You Like WHAT About This Job?

Do you ever see someone performing a job and think, “How on earth do they do this every day?” Preschool teachers, accountants, and the customer service reps I converse with at Marriott when stays don’t get added to my account. There’s nothing WRONG with these jobs, I just could never do them, mostly due to a lack of patience and ability to do math.

I just recently moved and as someone who loathes (detests, despises, apparently learning what a thesaurus was in school proved helpful) the act of moving, I couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to do this day in and day out. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, but maybe only if my life depended on it, do that job for a living.

And then I thought to myself, as Carrie Bradshaw once did decades ago, do people think this about being private jet flight attendants? Do they watch what we do from afar and list in their minds every other job they would rather do than ours?

We absolutely have jobs that people couldn’t fathom doing for one day. And the reasons why they couldn’t, are the exact reasons why we wouldn’t imagine doing anything else.

The Whole “Flying” Part

“I don’t know how you fly all the time! I would be so anxious!” – quotes from friends and strangers alike who apparently would rather walk from Ohio to California and back rather than get on a plane. And this is far more common than I assumed.

I was so young on my first plane ride that I don’t think I actually remember much of it at all (except being completely wrong in my opinion of Biscoff cookies), how old I was, or where I was even going. (Let’s be honest we all know I was going to see the grandparents who moved to Florida and were going to take me to Disney World. Which, by the way, I found a Disney ticket from ‘99 and it was only $49 to get in… into the whole place.. of it.)

My spot in the jump seat, as far as I’m concerned, is the best seat in the house. It’s one of the reasons I love this job so much. I still get butterflies on takeoff, even if I know we’re just going to Dubuque. Or Milwaukee. Still exciting all the same. Although in the same respect, it feels so routine that I hardly notice that we’re taking off and flying 500mph at 42,000ft. Unphased.

I really don’t love long car rides, wouldn’t call myself a roadtrippin’ kinda girl, and that’s potentially why I like flying as much as I do. Why would I drive when I can go from Columbus to Santa Barbara sub 4 hours? Which is exactly why these private jets exist in the first place; impatient people and instant gratification (would basically be my Tinder bio if I had one).

Unpredictable Schedule

Considering 98% of those who work in private aviation are the definition of Type-A, it’s odd that this is part of the job that we tolerate, and in some cases…dare I say…enjoy?

The gamble of this unpredictable schedule is that you’ll either end up doing 4 nights in Antigua, or 4 legs in one day that land you in Fort Dodge doing karaoke with the locals into the wee hours of the night (hopefully avoiding food poisoning.) It’s landing in Fort Lauderdale thinking you’re done for the day, only for Dispatch to add just one more leg to Louisville while they pop their popcorn and wait for the pilot to call them saying “WHY I OUTTA!!!!”

It certainly keeps things interesting. Even with the account I fly on, we know most of our schedule months out, there are still changes as we sprinkle some charter in there. Departure times change, guests go from 2 to 8 then back down to 6 but it’s fine because you bought enough catering for 15 (even though your jet doesn’t even seat 15…you never know.) and hey! Can we have something sweet?

For me, it’s the unpredictability at work that makes the comfort of the routines at home tolerable and something I look forward to. The people who are unhappy at their jobs, riding the 9-5 carousel, who scroll through social media and daydream about “jet setting” from one remote luxury resort to another on what feels like an endless dime? Give private aviation a whirl…it’s kinda like that but not.

You’re Never Home

The same people I just described above, are the same ones who can’t believe that we like to be away from home as much as we are, or appear to be.

For the majority of us, this job isn’t forever. We’re here to enjoy the ride while it lasts and savor every moment (and by savor I mean walk around and view the world through our iPhone screen). And for others, this is the only world that they know and don’t have much to compare it to anyway.

Talk to anyone who has spent time in this industry and they can rattle off the numerous holidays and events that have been missed or postponed due to our off-the-wall schedules. It doesn’t matter if friends or family ask me if I can do something 2 days from now or 2 years from now the answer is always, “yeah maybe!” Because until I’m physically there I don’t know if I’ll actually be there.

