CDG-LAX AF 062 January 23rd 2001 as crew
May 28, 2005, 10:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Papeete TAHITI
Programs: AFFB Silver, BAEC Silver
Posts: 234
CDG-LAX AF 062 January 23rd 2001 as crew
Tuesday January 23rd 2001
It's 0300 and I have my eyes wide open !!! AAGGGHH ! It's the jetlag from my holidays in Tahiti that is taking its toll !
I get up, walk around the flat, read my few emails, make a last check at my suitcase, I add a few shirts and make sure I have all my paperwork for the trip. My cabin crew flying licence, my aircraft licences, passport and US visa in order. I watch some TV, I need to be in CDG at 0900 for my briefing.
At 0645, I start to get ready, shave, shower, brush my teeth, smile in the mirror, hhhuuuhhh !!! Why did I get up so early ?!?
At 0730, I leave the house, make sure, the plants are watered, I am off for a long trip, 12 days ON ! I am due back on the 3rd. I lower the thermostat to save the energy, make sure all the lights are off. I close the door and get down my 2 flights of stairs.
I do my usual 7 minutes walk to the train station in uniform with my suitcase... People are staring as usual !
I get to the station on time but decide to wait for a nonstop train to CDG rather than the "milk train" which stops everywhere !
0830 I am in CDG. I get my ID pass to show the security officer guarding the Air France crew city. I drop off my one suitcase and go fetch my other one at the baggage area. Get up to the first floor and sign in for the LAX flight, I say Hello to a few friends who are going to many different part of the world. I run up to the Americas, my network. I read the latest notes about Air France, the service, the new menus starting on February 1st and the usual unions' notes. I go past the office where 2 instructors are working, I talk to them about my log-in problems with the company computer system. I couldn't request my holidays, they'll do it for me ! Thanks ! Got to go, briefing starting soon !
I get to room 17, half of the crew is there, I introduce my self to the Chief Purser and Pursers, I've flown with the Chief purser before. A couple of minutes later, everyone is here, the 15 of us. The pursers do their briefing reminding us the safety features of the 747-400, what commercial actions we would take, the service order, movies shown, name of the flight deck crew. They give us our position for the flight, I'll work the galley in Business Class Main deck today. There is a bit of a friction concerning First Class where 2 girls are arguing who will do it. The most senior one gets it and we can hear them still complaining about it. The other difficult moment is to find a Galley person for Economy. No one !
At 0915 we are out to the crew bus, we pick-up our suitcases and we are off to the plane. It is F-GITD today and it will fly CDG-LAX AF062 with us and return on AF065 with a new crew. We are checked by the Gendarmerie de l'Air to see that we all have our ID pass and we are driving around the terminal. We can see all our European bound flights docked at terminal 2 halls B and D, A multitude of AF tails around with a few SN, SR and AZ.
The bus drops us off at the bottom of the plane, The big giant nose is right above us, loads of people are running around to get the aircraft ready for its departure. Around us are other AF long-haul aircrafts plus the usual friendly DL and CO 777's.
Climb the stairs, we are in the plane. We are taking over the aircraft and we have 15 to 20 minutes to get everything ready before boarding. Safety checks first, the axe, oxygen, demo kits, BCF fire extinguisher, first aid kit, life jacket, jumpseat's belts, flash lights, all is here, now the cabin, seats are clean, cabin looks OK, blankets and pillows on all seats, TV programs and magazines in the pockets, the safety card is the proper one. The Chief Purser puts on the safety demo video on to check that it works, It's fine. I start to count my meals, It is loaded full 28 meals for the main deck ! The Captain stops us all in our galley work, we need to start the common check-list. Its full emergency lights in the cabin, we all check that every single light works, we check the seat belt lights are on, test the smoke detectors in the toilets and crew rest area. He makes an emergency call, everyone picks up the phone and introduces himself starting by the Chief Purser the 5L, 5R, 4L etc until the upper deck. He tries the evacuation alarm, it rings perfectly alright, I am nearly deaf !!!
I count my hot dishes, make sure they are the same as the menu's, I have my 2 choices of starters, the desserts are all here, the carts with the wine, champagne and other drinks are also here. My colleague, a girl today, is checking the snack in the first class galley, is folding table clothes, storing the toilets with the cosmetic creams and usual toiletries and adding the chef's recommendation leaflet in the menus. I take the flowers out and put them on our 2 bars with the US newspaper, It's a beehive in the plane, OOOps the first passengers are at the door, Bonjour Monsieur ! Welcome aboard ! Cross the galley turn right you are sitting by the window, Good Morning sir, Your seat is on the upper deck...
People everywhere. boarding is always hectic, people standing everywhere, getting their marks, looking for papers, magazines, a spare pillow. I run around to get everyone's jacket and store them. Smile. I explain the seat to a few persons, Show them the video program, where are the headsets...
Boarding is over, on time, lets offer our customers a glass of champagne, orange juice or water ?!?
Newspaper, the plane is being pushed back, got to run to my door 2R to arm it, we confirm to the Chief Purser over the phone, The demos start on the video screens, we are on our way and I am sweating !!! I get the hot towels ready and I uncork the bottles of wine, make sure all is chilled. We had out the towels, 1,2,3,4,5... 23 passengers, its ok, not a full load after all, we have 5 spare seats.
Pick-up the towels, check the seatbelts, the captain announces take-off. I go and seat at my jumpseat, I checked the galley, all is stowed and latched for take-off.
The aircraft is running along the runway, these 3 minutes will be the only rest time I'll have for another 2 to 3 hours ! Seat belt sign is off, It's show time !!! We close the partitions between First and Business, and Business and Economy. My colleague is handing out the menus while I dress the drink table for us, I check that the liquors are all there, fruit juices, peanuts, glasses, ice, ok, we are rolling. Can I get you a drink before dinner sir ? will that be with ice ?
