A Day in The Life

A few posts ago I talked about how one of the most asked questions is, "Where is your favorite place you've been?" And while it still continues to be one of the most asked, I'm here to give my best attempt at answering another FAQ of this career - "What's a day in this job look like?"

Now - if you're any member of a flight crew, or work in aviation at all - you just laughed to yourself a bit because that is a nearly impossible question to answer and can often only be described in memes. Not a single two days are the same and rarely does the day go as planned when you wake up in the morning. I wake up in the morning feeling like P.Diddy and I end the day feeling (and looking) like Courtney Love. Did I just show my age?

I had someone tell me this weekend at a football game, that they "literally don't understand what I do," and I think even with 5 fewer Modelos and a few tequila shots, he still wouldn't have understood. And to be fair, some days I suppose I don't know what happened either.

So here is my best attempt at walking you through one of the viable options of what an average day for me as a private jet flight attendant looks like..wish us all luck.

The Best Part of Waking Up...is Folgers (hotel lobby coffee) in Your Cup

But honestly, Folgers is way better than the coffee some hotels provide. We do a lot of mid-later morning flights, so I do my best to be in bed at a decent time the night before because I'm now in my 30s. In a perfect world, my alarm is set for 6:30 because I am not someone who bounces out of bed. I need time to roll around and debate with myself whether or not I'm going to get up now or roll around a bit longer wishing I had gotten up for coffee.

I've really embraced the room or lobby coffee thing. I like to have one before I attempt to scour breakfast somewhere while I mindlessly scroll through social media. We do a good job of staying at hotels that have a solid breakfast and I am just not someone who likes to skip breakfast. I feel like garbage the entire day and it sets my stomach up for misery.

I so badly wish I was one to work out early in the morning because we never know how our day is going to unfold, but I'm just not that person. If we have an afternoon or evening flight, I will, but on this particular day, I won't. Instead, I'll shower, slick my hair back, steam my uniform a bit, and throw all of my miscellaneous things in my book bag or suitcase, most certainly forgetting something as that has now become my trademark. It was a running joke at WheelsUp...how many phone chargers did Lauren lose this week? Hopefully today it's not my catering that I Tetris-d into my room fridge. And HOPEFULLY, my fridge didn't decide to stop working in the middle of the night and warrant a 7 am Publix run.

The goal is to be in the lobby before my pilots, the reality is that they're both down there waiting in the car for me regardless of how early I manage to get down there. Passenger Princess mode engaged. Because I can't trust an FBO to have a newspaper (how dare they?) we run through a gas station to get one of everything knowing that the only paper to get used will be the USA Today.

PreFlight Cont.

We get to the jet and can anticipate our guests arrival like clockwork. My pilots are great about getting all of our luggage together and situated so I can focus on my preflight checklists. Do I have them? Yes. Do I use them every flight? I should, but the truth is I don't. When I do stop and slow down a bit, of course, I know they help. But now that I've been on the same account for almost 2 years, muscle memory has kicked in a bit.

Ice, papers, coffee, kick the pilots out of the galley, cabin preset, manually light up the cabin because the presets never work as they should, give the pilots something to do so they stay out of the galley, and put any catering I have away, in that order. The cabin is set up in a simple, yet clean way. Microfibers have wiped away any indication of people present, the Mrs' drink is chilled and set in her seat and the Mr's cup is preheating prior to his arrival next to the preferred newspaper and reading glasses.

Side story: It's funny...in this job, the littlest things make the biggest impact. For example - I started carrying Buckeye candies on board. Our crew and guests enjoy sweets so I thought this would be a small, but unique touch. As I noticed these started disappearing, I began placing them at their seat before they boarded and went about my day as usual. Nothing in particular was ever said about them until a few days ago, our owners had guests onboard and they asked to take some home with them. When they offered one to the host to hold onto he said, "Don't worry - I always have one ready for me at my seat." The little things matter, what you DO matters, and nothing goes unnoticed. This was a detail that was never asked for, yet enjoyed and has become customary and expected.

Are We There Yet?