The industry’s schedule also ebbs and flows. I’ve been home for weeks on end, and haven’t been home in weeks. I used to fly an 8/6 schedule and I always felt by day 4 1/2, it was time for me to head back out. There are busy seasons, slow seasons, island and mountain seasons each with their own unique cadence.

I know that it won’t be forever that I’m never home, but the feeling of jumping into your own bed, fresh sheets, and the temperature exactly how you like it – worth it every time.

Missing Family

Don’t you miss your family?

Does a one-legged duck swim in a circle?

Yes – I miss my family. But this job provides us with some unique benefits that we LOVE to extend to those we hold near and dear. Those hotel points and free nights we rack up? I gift them to my mom all the time so she can go and see all of the things. God knows we won’t ever use all of the points that we accrue! Long layovers? We get our loved ones out to meet us.

While we may not be able to spend ALL of the time we want with family and friends, we make the most of this by having opportunities at our fingertips and to provide them with experiences that may have only been in their dreams. So the next time aunt so and so wants to bring up that it’s been x amount of years since you’ve been home for Christmas, remind her of that spring break trip to south Florida that ALL of Facebook knew she enjoyed. (Not that we would ever rub something like that in our family’s face…or miss how many Christmases?)

Not Sleeping in Your Own Bed

This part is hit and miss. I don’t LOVE not sleeping in my own bed, because my bed is the best bed of all the beds out there. BUT if I have the option to stay in a JW or Westin bed with fresh, crispy sheets every night of my stay? And have it all to myself? Yeah that sounds okay too. You get over missing your bed PRETTY quick in that situation.

Eating Out So Much

I’ve had some of the best, and certainly some of the worst, meals of my life on the road. People don’t like to eat out this much because they don’t know how to order. They order 3x the amount of food that anyone who isn’t Michael Phelps should be eating, don’t venture out from their (fried) middle-of-America diets, and throw 5-15 drinks on top of them after and wonder why they don’t feel incredible the next day.

There is an art, if you will, to eating out 20/30 days out of the month. Because I would be willing to bet my own life, my mom’s, my significant other, and every golden retriever in the world’s life on the fact that I WILL be eating out again soon, I don’t need to turn each experience out into a menu tasting. I just don’t. And because of this, I enjoy it.

I’ve also learned so expand my horizon’s and that of my pallet. I get to feel the excitement of trying something new, that might not be offered in the comforts of Columbus, Ohio and our local suburban Mexican restaurant (which I love).

Flight attendants in particular are always looking to be inspired for our next catering endeavor, so if you ask us, this is one of the highlights of the job. Whether we’re looking for menu ideas to self-curate, restaurants or hotels to provide our catering, or what we’re going to spoil our friends and family with on the few days that we’re home, we love to eat out.

Living Out of a Suitcase

Okay – private jet flight attendants can be spoiled in this regard. Although this may be different for some companies, as far as I know we aren’t often limited to our one book bag and single, black roller bag. It’s not always ideal to be lugging around multiple bags, but if we need it, we bring it, and don’t feel as constrained as some may think.

Packing for winter and cold trips is brutal because upon first go around, I can fit exactly 2 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants, and MAYBE 2 pairs of shoes if I’m lucky in my bag. But spring and summer? My bag is busting at the seams with whatever @FashionFlyer told me to pack because mom knows best.

My pilot has a shoe bag, a hanging/duffle bag (that is actually an amazing Amazon find. Good for him), and I carry our crew-designated cooler bag equip with sunscreen and Brumates in tow.

“Living” out of a suitcase has it’s benefits. It forces me to wear clothes that otherwise might hang in my closet, because I am a bodysuit + jean shorts + Vans loyal and have a hard time venturing away from this uniform I’ve created for myself. I pack the fun dresses, bathing suits, favorite shoes and WEAR THEM! You also find yourself getting pretty creative with outfits you can come up with.

Just don’t forget to pack enough underwear.

I think I can speak for others in this industry when that while many of these things listed above are what deter others from wanting to do this job, are what we LOVE about our careers. Don’t get me wrong – there have been extremely hard days away from home, events I cried over missing, frustrating schedule changes and when I forgot to pack something I needed (and had to make an extra Target run for…which are now some of my favorite shoes), but the good always, weighs out the bad – indefinitely.