Drinks are over, while Souad, my colleague, is clearing the cabin from empty glasses, I turn on the ovens, and dress the food trolleys, they need table clothes, wine, and bread. The rest is inside the trolley.
The menu for today is as follow :
Choice of Hors d'Oeuvre :
Mixed salad acccompanied by a duck terrine with morel mushrooms, carrot julienne, celery and emmental
or
Frisée salad with mushrooms, dill-marinated crayfish, zucchini and bell pepper julienne
Choice of Main Course :
Pan-seared lamb chop with shallot butter, potatoes au gratin, cherry tomato and sweet peas
or
Roast loin of veal with Rosemary sauce served with a creamy cheese polenta, steamed green cabbage and a glazed shallot
or
Fillet of Salmon trout, cream sauce with chives and savoie white wine, saffron basmati rice, spinach flan with cranberries
Our Special Selection of Cheese :
Camembert, Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie
Assorted Desserts :
Nougat cake with apples and walnuts
or
Pear tart
or
Chocolate croquant
Blackcurrant, chartreuse or apricot flavoured sorbets served with cookies
Fresh Fruits
Coffee, Grand Jardins Teas and Herbal teas.
We are off to dress the tables and offer lunch to our customers. They are all satisfied with their choice, no one is missing its preferred starter. We follow soon after with the main course with wine refills and bread in between.
Cheese has got less success, dessert is the usual winner, coffees and teas, a liqueur perhaps sir, I have some Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Chartreuse, Bailey's, Pear Williams ?!?
We clear the remaining items of catering and we follow soon after with the duty-free articles from our "Boutique de Paris".
It has been 2 and a half hours that we have started the service, the bars are dressed with drinks, magazines, games and sweets. We will put the sandwiches, fruits and cookies later during the flight. The economy class crew has finished at the same time as us. We serve a few glasses of water and it's time for us to have our lunch. 10 minutes and I swallowed a 3 course meal ! standing up ! In between passengers asking for a glass of Pepsi !I leave Souad in the galley and go to rest in the crew bunks. 3 hours of sleep, much needed !
WHAT ?!? Is it time already ???!? OK ! Let me get dressed and look like something ok. There is 8 of us in the crew rest area trying to change back into our uniforms.
RUN !!! I speed towards the Business Class toilets where I freshen up. In the galley Souad is waiting for me, she tells me that everything went OK, most passengers are sleeping or resting, the buffet is out and nearly empty, I still have loads of fresh fruits for them though. She folded more table clothes and swopped the lunch trolley's with the snack ones from the First Class Galley.
I take over the guard duty, she goes to rest. I start filling out the paper work for the US customs concerning my removable stores containing alcohol. I fill out my paper work for immigration and customs for the US. I get the seals ready to close the drinks trolley.
It's time to load the ovens with the snack plates that need to be reheated. Open a few more bottles of wine, I need more water, I go and steel some from Economy.
The ovens are on, the bars are cleared, the buffet stored back, the crew will soon be up and we will have to serve our last meal for today.
The trolleys are ready when Souad arrives, She goes and freshen up in the toilets while I put the lights on in the cabin and pick-up any catering items.
And we are off with the trolley. Would you like your snack sir ? A glass of wine perhaps ?
In less than an hour its over. Souad takes over the cabin, I need to tidy the galley and seal the trolleys. She is handing out landing forms and customs declarations. We start our descent to LAX. In 30 minutes we will be on the ground. The galley is checked and secure, we remove all the amenities from the toilets and clear the cabin getting it ready for landing. The seat belt sign comes on, the annoucements are made. We hand back all coats and bid farewell to all our passengers in the cabin. They loved it. They are satisfied.
The landing gear is down, we are a few minutes from landing. I check my watch, bad thing, we are 30 minutes early ! We will have to wait for our parking stand to come free. Landing. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Los Angeles ! We taxi towards our gate which is taken. We are assigned another one.
The plane comes to a stop. We are towed in.
We disarm the doors. The door opens, and we let the First and Business Class passengers out first, Aurevoir, aurevoir, nearly 300 goodbyes ! I am thirsty !
let me see, I need a bottle of water for my room and all my stuff, oven gloves, corkscrew etc...
We check if anyone has left anything in the plane, No ? well its our time to get out of the plane. The cleaning people and caterers are all here, waiting to get in and turn the plane around for its journey home.
I go through immigration, get my passport and customs form stamped. A random check ?!? AAGGHH ! I am tired I want to go, OK, let me open my suitcase. I chat with the customs people, they tell me about the stuff they find sometimes in people's bags, WHAT ? a dried human hand ?!? They must have enough stuff for a full museum in those backrooms. I am clean, and ready to go. The crew bus is not here, the place we usually park in is being re-done and the driver is nowhere to be seen. I run up to AF and they call him. Someone comes with us to find our bus. Hurray we find him ! Off we go, loading our bags, and seat . Hotel is in another 50 minutes. We stay in NewPort Beach, too far, I'll listen to some music.. I want to get there, fast.
Sutton Place hotel, we are finally there. Get off the bus, get our bags, the keys, say good-bye to the crew as Souad, Marine and I are going to Tahiti and we will fly with a Tahiti based crew. We are flying on Thursday night on AF070. I have half of that crew for friends. It's great. Tonight we are going out to dance a little bit of Salsa and tomorrow we will stay in the hotel and rest.
Thursday is another day, right now I am tired after AF062. I'll take a shower and have a nap before going to the Salsa.
It's 0300 and I have my eyes wide open !!! AAGGGHH ! It's the jetlag from my holidays in Tahiti that is taking its toll !
I get up, walk around the flat, read my few emails, make a last check at my suitcase, I add a few shirts and make sure I have all my paperwork for the trip. My cabin crew flying licence, my aircraft licences, passport and US visa in order. I watch some TV, I need to be in CDG at 0900 for my briefing.
