Hi everyone,
I’ve had so many messages from girls on my instagram asking me to cover some more cabin crew related topics so I thought this one would be good to start of with if you’re thinking of becoming cabin crew or if you work for a short haul airline and you’re considering long haul…
I’m going to be talking about my own experiences as I used to work for a short haul airline for a year and then moved over to long haul.
For whoever is wondering basically short haul is a flight from any duration up to usually about 5 hours maximum one way. So that’s often referred to as a there-and-back because you won’t even leave the aircraft, (unless you go down to sit the the engine and take photos shhh but always ask the Captain!) meanwhile it gets cleaned by local cleaners whilst the crew sits down for a moment, prepares the flight for the way home or in most cases goes out on the steps and takes pictures of the wing of the airplane haha.
However long haul is a flight that takes anywhere from 5 hours to as long as 7-13hours or even more. And in this case crew require rest in the destination they fly to, depending on the length of the flight could be anywhere between 20 hours to a few days, different airlines have different schedules.
Then there’s also something where crew at Easyjet for example or American airlines will have 4 short sectors and will either end up going back home or stay somewhere overnight then fly home the next day but I’m not familiar with that as I didn’t do that.
Pro’s of SHORT HAUL:
- You get to sleep in your own bed most nights
- Some very early starts but home by lunch time
- Pay could sometimes be more (although no allowances for food down route for more sales from duty free)
- Shorter more bearable flights although they could turn into very long days
- (Mostly) happy passengers going on holiday
- Good for experience before moving one to a long haul airline
- More regular roster pattern, more of a routine at home
Con’s:
- Could have very early starts for 3-6 days in a row
- No night stop or exploring countries
- Usually short haul aircrafts are smaller and more cramped
- In my opinion it can sometimes get quite repetitive
Pro’s for LONG HAUL:
Get layovers every trip which means time to spend in cities, on beaches getting a good tan- Usually night flights home making it easy for crew as passengers are likely to be
asleep although it gets boring and struggle to stay awake (and its actually quite nice to have chats with passengers and finding out more about them) - Get allowance for meals which could also sometimes mean more pay overall
- More of an opportunity to get to know the crew and make more friends as you might see each other less frequently but for a longer time at once
- Depending on the airline but you get amazing benefits (I’ve been able to take my boyfriend away to work with me 6 times in 6 months)
- Could possibly have more time off working long haul after 3 days of being away you get 3 days off etc
Con’s:
- Jetlag. big one… do I need to say more?
- Too tired after long flights to go out and explore
- Difficult to be away from family and friends sometimes
- Could get very lonely
- Experiencing amazing things and seeing beautiful places alone sometimes without the company of your loved ones
All in all I think it really depends on who you are and why you’re doing the job… If you’re married and have children maybe short haul could be more enjoyable as you can go home to your family for dinner at the end of the day however if you’re young and would like to travel then long haul could suit you more. Having said that… something that often annoys me is that a lot of young girls start of with long haul purely for traveling, they have no interest in the job itself, about what goes on onboard, no customer service skills, not enjoying it and are purely doing it for the lifestyle it comes with and visiting the world for free an then getting disappointed because it turns out its not was glamorous as they though it was going to be. It depends how you go about it. I started with a short haul airline because I loved the job but moved over to long haul because it became a bit repetitive and wanted to see what the difference was. I now really enjoy long haul and the airline I work for but still suffer from tiredness and being away so I’ve been making the most of my days off at home with my family and seeing the excitement of my little dog when I go home after 3 days is the best in the world! 🙂
Evelin x
Evelin's Diary 