These are the top 25 (#15-11) most played songs from, and bought in, 2009 according to my iTunes library. A few don’t fall into being released in 2009, but so what – its my list. These totals were as of 12/23/09. Enjoy!

15) Crazy Possessive — Kaci Battaglia — Crazy Possessive (I’ll Muck You Up) – EP
Genre: Pop     Year Released: 2009     Date Added: 7/7/2009     Play Count: 231
There is not a substantial reason that I like this song, other than it is damn catchy. Well, I guess I did get into the lyrics a little bit – its good for those times when you’re being jealous (aka crazy possessive).

14) Circus — Britney Spears — Circus (Deluxe Version)
Genre: Pop     Year Released: 2008     Date Added: 12/11/2008     Play Count: 231
Another repeat from my 2008 list (honorable mention), this year was definitely the return of Britney to her pre-meltdown form. Circus sold well, her tour did decent, and she finished the year with a hits album. Gotta love ya some Britney.

13) On My Own (Glee Cast Version) — Lea Michele — Glee – The Music, Vol. 1
Genre: Pop     Year Released: 2009     Date Added: 8/18/2009     Play Count: 231
Surprise, surprise!! Its a Glee song!!! Yea, if you’ve kept track of iJJ over the past seven months since the Pilot premiered in May you knew that at least one Glee song would make it into my top 20. Lea does an awesome version of the song, plus the lyrics from this Les Misérables song apply to anyone whose been lonely (btw, no I have not yet seen Les Misérables).

12) Star to Fall (Radio Edit) — Cabin Crew — Star to Fall (EP)
Genre: Electronic     Year Released: 2005     Date Added: 7/13/2009     Play Count: 238
Good song from a few years back that I rediscovered and (finally) bought. This summer was definitely a dance song sort of summer for me.

11) Don’t Trust Me — 3OH!3 — Want
Genre: Alternative     Year Released: 2008     Date Added: 2/22/2009     Play Count: 240
Gotta love 3OH!3 and their ability to make us sing along to “Don’t trust a ho, never trust a ho, won’t trust a ho ’cause the ho won’t trust me.” Catchy song and became an awesome inside joke with a friend of mine.

Later.

A High Court ruling declared the strike by British Airways cabin crew planned for Christmas illegal. The injunction means that the 12-day strike scheduled to start just before Christmas cannot now go ahead. The cabin crew’s union Unite had planned the strike to protest over job losses and pay freeze.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cox, now agreed with BA that Unite had not correctly balloted its members on the strike. She considered the ballot to be invalid because it included workers that had already accepted voluntary redundancy. Furthermore she criticized the timing of the planned strike.

Unite called it a disgraceful day for democracy. The Union already announced to put in place plans for a fresh ballot and to continue negotiations with BA.

The decision was welcomed with relieve by the travelling public. Around one million passengers had booked to travel with BA over Christmas and the New Year. Now they can carry on with their travel plans without worries that they might get stuck.

Strike damages BA brand

But can it really be called a disgraceful day for democracy? Isn’t it more than legitimate that a court is able to overrule such a decision, especially when so many people are affected?

The mere threat of the strike action has already been hugely damaging for the British Airways brand and put customer loyalty to the test. Even BA cabin crew members have been rejecting the strike. 92.5% of those balloted vote in favour of industrial action. Many of those who had voted for the strike however didn’t expect it to last for 12 days over Christmas.

The BA customers deserve this minimum amount of respect. Being able to rely on one’s booked flight should be self-evident – especially in the festive season. Good that BA managed last minute that no Christmas festivities got ruined by the absence of family members.

flickr photo taken by bribriTO

今日は、航空関係のビッグニュース2件が，イギリスのメディアを賑わせた。

1つ目は良いニュース。14日に発表された、12月22日から1月2日までの、12日にも渡るブリティッシュ・エアウェイズ（BA）のストが、決定過程に違法があった、また時期的に会社への打撃が大きすぎるとして、裁判所により差し止められた。これによって、クリスマスを含む年末年始に旅行を予定している約100万の利用客に影響が出るストが回避された。私たちも、今年のクリスマスはイタリアへ、と計画していたのでひと安心。

格安航空会社や賃金の安い外国の航空会社との競合により、BAの損失は1日あたり160万ポンドに上り、年金基金は会社資産を上回る37億ポンドの赤字、また従来なら稼ぎ時の4～9月の純損失は、過去最大の2億9200万ポンドを計上していた。そのため、BAは1700人の人員削減や社員のパートタイムへの転換（2010年までの削減人員数は4900人）、搭乗する乗組員の数の削減、2年間の賃金凍結などのリストラ策を次々に実行したが、客室乗務員らが加入するイギリス最大の労働組合ユナイト（Unite）は、これらが組合の合意なしに進められたとして憤慨、92％の組合員の賛成投票を受けて今回のストライキを決定していた。ストになれば、1日あたり1000万～3000万ポンド（約14億5000万～43億5000万円）の損失、また予定されているスペインのイベリア航空との合併にも支障が出ると見られていた。BA側は、この投票には既に退職している1000人の票が違法に含まれているとして、15日、裁判所にストライキ差し止め命令を求めていた。

