FlightAttendantCareers.

com

A 747 Captain Talks Aviation

From the best seat in the house

Tom Reincke
www.FlightAttendantCareers.com

Published by
Travel Quest Australia Pty Ltd
PO Box 1051 Toombul
Brisbane, Queensland 4012
FlightAttendantCareers.com

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This is a transcribed interview with Rob, a friend of mine that now flys a Boeing 747. Rob an
extremely experienced pilot whos been flying since before he could legally drive, loves the aviation
industry and has done equally as well within it as well as out of it. Rob has a building back ground and
is very accomplished at logical thinking and manual skills however it is flying that is his true passion.

A little about the Boeing 747-400 aircraft

The first ever Boeing 747100 entered service in January 1970 with Pan Am airlines. Subsequent
model releases have continually upgraded the 747. The Boeing 747400 is the next version up from
the 300 series and was first announced by Boeing in October 1985 and eventually rolled off the
production floor in January 1988.
The 747400 is described as a glass cockpit which in effect changed it from a 3 person operation to a
two pilot operation (minus the engineer that the 300 used to carry).
The 400 also has an additional fuel tank in the horizontal stabilizer, 6 feet (1.8 m) wing tip extensions
and the engines have greater thrust and improved fuel efficiency.
The passenger version of the 747400 has the stretched upper deck and is now almost twice as long as
the original 747 upper deck.
Another interesting feature of modern engineering and structural materials of new composites and
aluminum alloys has seen the 400 sport a bigger wingspan although the overall weight of the wings
has been decreased.
On 17 August 1989 the first Qantas 747400, VHOJA 'City of Canberra', touched down at Sydney
Airport after a nonstop flight from London to Sydney. The 18,001km flight, under the command of
Captain David MassyGreene, took 20 hours, nine minutes and five seconds and established a new
world distance record for a commercial aircraft. When Qantas had helped establish the Kangaroo
Route in 1935 it had taken five different aircraft types, three airlines, 42 refueling calls, two railways
and up to 14 days to bridge the same gap. Ref: http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/history
boeing/global/en

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Interview with 747 pilot Rob

TOM.
Rob thanks for your time and your kind contribution for your efforts in promoting the FlightAttendant-Careers.com web site.
ROB.
My pleasure Tom.
TOM.
Rob I would like to explore things from your perspective today as a pilot with some 10,000
hours flying experience.
I would like to cover youre job as pilot of the Boeing 747, the rewards and the advantages
and describe a little bit about the aircraft you are flying and some idiosyncrasies and
peculiarities about the aircraft and aviation environment in which you operate.
I would also like to touch on the operational interaction that you have with the flight attendant
crew and some about the recreational side of flying.
But firstly could I ask you to introduce yourself including your background, where you started
in the flying industry and how you come to be where you are now. I know that you live on the
Sunshine Coast of Australia, fly Boeing 747 aircraft based in San Francisco so perhaps if you
would like to lead the way
ROB.
Absolutely, well as you mention Tom I fly 747s now and I started when I was 15 years old
and worked my way up through the ranks ahhh I then when to the Northern Territory got a job
flying light aircraft
TOM.
Thats the Northern Territory of Australia
ROB.
Yes thats right ahhh.. I worked my way up to bigger aircraft and eventually and luckily got a
job with an airline and commenced flying jet aircraft and went through different types from the
737, 767 and the 747 and ahhh now as you say I am based in San Fransisco and based in

