Tangled Dreams

CHAPTER 2: A FAMILY NURTURED WITH LOVE (Part 1) | Athirah Mansor

"Who was the world's first flight attendant?" I directed the question at my crew who had gathered in a meeting room for a briefing before the flight to London. They looked smart and professional in their bluish batik uniforms. Hair brushed neatly. Shoes polished and shiny. Fingernails cut short and clean. They all met the required grooming standards. I marked "pass" in the neatness section of the supplied checklist.

Seeing that no one had answered, I repeated the question. Without a sound, they looked down at their flight information files that had been handed out earlier. Some pretended to read. Others pretended to write notes on pieces of paper provided earlier. Not a single person looked at me or dared to make eye contact with me. They were probably worried that I might ask them to answer the question.

As crew leader, I was responsible for ensuring that my crew was prepared and ready for duty. One of my duties was to ask them random questions about safety or any issues related to flying. I had the right to choose at random any one of the crew to answer a question. This was to ensure that every crew member was familiar with the latest policies of the airline.

There was a hushed atmosphere in the room. My eyes locked on to a male crew member seated at a corner near the door, before I cleared my throat. Then I repeated the question. The man tilted his head upwards and instantly flashed a cheeky smile.

"Must have been a beautiful and sexy lady, right?" replied Khalid, the cheeky smile still on his lips. Laughter erupted from those present. The serious atmosphere instantly evaporated with their laughter. I too smiled.

"The first flight attendant in the world was actually a man. In fact, only men were employed as flight attendants in the early 1900s. It was only from the 1960s that women were employed as flight attendants," I explained as I shared the story. They all looked at me in disbelief. But this was indeed a fact in the world of flight attendants.

It all started when Pan Am used the charisma and sensuous image of their flight attendants as a unique marketing technique or selling point of the airline. This was adopted by Singapore Airlines which promoted the Singapore Girl, even until today. Flight attendants became the image-bearers of the airline because they represented the airline in providing in-flight services to passengers throughout flights.

As usual, I did not prolong the story. It was just an icebreaker with the crew that I led. I opened the file and began to brief them on our next flight assignment. I was responsible for designating tasks to each crew member and ensuring that they knew all the detailed aspects of their tasks. Once there were no more questions from them, I requested they convene at the departure hall in half an hour.

"Don't you get tired of using that same opening line every time?" Khalid asked after the other crew members had dispersed. I collected and arranged the document pages before putting them back in the file. He just stood there and watched me.

"The crew is different each time. There are thousands of flight crews. Only you seem to always end up on the same flight as me," I responded. We walked out of the meeting room together.

"That's great. So I give the same answer every time so that they all laugh. Isn't that your intention? To break the ice?" said Khalid. The kid was smart. Actually, I only used that opening line when he was in the crew. If he had not been there, I would have had to think of another way to bring about a cheerful atmosphere among my crew. I had only one objective: to ensure that every crew member knew each other and was comfortable with one another before the flight so that they could interact better when they carried out their duties later on.

I grabbed my baggage and headed towards the departure hall. Khalid followed me from behind. As usual, I went through the customs and security clearance checks. When all that had been completed, I gathered with the rest of the crew at the entrance gate. I was heartened to see them chatting and getting acquainted with each other. Although I had been with this airline for five years, I often encountered new crew members on different flights. This was because no one had the same work schedule. Some were involved only with domestic flights, while some focused on international flights. There were also those who undertook differing flight schedules.

Immediately after boarding the plane, my crew began to perform their assigned tasks. All safety equipment and the galley were checked, as were the passenger seats and baggage compartments. Every compartment was checked to ensure that it was all well-arranged and fully equipped with the necessary items. Those who were assigned to check food stock and sale items completed their tasks quickly. We were given only 15 minutes to carry out all our checks before the passengers began boarding the plane.

I gathered the crew together to ensure that no one had encountered any problems during their assigned tasks. Once everything was completed, I reminded them to always smile at passengers throughout the flight. Khalid beamed at me. He tried to make a funny face by rolling his tongue, even though I ignored him.

The crew returned to their respective positions. Khalid walked past me towards the first-class cabin. I called out to him.

"Don't muck about. Take good care of the passengers in your cabin. You've got VIPs there," I advised sternly. Khalid simply smiled.

"There's only one VIP. I've even memorised his name, Datuk Wong. I will provide the Datuk with five-star service," he countered, as he repeatedly opened and closed the fingers of his right hand, as if picking stars out of the sky. I shook my head at his childish behaviour. If it had been another crew leader, it would have been a completely different story altogether. It was only with me that Khalid dared show his puerile behaviour.

I signalled to the officer on duty to allow the passengers to board the plane. In the blink of an eye, the entire plane was filled with the commotion of passengers busily locating their seats, stowing their baggage and suchlike. The situation became chaotic. My crew was kept on their toes ensuring that baggage was stowed correctly in the overhead compartments so that all passengers could be safely seated.

After everyone was seated, the crew counted the number of passengers to ensure that no one had been left behind. The plane then moved into position on the runway in preparation for take-off. Prior to this, I led the crew in demonstrating flight safety procedures so that passengers were aware of steps that would have to be taken in case of an emergency.

During my years of working as a flight attendant, there had never been an emergency on any of my flights. Even so, the flight safety procedures were important and had to be carried out prior to every take-off. After completing the demonstration, the crew returned to their seats while the aircraft prepared for take-off. I put on my safety belt before leaning back in my seat for a breather.