Dear Community,

... since the beginning of aviation, the pilot & flight attendant profession has had a certain charm, like in the film “Catch me if you can”. Flight captains and stewardesses in designer uniforms who jet around the world and enjoy a slightly higher standard of living. Spend New York today, Tokyo tomorrow and the next 5 days in Barbados ...  

Many young school leavers still believe in this outdated image and think that they can first discover the world before setting out on their actual career path. Some only realize after a while that the “jet set” life also has its downside.  

In the 80s you still had 2 days off after each flight, today the EASA guidelines allow you to fly up to 7 days at a time. Especially sociable people who were able to do something with families or friends on weekends have an increasingly difficult time. In addition to a ban on alcohol and standby, check-in / check-out times distributed around the clock on 7 days, it is not exactly easy to find appointments with friends / family where you can meet.  

The level of remuneration can also be equated with the decline in ticket prices. 5 years ago a ticket from Zurich to Hamburg cost around 150 euros, today you can get a ticket for less than 100 euros. During the same period, wages fell by around 20%. This is mainly because the airlines undercut each other in order to lure price-sensitive customers to their own aircraft.  

The flight personnel suffer again here. In addition to the responsibility for the aircraft and passengers, the rotations lasting up to 7 days and the complete abandonment of private life, there is little pay. 

In the case of large airlines in particular, the individual crew members are primarily assessed based on their performance and sick days. Deeper relationships are very difficult due to the size of the staff and the machine rotations that need to be operated every day. It is therefore not uncommon for crew members to only see each other for this one flight and then not be assigned to the same flight together for days / months / years. 

With smaller airlines, which only have a marginal fleet size, it is more likely that the crew members can build personal relationships - or recognize a change in personality due to (personal) problems.

As described at the beginning, it is difficult for crew members to continue to lead an intact private life in addition to their professional activity.

Many crew members only became aware of what they had given up for JETSET life through COVID19. Due to the airlines' temporary cessation of operations in connection with the ban on contact, a crew member was able to maintain contact with up to 600 passengers and the crew (family) on normal days. This number of contacts went down to zero from one day to the next. The media have also been busy reporting mass layoffs at airlines, which did not make it easier for the crew members to deal with the situation.  

Even if the aviation pandemic is not over yet, every single airline should be appealed to take care of people, not just the “flying personnel”. Because every crew member is the calling card with which passengers like to fly, who are not too bad to be around the clock for their employer, 365 days a year at the airport. Now they need attention - an ear that listens to you!

This guest comment was written by Frank Benz.

Frank Benz is co-founder and CEO of blackforest AVIATION GmbH. A company that focuses on customer aircraft demand management and trading in inflight supplies. Before that he was employed as a cabin crew instructor and president of the employee representatives at belair Airlines. This was followed by activity as Charter Sales Manager at SkyWork Airlines in Bern until it ceased operations. In addition to nature and traveling, his interests lie primarily in civil aviation in the D / A / CH area.