Mia Williams
If movies have taught us anything, being a flight attendant is a pretty glamorous job.
However, one former flight attendant has claimed that the job is not as ‘glorious’ as people think - and listed her reasons why.
Kat Kamalani, 33 from Utah, uploaded a TikTok video detailing why she quit her job as a member of a cabin crew team.
The video, which was filmed in her car, shows her talk about the strict training regime, and ‘seniority’ within the different roles.
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She started off by saying: “I hated being a flight attendant and this is why I quit.
“I was a flight attendant for six years and I was [working on] one of the biggest airlines that you could possibly imagine.
“I hated every single second of it."
Detailing her reasons for her hatred of the job, she said: “Number one, your whole life depends on seniority - and what I mean by that is, when you get hired, that's your seniority date and that dictates everything.
“It dictates what aircraft you're flying, what holidays you're flying, if you have weekends off, if you can hold certain dates off.
“Another big thing of why it's so important is when you travel.
“For my airline you can book for standby - meaning if there are empty seats on the aeroplane, you can get on based on your seniority.
“And I would say new is considered at least five years or less.”
She then continued to talk about the training regime, calling it 'so intense'.
“I had to do two months of training - it was six days a week, we did 15-hour days." she said.
“You take a million different types of tests and if you don't pass tests within 80 percent of above, they kick you out of the program."
Another issue she had was some of the people she'd encountered on flights.
“People think flight attendants are there just to serve you drinks - and truly, we're there for your safety first.” Kat said.
"People are traveling when they are in the hardest times of their life. They are sleep deprived, they are traveling for an emergency or a funeral...
"There's a lot of times people are at their lowest when traveling and who gets the brunt of it?"
And finally, travelling 'three destinations a day' with 'very short layovers' after waking up early in the morning also wasn't 'fun', she added.
However, she did mention a couple of perks of the job, saying: “At the time, me and my husband could not afford aeroplane tickets around the world and we got to visit everywhere.
“I am so grateful for that and I got to bring my parents along and my children along.
“When you're by yourself exploring the world on a layover, it's kind of sad.”
However, while many flight attendants said they loved their job, others shared similar stories to Kat.
One person said: “I think for me it ruined the fun in travelling, I used to love going to the airport but now it's depressing tbh because it's only work.”
Another agreed, saying: “The true side of it.
“Not to mention being jet lagged & major turbulence.”