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Austrailia and work two weeks on and two weeks off and obviously holidays on top of that per
year, so commuting works out quite well. Ahhh
TOM.
So obviously that time or your working shifts gives you great flexibility, I mean there is no
other job in the world that offers that sort of flexibility?
ROB.
Yes youre right Tom. Its quite exciting - it allows me to have an interesting lifestyle, it allows
me to do a lot of things that I suppose an individual that has a 9-5 ahh job cant do. It has its
down falls when you are away for 2 weeks or a week depending on what airline you are flying
with especially if you are flying internationally verses flying domestically which can be totally
different TOM Ahh then it does have its disadvantages, jet lag of coarse, living out of a suit
case ahh but they are the disadvantages. There are many advantages.
TOM.
Suppose these sorts of working conditions and flexibility are also available to flight attendants
as well. I remember when I used to fly internationally out of Sydney Australia, one of the flight
attendants called Perth Australia home which is as you know some 5 hours flying time west of
Sydney on the west coast of Australia.
ROB.
Absolutely
TOM.
Any flight attendants currently doing the commute thing that you know off?
ROB.
Yes there is one flight attendant that commuted from Hong Kong to Sydney to ahh..
TOM.
Whats that about 8- 81/2 hours 9 hours flying?
ROB.
Yeh, its about 8- 81/2 hours. I suppose I commute now 14-15 hours to San Francisco. So its
a bit of time but you also have individuals that live 15 minutes away from the airport so ahh..
TOM.
Great flexibility yeh?
ROB.
Flexibilities enormous and it allows anybody to do such a fantastic job.
TOM.
So your on the 747 now, how did you come to get that position?
ROB As I mentioned earlier as I got into the airlines I gradually started my way up from the
beginning flying smaller aircraft and as I progressed and was promoted to bigger and bigger

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aircraft and fortunately with the seniority system of promotion I was allowed to ahhh well I
was fortunate to get a 747 position.

TOM.
And you how old now?
ROB.
I am 35 years now, Ive been flying for 20 years if we include the years of training and as you
mention I have got a little over 10,000 hours and I fly to currently very interesting destinations
around the world based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Alaska, ahh all over South
East Asia, China, and into Europe.
TOM.
And thats on the 747?
ROB.
Yes its on the 747

TOM.
Rob the 747 is the hall mark of the skys, an aircraft made by Boeing of course, tell a little
about the statistics of a 747.
ROB.
The 747 is actually quite an old aero plane, it originally came out in 1970 so about 35 years
old now but is very advanced as the years progressed it also progressed in its advancement
in technology. What are some of the interesting characteristics of the 747 ahh..
TOM.
I suppose many people are amazed at how such a large aircraft can how such a heavy
thing can get in the air, how much fuel it burns and I suppose what it carries some 380 to 420
passengers depending on configuration?
ROB.
Yeh designed to carry about 500 passengers ahh it weighs at maximum take off some 380
ton approximately and some of the 747 versions can carry up to 400 ton on take off and they
can carry that weight for 15 or 16 hours of flying.
TOM.
So what sort of fuel burn do you have over that period?
ROB
We burn roughly about between 10 and 12 ton of fuel per hour which equates to about 15000
to 16000 liters per hour.
TOM.
So about 4000 litres per engine per hour then?

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ROB.
Thats right exactly.
TOM.
That would certainly run the family car for some time!
ROB.
Yeh well if you look at a car and you use on average one fuel tank a week ahh that measures
out to about 71 years fuel supply.
TOM
So it would keep the average user supplied with fuel for their car for 71 years.
ROB.
Yes.
Tom.
Thats a lot of fuel.
ROB
Umm
TOM.
I suppose flying would see some peculiar things. I mean its an environment like no other
aahhhm I have heard of a few things ahh anything come to mind?
ROB.
One particularly comes to mind and it is certainly a very good example of the cooperation
between the flight crew and the cabin crew. Ahh good communication and obviously very
good training.
TOM.
I was going to say how does this or is this related to the flight attendants that you had done
the back?
Maybe I suppose to err lead us into that, how do you get on with the flight attendants, take us
into what happens in a normal day right from sign on. What happens?

ROB.
Well from sign on as you say if we do a normal flight say an international flight if we do a
flight- - Sydney to Hong Kong we will all sign on individually. Cabin crew sign on in a different
section to the flight crew generally. Flight crew then go and do their procedures with flight
planning and ordering of fuel and checking of weather on route and at their destination and
also notices they need to know about, different countries that they may be flying over and
different peculiarities of the airspace that they may be encountering during the coarse of their
flight.
The cabin crew on the other hand do something similar, they have a Cabin Manager that brief
all the cabin crew in respect to the particular flight, usually numbers, any special conditions or
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special passengers they may have on board on the particular day, aahhh the type of food and
they also introduce the names of the crew to each other and any notices from the company
that need to emphasized or enforced for that particular flight or generally.
From then from that position all the crew then generally go to the aircraft in the same
transport and then when we all get on the aircraft which is usually the first time we first see
each other, the Captain then briefs the entire cabin crew generally. And that brief is not only a
session to allow the Captain to indicate to the cabin crew things like the weather conditions
that we can and may encounter on route which is obviously important for the cabin crew to
time their service ahh

