FLIGHT ATTENDANTS’ HEALTH RISKS

by Mihaela Moise, former cabin crew

The ideal lifestyle of any flight crew would be that one of being fit, healthy, strong and alert all the time. However, life isn’t that simple: there are times when individuals are fatigued, stressed, feeling off-color; work load might sometimes exceed the ability to cope and handle various situations or challenges. Fitness and health, sleep and vigilance play an important role in your future career as a flight attendant. You might have to face many demands at work, also a new climate and different time zones. Your general fitness and health usually have a significant effect on job performance and safety of the aircraft and passengers, because flying as cabin crew is quite exhausting. Imagine if after a very long and tiring flight you encounter an unplanned emergency evacuation, then you need to be strong enough to save maybe hundreds of passengers. Being fit is very important as you stand for a long time, push and pull heavy containers or meal carts. So if you don’t look after yourself, this can lead to serious health issues. Day-to-day fitness and health can be reduced because of illness, injury or bad habits. Responsibility falls to each of you individually, to be fit for all the flights and remain fit during your contract period.

Some crew members may be reluctant to call in sick. A relevant example would be a flight to London years ago when a junior colleague of mine back then, still came on duty though she knew she was diagnosed with mild gastritis. An hour before landing she felt so sick, having pains in the upper part of the tummy, that an emergency landing was required.

Other times, when I was already a Cabin Service Director, I had to call the doctor during a layover at the hotel: in Munich, for a crew having a cold that was affecting the ability to hear normally. Then in Milan, I had a serious situation again with another colleague having an eye infection that started hurting badly and reducing her vision after a 5 hours flight.

Only when discussing about these health topics, I started realizing that some of the crew members were not reporting sick just because they did not want to let their colleagues down or because of previous recent absenteeism they were feeling guilty taking further sick leave or they just wanted to reach the destination and enjoy the place. However, always remember the following:

– There aren’t any consequences regarding one’s contract if you report unfit once in a while;

– If a cabin crew has an infectious illness such as flu, this can be contagious and passed on by direct contact with other colleagues and so it can affect strength;

– If on duty but you are in a bad physical state, this can lead to incapability or affect the safety of the flight.

– Stay safe and healthy!