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Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

businessinsider.com

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Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#51

Post by em-bee »

cam_l wrote: post #31
ornxka wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The cockpit crew will not be handing out drinks. The mental image this gave me was amusing: >"Hey man, can you steer for a few minutes? I've gotta go push the drink cart." >"Sure thing dude, I'll get it next time."

I remember the first time I flew in the mid eighties. The plane was a twelve seater, the pilot asked for one of the passengers to sit up front and 'be' the copilot. When it came time to hand out the refreshments, he would get the copilot to pull drinks out of the eski, and pitch the plane up so they could roll the drinks down the aisle.

i am trying to picture this in my head. the food cart is empty. we need to bring it back to the front for a refill. nosedive...

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#52

Post by WildGreenLeave »

Waterfall wrote: post #46
centimeter wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes me sad that we've sacrificed many genuinely human moments like this to modernity.

What do you mean? I remember the pre 9/11 days, and they were fun. I was a kid that would sit with the pilots on the jumbo jets and take pictures with them and the flight attendants, who would give me extra tomato juice. Didn't happen after 9/11 though.

When I was young (before 9/11, I was 12 or so) the pilot crew of my EasyJet flight from Amsterdam to Geneva invited me to the cockpit to see. I was flying with my grandma and it was my first flight ever. I love flying and the machines, being in the cockpit as a 12 year old boy was so staggering and inmense.

Then I didn't fly for years, and about a year ago (while being 24) I started traveling more. Suddenly while being delayed at Amsterdam airport the cockpit crew of my EasyJet flight to Split invited people to the cockpit if they wanted to see. I waited 2 minutes to see if any children would come up and then decided to relive my childhood memory and go to the cockpit.

Another time while on a KLM flight to Bangkok I gave the cabin crew a bag of chocolates as a thank you gift for the good service. I did the same thing when flying back from Bangkok to Amsterdam as a thank you to get me home during the pandemic (this was end of march). Both of the times they personally thanked me, the first time I even got one of the little houses they give away to business class passengers [0].

My point is, those human moments do exist. It is just that most people don't 'want' them anymore because that means that it should come from themselves. (No one was standing up to go to the cockpit, nor was anyone else giving candy to the cabin crew). I am sure something changed after 9/11, things like being in the cockpit while flying isn't an option anymore. But with what is going on these days, I can't complain about that.

I have to admit, maybe I am a bit biased. If it weren't for my small stutter in intense situations I would've probably been a pilot. :-)

[0] https://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-ever...

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#53

Post by iaskwhy »

jbob2000 wrote: post #8
ashtonkem wrote: post #5

I would actually be surprised if that’s legal. Flight attendants perform some critical safety functions, they’re not glorified wait staff that can be replaced on a whim.

I don’t mean to be ignorant, but what are these critical safety functions? The closest thing to safety that I’ve seen is they give the speech at the beginning about oxygen masks and remind you to buckle up. Given that the inflight safety demonstration is on video now, what’s the critical safety role?

My wife is cabin crew at BA. The best example I can give of things they need to know is how to let a bomb explode and leave the aircraft going. There's a procedure on how to cover a found bomb with layers of chairs, wet blankets, etc. She also needs to know all the ways to extinguish a fire, depending on its source.

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#54

Post by Waterfall »

WildGreenLeave wrote: post #52
Waterfall wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean? I remember the pre 9/11 days, and they were fun. I was a kid that would sit with the pilots on the jumbo jets and take pictures with them and the flight attendants, who would give me extra tomato juice. Didn't happen after 9/11 though.

When I was young (before 9/11, I was 12 or so) the pilot crew of my EasyJet flight from Amsterdam to Geneva invited me to the cockpit to see. I was flying with my grandma and it was my first flight ever. I love flying and the machines, being in the cockpit as a 12 year old boy was so staggering and inmense. Then I didn't fly for years, and about a year ago (while being 24) I started traveling more. Suddenly while bei…

That was a beautiful image you painted. Thank you. I must seek them more earnestly now, being in the cockpit during the flight was so cool but I would still like to see it even not in flight.

Unrelated but when I started drinking kombucha my stutter went away. Try probiotics!

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#55

Post by WildGreenLeave »

Waterfall wrote: post #54
WildGreenLeave wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was young (before 9/11, I was 12 or so) the pilot crew of my EasyJet flight from Amsterdam to Geneva invited me to the cockpit to see. I was flying with my grandma and it was my first flight ever. I love flying and the machines, being in the cockpit as a 12 year old boy was so staggering and inmense. Then I didn't fly for years, and about a year ago (while being 24) I started traveling more. Suddenly while bei…

That was a beautiful image you painted. Thank you. I must seek them more earnestly now, being in the cockpit during the flight was so cool but I would still like to see it even not in flight. Unrelated but when I started drinking kombucha my stutter went away. Try probiotics!

I assume most pilots will let you into the cockpit if you are delayed and while being on the ground. But I have to admit that the last time it happened was a complete surprise for me. I didn't know they were allowed to do that. But maybe they aren't or it is up to their own discretion? I guess, if you really want it you could ask the cabin crew if it is possible to check it out. I don't think a pilot would have anything against it personally because they are proud of their jobs too.

Haven't tried Kombucha and didn't know about it. I will look for it and try it out. Thanks! :)

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#56

Post by Krasnol »

hindsightbias wrote: post #14

This article is confused. The cockpit crew will not be handing out drinks. Other pilot-rated employees will be acting as attendants. You can’t operate in the EU, US or Canada w/o someone attending in the back. You have to have so many attendants per passengers. Pilots are well qualified for any cabin duties. Many US pilots who have lost their rating or are going through a health issue that keeps them out of the cockp…

> This article is confused.

Not only the article...Ms.Premack must be. Otherwise I can't understand why she went to the FAA and wasn't even ashamed of it so she even put their answer in there.

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#58

Post by thg »

rhn_mk1 wrote: post #57
jchallis wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooler. Some folks refer to this as an Eskimo, a non PC term for the Inuit.

What makes "Eskimo" not politically correct?

It's a rather demeaning term and means "meat devourer" or "meat muncher" (loosely translated).

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#59

Post by jlg23 »

cam_l wrote: post #31
ornxka wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The cockpit crew will not be handing out drinks. The mental image this gave me was amusing: >"Hey man, can you steer for a few minutes? I've gotta go push the drink cart." >"Sure thing dude, I'll get it next time."

I remember the first time I flew in the mid eighties. The plane was a twelve seater, the pilot asked for one of the passengers to sit up front and 'be' the copilot. When it came time to hand out the refreshments, he would get the copilot to pull drinks out of the eski, and pitch the plane up so they could roll the drinks down the aisle.

Five years ago, in between the Guyanas, also a 12 seater: My lighter gets confiscated by security, while all other passengers put their handguns and magazines into ziplock bags, which are thrown into a postbag, which ends up, open, next to the pilot, just in front of me. During take-off the pilot lights a cigarette for himself, passes me the lighter with the word "open the window, please".

Re: Icelandair letting go its flight attendants and shifting their duties to pilots

#60

Post by Sharlin »

faeyanpiraat wrote: post #47
koboll wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't need two pilots. Just have one pilot slowly push the drink cart with one hand while the other hand pilots the plane with a game console controller plugged into a VR headset. Then the passengers can simply grab drinks as it rolls by. Multitasking!

Why not add autopilot functionality to the drink cart?

So the cart can fly the plane while the pilot is attending passengers? Geniys!
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