- As a flight attendant, people have been curious
"what's flying like during the coronavirus pandemic?"
So today were gonna answer some of those questions.
(plane noises)
(music)
- How you doing guys, my names Madin.
I've been a flight attendant now for about five years.
- Hey! My name is Soo Ra,
and I've been a flight attendant for three years.
- My name is Yaritza
and I have been a flight attendant for three years.
- [Interviewer] How is the quality of air on planes?
- I've been told by some of the pilots that you know
there is a filtration system in the airplane,
the cabin, the air is definitely recycled
and I mean we are in a pressurized cabin,
were not getting air from outside.
There is no breathable air at 30 thousand feet.
But, there are definitely filters in the airplane
that just constantly recycles the air and those filters
are actually from the same grade that they use
in the operating rooms and in hospitals.
- [Interviewer] how have the planes been cleaned?
More than usual?
- I can honestly say I have never seen the planes cleaner.
Partly because there is a lot less people.
And people make messes.
- They definitely been wrapping up the cleaning
on the planes especially because of the situation.
We've always had wipes on board like satanical wipes,
they call them.
All the airlines I think have that for the crew.
But now my specific airline,
I don't know if the other airlines are doing this,
but they're giving us these big jars of Clorox wipes
that we can give out on request for the customer.
But, yeah planes definitely have been cleaned.
- [interviewer] What's it like right now
working as a flight attendant?
- Right now things are super weird,
to say the least.
Just taking everything day by day, taking it as it comes.
And just keeping myself updated with current events.
Things are changing literally by the hour.
So, just keeping myself updated.
- It's a little different.
I mean the job itself is still pretty normal.
I get on board, I immediately clean my seatbelt buckle.
Now I wear gloves,
or when I do service,
or just in general during a flight.
Now were allowed to do that,
before we couldn't, we weren't able to do that.
But now we are.
- [Interviewer] Have you been trained to handle situations
like Coronavirus?
- We have been trained to handle sick passengers.
So, everything is situational based
so whatever you've got going on
will be handled accordingly as long as you tell us.
- The captain has a frequency that he can tune in,
it's called Med link,
it's a doctor that's basically on the ground
that's in this frequency
and the pilots would tell the doctor on the ground
what were telling the pilot what's happening.
The doctor would tell our captain what we as a
flight attendant should be doing to make the situation
better.
There is a lot of medical equipment on board.
Were not nurses or doctors,
so we need the permission by the doctor
to like go ahead and use it.
Just to keep somebody with a fighting chance
until we land the plane.
- [Interviewer] Have a lot of flights been canceled?
- Yes, a lot of flights have been canceled.
I do know that the international carriers have been seeing
more cancellations then domestic.
- So far my flights have just been really light.
Like I've been in the elevator with more people.
- Flights have been canceled,
they've been doing it well in advance to help the customers
experience in terms of that.
But yeah they have been canceling flights.
- [Interviewer] Are airlines any people cancel,
is there a fee?
- Normally, there is a cancellation fee
but I do think that right now a lot of airlines are
waiving their cancellation fee.
Definitely double check with the airline that you do decide
to book with and just read the terms and condition also
before you even book.
- [Interviewer] Is there hand sanitizer available on planes?
- Soap, water, wipes, gloves, you name it!
- My specific airline, we have the soap in the bathroom,
it's a foamy soap, it doubles as a hand sanitizer
when the water is not working.
- [Interviewer] Would you recommend that people bring
their own sanitizers and wipes on flights?
- Yes, I would.
Honestly, it should've been a thing before this pandemic
but yeah bring your own wipes and I would say wipe
the tray tables, the seat buckle,
if there is a TV in front of you, wipe the TV, the arm rest.
Stop having your babies crawl on the floor,
I always cringe when I see that.
And don't go in the lav barefooted, let's not do that.
- I saw one passenger wipe down the air vent,
it doesn't make the air cleaner.
But, kudos to her because that's a surface
that's often overlooked.
- [Interviewer] How have some of your flights looked?
Are there a lot of passengers or are the planes empty?
- I have been working some super empty flights
and it's been a dream truthfully
but they've been nice and empty, really light.
- During this time of year, traveling is always
its not the height season yet,
and then that combined with what were going through
right now yeah the planes are lighter.
What the impact is, it's just the overnight drop in demand
of flying.
But, yeah a lot of our planes have been leaving with
like maybe 30 to 50 open seats.
Which is not really normal, it happens once in a while
but yeah the demand has definitely dropped.
- [Interviewer] Since airline travel deals are dropping
is your job security being affected?
- Well, most of us are guaranteed our hours this month
whether or not the flight is canceled.
But, next month might be slim pickings or back on reserve.
Which is essentially working on stand by basis,
which you still get paid.
You just can't make plans.
- You know, two days ago I would have been answered
this question a little differently.
But now things have moved so fast.
I've been seeing airlines around me just like struggle.
Another one just like sees the operations
and that's scary you know.
Hasn't happened yet to an American based airline.
Hopefully it doesn't happen.
But this is a very impactful moment that were in right now.
Last time something like this has happened was 9/11.
An airline struggled for years to get back
to where they were prior to it.
There's hiring freezes.
You know, my airline was hiring a lot
and other airlines too.
We might be a little overstaffed right now given the flights
that are actually leaving compared to what was planned
for the quarter.
There is probably a nervous vibe around my colleagues
right now in terms of what's to come
like by summer are we gonna be employed or not.
Its gonna be a very interesting next couple of months.
We'll see.
- (Yaritza) I would like to say just protect yourself.
Just stay safe if you do decide to fly,
think about everyone else.
Also, think about yourself and if your not feeling well
I think that you should stay home.
- Stay informed, check for updates.
if you have a trip planned already, check what's going on,
check if your resorts are open.
Check if you know just go ahead and figure things out.
Domestically, check if the place that your going,
is it a state of emergency, is everything closed?
Is there a curfew because if your going there for vacation
and there is a curfew you're gonna end up being stuck
in the hotel for the whole time you're there
because you can't go outside.
- Thanks for watching and washing those hands!
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