ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

From the jumpseat to the gunner's seat: After training, I'm in the jumpseat

Updated on August 9, 2015
Source

Airplanes don't have keys!

After completing training and six weeks of learning everything there is to know about regional jets, it was time to go to Newark, New Jersey, my home base. If you've ever been to Jersey, you know it can be quite daunting. Newark is a busy, gritty and decidedly scary town but as a new flight attendant, my real home would be the airport.

Every new employee has to pay their dues. When it comes to the world of aviation, those dues come in the form of sitting, "airport reserve crew" (ARC). This glamorous duty consists of sitting for twelve-hour increments in the Newark airport hoping that you will be called in for a flight. On my first day, that's exactly what I did.... I waited. And waited. Finally, some unfortunate flight attendant who, rumor has it, had quite the overnight in one of our Mexico destinations, couldn't make her flight. I was on!

So there I was, a nervous mess as I ran through Newark Airport to find my plane and my pilots. As luck would have it I was at the farthest gate in a more obscure part of the airport but I found it! I'll never forget that feeling of walking down the jetway to the aircraft. With Newark's very distinctive odor wafting through the cold, February air, I made my way to the plane and peeked into the cockpit. This was it.

And so it begins....

"Hi, I'm Meline and I'll be your flight attendant for this trip," I announced to the pilots who were clicking buttons and reviewing their flight books. The Captain, sitting to the left, turned and looked at me. I saw a a very familiar look on his face - mischief. Now, life experience should have taught me to be cautious but my nervousness won out and I was a sucker, ripe for the picking.

"Meline, how nice to meet you! You're just in time. We realized that we forgot the keys to the plane, can you go get them for us?" he asked.

I stood there for a moment trying to remember my training... Was I in the bathroom when they covered training material on airplane keys? This couldn't be happening! I should know this!

"I would love to. Please refresh my memory, where can I find those?" I asked.

He responded by telling me just to ask the gate agent at the top of the jetway. Then he kindly urged me to hurry as we would begin boarding soon. So, being the uber motivated new flight attendant I was, I took off to find those keys and save the day!

As I ran from the aircraft, up the jetway and approached the gate, I saw a "red coat" (a gate supervisor) and relief washed over me. It was just a short distance but I was huffing and puffing, probably because of all of that nervous energy. I finally got to the top of the gate and was moments from getting those keys.

"Excuse me, but I'm the flight attendant on this flight and unfortunately the pilots forgot the keys. They said that you would have them," I said as I tried to catch my breath.

The supervisor, a regal-looking older woman with humor in her eyes turned to me and smiled.

"Honey, is this your first flight?" she asked.

I respond that it is and she smiled at me, half amused and half sympathetic. Then it dawned on me... Initiation has commenced. This, my friends, was a cute little joke from the boys on the flight deck. Before she could respond, I nodded and smiled, understanding what had just happened. I turned back around and marched down the jetway to the plane. Well played boys, well played.

Luckily, I have a pretty good sense of humor so I poked my head back into the cockpit and said, "Well, I asked the agent and she said that normally she'd be worried but you seem like a smart couple of guys, you should be able to find a way to start this plane without keys."

They smirked, nodded and turned around to continue their pre-flight checks. Game on. I knew that practical jokes were part of the job as a new flight attendant. I promised myself that I would be more vigilant in the future. More importantly, I was going to get them back....

Stay tuned!

© 2015 The Brady Blog

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)