しかしこのスト、クリスマス、年末年始と時期が悪すぎる。それにこのスト決定には、組合内の権力闘争が絡んでいたという。これでは人々の理解を得られないのも無理はない。しかも12日！あり得ない。報道によると、BAの客室乗務員の平均年収は、ヴァージン・アトランティック航空の約2倍、イージージェットの約1.5倍の2万9900ポンド（約430万円）。待遇はイギリスの航空会社でもちろんトップである。その割に、BAの職員のサービスは他の航空会社に比べて、大差はない。このご時世、生き残るためには今のままではやっていけないのは自明の理だ。日本航空もアリタリアもそうだけれど、BAの組合員も昔の国営航空会社、殿様商売の頃の待遇が忘れられないらしい。無理言っても、いざとなれば国が助けてくれると思ってるんだろう。でも、国も財政赤字が増大しており、赤字対策もままならない会社に無条件に税金を注ぐことは、世論が許さない。組合が強硬な以上、BAはいったん潰れて、新しい体制で再出発するしかないんじゃないかな。

そして2つ目は悪いニュース。スコットランド最大の航空会社、Flyglobespan（フライグローブスパン）が倒産し、予定されていたフライトは今日をもって全てキャンセルされた。これにより、スペイン、ポルトガル、キプロス、エジプトを中心に、約4500人の搭乗客が帰る便を失った。またこれにより、約800人が職を失い、フライトを予約した10万人以上の人々の足に支障が出るそうだ。エジンバラが拠点のこの航空会社、今日ニュースを見るまで聞いたことがなかった。景気の良い時に、新しい格安航空会社が次々と誕生したけれど、この不況の中、淘汰が進むと予想されている。客の立場としては、航空会社や行き先のチョイスが少なくなるのは悲しい。競争が減るにつれ、激安だった航空券の時代も終わるかもしれない。

2 big news related to an Airline industry struck the media headlines in UK today.

First news is a good one: High Court blocks a planned 12-day strike (Dec 22 to Jan 2) by British Airways (BA) cabin crew, after ruling that the strike ballot was illegal, and saves more than a million people’s travel plans during this busy period. We are so pleased to hear this news, as we are planning to visit M’s family in Italy for Christmas with British Airlines.

Due to the harsh competition with no-frills airlines and foreign airlines from the countries with cheaper wages, BA suffers daily loss of £1.6 million and £3.7 billions pension fund deficit, and reported a record pre-tax loss of £292m during April to September, traditionally its most profitable trading period. Struggling BA have taken cost cutting measures such as 1700 job cuts (total of 4900 to 2010), a slash of the number of crews on board, and a two-year pay freeze for cabin crew. But Unite, the largest labor union in UK, is upset as these measures have been taken without a negotiation with them, and announced the strike on Dec 14, backed with 92% of ‘yes’ votes of the members in the ballot. If strike would have taken place, it would have cost BA £10 to £30 millions a day and would have affected the merger with Spanish Iberia Airlines in a bid to survive. BA took the issue to the High Court on Dec 15, to halt the strike as illegal, because the ballot included 1,000 workers who have been made redundant.

The strike was planned in the busiest period of the year, and it is reported that the decision of the strike grounded in internal politics – these made majority of the people angry and be the company’s side. And 12 days? No way!  BA cabin crews earn average of £29,900, twice as much as the wage of Virgin Atlantic’s £14,400 and 50% higher than easyJet’s average crew wage of £20,200, and it is the highest pay in UK – who would feel sorry for them with their ‘worsening’ condition in the recession?? I don’t think the quality of service by BA crews and workers are better than their rivals either. How do union members believe that their company can win the competition against the rivals with cheaper price and/or better service, without cutting cost?? As other failing former national flagship airlines such as Japan Airlines and Alitalia, BA workers seems to cling to the good old time treatment without existence of its rivals, and may believe that the government will help the airline in the worst case. But time has changed. I don’t think the government with mounting debt can get taxpayer’s support to help them, if BA is not capable of implementing the survival plan because of the union’s stubborn “old militant” tactics. Maybe the best option is to make BA fail and to restart from scratch.

The second is the bad news. The biggest Scottish airline Flyglobespan failed after its parent company collapsed yesterday and all flights were cancelled. About 4,500 passengers were stranded, mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt. It is expected tnearly 800 jobs would be lost and over 100,000 passengers will loose their reserved flights. I’d never heard or seen this Edinborough-based airline, until I heard this news today. Many new discount airlines were born in the years of good economy, but quite many of them are not doing well due to the economic decline, and probably some will disappear in the future – we customers will loose convenience and freedom of  choice in airlines and destination, and probably it will be the end of ultra-cheap flights as competition lessens.

While the great and the good are struggling to achieve a satisfactory climate change agreement in Copenhagen, a small group of British workers are leading a stand against man-made climate change.

Despite the well-paid jobs and numerous perks, British Airway’s cabin crew have decided to stop working for 12 days to demonstrate against the airline industry’s contribution to climate change. These staff are ably supported by several thousand Christmas travellers who have sacrificed their holidays in the sun, and festivities with families to make their feelings known on the subject.

Bosses at BA are said to be proud that a British company is leading such a worthy protest, and fully expect their workers to commit more time to the campaign over the next few months, when they will inevitably have lost their jobs.

Its our rights, we want you to listen to us, if not then…we will strike over Christmas..so there!

As 90% of the British Airways cabin crews decide to ruin Christmas for everyone involved, you really do wonder at what they will achieve, more money..probably, better conditions..maybe, being fired, yes every chance in hell of that one…and they deserve to be.

I was brought up during the bitter Miners Strikes of the 70’s that achieved the downfall of the British Industry as we know it, so I don’t sing a Union’s praises.

