Update time! It's been a very busy past few days!
The last two days of service training flew by with more mock up flights and another 100% on assessments and practicals and a final review and feedback presenting me with another Advanced Status in Service! Who knew!
Then two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for our SUP flights.
Phoned Evita in the morning (She's the automated voice system that gives us updates on our scheduled rosters and any changes) and she reported my very first flight was going to be to Tehran, Iran. A quick turn around, leaving DXB (Dubai) at 6:45PM and arriving back home to DXB at 12:15AM.
The morning of my first flight I slept in, had a late breakfast and then went to the gym to work off a little stress for the coming days experiences. Packed some snacks, hopped in the shower and donned the famous uniform. Triple checked all my necessary documents and walked out the door to board the bus to headquarters.
I studied hard on the way there for my aircraft type: Boeing 777 and had 45 mins to spare at the terminal when I arrived before check in (I wanted to be early). Then the time came when the light flashed on the status board that it was time to proceed through security and into the briefing room.
Card scan, finger print scan, another card scan, bag scan, body scan and down a long hallway to briefing room #24. The room was surprisingly full when I arrived, almost all the chairs were taken. I put on my friendliest face and pretended like this wasn't my first time here. I managed to fool a couple of people sitting nearest me. (Yippy!) Until the time came when we horse shoed around the table introductions and then I was caught out. Everyone clapped and said how excited they were for us and that we were going to have a lot of fun on this flight, they would make sure of it! My face showed excitement but my hands were sweating like crazy and I couldn't concentrate, all I could think was when they were going to ask me the big question pertaining to anything we have just learned over the last two months and expect me to give a perfect answer. I was so nervous. The Purser (Martina) saved me for last and just when I thought I had gotten away with it and I didn't have to answer a question I suddenly heard my name and she was looking up at me.
"Leanna - Where are the emergency evacuation command switches on the aircraft?" Immediately the correct answer popped into my head but I fought it thinking that it must be a more difficult answer, it was too easy. So I sidled off saying "L1...." But she stopped me quickly and prompted me with "Which doors would we evacuate from the aircraft type B777-200?" I stopped dead in my tracks, theres a big difference between a B777-200 and B777-300.
I immediately reverted back to my original first thought and said "All doors and the Cockpit." Confidently I smiled at her and she smiled back and everyone clapped. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders, first briefing and safe talk completed! It wasn't quite as hard as I imagined it would be but it's still very nerve wracking! It helped that when everyone else around the table was asked their question, some also needed prompting and thankfully I knew all the answers to their questions. I do know the information, I just second guess myself far too often.
I did have the pleasure of meeting the Duty Manager as well during my briefing to pass along some new information he had regarding my GCAA license.
Now comes the roller coaster story..
My entire group (four batches) received our GCAA license (we signed them back when we collected our first pay checks, passports back and the uniform collection day, remember?) on the last day of training college Monday and I realized that surprise I had a restriction on my license that I had to be wearing contact lenses and have a spare pair of glasses in my cabin bag at all times. I don't wear contact lenses so where had this come from that now suddenly I was being ordered to wear them as per my flying license?
My two days off, when I should have been relaxing and enjoying/celebrating my success I was at headquarters for 10 hours dealing with the GCAA license issue. Having had to convince three doctors and the GCAA that in fact NO I do not wear contact lenses, nor have I said I wore them at any point previous to my employment or during my employment with the company and that I do not wear them now. Checking into my profile they discovered that when I did my eye test on the medical clinic day during my induction week in Dubai that my eye sight is of acceptable standards for both Emirates and the GCAA, which I already knew. Duh. They decided it would cost me 200DHS to get it removed from my license. Fine. It's a lot cheaper and less painful direction then getting contacts and a brand new pair of emirates standard glasses at $400CAD a pair. Ridiculous. I love surprises. Honestly, I do, just not from Emirates. Ever.