TOM.
I suppose with hot coffee and tea its not a good thing to be serving during turbulence when a
little preplanning could avoid it?
ROB.
Exactly, absolutely. They may have to tailor their meal service differently to what they
normally do because we may encounter predicted turbulence for the first two hours of the
flight and thats something that we need to discuss with the cabin crew and make them
understand that maybe something they have to change. Ahhh other things that we discuss
any other peculiarities with the aircraft whether there is a row of seats that are unserviceable
or a particular galley system that is not working ahh
TOM.
The toilets
ROB.
Yeh exactly, lights and ahh its also the second part of the briefing is important and the
important part of it is is that it allows the flight crew to commence a good rapport or
communication with cabin crew, Ahh it allows good CRM, it allows cabin crew no matter what
age or seniority whether junior flight attendants or senior ones to start feeling comfortable
prior to the flight commencing
TOM
Ahh by CRM I take it you mean Crew Resource Management of coarse which opens up those
communications between the flight attendants and the crew?
ROB.
It does. CRM not only opens up the lines of communication between the cabin crew and flight
crew, it opens up lines of communication between the ground staff, air traffic control, its every
body thats going to have something to do with that particular flight. It does allow the
communication not to be distorted in any way.
TOM.
Because essentially the first priority is safety so ahh which is why cabin crew are on onboard
of coarse if any thing untoward did happen therefore you have got to have those open lines of

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communication, their your eyes and ears to an extent because after the cockpit door you dont
see or generally hear anything.
ROB.
Absolutely.
TOM.
Yes sorry to butt in but from that briefing stage
ROB.
Yes from the briefing stage and as you did mention cabin crew are definitely the eyes and
ears of the aircraft for us especially during an emergency situation where there may be a fire
in the rear galley somewhere and we cant see that rear galley and we need and there are
systems in place in every airline that allows the communication back to the flight crew the
intensity of the fire and the current status of the fire and we need that constant flow of
information relayed to us so that we can then make a decision to divert to a suitable airport or
to an emergency airport. So thats very very important, cabin crew play an active and
continuous roll in the safety of the aircraft
TOM.
So after briefing you do your respective thing, the passengers board and after take thats
when ahhh we especially flight attendants swing into gear but has there been an incident
where that you can recall thats happened in flight where youve needed that communication
or security down the back to tell you whats going on?

ROB.
Absolutely. There is one particular one that comes to mind and that is in the situation where a
passenger became very unruly and obsessively drunk and was traveling with his mother. Now
that particular case ended up where the flight crew both spoke to the individual to try and..
TOM.
Calm the situation?
ROB.
To calm the situation and relive the tension. That failed and the particular individual became
extremely violent and very very aggressive to the point where
TOM.
He put the aircraft in danger and every body on board!
ROB.
Absolutely there were a lot of you know children and obviously family that were becoming
very worried. The plane was full and the decision was made by the captain who has the
authority to arrest ahh to handcuff the individual and that fortunately or unfortunately is done
by the cabin crew. Ahh generally they tend to ask or use the assistance of other passengers,
you know there may be police men that are traveling on board
TOM.
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That information may be obtained from the passenger manifest or that can be radioed from
the ground to say who is on board as to who may be able to assist.
ROB.
Yes and in this particular case that is exactly what we did. We did relay the information to the
company and they indicated to us who was in board with particular credentials and those
people were then asked to help. And this particular individual, it wasnt very pretty, it was
particularly violent and then he was then handcuffed but it took five individuals to get into a
situation to place the handcuffs on him and he was then placed in a part of the aircraft in the
front section where the business class passengers where because the space in-between the
seats where sufficient enough not to do any damage.