But if you want to achieve your goals in bargaining the first thing you have to do is have pubic opinion and sympathy to your cause on your side, it’s the biggest chip you can bring to the table, but Unite (union) have already blew that one, pretty well everybody now not only loath’s them (that is not just like but hatred), by doing this again at Christmas to try to leverage their case, It failed, your members will be (have been) booed from every corner of the Aviation Globe including here, this sort of blackmail doesn’t get things fixed anymore but drives a wedge between you and pretty well everybody else and even giving sympathy to British Airways, which in most cases is very hard to do, and worse is the very opposite of what the union is trying to achieve.

Worse is the fact that at this time of the year, and boy what a fun year 2009 was with that Global Financial Crisis thingy, is that the very company you are working for (British Airways) is guzzling money at a rate that sends the CFO home looking like a zombie and putting a shaking drink to his mouth to calm the shakes he gets when he looks at the balance sheets, is the fact that in the season to be jolly is one of the few seasons that you can actually put up your airfares and recover some of the debris, which by some strange factor of twelve x fourteen is paying your wages that you  take home at the end of your shift to feed your families and pay your rent and if anything is left over can buy a present for your hunk of a man (same for gay stewards) to give you a hug and cry on Christmas Morn.

Worse still is the fact that come April the British Airways management will cut you up with a knife with sadly our overwhelming support.

You may have a completely valid reason to strike or ruin Christmas, need to be heard, give your side of the situation as companies can be callous bastards and treat their staff with the same regard as street people and vagrants, but this is not an effective strategy to help your cause, in 1969 yes, in 2009 it is close to murder.

You will gain nothing..and you lose everything.

If you are even close to having even a small brain, you may be able to save your job and meet me again in the cabin of a Boeing 777, if you don’t then it is to your loss next year….Merry Christmas.

After months of negotiation and wondering if they will or if they won’t, the BA cabin crew have had the ballot and are now going on strike for twelve days, starting next week. This will affect up to 1 million people who were looking to get away for Christmas.

2009 has become the year of discontent, where the few organisations that still have unions in this country are striking everywhere you turn. We’ve had the train drivers (the London underground drivers in particular making it an annual event), bus drivers, post office workers and now airline cabin crews. In previous years, a strike would’ve been understood and supported as a fight for a worker’s rights by some and an irritant by others. Now, almost to a man, the tolerance is practically nil, because in this recession, many people have either lost jobs, or have had to make sacrifices to keep the job they have. In this atmosphere then, even the most valid of reasons to strike is seen as selfish, so taking this kind of action so close to Christmas is practically suicidal if you want to get people on your side. The media have gone nuts on it, as you’d expect. I’ve been hearing tales of people on the radio who are not just a little bit inconvenienced, but are really going to suffer. The story of one woman in particular moved me. She had planned to go back to Hong Kong with the rest of the family to see her dying father for the last time. If she can’t find an alternative flight and pay again, probably at a higher price for the privilege, she may not be able to make it.

BA is not exactly flush right now. It suffered a £400 million loss in the last financial year and it doesn’t look as if there’ll be an improvement. Willie Walsh is the big bad wolf that’s bringing down the airline, according to BA staff and that may well be true, but aviation has changed in the last ten to fifteen years with the appearance of bucket airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet. These airlines have almost certainly been cutting into profits long before the recession was even thought of. I have written before about how I’d never fly Ryanair again in this lifetime and so far I’ve kept to my word. BA is currently seeking an injunction to stop the strike from happening and if they succeed it’ll give them breathing space. However, I have no doubt that if BA goes bust, there’ll be a big carve-up of the lucrative routes among other airlines. In the meantime, the 1 million passengers are holding their breaths for Christmas.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” New York Times

Most people who have flown with Iberia, the Spanish national airline, will come home with a couple of battle scars and a new mantra (“never again!”) to be repeated under their breath in the manner of a Buddhist chant. Their long-haul cabin crew are particularly guilty of the general dissatisfaction to be found in sites like airlinequality.com, which is dotted with horror tales of screaming flight attendants terrorising their passengers into submission, food trays being slapped down onto quivering laps, and (I suspect) wrong emergency exits being pointed at out of spite.

Having lived 14 years of my life with one such flight attendant, I can only empathise. There are few things more unnerving than paying a lot of money to be stuck with 300 other people inside a metal tube ruled by a pack of angry, aggressive old Spanish ladies with the attitude of a drunk manic-depressive gorilla. I don’t really understand this phenomenon because as a nation (indigenous Latin Americans please cover your ears now) we are lovely. And also, the short- and medium-haul staff are really very nice. Of course that’s probably because they are all on temporary contracts for eight years and can be sacked at any point for any reason, so I guess they leave the shitty attitude at home.

So when the cabin crew unions at Iberia announced a series of strikes during this Fall / Winter season, leaving thousands stranded around the world and stressing the already chaotic Spanish air travel system well beyond endurance limits, I expected people to be less than sympathetic.

I was mostly wrong. There was something akin to an outpour of understanding from people leaving comments on news articles about the strike. There were certainly a number of “greedy useless hags” type of comments, but mostly people seemed irritated with the airline’s management, who have revealed themselves as masters of double-crossing and corporate intrigue.