Their surprises give me heart attacks and jeopardize my career here. Their surprises end up being very expensive and time consuming. Not my idea of a surprise.
So back to the duty manager, all the information had to be passed around from department to department from my Cabin Crew Manager to ensure that everyone was understanding that my GCAA license I was operating under for my SUP flights contained a mistake that is no longer valid and I will be issued a new one within the next few days. He was just confirming that everything was going to go smoothly for my flights and that I shouldn't have any trouble with any management to try and off load me from the flight for not operating correctly according to my license. (It's all so serious here!)
I was glad that this issue is almost being put to rest, I am excited to have my new license soon with NO restrictions on it! Thank goodness!
Back to the flight now..
So we left the briefing room, took an elevator to the basement floor of Headquarters and boarded a bus that was meant just for our crew going to our aircraft. It winded around going up and up to the light and the tarmac level of the airport. We drove around aircrafts and watched them land and take off, talk about taking the scenic route! It was incredible. Then we pulled up next to our Boeing 777 standing alone on the tarmac ready to be loaded with crew and passengers. The aircraft became a flurry of activity. Every nook and cranny was being eyeballed and the galley was being set up and the ovens turned on early since it was a short flight we were trying to gain some extra time.
It all looked so exciting, so I just jumped right in. I saw one girl putting out headsets so I grabbed a handful and helped her, then I went back to the galley and started setting a big silver tray with toys for the kids on our flight, while two girls danced around me with cups of boiling water getting the hot lemon towels ready to be handed out during boarding. Everyone was organizing their bags, jackets, shoes and vests into the side compartments of the plane and locking them.
Before I knew it passengers were coming down the aisle towards me (I didn't even have my hat on yet, it was so crazy busy) So I dashed around the back of the plane to retrieve it, placed it on my head and gracefully pranced back out to my station to assist passengers finding their seats and stowing their luggage. I got another good work out!
It was so fun, you just stand and smile (Two things I am very good at!) open your hands towards them and do a lot of gesturing to locations. A little old lady kept wanting to hold my hand and tell me I looked like her favourite granddaughter but as lovely as it was I was holding up the line up of people behind me in the aisle so I promised to come back and visit with her after. Before I knew it again, the plane was full to the brim, it was the strangest thing not sitting in a seat on the plane with the others. Then I got the call, it was time to enter the cockpit and take my jump seat there. I was nearly dying of excitement! I will never forget the lessons the Captain and First Officer taught me. They let me touch buttons on the auto pilot and talk into the mic through the headset. After my SUP flights I will never see this again in my life. I asked to take photos but they said they would just end up blurry since it was night and the lights were dimmed so they could see and plus it was a security issue. Didn't hurt to ask!
I served the Captain his dinner, it looked incredible just for the record. It was served on real ware, not plastic! He had little mini bottles of fancy dressing for his chicken salad and what looked like a raspberry cheesecake with white chocolate drizzle. My dinner was chicken and rice in the back galley, dreaming of the fancy salad. Haha!
I was surprised by how much Auto-Pilot actually does during the flight. Even during taxi, I was sure that the pilots were steering the plane onto the runway..no..that's auto pilot, the Captain and First Officer aren't touching anything, they are busy filling out checklists and talking to Ground Control. Even during take off the Captain is only assisting Auto-Pilot, he does have the power to over ride it but he is just ensure it does everything correctly. Only during Landing do they disengage Auto-Pilot completely. So yes the Captain lands the plane all on his own! And my Captain did the loveliest landings! It's a totally different story being in the Cockpit, everything happens so quickly, all of a sudden we are taking off and then landing, being in the back as a passenger it all seems like things take forever! As soon as the plane was levelled out at 39,000 Feet the Captain turned around and said we were free to go. So one at a time we have to check through the peephole into the cabin, twice, then whip the door open and slam it quickly behind you. Going into the Cockpit takes practice. You have to check all the little compartments and the lavatory in the hallway leading to the Cockpit door in a sequence ensure that no one is hiding anywhere. Either knock on the Cockpit door or press the code in (Sorry it's a secret!) and then keeping your back to the lavatory door behind you and your left shoulder against the Cockpit door still keeping your eyes looking down the hallway to the cabin wait for the Captain to see you on the camera outside and then activate the door open, if at anytime the situation changes the door must never be opened, if all is clear after the buzz sounds you swing the door half open, rush forward and slam it behind you. I loved being in the Cockpit, it's the safest place! Bullet, bomb and anything else people can come up with proof! Plus the jump seats have fur on them in there! Oh la la!
