FERGIE’S AGONY <\/span><\/p>\nHeartbreak for Man Utd legend Fergie as his ‘tower of strength’ wife dies<\/h3>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
According to Reuters, Calgary police said in a statement at the time: \u201cPrior to departure, gate crew and crew aboard the flight noticed that the pilot was behaving oddly before he became unconscious in the cockpit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Times recently reported on another serious incident, which involved a British Airways crew in 2000, when an explosive Channel 4 Dispatches documentary revealed a drinking 'endemic among air crew'.<\/p>\n
The programme caught a captain and a first officer drinking heavily in Barcelona before a flight to Gatwick, with the captain drinking at least 20 units of alcohol – including seven bottles of beer and over a bottle of wine – the night before, before being heard saying: \u201cI can't believe I've got to take an aircraft back\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018You were paid to party\u2019<\/h2>\n While strict rules have been introduced since then, Samantha Jones* worked for a well-known airline at that time, while in her mid-twenties as a cabin crew member for five years, during what she describes as \u201c the glory days of flying\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Sun, she says: \u201cA lot has obviously changed over the years, and there was a huge crackdown on drinking after the Dispatches documentary, but we used to have wild parties – basically work hard, play harder. <\/p>\n
"It was like a big jolly – it was the job to have and you were paid to party basically.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the behaviour of the crew would even result in being banned from certain hotels<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d help ourselves to the minis from the plane\u2019s bar and drink them when we\u2019d landed on the bus to the hotel, or take them to drink after a night out, for parties in our rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome hotels would have pools, and it wasn\u2019t unheard of for crew members to have sex in them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes the behaviour of the crew would even result in being banned from certain hotels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always hungover while working. Onboard some crew even used to use the onboard oxygen to recover from night-stop hangovers!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The drinking culture was always bad\u2019<\/h2>\n In more recent times, partying is still very much part of the industry culture.<\/p>\n
And while most of the time it stays within the required boundaries, things can escalate. <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, British Airways launched an investigation into claims a senior crew member was so drunk he dropped his pants and ran naked round the buffet at a luxury Maldives resort.<\/p>\n
Last year, staff were also banned from all-inclusive hotel deals at a luxury resort after a drunk stewardess passed out on a beach.<\/p>\n
However, there are now more rules in place.<\/p>\n
Flight staff have never been allowed to drink 12 hours before a flight, but last year the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK and European Union introduced random alcohol tests for flight and cabin crew.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former flight attendant Lucy Smith*, now 23, worked in the industry for a year when she was 18. <\/p>\n
She tells us: \u201cI never knew anything about drugs, and you wouldn\u2019t expect that sort of behaviour from a person who has such a huge responsibility to get passengers safely home from their destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the general drinking culture was always bad, and everyone was sleeping together too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d have parties and it would happen sometimes that crew members would end up not being able to work the flight back because they\u2019d drank too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were once a member of staff down on one flight because they\u2019d gone and slept with someone and missed the flight home as no one could find them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rules say you can\u2019t drink for 12 hours before a flight, but depending on who your cabin manager was, you couldn\u2019t be steaming but it would be a little more lax.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018Affairs are rife\u2019<\/h2>\n Casual sex and flings between crew members – pilots and flight attendants especially – has always been commonplace.<\/p>\n
Lucy says: \u201cIt sounds disgusting, but it is also the sort of industry where everyone just sleeps with each other – and the pilots were the worst for it and would often have affairs with crew members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really bad – I had at least four friends who were sleeping with pilots.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a sort of hierarchy, and obviously the pilots were earning so much money – that was obviously attractive to some crew members.<\/p>\n
\u201cAffairs were rife. It\u2019s the perfect opportunity isn\u2019t it? You\u2019re away from home, you have the hotel, the nice restaurants and you\u2019re uncontactable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had a pilot who was sleeping with a crew member and they were both working on the same flight you could always tell based on where the crew were positioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two at the front to attend to the pilots so it was obvious who was going in and out all the time, and who was constantly sat in the cockpit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw anything happen on a flight, but they could have got up to things on flights potentially too, as there\u2019s always two pilots on a flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was also because you\u2019re away from home, and spending so much time with certain people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samantha agrees, adding: \u201cAffairs were rife. It\u2019s the perfect opportunity isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n
"You\u2019re away from home, you have the hotel, the nice restaurants and you\u2019re uncontactable.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Given what she knows, Samantha admits she pays special attention to what goes on around her when flying – and is especially nice to staff – saying: \u201cNow, I always watch the crew like a hawk!"<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always nice to staff, but I\u2019m even nicer having worked in the industry, as it wasn\u2019t unheard of that a customer\u2019s bread roll would be wiped around the toilet bowl before it was served if they were particularly horrible!<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite all of this, however, passenger safety was always paramount and the job was taken very seriously – we would never take it too far.<\/p>\n
"It\u2019s a shame some people give cabin crew a bad name, when most members are very conscientious and work really hard." <\/p>\n
Read More on The Sun<\/h2>\n <\/picture>END OF THE ROAD <\/span><\/p>\nBBC axes Top Gear as bosses rule there is no way back after Flintoff crash<\/h3>\n <\/picture>MY HORROR <\/span><\/p>\nI hope my son's heartbreaking story might save your baby – avoid car seat mistake<\/h3>\n The Sun has contacted British Airways and the Civil Aviation Authority for comment. <\/p>\n
*Names have been changed.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WITH their jet-set lifestyle flying all over the world to luxurious and exotic locations, the world of airline crew is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Sex in pools, oxygen mask hangover cures & tell-tale sign staff are having an affair: secret party lives of airline crew | The Sun - The Projects World<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n