The aviation industry took a big hit once the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Due to severe government restrictions and nation-wide quarantines, the travelling industry eventually came to a complete halt. Thousands of aircrafts found themselves grounded for months, airports closed, and cabin crew staff were forced to take leave for an indefinite time. Some airlines chose to proceed with staff layoffs almost immediately to save their cash and cut costs.
It was a hard time for the whole aviation world, but especially so for cabin crew. The world’s sudden stop came as a huge shock to people, who before that, were used to constantly moving, changing countries and being on-the-go. Most cabin crew found themselves out of a stable income for a couple of months after the pandemic began and some of them completely lost their jobs within the year that followed.
After the world closed in March 2020, I didn’t fly at all for about three months. My first flight (and only flight for a whole month) after that was a turnaround trip (no layover) to Accra (8 hours one direction). The flight felt like a strange and unusual environment compared to what we were used to pre-pandemic and went under a strict hygiene protocol for both crew and passengers.
Until today people keep asking me what it felt to fly under those conditions. Nearly two years later I decided to share some experiences of what and how it happened.
Getting to work
Before COVID-19 happened, crew enjoyed a regular crew bus that would pick them from their accommodations to take them to the area where staff would check-in and continue to their flights. When the pandemic struck, the crew bus was suspended for a while and crew were picked up individually by a car arranged by the company to take them to the airport. Wearing a mask inside and outside the car was mandatory. Then, the driver would drop you to the designated check-in area where you would proceed.
The once hustling and bustling with noise and chatter check-in hall, where crew would socialise, talk on the phone or prepare mentally for their flights was nearly unrecognizable. Silence, cold atmosphere and tension in the air were all around. Not to mention that the first time I went there, there were no more than 5-10 other crew together with me, compared to 40-50 people usually waiting together pre-pandemic to check-in for duty. We quickly had to get used to this new reality…
Pre-flight brief
After crew check-in, they are always required to attend a mandatory pre-flight brief led by the purses and the supervisor. Generally, that used to be a perfectly normal meeting where the whole crew would get the chance to meet and get to know each other a bit.
The pre-flight briefs obviously kept happening after the beginning of the pandemic, but the same quietness and coldness could be felt in the briefing rooms. You would enter wearing a mask and then, right before you proceeded to the flight, you were provided with a personal set of PPE (personal protective equipment) including: masks, protective googles, two white gowns (something similar to what doctors wear when performing surgeries). Gloves were also compulsory, but they were supplied directly on the aircraft.
Getting onboard
Once the crew entered the aircraft, they were required to put on the entire set of PPE (gloves, including) and remain with it for the rest of the duty regardless of how long it would take. In my case, my whole shift was 16 hours, and we were not allowed to take off any of the items during this whole time. Imagine, something like a doctor preparing to enter a surgery for many hours, that is how we actually looked.
During the flight
Obviously, we were required to wear the PPE during the service and abide to all hygiene protocols given by the company while inflight. Passengers were required to always wear masks and were provided with a hygienic kit once the boarded the aircraft. The kit included wet wipes, a mask, gloves and sanitary gel. No gatherings around the emergency exits or galleys were allowed, neither was the random walking around the aircraft. We were instructed to tell the passengers to keep their masks on, in case someone didn’t want to abide to the rules.
Landing and airport formalities
Airports handled the crew differently in the different parts of the world. Upon arrival the crew would be met by airport staff and escorted to passport check. Sometimes, they would be briefed about the country’s regulations and what penalties might come in place in case any rules were broken.
Layovers
Layovers during the wildest stages of the pandemic were not fun. Gone were the days when the crew members could go out and explore the destination they were at, enjoying an organized tour, or each doing their own thing individually.
No one was allowed to leave their hotel room at all for the entire layover, with the exception of a medical emergency. Breakfast buffets and room service were completely suspended and so was the use of hotel facilities such as pools and gyms. Food would be provided in plastic packaging and plastic boxes, sometimes left in front of the crew’s door without any human interaction whatsoever.
In some destinations such as Asia or Australia that were particularly strict, security would walk around the hotel’s halls every now and then to make sure no one was breaking the rules.
And this went on for the entire stay, regardless of how long it was. Some crew were locked inside their rooms for more than 24 hours, which proved a serious mental challenge, given also the fact that social interactions were severely restricted in general long before their particular layover.
Getting back to Dubai
The duty procedure for the way back was the same – crew were required to wear their PPE at all times during the flight. In the beginning of pandemic, after landing into Dubai, each crew member would be tested and required to stay under mandatory quarantine until the test results were out.
How is flying today?
Fortunately, the situation nowadays is much better. Nearly all crew are vaccinated and almost all destinations allow aircraft staff to go out. The majority of hotels re-opened their leisure facilities and services such as buffets and room service have been reinstated. Things seem to be gradually getting back to the way they were and the aviation industry is slowly recovering.
There is light in the darkness. Many airlines are inviting their laid off staff to re-join or are hiring new people. Emirates themselves announced recently that they are looking to hire 6,000 people new staff, 3,000 of which cabin crew. Hope seems to be on the way and let’s be positive that the tendency will remain.
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