people's behavior in various situations. This is necessary for quick response in stress, emergency or emergency situations. The flight attendant must exercise sound judgment and prevent panic among passengers. We practice landing an airplane on water in a training pool, and crashing on land in a special hangar. We are not taught to fight: we resolve conflicts with words, without the use of physical force. My basic qualification is Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, the most common aircraft models. If you want to fly big planes, you will have to retrain. Basic qualifications were enough for me, because we were also given knowledge on other types of ships - after all, the airline trains employees for itself. When I changed airlines, I had to fully relearn Airbus and other service standards. First aid is more or less the same on all airlines, but the service requirements vary. Each requalification costs approximately the same as a medical examination. It turns out that before you go to work and earn money, you have to invest a lot. At the age of 19, it seemed to me that with the money spent I could have bought a car a long time ago.

Tights as an amulet

The flight attendants are divided into groups: some fly only to Europe, some fly throughout Russia, some fly to neighboring countries, some fly only in business class. This is done to make it easier for airlines to form crews. With Aeroflot I flew on domestic routes, and occasionally I got flights like Moscow - Rome. I found out about my flights from the flight attendant service. As a rule, flight attendants work there who were forced to return to earth for various reasons - for health reasons, age. They monitor your schedule, documents, warn you about an upcoming medical examination and check your condition before departure.

Flight attendants are superstitious, just like pilots. Before a flight, you should never sew: sew up holes, sew on buttons - for yourself, your family, and ask someone else to do the same. Flight attendants never say the word “last” - only “last”. In addition, everyone has their own quirks: someone leaves the house in a certain way, someone stirs their tea clockwise. My tradition is to carry a lot of tights with me, three or four pairs. This is the main consumable of flight attendants. I don't like it when tights have snags.

My working day began at the airport two hours before my flight. If you live near the airport, you can get to work straight away in uniform - this is not prohibited. The main thing is that upon arrival you have a clean and tidy appearance. You arrive at the flight attendant service and must be fully prepared for the briefing (meeting before the flight - Inde's note) - dressed, made up, manicured. It’s not enough to look good: you need to have all the necessary documents with you - passes, certificates, permits, passport. Every flight you get into a new team and get to know everyone again. The staff of large airlines like Aeroflot is huge. During your work, you may not cross paths with the same person on the team twice. Colleagues said that they met only after ten years of work, and before that they had never flown with repeat people.

“We are not taught to fight: we resolve conflicts with words, without the use of physical force”

At the briefing, the crew is told about the upcoming flight and responsibilities are assigned. After that, you go to clean up the plane before accepting passengers. Of course, we don’t wash toilets on airplanes: special services do the cleaning. We only check the quality of cleaning to ensure that there are no unnecessary items in the cabin or candy wrappers in the pockets of the seats in front. Each flight attendant in the crew has his own area of ​​responsibility. Some take luggage, some take food, some meet passengers.

I don't want people to think that flight attendants bring tea, coffee, meat or fish: the main responsibility of flight attendants is to ensure the safety of passengers on the aircraft. If something goes wrong, we answer for it with our heads. When we arrive on the plane, we check the presence of first aid kits and fire extinguishers, the operation of the stairs and other equipment. Everything must be clear, because you are responsible for people’s lives. If emergency situations arise on board, then after landing, proceedings begin, including legal proceedings. Even if the passenger himself is to blame for the incident, the blame will fall on the flight attendants. I was lucky and there were no serious incidents on board during my work. True, one day a passenger smoked in the airplane toilet and threw the cigarette into the trash can. Of course, he received a reprimand from us and a stern warning: if the situation repeats, the passenger will be handed over to the police at the airport at the place of arrival. But later there was a small fire. We successfully extinguished it and prevented any danger to passengers and the flight. We discussed this situation for a long time at the post-flight briefing, thought about how to prevent similar cases in the future, analyzed our mistakes and, of course, received a severe reprimand from our superiors.

If the flight duration is less than eight hours, the crew remains on the plane. We see off passengers, check for forgotten items, take care of cleaning, then immediately accept new passengers and fly back. If the flights went well, then the flight attendant’s working day ends after the command of the senior flight attendant. The crew is taken to the airport building, where a post-flight briefing takes place: we analyze our mistakes, emergency situations, we are told how many hours we have flown, and go home.