Not so much for the mainstream media, though. El Mundo, one of Spain’s largest newspapers, lead the anti-crew charge by publishing a cynically misleading article on its online edition claiming that the salary of an Iberia flight attendant raises to a whopping yearly 50.000 euros, therefore painting the collective as spoilt, opportunistic, belligerant and unreasonable. No surprise there for two reasons: 1) El Mundo’s online edition (but interestingly not the printed version) has over the years deteriorated into a nearly unreadable populist tabloid masquerading as a serious news source; due to the nature of webonomics, I guess, the online paper lives off a dreadful yet lucrative mix of football, celebrity gossip, crime and unchecked sensationalistic headlines, which is a crying shame for someone who used to read and love the paper every day when I was a kid. And 2) Iberia is one of the (I’ve read it’s actually the, but since I cannot find the source right now I won’t make the absolutist claim because, you know, I am not El Mundo) biggest buyer of advertising space in media in the country –which, combined with reason 1, makes for lovely journalism. It is a sad thing when the media contributes so enthusiastically to the muddling of a pretty clear-cut situation, but it is even sadder when this comes from one of the darlings of the otherwise rightfully proud Spanish democratic media landscape.

So the clear-cut, no bullshit situation amounts to this: Iberia crew do not make 50.000 euros. A few do -those who have been with the airline for over 35 years, have been promoted to cabin managers on the gigantic Airbus 340 and that of course includes per-diems. Most people make nowhere, but really nowhere near that much. New hires make about 18.000 EUR, which is not totally bad until you remember that they are all based in Madrid (where housing prices are simply demented) and that they are all hired on the nastiest temporary contracts one can imagine, sometimes for as short a time as one week, and then pray to God that they will get renewed for another week, or month, or three months… for seven or eight years. Awful conditions to begin with, with zero stability and peace of mind and maximum stress and burn-out. Great.

But the strike is not about that. Four years ago, in the middle of the airline’s most fantastically profitable run (and let’s remember that Iberia is the one major airline who not only maintained profitability but actually increased its profits after 9/11), the airline froze its cabin crews’ salaries for a period of four years, as agreed with the unions. So in fact, for the past four years, the crew has been putting up with a significant decrease in salaries, given inflation and the fact that about half of their income -the per diems- are paid in a very devalued US dollar.

And now, when it’s time to unfreeze the salaries as agreed, so that employees can get a meager adjustment for inflation next year, management says no. Because guess what? Their CEO is retiring, and his golden handshake of 60 million euros happens to be exactly the same amount that it would cost to adjust crew salaries for inflation. Again, as agreed. And in the same stroke, they announce the future creation of a new legal entity for short- and medium- haul flights, which means “we’re gonna hire new crew at half your salary to do your job”. And since short- and medium- haul crew are all temporary, they’re all just going to be made redundant.

Hence the strike. But why are people not buying the management line in Spain, despite all the media clout and a little help from their friends? Why are people rallying behind the same collective that inconveniences and distrupts their travel plans and actually treats them like poo when they’re lucky enough to get on a flight that hasn’t been cancelled?

It’s the zeitgeist, baby. It reminds me of 1993, when American Airlines’ flight attendants went on strike during the Thanksgiving weekend, creating chaos all over the country. Here’s a quote from Newsweek back then:

“Have you come across anyone who wasn’t rooting for the flight attendants? Such nice, cheery rebels! By contrast, management appeared Dickensian. Robert Randall, a perfect road-company Uriah Heep, had lost his airline a lot of money by cutting fares unduly and was trying to make some of it back by squeezing the workers.”

There you have it. Just like then in the aftermath of the 1980s cash binge, now people are stumbling across the walk home wondering what the hell happened and who stole all the pies. It’s not so much the manid metaphor/cliche of the hangover after the party, but rather the fact that you’re watching the people from the orgy wake up and bitch and moan about it and you weren’t invited to the orgy and your patience and understanding are running very low. Who, in these days, does not know someone close to them that has not been thoroughly shafted by management –lost their job, lost their pension, lost their joie de vivre– while the very people that got us into this mess mumble indignantly about hard times and sacrifice?

It’s repugnant, and people are sick of it. I sure as hell am.

Let’s make something clear. Air travel is so unsustainably cheap these days for one reason, and one reason only: the massive transfer of wealth that has occurred, from workers towards shareholders, management, and consumers. Low cost is not a model that sustains itself by making you pay ten euros for a stale sandwich that would otherwise add one euro to your ticket if you were to get it for free like before. Low cost means low, depressingly low salaries. It means pilots on food stamps. That’s right, the person who’s driving your plane without crashing it qualifies for food stamps now. And the person who’s gonna pull you off a burning wreckage when your starving pilot accidentally crashes the plane (and it does happen), or who’s gonna keep you alive at 30.000 feet when you get a heart attack, makes far less money. Someone’s gotten an awful lot richer, and it’s partly you and me, and partly the people in suits, and we think maybe the people in suits need to step up.

Iberia has one thing in common with Ryanair: they are both fantastically run, tremendously profitable airlines that treat their shareholders like family, their customers like dirt and their crews even worse.

So yeah, woohoo, azafatas and azafatos of Iberia, strike to your heart’s content. Strike for all of us, while you are at it, because this is really everybody’s struggle and we’ve all had more than enough.

Just, you know, be nicer.

Red lipstick. Neatly tied up hair.

It was just less than a month since I tied the knot with my college sweetheart, when I got selected for a cabin crew assessment. I applied when I was still single, and got the job when I got married.

I was so excited to leave Manila, in pursuit of independence since I stepped out of uni. And now it is happening.

