flight attendants

[Immi666]

how long is their shift? is it only one flight? for transatlantic or whatever, isnt that a really long shift? and for hops over the channel, isnt that a really short shift? what else do they do other than what we see?

[Clanad]

They are limited by regulation (dependenat on the coutry) to a shift of no more than 14 hours. They are also limited to no more than 8 hours of flight during that duty period. On long haul flights, such as Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, they may have to carry two crews to relieve the first when they run out of time. (There are sleeping quarters on board) This translates to about 75 flight hours per month with another 50 hours of duty time to achieve the flight time. Additional union contract restrictions apply from airline to airline. They don't actually work a shift. If they are on shorter domestic flights, they may have 4 or more "legs" per duty period. Get's really tiring...

They keep their required manuals up to date, keep the cabin reasonably clean, prepare for arrivals and kiss the passengers behinds, generally... You'd be amazed at the saftey training they have to accomplish...

[january_bug]

In addition to what Clanad said, they are also fully safety trained and are essentially the emergency services for the flight. They have restraints to basically handcuff anyone who's causing a problem. They would have to give medical treatment to anyone who fell ill. They do a lot more than the stuff we see (as you said).

Virgin 's own profile of the job may help you.