Our guests arrive (when expected), pleasantries are exchanged (they are truly the best), and we waste no time and are on our way. An aspect of this job that has genuinely confused me is the extravagant welcome displays. While stunning, I want to know how long it takes to tear down and prepare for departure. Do guests hang out and enjoy before takeoff? I've only ever experienced that which is the convenience of private jet flying - which is hop on and GO! Maybe we're the minority here.

I hop in the jumpseat as it's my preferred spot, despite loving the passenger princess moments (which I currently am as I type away from the cabin), because I feel more connected to what we have going on. I enjoy listening to the radio, having a feel for the weather, traffic, and what to expect out of each leg.

At least 80% of our flights include some type of catering request, whether it's simply coffee and pastries or dinner service for the boss and guests. People who are not familiar with this industry are blown away when I tell them that most of my meals are prepared by me and I respond with, "You should see the work of a, b, and c flight attendants," because you all continue to impress me every day!! While I do appreciate that I can curate a meal for my guests by heart now that I have gotten to know them, it does present a unique challenge to continue to be creative while working within the parameters of their palette. But I make it work and often surprise myself.

The culinary department is where I feel the biggest sense of imposter syndrome as my most formal training was at the age of 4 when I remember my grandma teaching me how to scramble eggs from her kitchen on 48th St while I stood on a chair. Yet somehow...I find success. If you're reading this and have similar feelings, the best thing you can do is try. Practice. Go out to eat at different restaurants and take notes, and pay attention. Ask questions.

Post-Flight

We land, presumably at one of our most-frequented locations and I am consumed with another checklist to ensure that the coffee grounds DO NOT...and I repeat...do NOT go into the trash until it's ready to be taken out. Not my rule, but one I adhere to in order to keep the wheels on the bus (jet).

I do my best to leave the jet spotless as you never know what situation you're going to be walking into the next flight. Times change, guests can be added or subtracted, and the only thing constant is just that - change. My pilots are the best pilots and are a huge help when they know I have a lot to do. It's either because they're just helpful in their nature or they can't sit still, either way, I'm okay with it as they're just as particular as I am.

Just as when you're swapping jets and leaving them for the next flight attendant, leave the jet as you would want to receive it. In my case, I only have myself to blame if something is done incorrectly.

Rental cars are the top-3 least favorite things about this job and one of the pilots LIVES for a rental car, so he gets us to our hotel. They're also a gentleman and once we get to the hotel, they help me with the bags and I proceed to check in first. I'm pretty much always going to inquire about an upgrade because why not? It's so helpful if I have catering and have a space to prep. Hotel kitchenette catering prep is a real thing.

If I haven't worked out yet, I'll head to the gym immediately. No matter how short or long of a day, if I sit down it's game over and I know I won't do it.

What's my catering situation? More often than not - my standard stock is in good shape as I buy fresh before each trip. I'll pop into a Whole Foods if possible and grab what I need because I hate rushing in the morning. I'll convince the pilots to hand over the rental car keys and stay at the hotel. Sometimes their opinion in appreciated but when it's quick I like to go by myself to get in and get out.

After that we'll start making dinner plans fueled by the OOO app (you're welcome) and in our old age of 30somethings are ones that go out and grab dinner sooner than later. None of us are picky eaters so we see what's around and will eat anything from a dive bar chicken finger basket to..well anything else. Although if it's up to one of the guys, we'll scope out the nearest Thai.

Best case scenario I head to my room and turn on some trash TV and relax. Few things feel as comforting as being able to do your full skincare routine on the road, climb into a fresh bed and watch season 2 of The Office or Summer House.

Then we wake up and get to do it all over again.

What? Not exciting enough for you?

We don't wake up every day with a pop-up trip to Italy, nor do we always have catering blunders that make us swear off any and all catering companies on each continent. We always don't run the streets of Vegas and Miami until the sun comes up. 

As flight crew, we have such important jobs. And I don't mean that in a "look at me and what I do," way. I mean the. "people's lives are in our hands and it's really easy to get it wrong," kind of way. My friend Molly said it best, "Aviation is such a delicate industry. Built to survive the worst situations, but also it doesn't take much to really mess things up."

So that's what we spend the majority of our day doing - intentionally not messing things up.

Welcome to a day in my life as a private jet cabin attendant.