I can still remember how I felt packing all my stuffs. All my beloved shoes, I tried to fit in my trolley. And all Filipino food mix-must. Sinigang mix and cubes, instant mami’s. Pulled out a mani/pedicure set.

Though I wasn’t so pleased on my first flight after I commenced my trainings: Safety, First Aid & dangerous. My back was aching too much, knowing the flight was just a 2h:30m turnaround flight. I was whining to my husband, that I would love to take his job than mine. After several days, I experienced doing a 14hour flight with no sleep at all prior to that day. But all things comes in adjusting.

Time flies so fast, that was two years ago.

I am now officially immune to flying : sleepless nights. Minimum rest period. heavy turbulence.

A música “Waiting For a Star to Fall” foi lançada como single em 30 de Novembro de 1988 e se tornou a canção de maior sucesso da dupla pop “Boy Meets Girl”.
A canção foi originalmente escrita para Whitney Houston, mas foi rejeitada como inadequada.

Boy Meets Girl

Cabin Crew

Sunset Strippers

I hear your name whispered on the wind
It’s a sound that makes me cry
I hear a song blow again and again
Through my mind and I don’t know why
I wish I didn’t feel so strong about you
Like happiness and love revolve around you

Trying to catch your heart
Is like trying to catch a star
So many people love you baby
That must be what you are

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

I’ve learned to feel what I cannot see
But with you I lose that vision
I don’t know how to dream your dream
So I’m all caught up in superstition
I want to reach out and pull you to me
Who says I should let a wild one go free

Trying to catch your heart
Is like trying to catch a star
But I can’t love you this much baby
And love you from this far

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

Waiting (however long…)
I don’t like waiting (I’ll wait for you…)
It’s so hard waiting (don’t be too long…)
Seems like waiting (makes me love you even more…)

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

Exacto, un poco de alegria, que gracias a ellas hacen de nuestro trabajo mas ameno y divertido. Todos nosotros estariamos encantados que siempre nos trajeran el cafe chicas como estas, y mas si llevan estos uniformes…(que ninguna se sienta ofendida). La verdad que Ryanair sabe sacar pasta de donde sea!!

Bueno sobran palabras, veros el video y divertiros!!

“Nenas, estais listas ahí atrás?”

We have readers! Now I am absolutely sure of it… despite the fact that my mother doesn’t have a computer.

I had a flight to Istanbul. During the evening rush, our aircraft was parked at a distance, so the passengers were brought to it by bus.

I stood at the door and wished them welcome. A tricky moment cropped up when my phone rang. It was my Finnair phone, the one I use to communicate with the gate attendant and vice versa. Answering the phone and welcoming passengers at the same time, however, is rather difficult. It’s not worth nodding at a phone, because it does not offer visual contact – at least yet. But if you are speaking on the phone, I guess you simply have to welcome the passengers by nodding? It results in perspiration and a rise in heart beat. But only slightly and briefly.

There were nearly 100 passengers. Americans on a business trip from Japan via Helsinki, now heading to Turkey for a sailing holiday. I guess it’s true that Americans like a challenge, because these ones had already managed to pop into Hong Kong before visiting Japan. USA-HKG-TYO-HEL-IST! It’s exhausting just to think of it. To me, the idea of so much travelling was like a hundred press-ups. Followed perhaps by a hundred sit-ups. Respect!

Service proved to be a flight aerobics session. My work partner is an gymnastics instructor and that was pretty obvious. A brisk step, good posture and slightly sporty. I followed the series of movements using coffee pots as hand weights. I bent to the left and bent to the right. Kinetic pleasure and rising pulse. I was so much into it that in business class I clipped a customer’s serving tray. A glass or two toppled as I tried to adjust the tray to allow him to finish his meal in peace. My temperature rose. Embarrassing. I felt a drop of sweat trickle down my back. I apologised for my beginner’s blunder, saying that I wasn’t exactly new to this work.

The passenger said consolingly: “Oh yes, we know that this isn’t your first flight. In fact we almost acquaintances. We have ordered your blogs as an RSS feed to our e-mail.” His neighbour nodded in agreement.

What? I imagined how their computers bleeped on the arrival of e-mail and how on opening the messages the blogs were theirs to read.

I gave a nervous laugh. It was no longer a question of a few drops generated by my thermoregulation system. I was sweating like a river. Amazon, anyone? And, no thanks. It’s no worth sending me deodorants, antiperspirants or hormone treatments, because this was a pleasant experience. My friends inform me that such perspiration is a heightened emotional state caused by a strong sense of wellbeing, where the blood rushes in the veins and the heart beats accordingly at precisely the right rate.

A rewarding discussion followed; on the service offered in Finnair and elsewhere in the world. It was fascinating to hear genuine, honest opinions. It is important to hear them. It’s good to learn from listening. This was my effort at so-called mental training, the importance of which in raising performance level should not be underestimated.

In Istanbul I opened the aircraft door with a steady, restful pulse. Proudly I sent the men out into the world.

I then began to check the seat pockets and overhead lockers for any items that passengers may have left behind. This served as a warm-up exercise for the return flight.