At 0645, I start to get ready, shave, shower, brush my teeth, smile in the mirror, hhhuuuhhh !!! Why did I get up so early ?!?
At 0730, I leave the house, make sure, the plants are watered, I am off for a long trip, 12 days ON ! I am due back on the 3rd. I lower the thermostat to save the energy, make sure all the lights are off. I close the door and get down my 2 flights of stairs.
I do my usual 7 minutes walk to the train station in uniform with my suitcase... People are staring as usual !
I get to the station on time but decide to wait for a nonstop train to CDG rather than the "milk train" which stops everywhere !
0830 I am in CDG. I get my ID pass to show the security officer guarding the Air France crew city. I drop off my one suitcase and go fetch my other one at the baggage area. Get up to the first floor and sign in for the LAX flight, I say Hello to a few friends who are going to many different part of the world. I run up to the Americas, my network. I read the latest notes about Air France, the service, the new menus starting on February 1st and the usual unions' notes. I go past the office where 2 instructors are working, I talk to them about my log-in problems with the company computer system. I couldn't request my holidays, they'll do it for me ! Thanks ! Got to go, briefing starting soon !
I get to room 17, half of the crew is there, I introduce my self to the Chief Purser and Pursers, I've flown with the Chief purser before. A couple of minutes later, everyone is here, the 15 of us. The pursers do their briefing reminding us the safety features of the 747-400, what commercial actions we would take, the service order, movies shown, name of the flight deck crew. They give us our position for the flight, I'll work the galley in Business Class Main deck today. There is a bit of a friction concerning First Class where 2 girls are arguing who will do it. The most senior one gets it and we can hear them still complaining about it. The other difficult moment is to find a Galley person for Economy. No one !
At 0915 we are out to the crew bus, we pick-up our suitcases and we are off to the plane. It is F-GITD today and it will fly CDG-LAX AF062 with us and return on AF065 with a new crew. We are checked by the Gendarmerie de l'Air to see that we all have our ID pass and we are driving around the terminal. We can see all our European bound flights docked at terminal 2 halls B and D, A multitude of AF tails around with a few SN, SR and AZ.
The bus drops us off at the bottom of the plane, The big giant nose is right above us, loads of people are running around to get the aircraft ready for its departure. Around us are other AF long-haul aircrafts plus the usual friendly DL and CO 777's.
Climb the stairs, we are in the plane. We are taking over the aircraft and we have 15 to 20 minutes to get everything ready before boarding. Safety checks first, the axe, oxygen, demo kits, BCF fire extinguisher, first aid kit, life jacket, jumpseat's belts, flash lights, all is here, now the cabin, seats are clean, cabin looks OK, blankets and pillows on all seats, TV programs and magazines in the pockets, the safety card is the proper one. The Chief Purser puts on the safety demo video on to check that it works, It's fine. I start to count my meals, It is loaded full 28 meals for the main deck ! The Captain stops us all in our galley work, we need to start the common check-list. Its full emergency lights in the cabin, we all check that every single light works, we check the seat belt lights are on, test the smoke detectors in the toilets and crew rest area. He makes an emergency call, everyone picks up the phone and introduces himself starting by the Chief Purser the 5L, 5R, 4L etc until the upper deck. He tries the evacuation alarm, it rings perfectly alright, I am nearly deaf !!!
I count my hot dishes, make sure they are the same as the menu's, I have my 2 choices of starters, the desserts are all here, the carts with the wine, champagne and other drinks are also here. My colleague, a girl today, is checking the snack in the first class galley, is folding table clothes, storing the toilets with the cosmetic creams and usual toiletries and adding the chef's recommendation leaflet in the menus. I take the flowers out and put them on our 2 bars with the US newspaper, It's a beehive in the plane, OOOps the first passengers are at the door, Bonjour Monsieur ! Welcome aboard ! Cross the galley turn right you are sitting by the window, Good Morning sir, Your seat is on the upper deck...
People everywhere. boarding is always hectic, people standing everywhere, getting their marks, looking for papers, magazines, a spare pillow. I run around to get everyone's jacket and store them. Smile. I explain the seat to a few persons, Show them the video program, where are the headsets...
Boarding is over, on time, lets offer our customers a glass of champagne, orange juice or water ?!?
Newspaper, the plane is being pushed back, got to run to my door 2R to arm it, we confirm to the Chief Purser over the phone, The demos start on the video screens, we are on our way and I am sweating !!! I get the hot towels ready and I uncork the bottles of wine, make sure all is chilled. We had out the towels, 1,2,3,4,5... 23 passengers, its ok, not a full load after all, we have 5 spare seats.
Pick-up the towels, check the seatbelts, the captain announces take-off. I go and seat at my jumpseat, I checked the galley, all is stowed and latched for take-off.
The aircraft is running along the runway, these 3 minutes will be the only rest time I'll have for another 2 to 3 hours ! Seat belt sign is off, It's show time !!! We close the partitions between First and Business, and Business and Economy. My colleague is handing out the menus while I dress the drink table for us, I check that the liquors are all there, fruit juices, peanuts, glasses, ice, ok, we are rolling. Can I get you a drink before dinner sir ? will that be with ice ?
Drinks are over, while Souad, my colleague, is clearing the cabin from empty glasses, I turn on the ovens, and dress the food trolleys, they need table clothes, wine, and bread. The rest is inside the trolley.