If the flight duration exceeds eight hours, the crew is accommodated in the city of arrival. We see off passengers, check for forgotten items in the cabin, seal equipment, fill out the necessary documentation and put the plane in order. Then we hand over our positions to the senior flight attendant, and the plane is locked and left in the parking lot. The crew is taken to the airport building through the service entrance, where we go through passport and visa control. Our things are looked through, just like passengers’ things, it just happens in a separate corridor, usually without a queue and a little more loyally - for example, they won’t bother us if they find nail scissors in our hand luggage. But in general, the same rules apply to the crew as to all passengers. Then we go to the post-flight briefing, after which the crew is taken to the hotel. As a rule, we are accommodated in small, most often non-tourist hotels, where flight attendants of our and sometimes other airlines mainly live. The crew knows how many days they will spend in a particular city: perhaps we will only spend the night and fly out the next day, or maybe we will have a couple of days and can take a walk here.

Flight attendants' days off are calculated not by day of the week, but based on the length of working time. It may turn out that your day off starts at six in the morning and ends at six in the evening, and by 20:00 you need to be at work. During this time you need to sleep, recover and get to the airport. You are given twice as much time for rest as the duration of the flight. Flight attendants do not have holidays: they always work.

Career growth at Aeroflot seemed to me something difficult and incomprehensible: I had to fly a certain number of hours and pass a language exam. And two years later I left to work at Transaero - everything was simpler there. Transaero was then the second most important company that inspired my trust. But my career didn’t work out there either, although the flight geography was better and there were more opportunities. I wanted something more - to work in the best class, to fly to better destinations. I knew that I could pass the language exam and undergo training, but since I was a new employee, I had to fly a certain number of hours. I was not ready to prove something to the employer and start all over from scratch.

After Transaero, I went to Nordwind Airlines, a small Russian charter airline. Its main flying season is from May to October. We took passengers to resort countries like Turkey and Thailand. On one of the business trips, they simply forgot about our crew: the plane was faulty, it was sent for repairs, and we were sent to a hotel. We wrote, called the airline, and ended up stuck in Turkey for three months. It’s fun to work in a charter company: you know everyone, everyone knows you. This is a kind of family. From time to time you fly with the same people, start making friends with them, and see each other on business trips. But besides the pros, there are also cons. In a large airline you are just a working unit, in a charter airline you are a working unit about which everyone knows everything: where you looked, where you went, and so on. Everyone loves to chat and gossip, but I didn’t like it. You could learn a lot of unexpected details about yourself.

Then I passed a difficult casting at Emirates, but didn’t go to fly there: according to the contract, you have to live in the UAE for a long time without going home. Emirates has a very rigorous interview process: four stages, all in English. I was worried and prepared, although I have a good level of English. Then I decided to go on a contract with the Spanish airline Iberia: you work for six months and have six months off. I lived in Spain, flew mainly to Asia, but there were also flights to Russia. After this work, I realized that I was completely tired. On the first New Year, which I celebrated not in the air, but on the ground, I did not understand that people take two weeks of vacation.

In principle, I didn’t need a career as a flight attendant: I just wanted to save money for an apartment and travel. By the way, oddly enough, during my time as a flight attendant I was only refused an interview once - and that was at Tatarstan Airlines.

Red varnish and one uniform for three years

Flight attendants try to keep themselves in shape because many airlines have appearance requirements. It’s clear that no one is forcing you to be 90-60-90, but there are employers’ wishes regarding your build. This is simply explained by the need to maneuver and flutter with the cart in narrow aisles. Plus, if you take care of your health, it lasts longer. The flying profession leaves its mark in terms of harmfulness. If you don’t watch your diet, don’t exercise, not only will you gain weight, but you’ll simply lose your health, and therefore the ability to fly. The appearance standards of Aeroflot flight attendants were quite ordinary - soft makeup, hair in a bun, neat manicure. For comparison: in Transaero you had to wear red lipstick and red nail polish - it didn’t matter whether they suited you or not.

Guys should be clean-shaven and have short hair. You won't see bearded flight attendants or pilots: this is due to safety precautions. In the event of emergency situations involving combustion, the crew must wear special smoke-proof hoods and masks. If you have a beard, the protection will not be able to fit tightly to your face and neck, which will compromise its seal. You will not be able to extinguish the smoke and save people from the fire.