Helena Kaartinen

I once had a job working as a member of the Cabin Crew on the trains. I hadn’t actually applied for the job; my father had applied for me, without telling me first or asking if I’d like the job. The first I knew about it was when he told me they’d written back to offer me an interview. I didn’t see how I could get there, as the train station was not in my hometown and at that time I hadn’t passed my driving test. However, my dad said he or my mother would drive me in for my shifts or I could get the bus, and in need of a job at the time I agreed to go for the interview. The company’s office was down one platform and inside the station wall itself. I didn’t want the job from the start and I remember even asking the woman at the interview what kind of notice I’d have to give if I wanted to leave. However, despite all this they offered me the job and I didn’t turn it down. The job itself wasn’t badly paid as I remember, much higher than minimum wage was at that time, I’m pretty sure it was £5 an hour, or thereabouts. I started on the Monday after my interview of the week before. A typical shift went like this: I would get to the station 15-20 mins before my shift was due to start and go to the office. If I was on the earliest shift, which would be the 6.05am to the destination, I used to get there about 5.40-5.50am. With no buses running at that time in the morning it meant one of my parents getting up in the middle of the night to take me in and I think my dad soon started to regret applying for me. Anyway, once I’d let myself into the office, I’d then retrieve a fully stocked trolley from one of the trolley bays, which were a bit like they have in supermarkets like Morrisons. I’d do a quick check of the trolley and make sure it had everything I’d need. I’d look to see there were crisps, chocolate, cans of fizzy drink, wine, beers, sandwiches, nuts etc money in the till, a calculator for me to work out the totals as I was, and still am, hopeless at maths. Then I’d grab a hot water urn so that I could make all my freeze dried drinks, tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc. I’d wheel the trolley down to the platform where I was to get on the train and wait for it to arrive. Once it did I’d stand at the entrance to the train, dressed in my full suit uniform, and ‘meet and greet’ the passengers with ‘Hello, Good Morning’ etc. Once they were all onboard I’d use the train’s portable wheelchair ramp to get my trolley on and was off. I’d sit until just after we reached the first stop, about 10 mins away and I’d then start wheeling my trolley down the train carriages asking each customer if they’d like anything. The prices then were high I felt, even for the railways. I remember charging 80p for a 330ml can of soft drink, cans of lager were about £2 each, tea or coffee were £1.05 a cup and hot chocolate was £1.25. No one complained though, probably because they recognised me as the monkey and not the organ grinder. Anyway, once I’d got to the other end of the train I’d sit again until just after we’d left the next station and then repeat the cycle. I did this all the way to my final destination when I’d leave the train altogether, say goodbye to the passengers etc and go and get on the next train going back. I only did the job for two weeks but the memories that stayed with me are quite vivid. I liked all the people I worked with I just didn’t like the job. I always suspected this was who had got my colleague into trouble over the tea bag affair. A lot of the time, particularly at night the train would be quiet, except for when we got near to a big city and a raucous group of revellers going for a night out would usually get on. Anything I didn’t sell would be taken back to the office to be put onto another trolley with the exception of the sandwiches that had to be thrown away after a single shift. I always felt this was a needless waste, especially as we weren’t allowed to take them home and it was a sacking offence if you’d been found to have done so. I think I handed my notice in at the end of the first week, my last day to be Christmas Eve. I arrived for work in the morning as usual to find a few boxes of mince pies waiting for me with a note which said: ‘Hand one of these out to everyone who buys something’. Naturally as this was Christmas Eve and I wanted to increase the Christmas spirit, I just went up and down the train, which was nearly empty anyway, offering each person a free mince pie. Most of them refused with some giving me a look as if to say ‘why are you giving these away?’ I don’t remember when I got back to the office if there was someone there or not, but I do remember the feeling of relief when it was all over and my days as Railway Cabin Crew were behind me. Thanks for reading.

VideoClip: Star To Fall

Tema: Star To Fall

Grupo/Artista: Cabin Crew

Letra de Cancion Star To Fall de Cabin Crew

Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,

And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong In my arms,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms, baby yeah,
(Baby yeah, baby yeah, baby yeah, baby yeah,)

And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong In my arms,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong
In my arms, baby yeah,

Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong In my arms, baby yeah,

Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart,
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart
Waiting for a star to fall,
And carry your heart into my arms
That’s where you belong In my arms, baby yeah,
((Baby yeah, baby yeah, baby yeah, baby yeah))

Yes, I’m back in Sydney. Lucky Sydney I hear you cry. Bruce Forsyth would be proud.

A massive delay, so I’m going to be 90 mins late for work. Great start to the week when I have a stack on and an evening engagement every night.

An idea of the hotness...

Still, delayed, but good old budget tiger do try pretty damned hard. Special mention to Danesh, the hottest (and sadly straightest) cabin crew I’ve ever clapped eyes on. Guns so big, the shirt hugged him so tight, nothing was left to the imagination.

Certainly helped the time pass quicker…

Back in Sydney, big week ahead. Just hope this miserable spring rain that’s lingered here (luckily not Melbourne) most of the weekends toddles off sharpish!

Iain is on a Melbourne countdown…

It never ceases to amaze me how people act once they get on an airplane. I’m starting to wonder if they also behave the way they do when they’re at home and if they do, how they get by in everyday life being so rude to everyone they encounter.

The cast of characters that I had on day 2  of my last 4 day trip was abundant. There was more people mad at NOTHING than I’ve ever experienced, it got me thinking about whether or not I was starring in a candid camera version of ‘Seinfeld.’

Please allow me to introduce the cast:

Mrs. Paranoia: She I met during boarding . As you all know by now, I work primarily work first class, therefore, always positioned at the boarding door. She walked on and asked if she could speak with me. I waved her into the galley and told her I was all ears. She then says:

I have a plastic bag full of surgical masks. If someone coughs or sneezes I’d like to you please remind then that we are in a time of critical awareness concerning the swine flu. Remind them to cough or sneeze into their elbows and hand them one of these.

