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The Flying Pinto: What is your story? How long have you been flying? What did you do prior?
Megan: I was born in Texas (Arlington). My parents worked for the airlines and we would non rev back and forth between Texas and Ohio to see my grandma a few times a year. They always tell me how I was a frequent flier by the time I was 2. Seriously, I would sit in my own seat, buckle my seat belt and order my pancake breakfast on the way there. We eventually moved back to Cincinnati where I grew up and where my parents still live.
I attended The Ohio State University for college and graduated in 2005 with a BFA degree in Photography (and loved every bit of my time there). While in college, I took a semester to study abroad in Sydney, Australia. This was my first time out of the US and I was all by myself. I made such good friends and learned so much from everyone I met- I got bit hard by the travel bug.
After I graduated I was looking for a job where I could travel and take photos and what I landed was a job at a Portrait Studio back in Cincinnati. Training was great and I helped open our store (brand new), all my co workers were young and a few weeks in we found ourselves in the Christmas rush. I was working 12-13 hour days with only Tuesdays off each week. I was 25, bitter, burnt out and hated taking photos. Not a good way to start a career.
My mom and I would look in the paper in the job section for anything else I could do. What I found was an Open Interview for an airlines bases out of CVG. Perfect! My mom and dad told me all about the airline industry and I could see the gleam in their eyes thinking about the flight benefits they would get (they had both left the airlines years before). I happened to have the day of the interviews off from work and thought it was a sign. I went, got invited to class and a month later got my wings.
It will be 3 years on September 18th since I officially became a flight attendant and it has been a crazy wonderfully frustrating 3 years.
FP: Amazing! I think your life is falling into place beautifully. That is what I get from reading your blog, happy, having fun, pursuing and living out your dreams with good friends all around!
I love the flexibility of our job what do you love about it? What keeps you flying?
Megan: Oh geez, the flexibility… I keep hearing that word yet I know nothing about it… Haha. Seriously, I got in with my company at the wrong time. I live in Cincinnati and was immediately sent to JFK in New York for my base. We were hiring for about 3 months after I got on. I was on reserve but my days off and call windows were getting better and better. I got to a point where I could hold most of my reserve requests.
By that point, spots opened in Cincinnati and I gave up my crashpad and most of seniority I had accrued. (JFK is a much smaller base). That is where I stayed until last November when we furloughed over 100 Flight Attendants and I fell to 8 from the bottom at my base and then had my base taken away and now sit 30 from the bottom in JFK (and company wide).
I have held a line only a handful of times by pure luck and trust me I have not taken those months for granted. I am a member of the lifetime reserve club at my company.
What keeps me flying right now isn’t the schedule (even though it is better than my previous job). It’s the travel opportunities and the people. I guess I really like people and working with them day in and day out. Even though they can sometimes be frustrating, I have met some really amazing people as well on my flights.
The thing that got me with this job and keeps me going on really bad days is where I can go on my days off. Since we are a regional airline and international flying for me is to Canada, I try and take advantage of the travel benefits on my days off. I’ve been to Italy, Spain, France, Mexico, China, Thailand… places I would never have gotten to go to at this point in my life if I was doing something else! 🙂
FP: Well, you are certainly making the most of it. Hang in there, I sat three full years reserve and have been lucky enough to hold a line ever since. Reserve in my base is up to ten years right now! Talk about lifers;-) I definitely agree with you about having amazing opportunities with this career. I have seen and done so many things, that I never would have done otherwise. If you chose a career that makes great money, you probably don’t have the time to travel!
What kind of schedule do you hold, what kind of trips do you like to fly?
Megan: Being a reservist, I get trips that either no one wants or I take over when someone is sick. If I am on call, I like long layovers and little flying. (Call me lazy). Pretty much, a trip is a trip. We fly mostly up and down the east coast and I rarely see our good layovers. I love seeing Boston and Portland overnights- probably my favorite places I fly to the most.
FP: Boston is a great layover, and where I am from;-) I feel the same way, being based domestically in Houston, flying has mostly become a job for me. I miss flying internationally, and I don’t bid for long layovers anymore since I have a daughter at home waiting for me.
What is your biggest passenger pet peeve? How about biggest crew pet peeve?
Megan: My biggest passenger pet peeve is definitely when a passenger asks me a question and doesn’t listen to the answer. I don’t mind explaining why your bag needs to be stowed for the one millionth time, or how to get to your gate. I’ve even had a passenger really irate that I let him vent to me in air for 5 minutes (I did time it and he was not allowed to yell but he could say whatever he wanted to… and then he had to not mention anything else for the rest of the flight.) I’m pretty laid back and working in New York, you learn to not take a lot of things personal… but I still can’t get over that.
Most my crews are great. I usually work with two guys so it is low drama, but I like to leave the complaining at home. No one wants to fly 4 days with a Bitter Betty. The crews mood can set a tone for the flights…
FP: OMG, I love that, you let him vent, no yelling and then he can’t complain anymore…lol..you’re a saint!
As you know I’ve had some strange happenings on my flights, what is the most bizarre thing you have seen on a flight?
Megan: I don’t have too many crazy stories compared to a few other Flight Attendants I know. Maybe I am lucky, or maybe it’s just the ratio of people to FA’s that gives everyone else the upperhand… (50 passengers per flight is a pretty small amount for the flying world).
I did have one lady who freaked out and kept ringing her call button. I was on on of our aircraft that has 2 Flight Attendants, and I was lead. We were in the middle of service when the first call button went off so as I went to get a cup of tea I stopped, leaned down next to her and asked “Can I help you”?
She ironman gripped my arm and told me how there was a plane coming right at us. “Do you see that light, the one out there, coming at us? Does the captain know? Can you call him?”
