Blog-TOWER OF BABEL

I have become quite sentimental over the last few months. I have pondered the last twenty years of corporate work. When you showed up for on interview, people told you that they were thankful that you could make it. They laughed and joked, told old stories of bizarre flights and they hired you right away. They gave you a uniform that you were not ashamed to wear, like Brooks Brothers, or Ann or Calvin Klein, you were given an expense account (not that of a supermodel) where you could actually eat and maybe wash the great food down with a few glasses of vintage red.

Crews had your best interest at heart. You got two weeks off if you got married and as long as you needed to have a baby. The carpets and interiors of the jets were new and the wood sparkled. The supplies to perform you job were unlimited, and if you got sick, they filed nothing and you still got paid. Catering was whatever the passengers and crew wanted. The crew ate what the pax ate. There was never a compartmentalized box lunch with mystery meat and polyester bread, with token shrunk plum and saran wrapped brownie from 2009. The hotels smelled good, the lobby with marble flooring and a great staff. They remembered you and what you drank, and your room number without reminding them, people acted looked better and stood taller back then. Room service was an event to witness and you could leave your shoes outside your room to be shined. The bathroom was larger than my present hotel room. There were sometime heated towel racks and hot pipes to warm up the bathroom floor. All these things required thoughts of the guest.

Now, it is suggested we live on 25-50 dollars a day. whether in Chicago or London, no dry cleaning, no movie, no snack and no love. If catering is over 50.00 per person, they do not want to pay for it. No magazines, no cell phone, not internet,  imported chocolates or bathroom amenities, no floral, no eyeshades, no linen, no fine china, no mileage, no tolls, no no no no.

Are we headed to a socialist flying position? Am I supposed to fill up on the vending machine honey bun or Oreos packet? The FBO provides popcorn, apples, cookies, creamers, coffee, tea bas. pens, and mints. If I fill up on these comp items, will I be dead by next year? Or will I live long enough to be told I do not get any Medicare or Social Security, because the government ran out of money? What a choice.

When you see that 25 year old flight attendant in the FBO, you can smile at them and know that they will never know what we had. It is sad in a way. Her life will be filled with only cut rate hotels with see thru towels with no fabric softener,  Applebee's, Ponderosa, a dirty uniform from Cintas catalog, a cell phone bill, no movie, no pillow chocolate, 40 watt bulbs, a banner across the toilet saying it has been sanitized, a broken alarm clock  and a broken attitude.

We knew what the days of Camelot were, and the memory is forever mine. I have lived at the Peninsula, The Mandarin. the Ritz, the Greenbrier Resort,The Park Lane London, The Hotel Gansevoort, they were all the bomb. I can see for miles in my memories.
 

Ever felt like you forgot how to fly? I have not flown in over 1 month, due to moving, marriage and flu, in that order. I was called at 3 am to fly, during that 24 inch snow storm. I could not see my car in the driveway and my little hamlet of a town had not been plowed yet. So I could not do that one. Then I got called to do a 4 day over super bowl weekend, I was moving , the movers were already with me. So that was a no. Then I got a call for Feb 14-18, I was getting married on the 19th - I did not take it because it was too close to wedding date. I never missed my own wedding before. Talk about hot water, a lot of apology and disappointments. 

So now I have a trip leaving March 2- 10. I am at a loss. What did I do before that was so clockwork? My groove is gone, the timing is off, and my checklist of shopping has fallen a bit. Will they know? Probably not. But when you have been living in a house with regular doors, toilets, stoves and ovens, you get clumsy when on a corporate jet. You bang your knees and head a lot. I feel like Gulliver in a shrunken tube - a bull in a china shop. 

Will I fit and succeed? I will let you know. 

Corporate flying is slow right now, or the timing is off. I got a call at 300 am 2 weeks ago to fly, we had 23 inches of snow, un-shoveled, an asap trip. Needless to say, it was a no go for me. Then I was offered a 1 week trip SINT MAARTEN - trip, while I had a 2 day Ireland turn. Then, I had a juicy cushy 5 days in DC trip, during the time the movers were coming. If you cancel on movers 10 hours prior It can get costly. I moved my movers twice due to snow. I could not do it again, besides, I had a deadline to get out of where I was. 

So to be frustrated or not? What good would it do? The only cure to this is to jockey for more trips in the future. To say, "I could have made $6,000.00 in February” will only make you want to kick your dog. It is what it is. Fate, luck and go forward with plans. We all know that January and February are a bit slow. 

For the 10 days I could not work in February, I will make them up next month. Money is money, and you just have to stockpile a bit in your savings for lean months. August always is slow for me. So in the past two years, i worked like a pig dog in July and go away in August. I do not even sweat August anymore. 

So if you know your trend and the trend of private flying, you will stay abreast. be more sane and not have to worry about nothing coming in. It is my theory on corporate prepare and repair. 

NBAA Scholarship helps and now you can get yours.  

I was absolutely delighted that I received my first pick of a scholarship, FACTS training a couple of years ago! If there was no hope of a scholarship, I do not think I would have gone at all. Money is too tight right now. There are companies out there that only require this training every two years, but it would have lessened my chance to fly. I would have decreased my income by 50 percent. 

Each year, when you think you cannot learn anything new, some new knowledge presents itself. Training rekindles my confidence, self esteem,and willingness to excel.

