“She was talking about how she didn’t have enough spending money for her holiday and then she went sick upline. Let’s just say I bet that extra allowance came in handy.”
With busy schedules, jet lag, fatigue, and the airline cabin resembling what is essentially a giant petri dish of germs, it’s no wonder that flight attendants can get run down more than others. Most of the time, flighties know they are getting sick before they sign on for their duty, and ‘pull the pin’ before they start their trip. However, it’s not uncommon for a crewmember to fall sick half way through a trip, which logistically can have a few impacts on their fellow crew and also the crew member themselves.
Is the Sick Crew Member Replaced?
Firstly, it will mean that a replacement crew member will need to be found, this can be a simple solution or very difficult. If there are locally based crew in the city, calling a replacement should be a simple as going down the reserve/standby list. If it’s a port where there are no local crew based, they may need to deadhead a crew member up on the next flight to operate home. Often though for long haul flights depart only once a day. Therefore this only works on a a multi day layover, where the deadheading crewmember send to recover the sick crew member will return the next day. Sometimes the airline may ‘turn a crew member around’ and reassign them from to the flight where they are short crewed. For example, in Dubai, a flight attendant based in Chicago, might be called off their flight to ORD to operate to New York JFK instead to make up the missing crew.
How many crew are needed for a flight to depart?
There must be enough crew on board to man each aircraft door, and usually a full flight crew consists of a flight attendant at each door, plus at least one or two extra cabin crew. If multiple flight attendants were to fall sick, a second officer may be called upon to arm/disarm the aircraft doors on takeoff or landing. If there is no second officer, and multiple flight attendant shortages, the flight may be cancelled. If just one of the pilots falls ill, and no replacements can be found, the flight will also have to be cancelled.
How do ill air crew seek treatment?
Luckily, if crew fall ill they aren’t alone. No matter where in the world they are, there is a great company called MedAire which looks after flight crew in any worldwide port and provides assistance starting at just a toll free phone call. They’ll ask you about your symptoms, will continue to check in via phone, and ask you if you need to see a doctor. This doctor’s visit could be to the hotel room, or transportation to a local clinic in the port where you are located will be arranged. Depending on the condition, the doctor will clear the crew member as fit to either travel as a passenger home, or work the flight. This could be relatively quickly, or if badly ill, may not be possible for a few days.
It’s dreadful for crew being sick away from home when all you want in your own bed, loved ones, and comforts close by – but luckily as crew we are a big caring family and one of our flightie family will check in on us, do a run to the chemist, and bring it to our hotel room.
Do Crew Continue To Be Provided Meal Allowances and Accommodation?
Yes. Even if they are theoretically sick for weeks, crew members will continue to be given accommodation at the normal hotel a generous amount of local currency to spend to cover their meals. I won’t pretend that it hasn’t crossed my mind that a very small minority of crew might take advantage of the free accommodation and allowances feigning illness to enjoy a little bit of a mini holiday. Lets just say it’s happened before.
Mostly though we just want to get home ASAP, but that’s not always possible. There was a crew member who was sick away from base a couple of weeks due to blocked ears which could have perforated if they were to fly. If there was an overland way like a train or bus for the crew member to travel home this would have been provided but since the crew was ill internationally, they were essentially stranded until the doctor gave their blocked ears the all clear. I can personally say it’s dreadful for crew being sick away from home when all you want in your own bed, loved ones, and comforts close by. The silver lining is that you are looked after as well as possible.
The Mistake I Won’t Make Again
I’ve been sick halfway through a trip before and it’s something I hope to never have happen again. I was keen to pick up extra hours so with a stretch of days off I volunteered for a 7 day USA trip – a very exciting trip that I didn’t often do. The night before the trip I felt a bit of anxious anticipation and didn’t sleep well. The next morning I woke with the beginning what I thought was a bit of a dry throat and not feeling 100 per cent.
By the time I arrived in Los Angeles almost 15 hours later I had chills and body aches. After a much needed sleep, I felt even worse with a fever and sweats so called MedAire and was taken off the rest of trip which was set to continue on to New York. I ended up passengering home a couple of days later, still feeling unwell, but just wanting to get home. I was incredibly fortunate to be looked after with a business class seat to help sleep, after seeing my own doctor at home, I had a bad bout of tonsillitis.
I should have called sick for the trip before I signed on, even though I only felt a little bit unwell. One thing I’ve learned if you’re not feeling 100 per cent, you can pretty much guarantee you’ll feel much worse, and potentially delay your recovery after working a long flight. And its kind of lonely being stuck away from home in a foreign city. Being a flight attendant is so unlike other jobs, where if you go to work feeling unwell, you know you can drive yourself home a few hours into the day if you need. If you think you need to pull the pin, better to be safe than sorry.
“Don’t feel bad about going sick babes, we will manage! I just thought I’d check before I go out if you need anything from the pharmacy!”