I think my jaw hit the floor. I didn’t even know what to say! My first response was I understand you’re concerned, however, I cannot tell someone how to do something unless its safety or security related. Maybe you should wear your mask this way you can shield yourself from everyone’s germs. Well, you would have thought I asked her for her first born child. She was outraged that I would ever ask her to do that. What did she think she was asking ME to tell others?! The same thing. She then went to the main cabin and asked the FAs there to do the same thing, pass out the masks. Of course, I was able to warn them of what was coming before she got to them. They both denied her request as well.

Mr. Bad Boy: Mr. Boy arrived in his wheelchair during boarding with a grumpy face, a cane and a necklace with a battery powered medallion attached which flashed “BAD BOY.” So, jokingly, I said “so are you going to be giving us problems today?” and he said “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Of course, I thought he was playing around with me, but, he wasn’t. During service one of the main cabin F/As accidentally bumped into him while in the aisle, and quickly apologized. He very rudely yelled “EXCUSE ME! Can you be more careful next time?!”

In a different occurrence a few minutes later, I was handing the gentleman in the window seat a sandwich and answering a question he had. Mr. Boy then chimed in, again, loudly, and proclaimed “uhh excuse me I’m trying to have a conversation here!” and I said.. “Yes, I know..I am too.. and you just rudely interrupted!” Two can play this game.

Ms. Jet-Blue: Once in-flight we met Ms. JetBlue. She rang her call button while I was on my back to the first class galley.. so I attended to it. She’s seated at the window and proceeded to tell me that her seat didn’t recline. I told her it should, nothing was damaged in the cabin. She then demonstrated the fact that her seat didn’t recline by pushing in the button and rocking back and forth very forcefully trying to push the seat back. When her tantrum stopped, I asked the lady seated on the aisle if her seat reclined. She then pressed her button, and reclined. Well, the seat reclined to the same level that Ms. JetBlue’s seat was already at! A ha! Ms. JetBlue’s seat is already reclined! So I told her if you notice, you’re seat is already reclined as it’s at the same level as this seat is. Her brain couldn’t comprehend this information and was still confused. One of the FAs from the back was walking forward and as the purser, I officially juniored down the situation. ha!

Now, you’re wondering why her name is Ms. JetBlue. We’ll, when she realized her seat was reclined, she had nothing else to complain about so she had to find something. About an hour and a half later she came to the back and was holding her neck. The 3 of us looked at each other, started to crack a smile, just wondering WHAT this was going to be about. She then told me

Your headrests on your seat are so fluffy that its pushing my head forward making me point my head down which is causing my neck and back to hurt.

So I asked her if she tried to adjust it, as they are FULLY 100% adjustable. She said yes. Then she asked if all of our seats were made this way. It took everything in me to say.. Did you not notice every seat looks like yours on your way back here?!

I didn’t.. but then she said

JetBlue’s seats are so much more comfortable than yours are. This is just riciulous. My seat doesn’t recline and now its hurting my neck and back. Can you change my ticket so I can fly home on jetBlue?

Yes, ma’am, since all of the airlines in America code-share, let me just change your ticket over to one of our biggest competitors. I told her I couldn’t do that. Obviously! She was so upset that I couldn’t just move her ticket to a jetBlue flight. She tried to complain more, as if I was just holding out. Then, one of my FAs said “actually, someone just came back here and told me we have one of the most comfortable seats they’ve ever sat in!” Ms. JetBlue then returned to her seat.. that reclined and had to fluffy of a headrest.

Ms. Menu: Last, but ohhhhh so not least was Ms. Menu. We had a menu substitution on board this particular flight. The galley FA made the announcement about the menu items, and said “I’m sorry, though the menu says we have the steak sandwich on board we don’t instead we have an Italian sandwich.” Then, I re-said the announcement prior to the FAs went into the aisle for service in the main cabin, and then we made it one more time before we heard the dreaded call button. I went over to find its the woman RIGHT behind Ms. JetBlue. . . she is holding our menu in hand and told me that she wanted to order the steak sandwich. I said I’m sorry, we don’t have the steak sandwich today, instead we have an Italian sandwich. She then said “but the Italian sandwich isn’t on the menu!” I took a deep breath and said

Like we have said 4 times now, we have a menu substitution on board today, we received the sandwiches we usually receive for a Eastbound flight. Therefore, the Italian sandwich is all we have.

Finally it sunk it and I left. She ordered the sandwich and it was delivered by a FA in the back. Five minutes after that, the call button again. The same FA that delivered the sandwich returned to find the passenger complaining that the sandwich didn’t have enough italian dressing on it, and she wanted more. So, the FA explained that the sandwiches are all prepackaged with the dressings etc, we don’t get extras on board. Well, Ms. Menu packed up the sandwich and handed it over and asked for a refund because there wasn’t enough dressing and then proclaimed “and wheres my fruit and cheese box!” (which she didn’t order!) The FA said “okay, I’ll go double check and I’ll be back”

She gets to the back and tells me whats going on. I said Oh please let me go talk to her.. she’s already on my shitlist and I would love to tell her she still owes us money.