So go to www.NBAA.org and look for the Flight Attendant/Flight Technician Scholarship you could be one of the few to receive one just like I was.

Sorry, I have not written in a while. The Market had gotten the better of me, but it is coming back.
Have you ever had some company call you for a trip, a 1-2 day trip, and you quickly said yes. Then the phone rings again, and it is another company, asking you to do a 19 day Paris, London, Maui, Caribbean trip and you have to say no?

 

How do you feel? Do you want throw yourself off a building? Wish you were dead on the first phone call? Do you try to give trip number 1 to someone else? You feel incredible loathing, envious and fearful? Do you malign yourself all day and night? After not flying for 1 month, you get 2 days? What are your thoughts?

 

Sometimes to do freelancing, you may need a wall to put a hole in. Everyone wants you on the 26 December, 5 January, Super Bowl, the Masters, NBAA, etc. What about the rest of the year? And the timing! Can I land at 2 am from a 1 day trip and be at xyz airport at 530 am? What if there is weather? There is a lot of gambling when you say yes. Any thoughts?

For all you freelancers out there, here are some tips, during these trying economic times, to save money. A lot of the items you pay for are not covered when flying. Yes, you can file them with your taxes as expenses, but you can try to cut back while doing these things. You may have to fly to your aircraft. It is cheaper to first go to individual airline sites, more carrier are offering exclusive deals to avoid paying broker fees to orbitz or travelocity. Sign up for fare alerts out of your local airport. There is a site called www.airfarewatchdog.com or www.farecompare.com. Fridays and Sundays are the priciest days to fly. 

To price shop for gas, go to www.gasbuddy.com, you can enter your travel route, and they will tell you where to find cheap gas. Also certain credit cards, like the Discover open road card will offer 5% rebates on gas and maintenance purchases. As far as cheaper meals, you can go to www..opentable.com, for menus around the world, with prices. With the high cost of food, i am thinking for my household, of BJs or COSTCO. I have never seen the economy this bad, lets hope it ends soon. 

I did not attend the 2008 flight attendant convention this year for personal reasons. I did feel a sense of loss, being left behind in an empty room, listless yet restless and my stomach started growling at 10 pm EST, when you all were surrounding the shrimp table and ogling the Cannoli and the latest ice sculpture.

 

Let's talk about networking. Do you know that networking is sort of a short stab at a mini job interview? Yup, it is. So, while at the flight attendant convention, when you want to scope in on a certain person, do not have your mouth full of bagels, do not be drunk or appear to be drunk, and  please , do not tap them on the shoulder -- LIKE THEY ARE THE TIN MAN.

 

I have seen people network with deal breakers. Deal breakers are red flags: that the person is networking you is needing some help. Here some tips: Do not talk over them, leave the palazzo pants at home, no sneakers or flip flops, digging thru your handbag, leisure suits, tight clothes, ripped stockings, shoes so high -- you cannot walk in them, use words like HUH. AWESOME, WHATEVER, SOMTHIN SOMETHIN, FOGETT ABOUT IT. Do not scratch or twirl your hair.  But instead: Be polite, direct, and not overbearing.

 

Do not treat the other person like they are god, have some self esteem. AND PLEASE, do not say you are the best. There is always a faster rat out there, you just have not met them yet.

If you are freelance and you are trying to get a trio out of companies A, B, and C, this is what you do not do:

1.     (I was a scheduler for 6 months), do not call at the crack of business dawn on Monday morning. Dispatchers and schedulers are groggy from only having 2 days to do everything in their personal and private lives. Monday is not a great day to call. Tuesday, after lunch around 2 pm would be great.

2.     Do not demand a trip! Do not tell them you are overextended on your American Express bill or that you cannot afford teeth. It is off putting. Being broke is a private matter between you and the repo man. If you do not own the plane, we all know, yes.... you are broke most likely.

3.     Thursday is a great day to call, to put a bug in their ear as this will give them your availability for the weekend. Lots of charter gets closed and signed by 230 pm on Friday.

4.     Keep your cell on and try not to go scuba diving, floatation tanks are out, taking that long drive down a country road with no cell tower, horseback riding, being at happy hour with free tequila shots with your cell in a bowl of nachos, or not picking up the call because you are on the other line to the psychic network. Believe me, I have done all these.

5.     Having your own website with flashing neon, and fly songs, with a photo in some bridesmaid dress is a bit over the top. It is all a matter of taste or lack thereof.

6.     Try to maintain a relationship with these people; they answer the phone all day long. Remembering what college their kids go to may help. Talking gossip, divorce, pestilence and who is in and who is out is no good.

 

That is all I have today.

The economy is on a scale from 1-10, a mere 3. I was thinking of the companies that own private jets and their success would be based on what they are selling. Banking in down, drug companies are down, insurance down. Real estate development in down, and IPOs well, that is few and far between. The price of jet fuel is $6 to $10 a gallon. This has not affected me yet, I work for a great family who in shipping of oil, dry goods, grain, etc. But my heart really goes out to the freelancers, things have dried up. You may think "oh, these people own a corporate jet they are rich enough to always fly at the drop of a hat". Not true. Many of these companies using smaller jets like Bombardier Learjet, Hawker and Beechcraft airplanes, or they are sending them out on commercial airlines. So what are you going to do to put bread on the table, get a second job? Do catering, bartend, substitute teaches if you have a degree? In this business, you have to be resourceful, especially if you are freelance. I really feel for you all.