When you board a plane, flight attendants greet you with practiced smiles and seamless service. But there’s a lot of mental and emotional labor that passengers don’t see.
Missy*, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes host Anita Rao inside her world and shares stories from nearly five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies.
Travel journalist Natalie Compton, who reports for The Washington Post, also shares her reporting on the financial precarity some flight attendants face and how understanding more about their reality has changed the way she approaches air travel.
*Because Missy is not authorized to speak on behalf of her airline, we are only using her first name and not identifying which airline employs her.
