Thursday, January 15, 2009

My second and last suppy flight

OK... where to start? So many things happened on this flight that it's even hard for me to put it into right order LOL.
First of all: It's a layover flight to Dhaka- Bangladesh. About 4 hours flight from AUH to DAC and 5:15 from DAC to AUH. my lay over was supposed to be 23:35 but ....... and that where the story starts LOL.
My original pick up supposed to be on Wednesday at 20:50 , but in the afternoon I received a text message that my flight is delayed by 3:40 so my new pick up time will be at 00:30 (Thursday) .. OK..... fine with me, but still I could not fall asleep so that worn me out a little bit. My pick up was on time and we went to the airport for the briefing that is planned to start at 1:50. We started the briefing on time, and went thru about an hour of it and then the pilots came to brief us... but instead they told us that there is such a heavy fog in Dhaka that they can't take of yet, so we need to wait for another 4 hour and see if it clears up.... ufff..... 4 hours waiting at the airport- not something I was hoping for LOL.
At about 6:10 the Cabin Manager came back and we waited another 30 min for the captain to come and give us so more directions. At around 7:00 we received OK to board the aircraft and still do the flight.
We flew a big and old aircraft Airbus 340-300 and the coral economy class was full ... about 225 passengers just imagine !!! Our flight was 4 hours going to Dhaka and it was definitely not an easy one considering that all of the passengers were hardly speaking any english... so that created a great barrier in communication.. thank God our CM ( Cabin Manager ) spoke their language and we had 2 arabic speakers on board to help us out. But after all, the service went really good and the pax fell soon asleep , making it easier on all of us. I have to say that PAX were not demanding or rude or anything, just a simple workers going back home. But them smiling and trying to say thank you in english was the most rewarding thing. I understand that these are the people that left their families to go and work in UAE for almost no money, and their whole life is tough and it might seem unfair to us what kind of conditions they have to live in, so the best thing we as Cabin Crew can do is to make them feel important and respected for the duration of the flight.
As we arrived at the airport I could not believe my eyes. Dhaka international airport is just such a mess.... thousands of people sitting all over the floors, another thousands waiting outside... a total chaos if you ask me.
The bus was already waiting for us to take us to the hotel. The ride was only 10 minutes long but within those 10 minutes I've seen a sight of Bangladesh that I was totally not aware of. Poor, dirty and disgusting place to be in. Little kids begging on the streets for food and money everywhere dust and poverty. It's the first time for me to be in country like that so it was quite shocking for me to see all of that.
I did not realize on how bad it actually is.. I'm a typical traveler that thinks about different countries in the categories straight out of " National Geographic " magazine.
The hotel we stayed at was amazing. Me and few of the crew members and the captain went out for dinner to the restaurant that was inside the hotel. The food was fantastic ( but a bit pricey for a buffet).. with about 30 choices of desserts, we spent there about 2 hours LOL
The next day our flight was again delayed because of the fog, but they were nice enough to not wake us up until they find out the actual arrival time which meant only extra few hours of sleep.
Coming back the flight was much easier and we were doing great with everything. I had the chance to sit in the cockpit again for take-offs and landings and I helped a lot with the service.
Now, after my second suppy flight I can tell that I'm going to love my new job and enjoy it to the fullest. Now it's time for my first operating flight to Toronto !!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Nikita, for sharing your wonderful experience with us all the time. You're a nice, beautiful and cheerful person. You are gonna be one of the best cabin crews in ETIHAD. Wish you all the best! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,Nikita, thank you for sharing your wonderful experince with us all the time. i've read all your blog, it's very helpful for us wannabe cabin crews.
Wish you all the best:)

Anonymous said...

hi your blog is amazing. hope im successful on my assesment day. good luck with everything xx

Anonymous said...

Hi dear, woow tastes r really different. Im goin to Dhakka tomorrow & Im really lookin forward to go, coz its one of my favorite destinations! :))
But a lot of a crew im workin with dont like it as well, so.... LOL Good Luck on ur next flight to Bangladesh! :))