Exiting the Cockpit I rushed down the aisles to help with the meal service that was the quickest marathon I have ever witnessed! I double-ended a meal cart with another girl and I handed out trays and drinks while she handed out the hot meals behind me. When I ran out of trays to hand out I left her to finish her side and went back to the galley to get the other trolly's ready to go out as well as the coffee and tea trays to make their way down the aisles as soon as the meal carts are cleared. It's all a very intricate dance that happens. I can't explain it better than that. I then helped with the meal clearance cart with the same girl and we killed it! Then it was time to head back to the Cockpit for landing into Iran. Landing is by far my favourite part. You feel like you are suspended in the air when the thrust is slowed down just above the city and immediately the Captain centres the aircraft to line it up to the runway filled entirely with little yellow lights, it looked like Christmas lights but way more incredible, there were millions, perhaps trillions of them! Just an alleyway of lights leading us in. The ground control and auto pilot are all counting down to the ground and buttons are being pushes and levers are flying forward and back, their hands are a flurry of activity doing everything that needs to be done to land the plane safely. The First Officer is counting down the speed and then suddenly we touch down and you get thrown forward against your four point harness in the jump seat as the Auto-Pilot and Captain engage the braking and steering systems. Auto-Pilot taxis us into the terminal gate and as soon as the plane comes to a stop, head sets get ripped off, harnesses are release and the Captain and First Officer are all smiles and hand shakes on a job well done (For real, it's adorable!) and they shake our hands too. (Probably in thanks that you kept quiet and didn't throw up!)
We had an hour before boarding began for our journey back to DXB. So the SFS (They are one step below the Purser) had me practice opening and closing the door with nothing below the plane, just 7 meters down solid concrete tarmac. The door was much more heavier than it was in training college and it's a lot more crazy opening a real door in a real life situation and on top of that there is nothing below to catch me or protect me, just a bad fall and a lot of broken bones most likely. Then it was time for a quick dinner in the back galley! I put some cookies in my pocket to munch on when we were back in the Cockpit for take off. Everything was repeated again on the way back, I had time to hand out toys this time to the children and that was really fun! Then I did the meal cart and clearance cart again and back to the Cockpit for landing into DXB. Back in the Cockpit, the Captain and Auto-Pilot were lining the aircraft up to the runway and all around us in the darkest of darkness you could see all these little twinkling lights, what looks like stars, they were in fact other aircrafts surrounding us. This was my favourite part of the entire experience. We saw a plane pass us as well right over top, you could see everything! I was hoping I could see the whole city lit up in lights during landing but it was awfully sandy and so I could only see the lights of the Burj Kalifa. :( Oh well, maybe on my next flight tonight?
Yes tonight.
My flight departs at 9:45PM and arrives back into DXB at 6:45AM it's a red eye to Bangalore, India on an Airbus 330 I believe? So more studying this afternoon but for a totally different aircraft. I don't know how people do this, switching from aircraft to aircraft!
So wish me luck again this evening!
I loved my cabin crew and flight crew on the first flight, it was so much fun and unfortunately there wasn't enough time for pranks to be pulled, perhaps tonight?! Oh I hope so! I love a good laugh!
That's all the news I have for now.
I can't believe this is my life and I get paid for it.
Leanna xo
P.S There's kittens for sale on the Carrefore bulletin board!