The menu for today is as follow :
Choice of Hors d'Oeuvre :
Mixed salad acccompanied by a duck terrine with morel mushrooms, carrot julienne, celery and emmental
or
Frisée salad with mushrooms, dill-marinated crayfish, zucchini and bell pepper julienne
Choice of Main Course :
Pan-seared lamb chop with shallot butter, potatoes au gratin, cherry tomato and sweet peas
or
Roast loin of veal with Rosemary sauce served with a creamy cheese polenta, steamed green cabbage and a glazed shallot
or
Fillet of Salmon trout, cream sauce with chives and savoie white wine, saffron basmati rice, spinach flan with cranberries
Our Special Selection of Cheese :
Camembert, Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie
Assorted Desserts :
Nougat cake with apples and walnuts
or
Pear tart
or
Chocolate croquant
Blackcurrant, chartreuse or apricot flavoured sorbets served with cookies
Fresh Fruits
Coffee, Grand Jardins Teas and Herbal teas.
We are off to dress the tables and offer lunch to our customers. They are all satisfied with their choice, no one is missing its preferred starter. We follow soon after with the main course with wine refills and bread in between.
Cheese has got less success, dessert is the usual winner, coffees and teas, a liqueur perhaps sir, I have some Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Chartreuse, Bailey's, Pear Williams ?!?
We clear the remaining items of catering and we follow soon after with the duty-free articles from our "Boutique de Paris".
It has been 2 and a half hours that we have started the service, the bars are dressed with drinks, magazines, games and sweets. We will put the sandwiches, fruits and cookies later during the flight. The economy class crew has finished at the same time as us. We serve a few glasses of water and it's time for us to have our lunch. 10 minutes and I swallowed a 3 course meal ! standing up ! In between passengers asking for a glass of Pepsi !I leave Souad in the galley and go to rest in the crew bunks. 3 hours of sleep, much needed !
WHAT ?!? Is it time already ???!? OK ! Let me get dressed and look like something ok. There is 8 of us in the crew rest area trying to change back into our uniforms.
RUN !!! I speed towards the Business Class toilets where I freshen up. In the galley Souad is waiting for me, she tells me that everything went OK, most passengers are sleeping or resting, the buffet is out and nearly empty, I still have loads of fresh fruits for them though. She folded more table clothes and swopped the lunch trolley's with the snack ones from the First Class Galley.
I take over the guard duty, she goes to rest. I start filling out the paper work for the US customs concerning my removable stores containing alcohol. I fill out my paper work for immigration and customs for the US. I get the seals ready to close the drinks trolley.
It's time to load the ovens with the snack plates that need to be reheated. Open a few more bottles of wine, I need more water, I go and steel some from Economy.
The ovens are on, the bars are cleared, the buffet stored back, the crew will soon be up and we will have to serve our last meal for today.
The trolleys are ready when Souad arrives, She goes and freshen up in the toilets while I put the lights on in the cabin and pick-up any catering items.
And we are off with the trolley. Would you like your snack sir ? A glass of wine perhaps ?
In less than an hour its over. Souad takes over the cabin, I need to tidy the galley and seal the trolleys. She is handing out landing forms and customs declarations. We start our descent to LAX. In 30 minutes we will be on the ground. The galley is checked and secure, we remove all the amenities from the toilets and clear the cabin getting it ready for landing. The seat belt sign comes on, the annoucements are made. We hand back all coats and bid farewell to all our passengers in the cabin. They loved it. They are satisfied.
The landing gear is down, we are a few minutes from landing. I check my watch, bad thing, we are 30 minutes early ! We will have to wait for our parking stand to come free. Landing. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Los Angeles ! We taxi towards our gate which is taken. We are assigned another one.
The plane comes to a stop. We are towed in.
We disarm the doors. The door opens, and we let the First and Business Class passengers out first, Aurevoir, aurevoir, nearly 300 goodbyes ! I am thirsty !
let me see, I need a bottle of water for my room and all my stuff, oven gloves, corkscrew etc...
We check if anyone has left anything in the plane, No ? well its our time to get out of the plane. The cleaning people and caterers are all here, waiting to get in and turn the plane around for its journey home.
I go through immigration, get my passport and customs form stamped. A random check ?!? AAGGHH ! I am tired I want to go, OK, let me open my suitcase. I chat with the customs people, they tell me about the stuff they find sometimes in people's bags, WHAT ? a dried human hand ?!? They must have enough stuff for a full museum in those backrooms. I am clean, and ready to go. The crew bus is not here, the place we usually park in is being re-done and the driver is nowhere to be seen. I run up to AF and they call him. Someone comes with us to find our bus. Hurray we find him ! Off we go, loading our bags, and seat . Hotel is in another 50 minutes. We stay in NewPort Beach, too far, I'll listen to some music.. I want to get there, fast.
Sutton Place hotel, we are finally there. Get off the bus, get our bags, the keys, say good-bye to the crew as Souad, Marine and I are going to Tahiti and we will fly with a Tahiti based crew. We are flying on Thursday night on AF070. I have half of that crew for friends. It's great. Tonight we are going out to dance a little bit of Salsa and tomorrow we will stay in the hotel and rest.
Thursday is another day, right now I am tired after AF062. I'll take a shower and have a nap before going to the Salsa.
May 28, 2005, 10:31 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Papeete TAHITI
Programs: AFFB Silver, BAEC Silver
Posts: 234
Part 2 AF 070 LAX-PPT as crew
Well here is part 2 of my trip to Tahiti.
Thursday 25th of January, Newport Beach, Sutton Place
We are in trouble we have 3 cabin crew that are "out of order" and we have a full load of passengers to Tahiti tonight. I helped Dadou, our Chief Purser deal with the doctors for our injured crew members.
Tahiti called back, Hana who was scheduled to fly the next evening to Papeete will join our crew and Marie-Pierre will be our Tempo purser for tonight.
I will have a nap before the wake-up call. ZZZZZ at around 1830, I opened my eyes, I'M HUNGRY ! Room service, can I have an Oriental Fried Rice please ? In 25 minutes sir. Thanks !
