Sometimes a friend would ask me to cover for her and I would get to experience a whole new life. I typically flew for corporate types and their amazing guests. Some of my corporate accounts flew to some pretty dark places in the world to search for new cures for diseases or to negotiate oil contracts.
In my briefing I realized that I was not only going to a Hawaiian Island I had not visited before, but that my client owned the hotel and the island. Puts things on a different scale. The catering for that trip was elaborate and plentiful. We had to pack just about everything into that galley that they might want on the way, because who can really be pinned down to what they’ll feel like two days before a trip? So off we went on a quick five hour flight from the West coast where I served different options for the entire five hours. They had a short order cook on board and made the most of it!
Coming in to land, the approach was breathtaking and I was thankful for pilots who had a good feel for landing on the edge of a cliff. It was stunning.
We were warmly welcomed as family by our drivers who were waiting with their limos and polished SUVs at the bottom of the steps when we deplaned. When we signed in at the beautiful Four Seasons, our crew signed in on a “family” registration sheet. We would want for nothing while we stayed there and all expenses were covered. Of course this is where you have to understand as a professional crew member that there are boundaries. It would be deeply frowned upon if I got busy ordering expensive bottles of wine to my room or got a spa massage and facial on “the family.” As a crew, though, we enjoyed exquisite meals at Nobu and other restaurants which bore NO resemblance to flying commercial. I had been flying private for five years, but still had to stop and appreciate how different that lifestyle was compared to commercial aviation.
After meeting with the Chef at Nobu to plan catering for the return flight, we went out for a drive on the stunning island. The land was gorgeous and helped me visualize what Hawaii looked like before the tourist explosion. Horses grazed lazily in fields that looked like Heaven for a horse. It became very clear to me why the people native to the Hawaiian Islands so regret and often resent the intrusion on their beautiful land by skyscrapers and condos. Even the trees were thoughtfully planted to form a stunning runway to the hills of the interior.
The boss and his guests did not stay in the hotel, rather they whisked off to his yacht parked offshore. It looked like a small island itself. That left a little free time to hike around the exquisite grounds and marvel at the hidden gems tucked here and there. Everything was naturally maintained and even the sprawling ranch-type hotel did not interrupt the flow of the massive grounds that felt like an arboretum.
It was a lovely time until the regular flight attendant on the account arrived with some more guests. She immediately went to the chef and ordered everything she would want for my return trip. I am usually more than delighted when I get help from a colleague so I gladly agreed. Upon departure I learned that help is a four letter word.
When I arrived at the jet to prep it for the return flight, she was just bringing it in from a quick trip to the mainland. She lingered on board chatting after bringing one guest in with her. By the time she left the jet, she left me only about 15 minutes to do all of my prep for my 13 guests returning with me. The caterer arrived and unloaded enough food to fill two private jets or maybe a small commercial plane. Where was all of this supposed to go????
It was at that point that I learned an important lesson in private aviation. We are not all in this together, we are not sky sisters and there’s folks out there who will do what they can to make sure you don’t outshine them at any cost. I went from looking like a rookie on her first trip trying to stow a week’s worth of food while the guests were arriving, to acting as a short order cook all of the way home. Most of the food was untouched and made the ground crew very happy when we landed back in California. I looked like I was struggling to keep up the whole way home. Just one subtle way to make sure another flight attendant doesn’t look too good and jeopardize your job. I was grateful to at least learn that awkward lesson relatively early on.
It was good that I was prepared for how things really ran in the corporate world, still I was blindsided a few years later when my favorite job with a top pharma company vanished when a new aircraft management company took over the management of their fleet. Most large corporations that are not in the aviation business have a management company manage their jets since it isn’t their primary line of business and it can be very complicated. This system also limits liability in the event of an accident. You actually don’t work for the company itself, but you are employed by the management company. Turns out my contract with the old company didn’t matter to the new company who had their own (younger) attendant they selected for that prime account. My coveted full-time gig was over and I was back out beating the bushes for work. I know it seems incredulous that I wouldn’t fight or take action against the company that fired me on a whim, but the private aviation community is very tight and if I caused that much of a fuss at one company in the Bay Area, nobody else would hire me. I had to go quietly, and when my great clients I had flown with for a few years asked where I went, they were told I took a job elsewhere. Yes… I was learning private aviation could be very very good but it could turn on a dime. My survival skills were about to be tested in a way we never prepared for in training. It’s a good thing I enjoyed my time on fantasy island, because the lessons continued…
Whitefish Dog and Home 