Covid-19 & being a Flight Attendant

It’s been hard for me to put into words how this Covid-19 has affected my life as a Flight Attendant. It is so hard for me to see the people and companies that I love most struggling. For me this virus is putting the things I love most in a detrimental state with the possibility of no return to normal. I know that I am nowhere near the only person who feels this sadness and this fear. I’m aware the media and our president is blowing things out of proportion and causing more panic. I know that there really isn’t a good solution to ending this that will make everyone happy. 

As a flight attendant many of us have not had a choice but to show up every day. We can’t work from home. We are ensuring that everyone makes it home, transporting medical personnel, and keeping up with cargo needs. Us airline crew have been in cities all over the world and seen first hand how this is affecting everyone. I’ve seen my favorite breweries and coffee shops shut down, bars boarded up and cities that appear abandoned at first glance because everyone is staying inside. It’s truly heartbreaking to see the world shutting down. Airports are deserted and flights have 10-30 people on each flight. All the empty seats glaringly showing the reality of our situation.

I’m at a loss. I can see how much my airline is losing hour by hour. Emails flood in multiple times a day from my company and others, updating us on the latest cuts and setbacks. I worry constantly about what kind of a schedule, if any, I’ll have in April. I remind myself to stay thankful that I still have a job while others have already lost theirs. I’m fearful that if this continues to go on I will get furloughed and have no answer to when I can come back or if there will be anything to come back to. 

What you can do to help

My advice to you all is to stay hopeful. Support the local businesses that are still open in any way you can. Many delivery services are waiving their delivery fees! Make sure that you tip like you’ve never tipped before, tips are what many are relying on to stay afloat. Shop online when possible and don’t hoard things unnecessarily. Take care of you friends and family. Make sure to check in with them while we’re all forced to distance ourselves. Send gifts & postcards to loved ones. Wash your hands and don’t touch your face while you’re out in public.

Last but not least, there’s a lot of stigma against anyone of asian descent and that is misguided and unfair. They are in the same boat we are all in. Treat everyone with respect and care because we are all on edge and need to hold each other up in any way we still can. The same thing goes for Flight Attendants. Unfortunately we have been treated like we are infected and that we are creating more harm by continuing to show up for our companies and fly.

 I love my job more than anything. Being a flight attendant has brought me to so many new places and brought so many amazing people into my life. Currently I will be working for the month of April, and most likely taking a voluntary leave in May. My April schedule is scarce, trips and flights have already cancelled. Honestly taking the leave I think will be a good thing because flying right now is boring and depressing. Layovers are even more depressing, not being able to leave my room and seeing how every city is practically a ghost town.

I hope that Covid-19 will soon be put to rest & I will be back to being a full time flight attendant. Hopefully we have all gotten something positive out of this experience and we can all learn and grow from it, coming out stronger in the end.

Hope to see everyone back in the skies soon

-The Hoppy Flight Attendant

Check out my last blog post: Tips for Staying in Hotels!