Melissa's Flight Attendant Blog

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Currently at French Connection Internet Cafe, finished all my training, graduated and everything...yay!

Since I've been a bit of a technophobe since I got here (Darren would be a little unimpressed) I thought I'd give a little update about my training. Training takes about 5 weeks and consists of SEP (Safety and Emergency Procedures), First Aid and Service, and it's usually in SEP where the class loses the most trainees. Usually it's because they don't do well inside the simulator, or they're too afraid to go into the water for ditching so they skip class. Or they get really homesick, or can't cop constructive critisism and ask to go home. So I was really glad, that during SEP especially, I didn't get pulled back, and that I was mentally strong enough to stick it out for the full 5 weeks, getting marks no lower than 93%.

Before this job, I used to work at the Perth Convention Centre as a Banquet Waitress. It was okay, not the best job but better than working as a council garbo. It also had one of the best hourly rates, second to the Burswood casino. The job was extremely active, and I got to a point where I could go 9 hours without sitting down, without the legs feeling like jelly. So when I did SEP, it was like high school again, except I didn't move around as much. We just sat there being lectured for 6 hours. And because I wasn't moving around all the time, I had the tendency to doze off every now and again. It happened also during First Aid, but not so much Service.

SEP was, by far, the most enjoyable subject, if only for the sessions in the simulator. The sim cost the company several million dirhams, and was used regularly by Etihad and Gulf Air, and had been known to have been hired out by BA. The ex-flyers in our group, from Gulf Air, Philipine Airlines, Jarways, Air Malta and Slovak Air, were pretty pysched. I just wanted to pass.

The first thing we were trained on was turbulence, since that was what we'd most likely encounter. I fucked it up though, by making a full cabin announcement that was not only uneccessary but also would have caused widespread panic in real life. I probably would have spilled a whole pot of coffee onto a passenger causing a PR problem. But hey, it was my first day.

The next day we were trained on decompression, which, if my experiences in the sim are anything to go by, is extremely scary. Considering I'd be most likely standing when a rapid decompression occurs, I'd be dead, however, whenever I'm travelling as a passenger I'd be strapping myself very tightly in the seat. Think of what happened in Lost, the first scene they play in every episode during season one. That my friends is a rapid decompression. Fortunately, our airline has a perfect safety record with not even a recor of a crack in the window, but I don't feel anymore comfortable on the aircraft knowing that. Training for that was much better though, and I was one of the few people that actually knew how to work the oxygen bottles properly. Go Miss Chemistry :-)

The best part though, was the sliding and the ditching. The water was around 10 degrees but it was a lot of fun. I kinda wished I hadn't worn jeans though, as these prevented me from getting inside the slide raft. Had to get the trainer to haul me in I was that stuck. And for the record, Kris, because I know you'll tease me about it, I didn't get stuck because I was too chubby, I was waterlogged, and I was wearing jeans. So there.

That was pretty much the practical side of SEP. The theory side is very boring, but you have to know it, like the location of the emergency equipment etc. I got caught out on it during my first supy flight and even though my SFS was lenient and nice, she was still unimpressed. I'll have to leave it there for now though and write about First Aid and Servcie another time.

Posted by Melissa at 9:22 am

0 comments