2010, Good evening sir, this is your wake-up call, do you need help with your bags ?? YES ! I have mine plus Lynda's one of our injured cabin crew, a very dear friend of mine.
I had my bags ready and packed and it was just a matter of a few minutes, shower, shave, teeth, hair, face, SMILE, pick-up my shampoo and stuff in the bathroom. Don the uniform, is the tie straight, where did I put my wings now ?!? On the desk, ok.
I check everything is packed and ready for the bell boy to pick-up, I also have 2 bags to put in storage and I am out of the room. 6th floor, room 633, this was my home for the last couple of days. The lift, push lobby, down. The suitcase's wheels are rattling on the terracotta tiles of the passage that leads to reception. there are already a few cabin crew members waiting there, I check out, pay for my fried rice and seat next to the girls and have a chat. Our bus is here and we are due to leave the hotel at 2110, one hour after the phone rang to wake us up. The Tahiti female crews are stunning with their flowers in the hair, you feel you are a bit in Tahiti already.
The bags are loaded in the bus and we all seat in, LAX please !
people are chatting in the bus, the journey is as long as usual, 50 minutes to an hour.
We are there, its chaos to get dropped off close to the AF counters, people park everywhere ! This is a loading and unloading zone sir !!! You can't camp here ! AAGGHH
Gate 101 ! That's the end of the world ! ok, we go through security, I didn't ring, it speeds up my passage there.
We reach the gate, people are seating around already, the plane has arrived its F-GITB which will take us to Papeete tonight. we seat down in the boarding lounge and wait for the ground staff to give us the green light to board the plane, Caterers, cleaners and mechanics are all buzzing in the cabin for the moment and the aisles are full of carts and vacuum cleaners. It's OK ? We can go ? We get in the jetty and do our briefing there. Dadou is in charge and will do the briefing with Marithé and Marie-Pierre, our 2 pursers. They assign us to our position and I get P5, l'Espace Affaires galley slave on the main deck with Christelle, my Tahiti crew for the flight. I know her well, It's great.
Same story for now on, We get on the plane, check our safety equipment, nothing is missing, everything is working. Food ! I count the trays, the menus are ready, tonight service is easy, it's a supper due to the late departure of the plane. We have joining passengers and transit passengers from Paris on this flight which will see the cabin on the main deck nearly full with 2 spare seats.
Passengers ! ia Orana, Welcome on board.
Turn on your right here sir, you have seat 25b.
Wheel chair ! Can you walk to your seat madam or do we have to get the onboard wheel chair ? You have seat 8B, it's not far, last row of Business Class.
Doors are closed, boarding is finished, we are on our way, Madame, Monsieur bonsoir, mon nom est Dadou C. et je suis votre chef de cabine principal.... the annoucements are starting, the champagne and orange juice is flowing, we are going !!!
Departure is on time, everybody is starting to fall asleep. Our transit passengers have been on the plane for now 11 hours and the 2345 departure time is also a late hour for the joining passengers. The demos are on, a few passengers are sipping their drinks while we point to the emergency exits.
Cabin crew take your seats for take-off 2 minutes. We are going to align our 747-400 with the runway, will be on our way to Paradise on earth soon.
Full throttles, the plane is jetting towards the Pacific, nose up, it pushes itself up from the ingrate turf and goes back to its element. Flight.
Your Menu for tonight madam, you don't want to have dinner ? Should we wake you up for breakfast upon arrival ?
I am pouring a few more glasses of Champagne before the supper.
Choice of Hors D'Oeuvre :
Medallion of foie gras, fillet of smoked duck, cured ham and melon, ratatouille
or
Salmon coulibiac, lobster medallion and shrimp.
Choice of Main Courses :
Tournedos of beef with herbes de provence butter, duchesse potatoes and meditteranean vegetable confit
or
Victoria-style fillet of sole with newburg sauce, buttered steamed baby vegetables
A selection of cheese
Dessert
Strawberry Parfait
Kiwi, Lime or strawberry flavoured sorbets served with cookies
Fresh fruit basket
Coffee, teas and herbal teas.
The wine list included the following :
Heidsieck Monopole Gold Top Vintage 1995 Champagne
Chateau de Rully 1998 Maison Antonin Rodet was the white Burgundy wine,
Moulin-à-vent Domaine du Petit Chêne 1998 Maison Bouchard Père et Fils was the red Burgundy wine,
Le Haut Medoc de Giscours 1998 was our red Bordeaux wine
Dinner goes fast as half of the passengers either refuse to eat and fall asleep or those who elect to have supper stop after the main course.
We switch the lights off and its time to go and rest, 1 hour and 10 minutes each group. I am first to go.
When I come back its still night outside. The sun is not set to rise until we start our descent to Tahiti.
Christelle has got the breakfast trolleys in our galley and has tended to the bar, every passenger is peacefully asleep in the cabin, the movies are showing on their PTV's, I give a couple of glasses of water to the night owls...
30 minutes before Christelle is woken up, I start to dismantle the bar, or more like remove everything from it. gone are the glasses, soft drinks and liquors.
I load the ovens and turn them on, 12 minutes at 150°, that will do it. It gives me time to seal the bars, and get the paper work done. I fold my table clothes and pour the hot water for the tea and coffee, run to Tempo to get a second carton of apple juice and I start to dress my trolleys. When Christelle emerges from the crew rest area, I am loading the trolleys with the hot plates and I put the croissants in the oven for them to warm up. 5 minutes and we are in the cabin. Do you want some coffee Christelle ?? No, anything else ? Some cantaloupe ? I've got some left from the fruit baskets from Supper, let me get it, I know it's in the trolley behind this one.
Lights on low, the trolley is being pulled back into the cabin. Bonjour Monsieur ! Did you have a good rest ? Can I serve you breakfast ? Tea ? Coffee ? Orange or Apple Juice ? Do you prefer the eggs or the french toast ?
