Holidaymakers who favour air travel are all too familiar with the presence of cabin crew on every flight. They serve to cater to a variety of demands, from the moment they check a passenger’s ticket and seat number when they arrive on board. The team also offer safety demonstrations before the aircraft takes to the skies for the journey. They then fulfil passenger demands after the food service on long and short haul destinations.
While their regular, routine duties are well-known to passengers, others are not.
These include a variety of secret training procedures flight staff have to undertake before they are qualified.
They mean employees are fully in-the-know about a variety of techniques to help passengers survive should the aircraft encounter trouble.
Beth Windsor, a former air hostess at firms including British Airways, has let slip the behind the scenes details of her role.
She said survival training was key, and added: “Survival training is one of the many skills in a cabin crew’s toolkit.
“We know how to create shelter, gather food, find safe drinking water, and attract help in the Artic, jungle, rainforests and deserts, which means you really are safe in our hands.”
The revelation may come as somewhat of a shock for some passengers, while others will no doubt take heart from the extra hidden safety buffer.
Meanwhile, as well as quirky skills, flight attendants have revealed they have their own particular language too.
When you board the plane, the cabin crew are on the lookout for something aside from your tickets.
The flight attendants are in fact looking at your physical build – and the reason why is alarming.
A former crew remember revealed there’s one code word, in particular, they’ll use when assessing passengers.
Carrie Bradley, who worked as a flight attendant on an international airline for 12 years, told The Sun they keep an eye out for someone who is an “ABP”.
She said: “When passengers are boarding, you’re assessing them and seeing if they are an ABP.”
The acronym stands for “Able-Bodied Passenger.” In short, well-built passengers could be very useful in an emergency.
Crew will identify these fit and healthy people as they walk in the door and then note where they are sitting in the aircraft.
