While flying, it is difficult to get into a rut

I love flying. In a few hours you can reach another continent and sense the smell of different air. I met the people who work in the clouds a few dozen hours monthly.

I have started to observe them carefully to check whether after that time flying is still that exciting…

In the end of this article you can find an interview with a flight attendant.

Do you remember your first flight?

I was flying from Dublin to Krakow. Alone. Very excited.
‘Aren’t you afraid?’ – I was asked that a lot of times.
‘So many people fly, why not me?’– I explained.

On a piece of paper I described the particular stages of crossing the airport and I marched on, observing the others.

On the plane, just in case, I got into the seat and even before the plane took off, I began to keep saying ‘Hail Mary’ combined with humming Christmas carols. Singing carols in July places you in abstraction and helps you to survive this abstraction.
Because it is abstraction – a heavy machine above the clouds and I am in it.

However, excitement won over fear and it has stayed with me until today.

‘I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.’

This is what Antoine de Saint-Exupery said and he was right’

During the flight I go up, I am beyond the earthly matters and I always create a space just for me, for my thoughts. No one calls, Facebook does not summon me, e-mail does not scream. Surely I can open my computer, work and write.
Working on the way to some place is very efficient.

However, a moment for the mind to relax over the ground is purifying, it is like having your head in the clouds, over the clouds, looking at the ground with distance, but at the same time, with respect, because you know that you will land and in a while you will still be walking on this ground.

Then I think about Leonardo da Vinci,

who constructed flying machines, and that his designs led to the fact that I am sitting on this plane now.
It sends even more shivers down my spine because he celebrated his birthday a week after me. He was a zodiacal Aries, too.
Certainly, I cannot compare myself to him but what we have in common is the conviction that everything is possible.

Just see: we do not have wings but we fly.

A few months back I did not think that LOT would say: ‘Ilona, let’s cooperate’.

A few months back I did not think that I would sit in the cockpit.

 

I did not think that I would talk to flight attendants after the flight and that we would be friends on Facebook, call each other and arrange to meet on another flight.

At that moment flying reaches another dimension because I am in touch with people who spend a few dozen hours monthly in the air.

People for whom such a flight is no longer a huge celebration: there is no fear because they do not fly once a month or once a six months, but several or a few dozen times a month.

I asked Joasia Ptasińska, a flight attendant from LOT, about her experiences and how she felt about flying.

• How much time do you spend in the air per month?

How much time I spend in the air per month depends on the number of flights I make. In the summer season there are more of them; however, it is usually around 70 hours per month.

• Wow, 70 hours in the air. Do you remember your first flight? Did you know back then that you would like to be a flight attendant?

I remember it very well. When I privately travelled on the plane, I always admired how stewardesses worked. To work at Polish Airlines LOT, a company with such beautiful traditions, was many girls’ dream.
Also my dream came true and after I had passed my exams and completed the training, I had my first flight as a stewardess. It was a flight to Milan.
During the flight I was under the guidance of an experienced instructor who checked my preparation for work. Back then I already knew that I would like flying to be involved in my future.

•  Aren’t you perhaps bored with flying?

While flying, it is difficult to get in a rut. Every flight is different and interesting. We fly to various places, get to know new people. Every time we work in different crews. It all allows us to gain new experiences.

• What should one do not to be tired after being constantly on the way?

In order to avoid tiredness with constant journeys one should remember about rest, proper amount of sleep and taking care of one’s health between the flights.
During the flight one should drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration and ailments connected with ‘jet lag’ in the case of long-distance flights. First of all, one should be very optimistic about each flight.

• Taking off, landing or the flight itself? Which part of the flight do you like the most?

Each stage of the flight is interesting but each requires focus and concentration because the safety of our passengers is our priority.
I like the actual flight because then you can be establish contact with the passengers. Landing is the passengers’ favourite stage because they can admire the cities which are either waking up or going to sleep.
I like the moment after the landing, when I see the passengers who are smiling and are satisfied with the flight and that they reached their destination and I can say with satisfaction:
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Airport in …..‘

 

It is a good thing that I will be flying soon once again.

And do you like flying? Do you remember your first flight?