Breakfast's menu was as follow :
Fruit Juice
Coffee, tea, hot chocolate
Orange and grapefruit salad
Fruit Yoghurt
Scrambled eggs garnished with fresh tomatoes, bacon and roesti potatoes
or
French Toast served with fruits
Fresh bakery selection, breakfast pastries, butter and preserves
Have you finished sir ? I'll get you some more coffee, give me your cup.
We clear the cabin from all breakfast trays and we hand out landing forms for entry into French Polynesia. The usual person say "do I need it ? I'm American ?" everyone needs it madam, even the tahitians. The sun is rising and I want to arrive. It was a nice short flight but at night, it is tiring I am looking forward to my hotel bed. We all start to run around as the paperwork needs to be finished, I pick-up all my belongings from the galley and close my bag. we have 45 minutes before arrival. The tahiti female cabin crew dissapear and reappear in their formal AF uniform. They wear the most beautiful, colorful tahitian dresses after take-off.
People are queueing for the toilets and the occasional Tempo passenger tries to come and use the l'Espace restrooms. I have to ask them to use the Tempo ones as there are loads of people from Business already waiting to use them. He's upset, I can't help, I don't want my Business passengers to get upset because they are waiting.
Seat belt sign is on, we are approaching tahiti, under the clouds on the left hand side of the aircrafts points the east coast of Tahiti, soon we are flying over Mahina, the Matavai Bay where Captain Cook and Bougainville arrived in Tahiti for the first time, the city of Arue, Pirae, we are now low over the harbour of Papeete, the capital city of my homeland.
Cabin crew landing in 2 minutes, we are all strapped in and Moorea is still beautiful on the right of the aircraft.
We touch down, we clap, people respond. they are all clapping. I love that !
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Tahiti where the temperature is 28°.
The Hawaiian Air DC-10 which overshot the runway is still parked in front of the control tower and is awaiting its departure home.
We do our turn into the parking area. next to us is a Corsair 747-SP and the AOM A340 will follow us soon afterwards.
The plane comes to a full stop, the stairs approach the aircraft, the doors are unarmed. We open the door, It's Tahiti, the smell of the ocean, the flower of Tiare and its fragrant smell is present. Aurevoir, good-bye... Everyone is out ?!?
We are going to, 'Morning, the cleaning ladies are here and are starting to turn the 747-400 around for its departure to LAX and PPT at 0950. Its now 0655.
I walk into the terminal, there are the tahitian orchestra playing some joyful songs. I used to work there, with the girls handing out a flower for each tourist.
I get my bags, go through customs and on the bus. The drive is short here, 10 minutes to the Sofitel Maeva Beach. We get a welcome fruit juice drink. I swallow mine and head towards my room. It's humid in Tahiti, my uniform is starting to weight a ton ! Shower ! AAAHHH, It's relaxing and refreshing.
I'll go downstairs in a minute for a nice breakfast with my cousin. She dropped off my godson at school and will join me for breakfast. hummmmmmm, rest.....
Thursday 25th of January, Newport Beach, Sutton Place
We are in trouble we have 3 cabin crew that are "out of order" and we have a full load of passengers to Tahiti tonight. I helped Dadou, our Chief Purser deal with the doctors for our injured crew members.
Tahiti called back, Hana who was scheduled to fly the next evening to Papeete will join our crew and Marie-Pierre will be our Tempo purser for tonight.
I will have a nap before the wake-up call. ZZZZZ at around 1830, I opened my eyes, I'M HUNGRY ! Room service, can I have an Oriental Fried Rice please ? In 25 minutes sir. Thanks !
2010, Good evening sir, this is your wake-up call, do you need help with your bags ?? YES ! I have mine plus Lynda's one of our injured cabin crew, a very dear friend of mine.
I had my bags ready and packed and it was just a matter of a few minutes, shower, shave, teeth, hair, face, SMILE, pick-up my shampoo and stuff in the bathroom. Don the uniform, is the tie straight, where did I put my wings now ?!? On the desk, ok.
I check everything is packed and ready for the bell boy to pick-up, I also have 2 bags to put in storage and I am out of the room. 6th floor, room 633, this was my home for the last couple of days. The lift, push lobby, down. The suitcase's wheels are rattling on the terracotta tiles of the passage that leads to reception. there are already a few cabin crew members waiting there, I check out, pay for my fried rice and seat next to the girls and have a chat. Our bus is here and we are due to leave the hotel at 2110, one hour after the phone rang to wake us up. The Tahiti female crews are stunning with their flowers in the hair, you feel you are a bit in Tahiti already.
The bags are loaded in the bus and we all seat in, LAX please !
people are chatting in the bus, the journey is as long as usual, 50 minutes to an hour.
We are there, its chaos to get dropped off close to the AF counters, people park everywhere ! This is a loading and unloading zone sir !!! You can't camp here ! AAGGHH
Gate 101 ! That's the end of the world ! ok, we go through security, I didn't ring, it speeds up my passage there.
We reach the gate, people are seating around already, the plane has arrived its F-GITB which will take us to Papeete tonight. we seat down in the boarding lounge and wait for the ground staff to give us the green light to board the plane, Caterers, cleaners and mechanics are all buzzing in the cabin for the moment and the aisles are full of carts and vacuum cleaners. It's OK ? We can go ? We get in the jetty and do our briefing there. Dadou is in charge and will do the briefing with Marithé and Marie-Pierre, our 2 pursers. They assign us to our position and I get P5, l'Espace Affaires galley slave on the main deck with Christelle, my Tahiti crew for the flight. I know her well, It's great.
