A flight attendant is known to earn a handsome salary in Vietnam, but no money is easy money, as stewards/stewardesses have to deal with difficult situations during their flights on a daily basis.

Flight attendants recounted that that one passenger refused to sit down and insisted that he shake hands with the chief pilot of his flight.

Another male passenger refused to sit near women, and had to cover his face with a towel for the remainder of the flight since he felt ashamed.

In another strange case, a passenger suffering from diarrhea did not want to return to his seat and demanded that he take a new one in the last row since he was embarrassed.

Many flight attendants said they normally have to please, and if necessary, help in these unexpected circumstances, and many more.

Occupational hazards

Injuries in collisions thanks to bad weather conditions are actually the most common risk flight attendants face, but they have to take care of passengers first before caring for themselves.

A survey found that turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries.

In some cases, all of the crew members are sent to the hospital after a flight. However, they have to protect and help passengers keep calm even though they are going through the same suffering.

Thu Ha, a chief air hostess of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, said, “A qualified air hostess must keep calm in troublesome circumstances, which will become even worse if a hostess panics.”

Weather radar cannot forecast everything that is happening in the sky, and unexpected incidents are part of the aviation industry, she added.

Ngoc Mai, another chief air hostess of Vietnam Airlines, recalled an accident on flight VN453 from Cam Ranh in the central region to Ho Chi Minh City in 2009, when the front wheel of her plane failed to deploy.

“I was briefly worried after hearing the news from the chief pilot and images of my children waiting for me at home flashed in my mind. But I immediately regained composure to confront the challenge,” Mai said.

“I realized that I could do nothing more than stay calm and protect the 163 passengers, to rescue both them and myself.

“My staff and I did well during the 30 tense minutes of circling above Ho Chi Minh City.”

Mai added that she will never forget the scene after landing.

“After leaving the plane safely, the passengers refused to board their waiting bus, and instead waited to wave to the crew and clap to express their gratitude and admiration,” Mai recounted the unforgettable moment in her career.

Feeling exhausted and suffering from insomnia after going through different time zones happen so often that it is not even worth mentioning for flight attendants, she said.

Getting vomited on

Thu Ha said she can hardly forget the moment a weak passenger vomited toward her face and uniform while she was helping him.

“It was on a long flight to Europe and I noticed a passenger having health problems, so I went to help and he suddenly vomited at my face.

“I could barely control myself from heaving, but I smiled and gently helped him use a bag,” she said. “And then I vomited in the toilet.”

Bao Truc, 31, chief air hostess of low-cost carrier VietJet Air, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper a humorous story about a drunk passenger she had to deal with on one flight.

“He insisted on shaking hands with the chief pilot before sitting down,” she said, adding that it was an easy demand but it could have caused trouble because a drunk passenger may lose control while flight attendants have a duty to protect their pilots.

Another chief air hostess for VietJet Air, Nguyen Tran Anh Thu, 29, admitted that some male passengers even request air hostesses to fasten their seat belt because “they don’t know how to do it,” adding that they just want body contact.

Some passengers declare their love to air hostesses and write their contact information on a piece of paper to slip into their hands.

“We have to politely take these in flight,” Thu said, smiling.

When dealing with drunken passengers, air hostesses have to clean their scattered food and take care of them as if they were children.

“We don’t blame the drunks because we know they can’t control themselves. We have to assure them while helping them, ‘Don’t worry, it’s OK, I can help you’,” she added.

Vu Ngoc Quyen, 28, chief air hostess of no-frills airline Jetstar Pacific, recalled another ‘unpredictable’ case.

“It took me 15 minutes to persuade a male passenger to put on his socks and shoes because they were so smelly that passengers around him complained,” Quyen said.

Dang Duc Quynh, 28, also from Jetstar Pacific, described one passenger on a flight from Da Nang to Hanoi.

The passenger, who was in his 40s, was suffering from diarrhea and given priority to use the toilet while the plane was taxiing for takeoff. After that, he refused to return to his seat, and insisted on taking one in the last row since he was embarrassed.

Bao Truc, of VietJet Air, added that a male passenger on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to South Korea shouted noisily when two female passengers came to sit near him.

“I lost everything in Nha Trang [a famous beach city in central Vietnam] because of many women following me several days ago so I don’t want women near me now,” the passenger explained.

After the two women agreed to take different seats, he thanked the air hostesses and covered his face with a towel for the remainder of the flight.

Sometimes, male passengers even intentionally touch air hostesses and boldly say “don’t ever think you are so beautiful that I need you” when they are told to stop.

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