The flight attendants take care of the cleanliness of their uniforms themselves and send them for dry cleaning. Each airline has its own set of clothes, it can be summer and winter. But any of them must include a scarf with the airline’s symbols, a shirt, a cap, a jacket, a skirt, an apron for serving food, and somewhere else they give out trousers and vests. In some airlines, the uniform consists of a dress or even a national costume styled for work. European airlines also provide their employees with suitcases and bags, and Aeroflot - shoes to match the color of their uniform. Replace a set of clothes every two to three years. If the uniform is torn and cannot be repaired, then, of course, the flight attendant service will issue a new one, but this is a long process: they have to take your measurements, sew them, a lot of time will pass.

“On one of the business trips, they simply forgot about our crew: the plane was faulty, it was sent for repairs, and we were sent to a hotel. We wrote, called the airline, and ended up stuck in Turkey for three months.”

Childbirth on board and massage on request

The number of passengers on the plane varies depending on the flight. If you are flying to Turkey, there will be many shuttles with bags on board. If this is a morning flight from Kazan to Moscow, then businessmen rushing to a business meeting. Of course, on every flight there will be friendly passengers and boorish passengers. One day, a business class passenger insisted that I give him a massage. He believed that since he paid a lot of money for the ticket, it means that we should do whatever he wants. I thought he was joking. We tried for a very long time to convey to him that massage is not part of our responsibilities, but tea, coffee, strong and soft drinks are welcome.

Flight attendants do not have handcuffs, sleeping gas or an air marshal like in the US, but passengers are required to listen to us. True, there were times when I had to call the co-pilot to calm down the passenger. We may alert ground services, request an emergency landing at the nearest airport, and you may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. This will cost the violator a hefty sum: landing the plane and taking off again costs a lot of money, including fuel costs, maintenance, and penalties. Passengers think that flight attendants are joking about air police, landing the plane and being arrested, but this is reality. True, in my experience it didn’t come down to gags in the mouth.

For the rest of my life I will remember giving birth on the Moscow - Dubai flight. The pregnant woman in economy class felt uneasy throughout the flight, and we looked after her with special trepidation. 40 minutes before boarding, she said her water broke. I reported this to the senior flight attendant, and we alerted the ground services about the need for an ambulance. The girl screamed and went into labor. We transferred the closest passengers, since the plane was free, folded up the seats, and then took the pregnant woman to the kitchen, where we laid out blankets - there was more space there.

I had never delivered a child, and the foreman had already delivered two times by that time. Of course, we learned to do this in medical classes: flight attendants do not panic if there is a need to deliver a baby. Do you remember that according to the instructions you must first do step A, then B, and so on. Panic begins only after the emergency situation ends. I was shocked. After this incident, I don’t understand why women take men with them to childbirth. This should never be seen by anyone except doctors.

A little more - and the child would have been born. After landing, the woman was taken out of the plane on a gurney. There is a practice where children born on board are entitled to fly for free on the airline's planes. But this does not apply to this woman. She gave birth on the airfield in an ambulance. It is possible that the child was given UAE citizenship, although this is also controversial: the airport area is considered a neutral zone.

Cognac for flight attendants and the phenomenon of tomato juice

The food arrives on board the plane half-cooked, deep-frozen so as not to spoil. We heat it up in powerful ovens on the plane. By the way, the captain of the aircraft, flight attendants and passengers have different food for safety reasons: in case they want to poison someone. The crew has a different diet and larger portion sizes, because we are at work, and this is our full lunch. The meal always includes a hot dish, drinks (brands of juices, tea and coffee differ from those loaded for passengers), dessert, salad and always fruit - an apple or orange.

Food is loaded onto the plane in proportions that are calculated based on the flight route and other factors. If all passengers order the same type of lunch, there will not be enough for everyone. Most of all I liked flying from the UAE and Thailand. In the United Arab Emirates, the food is simply cooked to perfection, and in Thailand there are very tasty fruits - we don’t have pineapples like that.

As for drinks, the most popular juice on board is tomato juice; it runs out the fastest. For some reason, people love it more than others: perhaps taste buds work differently at an altitude of 10 thousand meters. The theory is confirmed by my friends: in everyday life they do not drink tomato juice, but during the flight they drink three glasses.

There is an opinion that it is better to drink rather than eat while flying: it is more difficult for the body to cope with food at an altitude of 10 thousand meters. The work of the receptors is activated, food begins to seem tastier, and you want to eat more. And the stomach has difficulty digesting food due to the pressure difference. However, the food on the plane is balanced, and you are unlikely to have time to gain weight from it.