Same story for now on, We get on the plane, check our safety equipment, nothing is missing, everything is working. Food ! I count the trays, the menus are ready, tonight service is easy, it's a supper due to the late departure of the plane. We have joining passengers and transit passengers from Paris on this flight which will see the cabin on the main deck nearly full with 2 spare seats.
Passengers ! ia Orana, Welcome on board.
Turn on your right here sir, you have seat 25b.
Wheel chair ! Can you walk to your seat madam or do we have to get the onboard wheel chair ? You have seat 8B, it's not far, last row of Business Class.
Doors are closed, boarding is finished, we are on our way, Madame, Monsieur bonsoir, mon nom est Dadou C. et je suis votre chef de cabine principal.... the annoucements are starting, the champagne and orange juice is flowing, we are going !!!
Departure is on time, everybody is starting to fall asleep. Our transit passengers have been on the plane for now 11 hours and the 2345 departure time is also a late hour for the joining passengers. The demos are on, a few passengers are sipping their drinks while we point to the emergency exits.
Cabin crew take your seats for take-off 2 minutes. We are going to align our 747-400 with the runway, will be on our way to Paradise on earth soon.
Full throttles, the plane is jetting towards the Pacific, nose up, it pushes itself up from the ingrate turf and goes back to its element. Flight.
Your Menu for tonight madam, you don't want to have dinner ? Should we wake you up for breakfast upon arrival ?
I am pouring a few more glasses of Champagne before the supper.
Choice of Hors D'Oeuvre :
Medallion of foie gras, fillet of smoked duck, cured ham and melon, ratatouille
or
Salmon coulibiac, lobster medallion and shrimp.
Choice of Main Courses :
Tournedos of beef with herbes de provence butter, duchesse potatoes and meditteranean vegetable confit
or
Victoria-style fillet of sole with newburg sauce, buttered steamed baby vegetables
A selection of cheese
Dessert
Strawberry Parfait
Kiwi, Lime or strawberry flavoured sorbets served with cookies
Fresh fruit basket
Coffee, teas and herbal teas.
The wine list included the following :
Heidsieck Monopole Gold Top Vintage 1995 Champagne
Chateau de Rully 1998 Maison Antonin Rodet was the white Burgundy wine,
Moulin-à-vent Domaine du Petit Chêne 1998 Maison Bouchard Père et Fils was the red Burgundy wine,
Le Haut Medoc de Giscours 1998 was our red Bordeaux wine
Dinner goes fast as half of the passengers either refuse to eat and fall asleep or those who elect to have supper stop after the main course.
We switch the lights off and its time to go and rest, 1 hour and 10 minutes each group. I am first to go.
When I come back its still night outside. The sun is not set to rise until we start our descent to Tahiti.
Christelle has got the breakfast trolleys in our galley and has tended to the bar, every passenger is peacefully asleep in the cabin, the movies are showing on their PTV's, I give a couple of glasses of water to the night owls...
30 minutes before Christelle is woken up, I start to dismantle the bar, or more like remove everything from it. gone are the glasses, soft drinks and liquors.
I load the ovens and turn them on, 12 minutes at 150°, that will do it. It gives me time to seal the bars, and get the paper work done. I fold my table clothes and pour the hot water for the tea and coffee, run to Tempo to get a second carton of apple juice and I start to dress my trolleys. When Christelle emerges from the crew rest area, I am loading the trolleys with the hot plates and I put the croissants in the oven for them to warm up. 5 minutes and we are in the cabin. Do you want some coffee Christelle ?? No, anything else ? Some cantaloupe ? I've got some left from the fruit baskets from Supper, let me get it, I know it's in the trolley behind this one.
Lights on low, the trolley is being pulled back into the cabin. Bonjour Monsieur ! Did you have a good rest ? Can I serve you breakfast ? Tea ? Coffee ? Orange or Apple Juice ? Do you prefer the eggs or the french toast ?
Breakfast's menu was as follow :
Fruit Juice
Coffee, tea, hot chocolate
Orange and grapefruit salad
Fruit Yoghurt
Scrambled eggs garnished with fresh tomatoes, bacon and roesti potatoes
or
French Toast served with fruits
Fresh bakery selection, breakfast pastries, butter and preserves
Have you finished sir ? I'll get you some more coffee, give me your cup.
We clear the cabin from all breakfast trays and we hand out landing forms for entry into French Polynesia. The usual person say "do I need it ? I'm American ?" everyone needs it madam, even the tahitians. The sun is rising and I want to arrive. It was a nice short flight but at night, it is tiring I am looking forward to my hotel bed. We all start to run around as the paperwork needs to be finished, I pick-up all my belongings from the galley and close my bag. we have 45 minutes before arrival. The tahiti female cabin crew dissapear and reappear in their formal AF uniform. They wear the most beautiful, colorful tahitian dresses after take-off.
People are queueing for the toilets and the occasional Tempo passenger tries to come and use the l'Espace restrooms. I have to ask them to use the Tempo ones as there are loads of people from Business already waiting to use them. He's upset, I can't help, I don't want my Business passengers to get upset because they are waiting.
Seat belt sign is on, we are approaching tahiti, under the clouds on the left hand side of the aircrafts points the east coast of Tahiti, soon we are flying over Mahina, the Matavai Bay where Captain Cook and Bougainville arrived in Tahiti for the first time, the city of Arue, Pirae, we are now low over the harbour of Papeete, the capital city of my homeland.
Cabin crew landing in 2 minutes, we are all strapped in and Moorea is still beautiful on the right of the aircraft.
We touch down, we clap, people respond. they are all clapping. I love that !
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Tahiti where the temperature is 28°.
The Hawaiian Air DC-10 which overshot the runway is still parked in front of the control tower and is awaiting its departure home.
We do our turn into the parking area. next to us is a Corsair 747-SP and the AOM A340 will follow us soon afterwards.