TOM.
So Rob those sorts of things are gone over and trained for in training school where you use
handcuffs and application techniques etc
ROB.
Both flight crew and cabin crew are taught and trained extensively in unruly passengers or
events that may occur on flight. So yeh it was very good to actually be part of something that
weve been trained to do for such a long time to do.
TOM.
So really the traveling public has such a limited view on because normally I suppose they
think when they see a Hosty on board its the coffee and tea scenario I can imagine not the
realization of the in-depth training that you dont see for those peculiarities in flight
ROB
Well flight Attendants traditionally have been the front line of marketing and ahh you know
thats what passengers see, and thats what passengers receive in their the service that they
pay for. But no, there is more to it definitely. The biggest part of the flight attendants job is the
safety and also to relay information back to the flight crew or ground staff regarding
information that they think we might need.
TOM.
I heard that flying is sometimes referred to as 97% shear pleasure and 3% shear terror.
Would that be a rough approximation in your experience?
ROB
Perfect
TOM
Perfect! Rob weve covered the trickier parts of flying that sometimes you perhaps dont see
too often, another natural phenomenal that I know of is a thing called St Elmos fire. Can you
perhaps tell us what St Elmos fire is

ROB
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St Elmos fire is like looking at a rainbow or the southern lights in the southern hemisphere or
southern Aurora I should say or the northern lights in the northern hemisphere but its a
phenomenon where basically ahhh its electric current that is being produced by friction and
usually some sort of condensation like rain, the aircraft hitting the rain in flight err its a bit like
rubbing your hands, when you rub your hands together for a period of time the heat builds up.

Similar situation with St Elmos fire- - what you end up having is a very very soft glow of
purple light that is produced and predominately you see it at night time over cockpit windows
or over the intake of the engines the passengers may look out the window and see this this
glow something like ahh 3D space science fiction movie but its basically just a build up of
electrostatic current which is being produced by the friction of the rain hitting the aircraft.
TOM.
And its perfectly safe of course?
ROB.
Extremely safe.
TOM.
I have seen it creep over the front window and its looks a bit like lightning spider webish type
phenomenon across the window..

ROB.
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Yeh it looks like something out of those Doctor Who movies where you get those sparks of
lightning off that big electrostatic ball that they have in the science rooms. Its very very safe.
One other thing that aircraft do have is that it is earthed ahhh is earthed to the atmosphere
TOM.
So are you leading us into lightening strike on aircraft?

ROB.
Yes.
TOM.
What happened there?
ROB.
Well with a lightening strike. Obviously the aircraft is hit by lightning at some point and it has
to exit at some point and during that process it exits through some sharp tip or the tail and
youll see on the back of the wings of the aircraft a lot of little wires..
TOM.
And they would be called discharge wicks would that be right?
ROB.
Discharge wicks is the perfect name for it and the discharge wicks are exactly that, they
discharge any electricity that has built up in the frame of the aircraft whether thats through a
lightning strike or whether that is through friction and it discharges it straight into the
atmosphere. Once again very safe.

Tom.
Does lightning strike happen very often?
ROB.
No it doesnt happen very often.
TOM.
So when it does happen it is a very safe or it is as safe as it can be through the dissipation of
any electricity through discharge wicks.
ROB.
The aircraft is designed to cope with being hit by lightning strikes and so youre absolutely
safe. There has been incidents where ahh generators and lights have failed but after a time
flight crew have managed to get power back on line but that is a severe case.
TOM.
So weve heard a little bit aspects of flying quite often not seen or heard about by passengers
as such, what happens on the fun side of things, what happens when you get to a
destination?

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ROB.
Well once weve completed all the briefings at our destination cause we do have a debrief as
well
TOM.
And that covers?

ROB.
It covers the flight, any problems that may have been encountered. Its a good way of
gathering any information to take back to the company to allow them to analyze things that
they may have to change whether its ahh service or safety issues etc once again its a debrief
to gather all the information of the flight and then move the information on to the company.
TOM.
I suppose the flight attendants play an important roll in that as well from the feed back from
the passengers.
ROB.
To tell you the truth its probably the biggest part the biggest roll is played by the cabin crew is
in the debrief because they have encountered most of the activity during the course of the
flight. And generally we dont get much activity in the flight crew or the flight side of it to be
debriefed unless there has been some major incident so after thats completed we all jump on
the bus and generally we are all reasonably tired but we usually manage to get to a restaurant
or to a bar at the end of a flight and subsequently
TOM.
Well at the end of a working day refreshments are required.
ROB.
Absolutely, absolutely and typically we are in a destination fro 2 or 3 days so people do have
some time off and being part of a large crew you can go and have some good times with
other crew members and a lot of things to do.
TOM.
So what with the crew of a 74 there would be what typically about 18 flight attendants
ROB
Generally yeh 16 to 19 flight attendants and 2 to 4 flight crew so your looking at a crew of
about 20 people
TOM.
So you all proceed to the hotel which is typically 5 and some 4 star hotels and what they give
you an allowance when you get there?
ROB.
Absolutely. It depends on the airline, they all do it differently
TOM.
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And that allowance covers things like your meals at that 5 star hotel.
ROB.
It does. Meals, drinks, what ever you want to do with it. Shopping for some of the ladies and
even the men and ahhh days away trips away, you can do whatever you want with your
allowances.
TOM
And I suppose we should also mention that it is a tax free perk of the job.
ROB.
Dont tell the tax man.

