BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Hidden camera on Virgin Atlantic plane reveals the tough life of cabin crew working a long-haul flight
The Virgin Atlantic crew were manning a Dreamliner flight from London to Los Angeles
RECKON you’ve got what it takes to be a flight attendant?
Virgin Atlantic crew have filmed one of their standard days and it looks exhausting.
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The staff were manning a Dreamliner flight from London to Los Angeles from start to finish.
Cameras follow 25-year-old Emma Ashley and her colleagues from their 8am start at Heathrow in October.
After arriving at Terminal 3, the whole team are briefed before boarding the plane – a Boeing 787-9 G-VDIA.
This is where they are told about any safety updates as well as special passengers who might be on the flight.
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During the 10-hour and 28-minute flight, the five-person crew in charge of the Economy cabin served 233 customers.
From the moment the wheels leave the ground, the crew face a relentless serving cycle of snacks, drinks, hot meals, coffee and tea, then another meal and hot drinks.
The crew are nearly always on their feet – even when they grab a snack in the galley during a quiet moment.
But each member of staff does get some down time on such a long shift – heading up to the cabin crew sleeping quarters for a quick snooze.
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Last month, flight attendant and aviation blogger Amanda Pleva stripped the glamour off the job to show wannabe crew members what the job is really like.
In a blog post on Flyertalk, she revealed some of the tougher aspects of the job.
For instance, the job is so demanding that flight attendants get used to oddities like standing up to eat – and even start doing it at home.
She said: “"At work, we tend to hide in the corner of the galley and shovel food in our faces out of passenger view and in between services.
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"You will start doing the same at home, facing the kitchen wall eating your dinner in ten seconds flat."
Amanda also described the difficulty of working an overnight flight and trying to stay awake.
She said: “"You’ll be pulling all-nighters on the redeyes, watching people sleep and reading the same issue of People magazine over and over again as your eyelids get heavier and you long for the comfort of your bed."