Well, the passenger leaving the bathroom overheard me say that and pointed right at me. My heart stopped because I thought she was going to get pissed that she heard me talk about a fellow passenger. Instead she said

thats awesome! you guys are awesome! I’ve been watching and listening to you deal with all these weird and crazy people and I’m going to write a letter about you guys and the great job you are doing!

She did, too. We got it already. Of course for those comments we ensured she was taken care of the remainder of the flight as well.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a group of people on a single airplane before. Lucky I was with 2 FAs whom are my friends and we were able to tag team the situations and laugh about them in the end. It should go without saying, and I’m sure you guessed it. This flight was JFK-LAX.

berikut adalah gambar di dalam pesawat atr kepunyaan fireflyz.



dah tengok gambar?bila nak naik,jom la naik pesawat atr..pengalaman yang pasti sukar untuk dilupakan!!!

I’ve just read on the BBC website about Indian pilots having a fight in mid air on-board an Air India flight from the United Arab Emirates to Delhi in India.  They left the cock-pit to fight and scuffle with air cabin crew!  This to me is totally outragious!  These people are looking after peoples lives whilst up in there air and they are fighting amongst themselves!  Oh dear!  I know that there is great technology like auto-pilot, but really, they need to be more responsible.

The apparent reason for the fight was over sexual harressment accusations made by cabin crew about the pilots.

Check out this link on the BBC.co.uk to read more!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8289313.stm

If this were not such a serious issue endangering the lives of 106 passengers and the modesty of a young woman, it would have been quite hilarious. Have you seen a pack of mangy street dogs fighting each other ferociously? More than a hundred passengers of Air India’s Flight IC-884 flying from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow witnessed a different kind of dog-fight at over 30000 feet in the air. It was a slumdog street fight! The ones involved were none other than the pilot, the co-pilot and the cabin crew.

Apparently the slumdog pilots, like many filthy perverted male Indian slumdogs, decided to indulge in a bit of what the slumdogs call “eve-teasing” while flying the plane. An airhostess who went to the cabin was reportedly molested by the slumdogs who were flying the plane, Ranbir Arora and Aditya Chopra. One of the slumdogs also caught the lady by her hand and pushed her out of the cockpit savagely. She was thrown against the cockpit door and started bleeding. Her male colleague, flight steward Amit Khanna, was outraged on seeing this. When he demanded an explanation, the slumdogs flying the plane verbally abused him. Then, in full view of the shocked passengers, a fist fight ensued between the slumdog pilots and the cabin crew. According to some passengers, there was no one in the cockpit for some time as the slumdogs were busy exchanging blows and using filthy language outside. In the savage fight, two slumdogs suffered injuries.

Remember this little slumdog-fight the next time you have to book a flight and Air India is one of the options. Beware of slumdogs! Fly Air India at your own risk!

For more about the savage slumdog-fight, read the two articles at Indiatimes and The Telegraph.

Shame on you dirty, smelly, molesting slumdog barbarians! Filthy perverted beastly sub-human slumdog Indian savages!

Not the F word.

All my bags are packed and ready to go. Male cabin crew of Singapore Airlines.

My job entails me to travel every so often. There are times when I am forced to stay overnight in a hotel and get that much needed respite before traveling again back to home base.  Unlike the rest of the “working class,” I work inflight. It’s literally a menial job and between work shifts, I enjoy my set meal and coffee at 30,000 feet. The view is priceless.

My life depends on my cabin luggage and suitcase. All the things that I have packed in my two bags dictate my actions. These items include (but definitely not limited to) the following:

• One set of extra uniform – this means that I have fresh clothes on my flight back to home. No uncomfortable feeling moving inside the cabin knowing the I may smell sweaty and acidic.
• One set of casual clothes – so that I am decent and appropriately dressed when I do my window shopping and ‘walking tour’ of the city where I stay. Of course, I want to be fashionably dressed when I do bar hopping and clubbing at night.
• Toiletries – at least I still feel ‘homely clean’ after each shower. I do not use hotel toiletries normally (unless it’s the same brand as my toothpaste, mouthwash or soap).
• Rubber shoes are my basic footwear. An extra pair of leather shoes will do but it occupies so much space in my suitcase.
• Slippers are optional. Outside of my hotel room, I have my reliable black rubber shoes.
• One set of underwear – the most important item in my list. I can’t imagine wearing side B the following day.

Having these armada in my bag secures me from any untoward possibilities where I need to look ‘right’ for any occasion that requires me (or by chance) to be there. Absence of an item in my list makes me jittery knowing that I lack something valuable (or a similar feeling).

At 30,000 feet under a good weather, the view is priceless.

Over the years, I have mastered the art of packing. I have tried (with equal amount of success and failure) to pack my stuff neatly organized with the idea of saving space so that I can put more. I already did the rolling method, vacuum/airtight style, compartmentalization, process of addition and subraction, subsitution of big items to small items with the same purpose and use. Whichever is the most effective way for me, depending on the quantity of clothes that I have to bring, to put everything inside my bag – that’ll do.

In a scene from the movie “A View From The Top,” Paltrow was seen flying, back and forth, to Paris. Being a cabin crew was her dream job and Paris was her ideal place. In the end, she got more than what she wanted. Having visited Paris for a couple of times, she outgrew her fondness for Paris. Realizing that being alone, spending special occasions away from her loved ones – these are the things that she sacrificed for her job. Her life was boxed in a suitcase.

All bags are packed.

Ready to go.

Sidetrip:

A new carrier is ready to fly soon: www.spiritofmanilaairlines.com