TOM
I know narrrrthing!!!
So typically you have got 2 to 3 days on a stop over depending of course on your flight but
that time is absolutely free to do as you please yeh?
ROB.
Generally it is, each airline is different. Some airlines specify that you have to be contactable
for a period of time or a period of days but generally most airlines dont require you to be on
duty or on call. You are free and there are plenty of things to do. Its probably one of the great
parts of the job. You can go and potentially fly to another port ahh for a day or two and have
some time away. Ahhh great shopping, great food ahh you know looking at landscapes and
enjoying the different cultures.
TOM.
I suppose you become very very culturally diverse with the different countries that you go to.
So I mean it really does expand your personal world.
ROB.
As an individual absolutely yeh You become very worldly I suppose through your work, you
become very educated about different cultures, history and also that plays a big role with the
passengers that will travel with you and having and understanding their needs allows you to
become a better cabin crew member or a better flight crew member
TOM.
I suppose touching on that from your prospective Rob, how do you see or what makes a good
flight attendant? Ahh not only operationally but over all I suppose from the operational point to
the communication side to the lets say the drink at the end of the day type?
ROB.
I think what comes to mind straight away is an individual that is happy, that is motivated ahh
that is self motivated, one that is honest, one that continues to strive to do their job as best
they can from day to day and that can be difficult sometimes especially through jet lag, I mean
you cant be you cant be ahh as active or as pleasant at 3 oclock in the morning somewhere
in the middle of the pacific ocean

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TOM.
I suppose thats the professionalism of it though isnt it? I mean you in your capacity are not
allowed to tapper off for those moments where you think I might just take a break. So I
suppose when people become a flight attendant, thats the understanding that they have got
to be always professional and that their actions are totally front line to the traveling public.
Their passengers on board at that time
ROB.
Absolutely, professionalism is something that needs to be that is an absolute must for a
flight attendant or flight crew for that matter Ahh its whats going to make the job exciting and
longevity for the future. Its really hard to maintain that. Its not a job that allows you to
maintain it for the long term unless you drive it that way.

TOM.
So Rob is there anything else that you can say that budding flight attendants out there
reading this transcript should know from your perspective?
ROB.
I dont know that I have a lot more to add only that I think as I mentioned earlier if you can
display in a prospective interview your overall capacity or ability to be as professional as you
possibly can ahh also I think attributes as a customer service individual is a must and ahh at
the end of the day smile, be happy and do the best that you can.
TOM.
Rob thank you for you time and contribution to this interview in sharing the world of flying from
your perspective. I know you have many stories that we didnt have time for here today but I
suppose one could say that flight attendants with the right attitude to the job and to life in
general will discover first hand many of the good time experiences that you flying as a crew
member around the world have discovered.
ROB.
Absolutely Tom. Flying, be it as a pilot or flight attendant gives you just so much in return. I
mean, what other job literally expands you world like flying does. Ill let you in on a little secret
and tell you that 2 decades of being in the fortunate position of being employed in the aviation
industry, I can say categorically nothing comes close.
All those rumors about the great life style, the experiences and all the things we have already
gone over are true. I can only encourage anyone interested in becoming a flight attendant to
do their best and stop at nothing to achieve their goal because it is totally worth it.
TOM.
Rob, once again many thanks for you time and allowing me to use this interview as a
promotional bonus to my web site. Its very much appreciated.
ROB.
My pleasure Tom.

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Your beginning starts NOW! You have here some fabulous information, along
with some incredible bonuses that are included in your
Airline Flight Attendant Application 3-step system [AFAA] package.

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Use every bit to your advantage!

Good luck, never give up, make your dreams take flight and see
you in the air!

Tom www.Flight-Attendant-Careers.com

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