The last two days of service training flew by with more mock up flights and another 100% on assessments and practicals and a final review and feedback presenting me with another Advanced Status in Service! Who knew!
Then two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for our SUP flights.
Phoned Evita in the morning (She's the automated voice system that gives us updates on our scheduled rosters and any changes) and she reported my very first flight was going to be to Tehran, Iran. A quick turn around, leaving DXB (Dubai) at 6:45PM and arriving back home to DXB at 12:15AM.
The morning of my first flight I slept in, had a late breakfast and then went to the gym to work off a little stress for the coming days experiences. Packed some snacks, hopped in the shower and donned the famous uniform. Triple checked all my necessary documents and walked out the door to board the bus to headquarters.
I studied hard on the way there for my aircraft type: Boeing 777 and had 45 mins to spare at the terminal when I arrived before check in (I wanted to be early). Then the time came when the light flashed on the status board that it was time to proceed through security and into the briefing room.
Card scan, finger print scan, another card scan, bag scan, body scan and down a long hallway to briefing room #24. The room was surprisingly full when I arrived, almost all the chairs were taken. I put on my friendliest face and pretended like this wasn't my first time here. I managed to fool a couple of people sitting nearest me. (Yippy!) Until the time came when we horse shoed around the table introductions and then I was caught out. Everyone clapped and said how excited they were for us and that we were going to have a lot of fun on this flight, they would make sure of it! My face showed excitement but my hands were sweating like crazy and I couldn't concentrate, all I could think was when they were going to ask me the big question pertaining to anything we have just learned over the last two months and expect me to give a perfect answer. I was so nervous. The Purser (Martina) saved me for last and just when I thought I had gotten away with it and I didn't have to answer a question I suddenly heard my name and she was looking up at me.
"Leanna - Where are the emergency evacuation command switches on the aircraft?" Immediately the correct answer popped into my head but I fought it thinking that it must be a more difficult answer, it was too easy. So I sidled off saying "L1...." But she stopped me quickly and prompted me with "Which doors would we evacuate from the aircraft type B777-200?" I stopped dead in my tracks, theres a big difference between a B777-200 and B777-300.
I immediately reverted back to my original first thought and said "All doors and the Cockpit." Confidently I smiled at her and she smiled back and everyone clapped. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders, first briefing and safe talk completed! It wasn't quite as hard as I imagined it would be but it's still very nerve wracking! It helped that when everyone else around the table was asked their question, some also needed prompting and thankfully I knew all the answers to their questions. I do know the information, I just second guess myself far too often.
I did have the pleasure of meeting the Duty Manager as well during my briefing to pass along some new information he had regarding my GCAA license.
Now comes the roller coaster story..
My entire group (four batches) received our GCAA license (we signed them back when we collected our first pay checks, passports back and the uniform collection day, remember?) on the last day of training college Monday and I realized that surprise I had a restriction on my license that I had to be wearing contact lenses and have a spare pair of glasses in my cabin bag at all times. I don't wear contact lenses so where had this come from that now suddenly I was being ordered to wear them as per my flying license?
My two days off, when I should have been relaxing and enjoying/celebrating my success I was at headquarters for 10 hours dealing with the GCAA license issue. Having had to convince three doctors and the GCAA that in fact NO I do not wear contact lenses, nor have I said I wore them at any point previous to my employment or during my employment with the company and that I do not wear them now. Checking into my profile they discovered that when I did my eye test on the medical clinic day during my induction week in Dubai that my eye sight is of acceptable standards for both Emirates and the GCAA, which I already knew. Duh. They decided it would cost me 200DHS to get it removed from my license. Fine. It's a lot cheaper and less painful direction then getting contacts and a brand new pair of emirates standard glasses at $400CAD a pair. Ridiculous. I love surprises. Honestly, I do, just not from Emirates. Ever.
