By Regina Hay Illustration by Michelle Song
When Belle Holmes was in 6th grade in Japan, she was asked to write about her dream. Her dream was “to be a flight attendant and see the world.”
Her dream didn’t come true until she moved to California years later. Belle was kind enough to take time out and tell me about the 12 exciting years she has
been working for United Airlines.
When asked why she liked being a flight attendant, Belle said she enjoys seeing different kinds of countries around the world and meeting new people. Once, Belle met a family with two kids named Benjamin and Hannah on a flight from New York to Tokyo. Belle invited the kids to help her with her job so that they wouldn’t
get bored during the flight. Later Benjamin wrote Belle a letter thanking her for being so nice. Many years later, Belle’s daughter ended up going to school with Hannah. Hannah remembered Belle and says she wants to become a flight attendant because of Belle!
As for what she didn’t like, Belle says, “I don’t like it when my customers yell at me for things that aren’t under my control.” She also doesn’t like the jet lag from international flights.
In order to prepare for her job, Belle had to take emergency training and kitchen training for each type of aircraft she worked on. She also had to learn all the products the airline offers, like different kinds of wine and food. She trained for two and a half months and took four training flights.
Flight attendants need to have training in case of emergencies, in case something goes wrong on a flight. But sometimes they just need to be lucky. It turns out that Belle is very lucky because she was supposed to be on a September 11, 2001 flight, but was then sent on a different trip, thank goodness!
Belle’s advice for aspiring flight attendants is, “stay healthy, because flying can be hard on your body. Study which airline you want to work for, so that you have an idea of what you will be paid and you will know if
it will be around for a long time. And finally, stay positive because you will like your job a lot more!”
I think that is good advice for any job.
When Belle Holmes was in 6th grade in Japan, she was asked to write about her dream. Her dream was “to be a flight attendant and see the world.”
Her dream didn’t come true until she moved to California years later. Belle was kind enough to take time out and tell me about the 12 exciting years she has
been working for United Airlines.
When asked why she liked being a flight attendant, Belle said she enjoys seeing different kinds of countries around the world and meeting new people. Once, Belle met a family with two kids named Benjamin and Hannah on a flight from New York to Tokyo. Belle invited the kids to help her with her job so that they wouldn’t
get bored during the flight. Later Benjamin wrote Belle a letter thanking her for being so nice. Many years later, Belle’s daughter ended up going to school with Hannah. Hannah remembered Belle and says she wants to become a flight attendant because of Belle!
As for what she didn’t like, Belle says, “I don’t like it when my customers yell at me for things that aren’t under my control.” She also doesn’t like the jet lag from international flights.
In order to prepare for her job, Belle had to take emergency training and kitchen training for each type of aircraft she worked on. She also had to learn all the products the airline offers, like different kinds of wine and food. She trained for two and a half months and took four training flights.
Flight attendants need to have training in case of emergencies, in case something goes wrong on a flight. But sometimes they just need to be lucky. It turns out that Belle is very lucky because she was supposed to be on a September 11, 2001 flight, but was then sent on a different trip, thank goodness!
Belle’s advice for aspiring flight attendants is, “stay healthy, because flying can be hard on your body. Study which airline you want to work for, so that you have an idea of what you will be paid and you will know if
it will be around for a long time. And finally, stay positive because you will like your job a lot more!”
I think that is good advice for any job.
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