Traveling: Stewardess

Alena Shishaev – Oriental and Translator with Chinese. She tried to work for a long time in a specialty, but after the protracted depressions I realized that something in life should be changed, and went to the flight attendants of business aviation. Now she feels in her place.

Before Alena Schisheev began to work in business aviation, she changed a lot of activities – from the translator from the Chinese to the business consultant. In his interview, Alena shared the incidents that took place with her in the sky and on Earth, explained why Sunday passengers risk flying from Italy hungry, and told the flight attendant to combine traveling.

– Why did you decide to become a stewardess?

– in aviation I accidentally. I graduated from Moscow State University, Institute of Asian Africa. After the release did not particularly understand what I want to do. I left in Shanghai, there lived there for two years, changed many places of work – was a consultant and was looking for Chinese partners for Russian companies, worked in the media, was a translator. I did not like everything, and I was not enough for a long time. Then I returned to Moscow, I decided to stop looking for a call in my soul, and just work for salary, and went again to translators. That in the end led to terrible depression. In order to somehow overcome yourself, I downloaded my resume online, and at him immediately responded "Aeroflot". They needed flight attendants with Chinese. I was ready to go to them, but then at the last moment another possibility turned up. And I found myself in business aviation.

– Did you spend training in the specialty of the flight attendant?

– Our claims are not as in civil airlines. Our task is primarily a service and creating a comfortable environment on the flight. We are passing courses on the safety and evacuation of passengers from the aircraft without fail, as well as courses on the VIP service: VIP service technique, maintenance principles, Passenger psychology.

– What is VIP service?

– ability to create comfort passengers. There is no talk about any obsessive service, you just need to feel the mood of the passenger. It is not necessary to properly approach him and offer something, it is necessary to treat it understandingly, to communicate and pre-providing in advance that it may be necessary for this particular passenger.

– You feel in your work the difference of mentalities of different nations?

– We communicate a lot with terrestrial services of different countries, make orders: We – Nutrition, Pilots order the aircraft refueling. The clarity of the work performed depends on the mentality. Somewhere everything will happen clearly and according to plan, and somewhere not very. For example, let’s say, the Spaniards are definitely late, everything will occur slowly, someone will not work at the weekend, someone is siesta. Somewhere in Italy on weekends you may refuse in principle in ordering. Because the day off for the Italian – the Holy Case. So, if you urgently need meals on board, which flies on Sunday, you will have to go to the restaurant yourself, order a removal of removal and bring on board the aircraft. It happens, the supermarket has to go. And somewhere in London or Munich you are ready to do everything 24 hours a day. There we always go to meet and never arise any problems. Even if they suddenly changed the schedule and you fly off tomorrow, but today, you still will quickly do and bring.

– How often do you fly?

– I find it difficult to remove the average number of flights per month. May have such that I seem a week and a half at home and nobody will call me for all time. And then the flights will sharply go. There were such moments when we had to work for days. No clear schedule, everything can change at the last moment.

– It turns out that you travel a lot, but do you have the opportunity to see something in someone else’s country?

– If the flight with a stop in the country, then, of course, we have free time. We can do what we want. Of course, I want to go right away, walk, watch. But at the same time it is necessary to be always ready that you can pull back. It was: in Thessaloniki we drove off to relax. In theory, we had two free days ahead. They sat in the restaurant – and just ordered lunch and wine, as the dispatcher called us and said: quickly by plane. We broke your head back to the city, left the hotel – and the plane. This is fine.

– work, of course, is difficult, but for travel – the most ideal. However, probably, and troubles happen?

– Everything happens. Somehow I, for example, forgot food in the oven. We flew to Cyprus, and almost a week could relax on the sea. Returned to the plane after the rest, I open the oven and understand: God, everything is rubbed! The disgusting smell of rotten meal spread throughout the cabin. I started panic, because it remained half an hour before the arrival of passengers. We began to call grandmothers and mothers, ask what you need to do to stop the oven. All the remedies were used, and fortunately, the smell was able to overcome passengers. It was very nervous.

– What are the requirements for appearance?

– Strict. We should always look beautiful. We have several sets of form, they depend on the season. Each set of form implies the corresponding makeup. Declare on board with unnecessary hair and without makeup, with a backed person – not welcome.

– How to change your views on life after you started working with a stewardess?

– I became more tolerant to people. More tolerant. Maybe because I come across more often with other mentality. I became softer, feminine and much more understanding.

– What are the minuses in your work?

– For me personally, there are few minuses, I like my work. But objectively minus one – it’s hard for you to plan anything. Your plans can break at any time, and you have to change everything. Not everyone is ready to live with it. But personally it fits me. Still love to say that for health it is not the most useful work. Although the seat in the office is also not the most useful work.

– How your family responds to flights?

– now ok, although at first there were problems. Not everyone understands what business aviation is. Often think that I work as a waitress and say: "Why do you need a diploma of Oriental? To cut plates?"Not immediately and not everyone was clear that I perceive this work really seriously, she suits me for some personal reasons. Family worried: what about Chinese? But since I tried to work on the line of Chinese, it means that something was wrong, and it was necessary to distract from the language and try something else.