Why flight attendants prefer to work in economy over first class
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Everyone wants to be upgraded on a flight — except for the flight attendants, it seems.
You’d think the cabin crew would much prefer working for a handful of posh people in business class or first class, instead of hundreds of flustered passengers in economy class, but it turns out that’s not the case.
Many airlines have a promotion system where you start off in economy, then work your way up to business and first class, but other companies let the crew choose where they want to work for that flight.
According to the accounts of several flight attendants, while they might be serving 10 people instead of 70 in the fancy cabins, those people’s constant demands actually mean they work a lot harder.
Heather Wilde, a former cabin crew member, said the work is far more straightforward in economy.
She said on Quora: “When flying economy, everything was straightforward — the most senior flight attendant on the plane would handle all the announcements, paperwork and stocking, in addition to everyone’s duties of completing the drink/snack service, aisle checks, etc.
“In a First Class experience there was no time to rest as you have to be able to cater to every passenger every minute of the flight — and ensure you still make all the required announcements at the right times.
“It honestly made me feel like a sky waitress.”
Nuralia Mazlan added: “Serving 100 people in economy class is better than 16 in business class anytime for me.
“Passengers take their meal and don’t complain much, then we do collection for their rubbish and they’re done. Dim the cabin lights and get ready to sleep.”
According to various crew members, the routes the plane is operating on can dictate quite how pushy the business or first class passengers might be.
For instance, one Reddit user called Emmadilemma said: “I normally love working as the First Class flight attendant, except for LA flights.
“Everyone on the plane to LAX airport is a princess and deserves to be treated like a celebrity — in their own minds.”
For other airlines, business class passengers are the rudest when traveling between New York and London, or New York to Miami.
A flight attendant named Brad told The Independent: “[On an] NYC-Florida flight, everyone thinks they’re the most important person in the world.
“I once had a 40-something male passenger who said he was a picky eater and asked me to remove the almonds from his mixed nuts, the shaved Parmesan from his salad and the cilantro from his tabouleh.”
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