Her husband sat right next to her completely ignoring us, just reading his newspaper. I didn’t see any light at all and she squeezed my head down to her level (almost resting my head on her breasts- so weird) and pointing until I saw “the” light… a light very very far away.
I tried to explain to her how the crew has a radar up there with all the planes, yada, yada, yada… but she wouldn’t have any of that. I finally called up and asked the crew to look into the mysterious light to the back left of the plane. Turns out the plane coming right at us was not a plane at all but Jupiter… a planet. I couldn’t even keep a straight face as I told her.
FP: Funny! It is hard to keep a straight face sometimes!
What can we find in your carry on?
Megan: I always say what a good packer I am, but really I am good at packing a loooot of things into little bags and not really good at packing lite.
I always have… running shoes and workout clothes (I have to fit down the aisle somehow and I am training for my second 1/2 marathon). PJ’s, jeans, two shirts, socks/knee highs, a swimsuit, underwear. Toiletries, makeup, brush, curling iron and hair spray.
An extra uniform, apron, headbands (for bad hair days).
I always have my required equipment… manuals, flashlight, Id’s, watch…
I carry my MacBook on most trips to keep up with my Blog and Twitter 🙂
Chargers, small camera, Crackberry, Ipod. A book or two, trashy magazines, inflatable neck pillow, umbrella, lip gloss, and my own little medical bag full of sewing kits, bandaids, medicine, tide to go sticks, laundry detergent… etc.
You don’t even want to ask what I pack in my food bag…. 🙂
FP: We do want to know about your food bag;-) We’ll save it for another day!
Can we find you at the hotel bar or are you a slam clicker?
Megan: I am absolutely not a slam clicker. The only times I can remember slam clicking a crew was when I first got back from China. I was completely jet lagged and had a whole wedding that I had shot the day before leaving that I needed to Photoshop. Since most of my crews are 3-4 people it’s hard to really slam click, how do you leave one person to go to dinner all by him/herself?
FP: I guess it would be hard to say no;-)
What is your favorite vacation destination?
Megan:
To lay on the beach and relax, probably Fiji.
To lay on the beach and relax, probably Fiji.
To sit in a coffee shop and people watch, Paris
To eat cheap and really good street food, Bangkok
To be overwhelmed by the beauty of wall, Beijing China (at the Great Wall).
To see beaches, glaciers, raindforests, etc., New Zealand.
To dance on a boat down the Nile, Egypt
I can’t pick just one (as you can tell). Sydney is really special to me because I lived there for 5 months and I looooved the Great Barrier Reef. The snorkeling was amazing…
I think everywhere I have traveled has a place in my heart and has changed me in some way.
Megan: Wow, great list! You know I love…love…love…that picture of you at The Great Wall in China!
How does your spouse/partner feel about you flying?
Megan: Well, I’m pretty lucky. My boyfriend is a pilot for the same company. We met on an overnight in Milwaukee (pretty romantic I know). The captain was slam clicking and I felt bad even though I had a 13 hour day and was tiiiired. I joined him for dinner and shot some darts after and the rest is history.
Obviously he doesn’t mind my flying. It was a little hard when our bases were different (I am junior to him) because commuting took away time I could see him… but now we are both based in JFK. It’s always fun when we get to fly together, which has happened 4 times.
The best part is he loves to travel as much as I do, so he is my best friend and my traveling companion. 🙂
FP: You live a charmed life. Dating was one of the worst things about becoming a flight attendant!
What is your best travel tip?
Megan: Always be ready for the unexpected.
I’m all for doing research and having a plan for a vacation… but life doesn’t work exactly how you plan it out… so be flexible. You might miss you train (or your flight), you might get your backpack stolen while you are eating lunch (happened to me), you might get really lost, or no one speaks your language…. or you might decided to do something else at the last minute.
Whatever happens happens, just try and enjoy it. Don’t think that just because something isn’t going the way you planned it, that it has to be bad.
Thanks Sara! Had a great time filling this out. 🙂
Thank you Megan, keep up the blog;-)
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Next time were in JFK together Megan, Let's have a Coffee & We can talk about Paris!,,,
Love the Brief!!
Shelby *AKA FlyAArmy*
Hi Sarah. Welcome back!
Megan sounds like a lot fun. This was a terrific interview. Thanks to both of you.
Happy Halloween
xo
Shelby, it's on! Let me know when you are going to be in JFK! I would love to meet up!
This was such a fun interview to do! Thanks for checking it out.
And Sara, again… your blog rocks! 🙂
watch out for Jupiter!! That planet could swallow the whole plane. That lady probably has lots of UFO stories.
Hey slightly different topic – Flying Pinto do have any comments about the Northworst flight that over shot their destination? I really don't even know which company you're with but I was curious what you thought. It was the flight attendant that finally got the pilots attention.
Well Megan you got it right, it is all about the people we meet and the diversity of the unexpected. When you go to Paris again post some pics, great place had my honeymoon there.
Enjoy and have fun
Nice interview, hope you have fun in your travels 🙂
Love the funny story of the plane (planet) getting to close. I love Megan's blog. Oh to be a 20 something flight attendant again. 🙂
A Cincinnati girl! My hometown, although I no longer reside there. Megan has a great attitude and definitely adapts well. A fun read! 🙂
Awww, thanks everyone for the fantastic comments! Glad you enjoyed the interview!!!
Please stop by my blog – I'm presenting an award for you.
honest scrap award
i really admires those people who can travel to different places.
know y? they are not selfish because they share to other people what they have seen and experience to the different places they've visited.
thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I just wanted to know why does some of you fight attendants have to leave for three weeks at a time?
and how hard is it for you to maintain a realtionship if you are a flight attendant?
can you tell me why does some flight attendants must leave for three weeks at a time?