Cabin Crew Story: 'Not the slide raft'

“Cabin crew, 5 minutes to passenger boarding”

That’s the cue for everyone to hold their duties; after half an hour of long security check and safety procedure, steward would take their time to prepare everyone glasses of orange juice on top of the galley, while some stewardess like me hurriedly took our Lancôme lipstick tube and doing our final touch to make sure our makeup look extremely flawless. Just like when we went out from our apartment that evening.

It’s a midnight flight, 14 hours long to Europe in a giant tube A380. The complex leader called us to do the final briefing.

“If passenger request something from another class, don’t straight away say no. We will always find a way. Guys.. just enjoy this flight. If you find any problem, handle it first and report to me later. And if you have a bad day and need a person to talk to, you can talk to me during lull period, okay? We are flying with half load today.. i can reserve you one special suite class if you want to cry."

She was playful, but still we were all looking at her with expentant eyes.

“And please keep in mind.. that i can help you solve any problem in this flight. Except two things..”

I drag my pen and post it notes to write it..

“One, if you accidentally activate the aircraft slide raft.” Wait what?

1,2,3..

Warm laughters instantly cracked the cold cabin. That moment i knew, this would be another ‘fun flight’ to remember.

“And the second one is.." Her expression suddenly turned serious "if you are rude to our passenger”

***

She is one of the best leader i’ve ever had in my history of flying. There were many of them, holding different flag of nationality. Different color of voice and eye shadows. Honestly, we really were taught how to win passenger’s heart in the span of 12 weeks intensive training. But flying with these remarkable leader practically showed me that the core of service excellence is the people and their teamwork.

It was a good time and a memorable one..

Singapore,

14th September 2020