London, July 2 (ANI): Despite having a glamorous reputation since the early days of commercial aeroplanes, the jet-set lifestyle is rarely as exciting as it seems, a flight attendant has revealed.
Heather Poole has revealed in an article for mentalfloss that cabin crew can be fired if they get on a plane while ill and also divulged the secret of which drink that they most resent having to give passengers.
Poole, who has worked for a major airline for 15 years, points out that it is a lot easier to be sacked as a flight attendant than in most other jobs, especially during the six-month probationary period.
Attendants have been known to lose their jobs because of not wearing their uniforms properly, and abusing their 'free flights' privileges.
But more surprisingly, they can also be fired if they fly when they are too sick to work - even if they are flying with an airline other than their employer.
And if they do manage to hold on to the job, the problems they have to deal with range from cracking down on human trafficking to stopping people from smuggling dead bodies on board.
They also have to monitor the bathrooms to stop frisky passengers trying to join the notorious Mile High Club.
"If we ask you to stop doing whatever it is you're doing, by all means, stop!" the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.
The experienced stewardess uses her article to reveal which drink flight attendants most dislike - Diet Coke, whose fizz makes it so hard to pour that it takes three times longer to serve than other beverages.
And while cabin crew may seem to be calm and unruffled in the face of flight delays and cancellations, in fact they are just as furious as passengers.
This is because most airlines pay their staff only while they are actually in the air, giving them an allowance of just 1.50 dollars per hour when they are away from home but still on land. (ANI)