The Wait

By midday the formalities were over and we snacked on a lunch provided by the airline. Oh wait, did I say formalities over? Nope! We were only eating sandwiches but that didn’t mean we weren’t still being evaluated and observed. What kind of a flight attendant would I be if I sat in the corner eating my ham and cheese sandwich and not talking to anyone? I made an effort to be social and friendly even though I knew we were probably all going to go home that day and bitch to our friends about the girls we met at this interview. And I know J and L and the rest of the crew were watching us too and seeing how we interacted in a more relaxed setting and furthering their opinions on us.

After lunch it was time for the decision. We all trundled back downstairs to await our fate – honestly, the air was unbelievably thick with nerves! Everyone was a bit more chatty by then though and I judged people by what they said to me and to others. Not in a harsh way - it was just my way of getting to know who they were. There was K who was a flight attendant with the airline down the road. She looked like she belonged behind the make up counter in David Jones. She spoke loudly and was bubbly and friendly, reassuring us all that we would get through to the next stage, gushing especially over our lonesome male M: “I don’t want to sound sexist, but you’re a shoo in hun! It’s to your advantage that you’re the only guy here. You’ll get to the panel interview for sure,” she said.

Her colleague, R, was also looking to jump ship (errr…plane?) and was much more refined in looks and demeanour. She sat prim and proper next to me and didn’t say much but did let me in on all the goings on at her airline – the god awful early morning starts and the clattery tin can aircrafts she flew on all by herself. But she had no qualms about switching airlines – the pay was no better here than it was there!

Then there was D – a former hostess with the mostess from the big A. D was there right up until the day it collapsed and wasn’t ashamed to admit she was married to her job – that was how much she loved it. No kids. No marriage. No home of her own. Just flying for a living and going to the nudist beach on her days off (seriously). As we waited she told us stories about the good ol’ days at her old airline. It certainly sounded like the golden era – a real family. I have since heard that crew at D’s old airline were the highest paid in Australia (maybe even the world, I can’t remember) and therefore extremely loyal and well trained. She was taking a step down going for this job, but she just wanted to fly again, dying to get back into it after almost a decade away from the love of her life.

The rest of the group consisted of mothers who worked from home selling Tupperware or running boot camps for other mothers, several ground staff from other airlines wanting to crack into operations in the air and surprisingly - well to me anyway – a lot of people from interstate. They seemed willing to go anywhere for a cabin crew job and I was aghast at first to hear this level of commitment from them. I wanted a cabin crew job too, but I don’t think I would have packed up and come all the way across the country for it. If that doesn’t show you that the competition is fierce then I don’t know what will! And this wasn’t even a big airline interview either!

We waited for almost an hour as they made their choices. I thought I was going to burst. We distracted ourselves by gossiping about other airlines as we waited. This airline offers this much per year…that airline makes you do exams every six months…oh but this airline gives you $5.50 daily travel allowance!...but at that airline you’re away from home 15 nights a month… I must admit, I loved hearing all the gossip. I already felt like this was my domain, where I belonged, and I loved learning these little tidbits about the industry from the other candidates.

Suddenly J appeared at the top of the stairs, her fellow crew huddled behind her somehow managing smiles that were a combination of ‘I’m sorry, half of you didn’t make it’ and ‘Congrats! You’re through!’. We all looked up at them hopefully. I don’t know about the rest of them, but I was holding my breath and had my crossed fingers hidden underneath the handbag on my lap.