The plane comes to a full stop, the stairs approach the aircraft, the doors are unarmed. We open the door, It's Tahiti, the smell of the ocean, the flower of Tiare and its fragrant smell is present. Aurevoir, good-bye... Everyone is out ?!?
We are going to, 'Morning, the cleaning ladies are here and are starting to turn the 747-400 around for its departure to LAX and PPT at 0950. Its now 0655.
I walk into the terminal, there are the tahitian orchestra playing some joyful songs. I used to work there, with the girls handing out a flower for each tourist.
I get my bags, go through customs and on the bus. The drive is short here, 10 minutes to the Sofitel Maeva Beach. We get a welcome fruit juice drink. I swallow mine and head towards my room. It's humid in Tahiti, my uniform is starting to weight a ton ! Shower ! AAAHHH, It's relaxing and refreshing.
I'll go downstairs in a minute for a nice breakfast with my cousin. She dropped off my godson at school and will join me for breakfast. hummmmmmm, rest.....
May 28, 2005, 11:58 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: VIENNA VA
Programs: BA emerald, AF rouge ,UA premier executive, SQ,ANA, HYATT,, AMENITI
Posts: 836
A first for me. A trip report from the view of the crew and not a passenger.
You really do work hard.Thank you from making that fact clear maybe next time a passenger how want to give the FC a hard time can remember this report and cool down.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
Bon voyage ^
You really do work hard.Thank you from making that fact clear maybe next time a passenger how want to give the FC a hard time can remember this report and cool down.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
Bon voyage ^
May 29, 2005, 1:44 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: JNB
Programs: Air France Platinum - Qatar Airways Gold
Posts: 1,659
Terrific and so lively!!! 
Originally Posted by manureva744
There is a bit of a friction concerning First Class where 2 girls are arguing who will do it. The most senior one gets it and we can hear them still complaining about it. The other difficult moment is to find a Galley person for Economy. No one !
(...)
He tries the evacuation alarm, it rings perfectly alright, I am nearly deaf !!!
(...)
10 minutes and I swallowed a 3 course meal !
(...)
I chat with the customs people, they tell me about the stuff they find sometimes in people's bags, WHAT ? a dried human hand ?!?
(...)
He tries the evacuation alarm, it rings perfectly alright, I am nearly deaf !!!
(...)
10 minutes and I swallowed a 3 course meal !
(...)
I chat with the customs people, they tell me about the stuff they find sometimes in people's bags, WHAT ? a dried human hand ?!?
May 29, 2005, 7:34 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: CPH
Programs: TK*G
Posts: 385
Originally Posted by manureva744
Well here is part 2 of my trip to Tahiti.
We are there, its chaos to get dropped off close to the AF counters, people park everywhere ! This is a loading and unloading zone sir !!! You can't camp here ! AAGGHH
Gate 101 ! That's the end of the world !
We are there, its chaos to get dropped off close to the AF counters, people park everywhere ! This is a loading and unloading zone sir !!! You can't camp here ! AAGGHH
Gate 101 ! That's the end of the world !
I was on AF 72 (one of the earlier CDG-LAX flights) last week and we arrived at the Delta terminal. Gate 101 is in the Tom Bradley International terminal, does AF 70 always arrive/leave from there?
May 29, 2005, 7:51 am
#7
Moderator: InterContinental Hotels and Germany
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,552
A wonderful repoert. It is nice written and always good to know the "other side". I could imagine, it is a hard work, especially if you are on a fully booked flight and it is hard to put a smile on your face if there are some passengers, who think, they have a crew memeber alone. It would be a pleasure to read more reports about the life "beetwen the curtains".
May 29, 2005, 1:13 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Papeete TAHITI
Programs: AFFB Silver, BAEC Silver
Posts: 234
Ia Orana everyone...
This is an old report I did at airliners.net and I wanted to share with you guys at flyertalk.com.
At that time we were still coming in and out of TBIT. We are now flying in and out of T5 Delta's terminal and from june 8th we will be flying to and from T2 with our sister company KLM.
I will do a new trip report soon, one with something amazing happening like an engine catching fire when taking off from LAX 2 years ago on F-GITD !
Otherwise thanks for your comments !
This is an old report I did at airliners.net and I wanted to share with you guys at flyertalk.com.
At that time we were still coming in and out of TBIT. We are now flying in and out of T5 Delta's terminal and from june 8th we will be flying to and from T2 with our sister company KLM.
I will do a new trip report soon, one with something amazing happening like an engine catching fire when taking off from LAX 2 years ago on F-GITD !
Otherwise thanks for your comments !
May 29, 2005, 9:45 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2002
Location: seattle, wa.
Posts: 915
urgh, business class position!! I hate working business class cabin as there are way too many things too offer. I love my beverage position for coach class 
... (I'm a NW's FA)
Enjoyed reading your journal... One thing though, you might want to erase the name of the layover hotel you stay. Safety reasons
... (I'm a NW's FA)Enjoyed reading your journal... One thing though, you might want to erase the name of the layover hotel you stay. Safety reasons
May 30, 2005, 2:28 am
#11
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: LAX/OTP
Programs: TK C+, AA/AS nothing, BA nothing
Posts: 1,189
Originally Posted by SeaMeFly
... One thing though, you might want to erase the name of the layover hotel you stay. Safety reasons
With all due respect, it's not like anyone's going to walk in the Sofitel and ask "um hi, can you tell me if any flight attendants from any airline are being accomodated here tonight, and if so, what rooms, because.. I ..um.. have a ...um..delivery to make"
May 30, 2005, 2:24 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Yes , hard work and great attitude, I wish all airline crew were like you. Keep up the great work. I am glad you do not have the lazy NWA FA's attitude.
I am glad you do not have the lazy NWA FA's attitude.
Last edited by djjaguar64; Jun 7, 2005 at 3:01 pm