Air-hosting – where has all the glamour gone?

 

 

It used to be that every young woman aspired to become an air-hostess. The very name conjured up images of travel to exotic destinations, overnight stays in swanky hotels, and close contact with smartly-uniformed and handsome air crews and pilots.

And at one time these images might have come true because in those far-off days air travel was expensive compared with other forms of transport and most passengers were inclined to be business people or those from the higher income groups. And, generally speaking, this class of person was polite and friendly and serving them took little effort.

But fast-forward to the present and all is changed. Why? Because the 1990s saw the advent of the low-cost carriers, the budget airlines. and suddenly everyone could fly. And as fares went down so did the quality of the passengers.

So instead of being treated with the courtesy usually reserved for a woman, air-hostesses found themselves having to deal with coarse, rude, abusive, aggressive and often drunk people. And on short-haul flights the turn-around time was reduced to about thirty minutes so that the hostesses were forced to work on three or more flights a day – so much for visits to exciting, far-away places!

Thus in only a few short years air-hostesses previously envied and admired as examples of successful and sophisticated womanhood were reduced to the level of waitresses in a low-level bar, to be ogled and propositioned by every lusty (and drunk) passenger on the plane.

Needless to say, now that the former glamorous occupation has lost its allure, the attraction of working on a plane has been much reduced. But those who manage to survive a few years on budget airlines can make use of their experience to graduate to larger, better-known and national airlines which have long-haul flights, and which, because of their high ticket prices, have a better class of passenger, require less work, and offer more chance to rest. And with inter-continental flights there’s still the possibility of an overnight stop in that exotic city!