Their surprises give me heart attacks and jeopardize my career here. Their surprises end up being very expensive and time consuming. Not my idea of a surprise.
So back to the duty manager, all the information had to be passed around from department to department from my Cabin Crew Manager to ensure that everyone was understanding that my GCAA license I was operating under for my SUP flights contained a mistake that is no longer valid and I will be issued a new one within the next few days. He was just confirming that everything was going to go smoothly for my flights and that I shouldn't have any trouble with any management to try and off load me from the flight for not operating correctly according to my license. (It's all so serious here!)
I was glad that this issue is almost being put to rest, I am excited to have my new license soon with NO restrictions on it! Thank goodness!
Back to the flight now..
So we left the briefing room, took an elevator to the basement floor of Headquarters and boarded a bus that was meant just for our crew going to our aircraft. It winded around going up and up to the light and the tarmac level of the airport. We drove around aircrafts and watched them land and take off, talk about taking the scenic route! It was incredible. Then we pulled up next to our Boeing 777 standing alone on the tarmac ready to be loaded with crew and passengers. The aircraft became a flurry of activity. Every nook and cranny was being eyeballed and the galley was being set up and the ovens turned on early since it was a short flight we were trying to gain some extra time.
It all looked so exciting, so I just jumped right in. I saw one girl putting out headsets so I grabbed a handful and helped her, then I went back to the galley and started setting a big silver tray with toys for the kids on our flight, while two girls danced around me with cups of boiling water getting the hot lemon towels ready to be handed out during boarding. Everyone was organizing their bags, jackets, shoes and vests into the side compartments of the plane and locking them.
Before I knew it passengers were coming down the aisle towards me (I didn't even have my hat on yet, it was so crazy busy) So I dashed around the back of the plane to retrieve it, placed it on my head and gracefully pranced back out to my station to assist passengers finding their seats and stowing their luggage. I got another good work out!
It was so fun, you just stand and smile (Two things I am very good at!) open your hands towards them and do a lot of gesturing to locations. A little old lady kept wanting to hold my hand and tell me I looked like her favourite granddaughter but as lovely as it was I was holding up the line up of people behind me in the aisle so I promised to come back and visit with her after. Before I knew it again, the plane was full to the brim, it was the strangest thing not sitting in a seat on the plane with the others. Then I got the call, it was time to enter the cockpit and take my jump seat there. I was nearly dying of excitement! I will never forget the lessons the Captain and First Officer taught me. They let me touch buttons on the auto pilot and talk into the mic through the headset. After my SUP flights I will never see this again in my life. I asked to take photos but they said they would just end up blurry since it was night and the lights were dimmed so they could see and plus it was a security issue. Didn't hurt to ask!
I served the Captain his dinner, it looked incredible just for the record. It was served on real ware, not plastic! He had little mini bottles of fancy dressing for his chicken salad and what looked like a raspberry cheesecake with white chocolate drizzle. My dinner was chicken and rice in the back galley, dreaming of the fancy salad. Haha!
I was surprised by how much Auto-Pilot actually does during the flight. Even during taxi, I was sure that the pilots were steering the plane onto the runway..no..that's auto pilot, the Captain and First Officer aren't touching anything, they are busy filling out checklists and talking to Ground Control. Even during take off the Captain is only assisting Auto-Pilot, he does have the power to over ride it but he is just ensure it does everything correctly. Only during Landing do they disengage Auto-Pilot completely. So yes the Captain lands the plane all on his own! And my Captain did the loveliest landings! It's a totally different story being in the Cockpit, everything happens so quickly, all of a sudden we are taking off and then landing, being in the back as a passenger it all seems like things take forever! As soon as the plane was levelled out at 39,000 Feet the Captain turned around and said we were free to go. So one at a time we have to check through the peephole into the cabin, twice, then whip the door open and slam it quickly behind you. Going into the Cockpit takes practice. You have to check all the little compartments and the lavatory in the hallway leading to the Cockpit door in a sequence ensure that no one is hiding anywhere. Either knock on the Cockpit door or press the code in (Sorry it's a secret!) and then keeping your back to the lavatory door behind you and your left shoulder against the Cockpit door still keeping your eyes looking down the hallway to the cabin wait for the Captain to see you on the camera outside and then activate the door open, if at anytime the situation changes the door must never be opened, if all is clear after the buzz sounds you swing the door half open, rush forward and slam it behind you. I loved being in the Cockpit, it's the safest place! Bullet, bomb and anything else people can come up with proof! Plus the jump seats have fur on them in there! Oh la la!