The amount of food that is left after a flight is always different, but there is never a gigantic amount of extra portions: the airline tries to optimize its costs. There is a maximum of ten portions left from the entire plane. People generally love to eat on a flight - this is probably the only entertainment. All unused food goes into the trash. Food expires the moment the plane lands. You cannot reuse it, even if you understand that it is not spoiled. According to the job description, flight attendants do not have the right to take away remaining drinks or food. But there are times when you pour alcohol for a passenger, the bottle remains almost intact and it’s a pity to write it off. We are all human, and cognac is good. The most important thing is that no one ever finds out that you took the bottle with you. Because such a violation is punishable by a fine or dismissal.

Body positivity and a pension for ten years of work

Flight attendants do not have the concept of “retirement age”. You can work as long as you undergo a medical examination every six months and a year. If any of your health indicators are poor and cannot be treated, if you have a pathology and your body can no longer cope with the stress, then you are offered a job in ground services. To receive an increased pension, you need to fly a certain number of hours: this usually happens over eight to ten years of work.

I worked at Aeroflot with a flight attendant who was 55 years old. She was one of the instructors, taught classes and assessed our work. She could go into the cabin, chat with passengers and, for old times’ sake, even bring water to someone. If you don’t know her real age, then she could be given a much smaller number of years: she had a beautiful feminine figure, from the back it generally seemed that she was 90-60-90. The flight attendant was given away by her makeup: always a little smudged lipstick and “grandmother’s” mascara. She often said that in Soviet times, passengers were more cultured and reserved, and recalled how, during times of shortages, she brought a toilet with tiles from the Czech Republic for her apartment.

Impossibility of time management and occupational diseases

While working as a flight attendant, I began to get tired of life in Moscow, the lack of a standardized schedule and stability. I waited until I reached “retirement age” so that I could receive increased payments in the future, and I just made it through the hours. I so wanted to have a job with a schedule from Monday to Friday and understand that Saturday and Sunday are weekends that I can devote to myself. Being a flight attendant, you simply don’t understand when to make an appointment with the dentist, hairdresser, or go for a manicure. You can't take a day off on your birthday. If one of your colleagues gets sick, he has to be replaced, and the schedule collapses again. It is impossible to plan. Time doesn't belong to you.

The personal life of flight attendants develops differently: some get divorced, some are married, some have a child, and even more than one. Of course, you don’t see your family, you can’t plan a weekend with your husband or boyfriend. But if you are destined to meet your person, so be it. I know couples in which the husband is a pilot and the wife is a flight attendant, or both are flight attendants. These could work for different airlines. It was unclear to me how they juggled their schedules. But people somehow live and meet on business trips. Married couples rarely fly in the same crew: so that the child is not left an orphan in the event of a disaster.

The weak point of flight attendants is, of course, their legs: they constantly need to walk around the cabin, wearing high-heeled shoes, in addition, some types of aircraft do not fly horizontally, but at an angle. This is why many girls have varicose veins. Flight attendants also suffer from female diseases: pressure differences and radiation make themselves felt. Many girls, leaving work and wanting to get pregnant, face problems: they can’t do it for a long time, although their body is healthy and young. As for male flight attendants and pilots, there is an opinion that due to the destruction of chromosomes, only girls are born to them.

Another problem is that calcium is washed out of the body, teeth begin to crumble and bones become brittle. Many colleagues experience deteriorating hearing and a constant runny nose. This is probably due to the fact that my ears constantly get blocked during the flight.

Whim and necessity

In total, I worked as a flight attendant for nine years and got what I wanted as a flight attendant. Firstly, a lot of travel. I can’t say that I saw the whole world and went where I wanted. But 25 countries are also cool, I even managed to live somewhere. Secondly, I wanted to have my own apartment, which I achieved. After all the payments for housing, I even had money left over, which I easily spent on another pair of shoes or a trip to a pretentious, expensive bar. Now I won’t allow myself to be so chic. I don't know how much flight attendants earn now. Three years ago, wages began to fall due to the crisis. We were deprived of bonuses and our daily allowance was reduced. But if you flew with a good airline, not a low-cost airline, for many hours, you could count on an amount of 200 thousand rubles.

And finally. If the flight attendants ask you to do something or, conversely, not to do something, listen to them. There is no need to shout at the whole plane something like “hey, listen, bring some coffee” and snap your fingers as if calling a waiter. Do not jump out of your seats as soon as the plane has landed and is taxiing. Don't take your bags out early. One day, before my eyes, a man who was reaching for his hand luggage on the shelf, from a sharp push of the plane, fell on a guy sitting by the aisle and broke his arm, which was lying on the armrest. All requests from flight attendants are not their whim, but your safety.