The Office

G650ER

The first thing that stood out when switching from commercial to corporate flying was the work environment. It’s sort of like going from living in an apartment to a beautiful custom home. At first the difference is amazing, but you quickly get used to the new “office” as we usually refer to it, and there’s no going back.

I became aware after a bit that just about everybody who doesn’t travel on private jets would love to get a look inside of them. It’s like checking out the interior of a really fancy car. Let me share some of the spaces that became my offices where I would work culinary magic and manage complex systems that rival any smart home.

This was the galley in a Falcon 7X that I called my office for quite a bit. It was the first thing you saw when you entered and it was a pretty efficient little world for me to manage. The crystal barware in a lit display was always an eye catcher. Those glass cabinets were fitted with custom holders on each shelf that would cradle each glass in place during take-off, landing and when things got sporty. They usually housed Baccarat, Waterford and Ridel glasses to convey the client’s beverages imparting luxury at the first touch.

There’s a highly disfunctional sink that will clog if you let dust go down that drain, I swear. On long flights where you needed to use the limited stock of china over, you do dishes there (repeatedly) in flight. That’s right, we whip out the rubber gloves and put Dawn in the sink and get after it up there. Just like home.

Under the sink and beautiful counter is the gorgeous burled wood that hides all of the compartments where things are stowed. The fine china is in drawers with more custom inserts to keep it in place during flight operations. Another drawer has all of the cutlery carefully cradled in a custom interior. Just like home, there is usually a drawer that has serving utensils and kitchen gadgets. Some planes have built in espresso machines, but a lot use a portable Nespresso that is hidden in these drawers.

One of the larger doors conceals a professional convection oven. The trash is hidden behind another big door and there’s a place to stow catering as well.

The beautiful wood cover on the counter area had sliding doors that opened to reveal a microwave, work space and more storage.

The other side of the galley on this jet had a large closet and cooled storage area for catering. Trust me when I tell you that a corporate flight attendant becomes a logistical engineer when it comes to fitting all of the fresh items from the caterer and shopping into these spaces. Those galleys really taught me how to organize efficiently and the importance of putting every item back in its place after use.

There is no clutter or mess in an aircraft galley. Every time you prepare something in the galley and create a temporary fiasco, it is cleaned immediately afterwards so the client never stops in and sees disarray. After every wipe down it is sanitized for safety.

Galleys have gotten more sophisticated over time and on the larger private jets (ones that use a flight attendant) come very close to cooking in your kitchen. My longest client on a G650 had a glorious galley that even had a window over the sink. That helps a lot when you are on a long haul flight and serve 3 meals along with numerous snacks. The window lets in great light and opens the space up.

The ovens on that jet included a steam-convection oven and a large microwave. There’s also a refrigerator and freezer hidden behind the luxurious wood. That really expands options for fresh ingredients. This one also had an espresso machine along with a conventional coffee maker.

There’s usually a door that can be closed to the cabin so guests don’t have to watch the behind the scenes prep and protects their privacy. On the G650 there was quite a large crew area when that door was closed, complete with our own rest compartment and lavatory. Our crew could be in that part of the aircraft and the guests could forget we were around and get things done. I could whip up some pretty mean nachos and personal pizzas in that galley!

Crew Lav

Nachos at FL450

Just before you entered the cabin on the 650 you would find the electronic control panel to make the interior run smoothly. That aircraft is completely automatic and operates with the plane’s power right down to the doors that open with a push of a button. You could manage all of the interior lighting in each of the 3 cabins (including color options) and connect conference calls between cabins from that panel. If you understood that panel, you had a good feel for the jet.

The plane flowed into 3 distinct cabin areas for the guests. The first one had individual seats for comfort and discussions. Each chair swiveled and moved on a track to arrange the seats to suit your needs. They also could be configured together into 2 single beds.

The next section had a long credenza where you could present food, set up a presentation or find the fresh fruit basket. Behind those doors and drawers was a temperature-controlled wine cabinet for red and white, a fax machine/printer, linens to set the tables and cabin snack storage. An electronics drawer held the iPhones that worked as a remote for each seat in addition to having calling capabilities. That credenza also had storage for the passenger smoke hoods and ditching equipment.

Across from the credenza was seating for 4 more folks and a table for dining or business meetings.

The aft section had 2 divans for relaxing that could be converted into a queen bed. When passengers wanted to sleep, you had to convert this and berth any of the cabin seating to form beds. You had to do this quickly because nobody wants to wait when it is time to sleep. Different aircraft had different linens and memory foam toppers that reflected the owner’s preferences. Each bed would be made up using luxury linens, blankets and duvet. I always chose to give them a spritz of lavender spray and leave a sprig of lavender and a chocolate on the pillow. The idea was to create a warm, inviting rest area. Bottled, chilled spring water would be placed in each bed area and changed out every hour during the flight so if someone awoke they would find fresh, chilled water waiting and a small snack.

I would place a few battery operated candles throughout the cabin to provide a subtle warm glow to light the way in the dark cabin at night.

Behind the 3^rd cabin was the main lavatory. It was a room that was large enough to move around in and outfitted with luxury home type features. The lighting and the sink caught your eye when you entered. There were drawers holding all sorts of  necessities anyone might need. In those drawers and the closet in the lav, you could find a small convenience store of eye masks, ear plugs, fuzzy socks, extra towels, medications handy for in-flight, and supplies.

One trick to good service on a private jet that is subtle and unseen is to know when guests have used the lav in flight. Afterwards, you would always go back and wipe it down with sanitizing wipes, refold the toilet paper in a pretty point and make sure the amenities basket was stocked. Each guest that enters the lav should feel like they are the first and only one to use it. My husband used to laugh at me and tell me I had been flying too much when he would enter our home bathroom and find the toilet paper pointed. It just got to be such a habit to check the roll and make sure it looked pretty that the habit would follow me home.

Behind the lav was baggage and our supply stock. You could enter it from the lav so people could easily access their luggage to change in the private bathroom before and during the flight. It was important to create a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere where people could relax and find refuge. Changing into sweats or jammies can really help you relax on a long trip.

Let me add here that homelike comfort can go a bit over the top. Once you’ve seen one Hollywood mogul in his briefs trying to find his jammies I suppose you’ve seen them all. You can’t unsee that. Trust me.

We appreciate it when guests close the door when changing because as much as we strive to make the cabin feel like home, we really don’t all become family. Save the tighty-whiteys for your family if you don’t mind.

Now you’ve had a peek inside a few of my favorite offices to have a frame of reference when I tell you about some of my adventures. You’ll be able to picture those experiences within a beautiful flying home drenched in wood and leather. It’s really so civilized!