Exiting the Cockpit I rushed down the aisles to help with the meal service that was the quickest marathon I have ever witnessed! I double-ended a meal cart with another girl and I handed out trays and drinks while she handed out the hot meals behind me. When I ran out of trays to hand out I left her to finish her side and went back to the galley to get the other trolly's ready to go out as well as the coffee and tea trays to make their way down the aisles as soon as the meal carts are cleared. It's all a very intricate dance that happens. I can't explain it better than that. I then helped with the meal clearance cart with the same girl and we killed it! Then it was time to head back to the Cockpit for landing into Iran. Landing is by far my favourite part. You feel like you are suspended in the air when the thrust is slowed down just above the city and immediately the Captain centres the aircraft to line it up to the runway filled entirely with little yellow lights, it looked like Christmas lights but way more incredible, there were millions, perhaps trillions of them! Just an alleyway of lights leading us in. The ground control and auto pilot are all counting down to the ground and buttons are being pushes and levers are flying forward and back, their hands are a flurry of activity doing everything that needs to be done to land the plane safely. The First Officer is counting down the speed and then suddenly we touch down and you get thrown forward against your four point harness in the jump seat as the Auto-Pilot and Captain engage the braking and steering systems. Auto-Pilot taxis us into the terminal gate and as soon as the plane comes to a stop, head sets get ripped off, harnesses are release and the Captain and First Officer are all smiles and hand shakes on a job well done (For real, it's adorable!) and they shake our hands too. (Probably in thanks that you kept quiet and didn't throw up!)
We had an hour before boarding began for our journey back to DXB. So the SFS (They are one step below the Purser) had me practice opening and closing the door with nothing below the plane, just 7 meters down solid concrete tarmac. The door was much more heavier than it was in training college and it's a lot more crazy opening a real door in a real life situation and on top of that there is nothing below to catch me or protect me, just a bad fall and a lot of broken bones most likely. Then it was time for a quick dinner in the back galley! I put some cookies in my pocket to munch on when we were back in the Cockpit for take off. Everything was repeated again on the way back, I had time to hand out toys this time to the children and that was really fun! Then I did the meal cart and clearance cart again and back to the Cockpit for landing into DXB. Back in the Cockpit, the Captain and Auto-Pilot were lining the aircraft up to the runway and all around us in the darkest of darkness you could see all these little twinkling lights, what looks like stars, they were in fact other aircrafts surrounding us. This was my favourite part of the entire experience. We saw a plane pass us as well right over top, you could see everything! I was hoping I could see the whole city lit up in lights during landing but it was awfully sandy and so I could only see the lights of the Burj Kalifa. :( Oh well, maybe on my next flight tonight?
Yes tonight.
My flight departs at 9:45PM and arrives back into DXB at 6:45AM it's a red eye to Bangalore, India on an Airbus 330 I believe? So more studying this afternoon but for a totally different aircraft. I don't know how people do this, switching from aircraft to aircraft!
So wish me luck again this evening!
I loved my cabin crew and flight crew on the first flight, it was so much fun and unfortunately there wasn't enough time for pranks to be pulled, perhaps tonight?! Oh I hope so! I love a good laugh!
That's all the news I have for now.
I can't believe this is my life and I get paid for it.
Leanna xo
P.S There's kittens for sale on the Carrefore bulletin board!
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