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(More customer reviews)Whitelegg has written an accessible account of the fight attendant profession for those in the airline industry, travelers, and academics. As a flight attendant for nearly 22 years now, I know how airlines manage workers through fear and intimidation. The fact that Drew Whitelegg does not work in the industry and was still able to solicit candid responses from interviewees alone is a great feat. My labor contract states that a flight attendant can be terminated for talking disparagingly about the airline! It is understandable that some respondents had to size him up to determine his true intensions and for whom he actually works.
Most accurate in his portrayal of flight attendants is the cost-benefit decisions made daily, which often hold "lifestyle" over wages and benefits. I continue in this profession because I love my lifestyle--my job is my identity. This, however, doesn't mean that I accept continuing discriminatory practices, labor and management conflicts, abuse from passengers, and harm caused by extreme cuts to labor, but flight attendants are left with little choice when labor unions, in many ways, have a history of complicity in the commodification of labor.
Many books about or even by flight attendants are anecdotal at best, and a sociological perspective long overdue. I suspect that those who choose not to read this book do so because they wish to keep flight attendants firmly as a retro icon of servitude, rather than acknowledge us as safety professionals. No one should feel disposable in their job, yet soon after 9/11 a pilot told me just that: "Put your body between a hijacker and the flight deck door--you are disposable."
I hope those who read this book look differently at your cabin crew the next time you fly. We are human and have the right to make a living just like anyone else whether we are aging, overweight, married, or have children. This book is a must read and I also recommend "Femininity in Fight" by Kathleen M. Barry.
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