Why I Quit My Flight Attendant Job

Happy New Year dahlins! I hope that 2021 has been off to a good start for you. I wanted to have done my first few blog posts for January already but alas! life... After facing a torrent of challenges last year, I now intend to be gentle with myself as I work towards accomplishing my goals. With that said, I’m excited to share a new Ancestral Memory blog post with you. If you know me personally or have been following me on Instagram for a while, you may know that I left my (approximately)ten year job as a flight attendant last Summer. I can’t believe that six months have already passed! It may come as a surprise to some that : 1) I worked as a flight attendant for so long and that 2) I quit. However, if you know me, you probably know how long I wanted to leave that career. I fantasized and spoke about wanting to leave ad nauseam. Well, I finally took the plunge and let me tell you, not a day has gone by that I have regretted the decision. Many people seem perplexed when flight attendants quit the job (afterall, isn’t it a dream job?) so I thought it would be nice to share what persuaded me to leave. Pour yourself a cup of tea and cosy up!

Let’s rewind for a bit though to why & how I became a flight attendant in the first place.

Although I am not someone who dreamed about being a flight attendant her entire life, the job did intrigue me. The profession seems cool from the outside looking in. There is the attraction of travelling the world. Then there is the perceived glamour. Apart from the fascination that people generally have about the job, I happened to have two best friends were flight attendants. By the time I joined the club, one of those besties had already been in the career for almost ten years. She encouraged me to apply to work at the airline where she was employed at the time. I don’t remember much about the application process during that first go. Actually, I totally forgot about that attempt until I began writing this piece. There were maybe a hundred or so candidates gathered in a conference room somewhere in downtown Atlanta (I think). If I recall correctly, we (the flight attendant wannabes) were asked to say something for the company reps to hear how we sounded. I didn’t make it beyond that phase. I remember wondering if they didn’t like my Trini accent. Lol. It was slightly disappointing but I soon abandoned the idea. Since it was never particularly a dream of mine, it was easy to move on.

The second time around, my bestie who flew for Delta told me they were hiring. At the time I was applying to law school and I was very excited about possibly working in human rights or international law. I also dreamed of writing and designing. For someone reason though, I thought “what the heck!” “I will apply and if I get the job, I will do it for a couple years then return to my original pursuits.” I didn’t hang much expectation on getting the job especially given my previous experience. Yet, I kept moving through the application process without any hiccups. Before I knew it, Delta had hired me. When I graduated from the intense flight attendant training, it seemed surreal. If I’m honest, I felt a bit out of sorts even then. I was surrounded by people who had been dreaming and obsessing about the career their whole lives. It felt weird to not share their enthusiasm. Nonetheless, I put on my shiny new wings and began to fly the friendly skies.

As soon as working on the aircraft became my life, it became clear how different the job was from what people tend to think it is. I realised that my prior vague notions of crew life didn’t come close to the reality. It definitely was not an easy adjustment but I was determined to get the hang of things. Six months in though during a cold layover in Minneapolis, I confessed to a classmate from training that I didn’t like the job. She felt the same. We made a pledge that we would give it more time and do our best to make the most of it while we were there. For me, that entailed travelling to bucket list destinations when I was not working and having a blast with loved ones while on layovers across the U.S. Those positive aspects kept me in the job way past when I thought I would be there. Eventually though, the perks were no longer enough to offset my unhappiness. The travel benefits and stretches of days off no longer seemed worth the sacrifices.

What exactly did I not like?

Too much time spent away from loved ones- Most flight crew spend an insane amount of time away from their family and friends. This might work for some and for some time but for me it quickly became too hard. All those days that I was flying equated to time that I was not at home. It took a toll on my relationships. Some friends stopped inviting me to things because they assumed that I was not around and I couldn't blame them. I missed holidays’ and weekends’ worth of family gatherings. Dating became extra tricky and even though I was continually surrounded by people, they were mostly strangers with whom I didn’t have a connection.

An introvert’s nightmare- Being a flight attendant is soooo socially demanding. This is one of the main things I didn’t consider before starting the job. I had worked in customer service in various capacities for ten years before so I thought I could handle dealing with passengers. I had no clue! Working as a flight attendant for a major airline like Delta means that you can be interacting with hundreds of passengers each day and you are expected to be ‘on’ at all times. Smiling. Outgoing. Bubbly. Immune to nasty behaviour. Playing social worker, babysitter, therapist, servant, mediator. I strived to provide good service and I tried hard to focus on the sweet, respectful, patient passengers but as entitled, rude, noncompliant passengers became increasingly common, I started to feel drained and jaded. In my last year flying I had two incidents with passengers who were verbally abusive to me without them facing any repercussions. It was just too much.

Insomnia and other sleep problems- The combination of continually travelling from one time zone to another; having an irregular work schedule; the discomfort of sleeping in unfamiliar places and all of the anxiety wreaked havoc on my sleep pattern. There was a period when I had insomnia for about seven months. It took a leave of absence for me to be able sleep again but even then my sleep didn’t really resume to being normal. The insomnia went away but my circadian rhythm remained off kilter.

The Toll On One’s Physical & Mental Health- Apart from compromised sleep, flight crew often struggle with eating healthily and getting enough exercise while on trips. When I reached a hotel at midnight and had to be back on the plane at six in the morning, I was forced to choose between getting a few hours of sleep and grabbing what I could to eat. Even with a gym in the hotel, exercise was a stretch (no pun intended). The job is just not the most conducive to a healthy lifestyle. Studies have also found that due to greater exposure to cosmic ionizing radiation coupled with chemical contaminants on airplanes plus the factors I listed above, flight attendants are more susceptible to several types of cancer than people in the general population. The same studies have also found that the longer f.a.’s stay in the job, the more prone they are. As serious as those hazards are, the mental health issues felt more immediate to me. The anxiety I felt about dealing with passengers and being at Delta’s beck and call; the loneliness of being away from loved ones ; being sleep deprived and feeling unfulfilled professionally were all chipping away at my mental/emotional health. There were days when I would cry in the airplane lavatory. Towards the end I was having frequent anxiety attacks and bouts of depression.

These are not even all the reasons why I quit but they’re the main ones. Still, due to fear, I deliberated over leaving for years. What would happen if I was not receiving a regular paycheck from such an established company? Would it be a mistake to give up the travel benefits and medical insurance? When was the right time to walk away? Should I wait until I qualified for a full retirement package? Could I leave without having all the pieces of my plan properly laid out?

The moment came though when I simply could not face returning to the job. After calling out from several trips I was scheduled to fly, I knew I had reached my limit. One night I prayed to God to make an easy way for me to quit and to take care of my financial needs. My prayer was answered immediately and in a way I could not have planned better. I am tremendously thankful for that. When I walked off the airplane from work for the last time so many emotions rushed over me. Being a flight attendant was such a significant chapter in my life. I had some cool experiences, met some amazing people and learned some important lessons. Six months after I quit I am certain that I made the right decision. I am proud of myself for choosing to start a new chapter. It’s going to entail more globetrotting but on my terms!

Photography Credit: DreaSpeaks