dream job
flight attendant
Traveling around the world, getting to know new places and interesting people, looking sexy in a suit... Is that really all a flight attendant gets to do? We asked Michaela Kratinová, who works for one of the biggest airlines, what the job of a flight attendant is really about.
What did you want to be as a child? I wanted to be a princess, as most of the girls. Later on as I’ ve always danced and I did ballet I wanted to be a ballet dancer, later even an actress. I have always been a girly girl so I have been attracted by mostly female jobs. Funny thing is that while at primary school, I went dressed up as a flight attendant for one costume party, and the same happened at the high school where I went dressed up as a flight attendant again at the graduation costume party.
What did you study? After the high school I started to study French, but soon I realized I didn’ t want to attend school every day, I wanted to experience something different and travel. So I decided to attend a private university with an individual plan. Next year I will finish my bachelor degree in Journalism and social media.
How did you come to be a flight attendant? To work as one and study at the same time seemed like a good option for me. I can travel all around the world, earn good money and still study, but it isn’ t always easy. Everything started in October 2011 when I attended Emirates Open Day and they accepted me.
What skills must one have to become a FA? There are some conditions for that, it depends on every airline, usually you can find everything on the website of a particular airline. But normally they are looking for people who are friendly, approachable, open minded with good language skills. You have to be in a good health condition too.
What is the biggest challenge in your profession? If you decide to work for Emirates and they accept you than you have to move to Dubai. It is always a challenge to start a new life in a new country with totally different culture, where you don’ t know anyone. It is also a challenge to change your daily regime, because in this job there is no regime, no body clock. You have to go to work at midnight and operate a 14 hours flight. You have to get use to this life, when you don’ t know if you are having a breakfast or dinner.
Have you had any bad experiences while flying? There are always good and bad flights. You never know what can happen and who you are flying with. We had a few bad turbulences, medical cases and once we almost had to divert because of a kid who had chickenpox.
Dubai, UAE flyhighdiaries. blogspot. com
49