WITH their jet-set lifestyle flying all over the world to luxurious and exotic locations, the world of airline crew is never short of glamour.
But underneath the polite smiles, impeccable service and pristine uniforms can lurk a more alarming reality.
Pilot Mike Beaton admitted he’d been a ‘naughty boy’ and said he’d snorted coke off a woman’s chest
Shocking tales of sex among crew members, wild alcohol-fuelled parties and even drugs have tarnished the otherwise deeply-respected aviation industry.
The issue was thrust in the spotlight just last week, when married BA pilot Mike Beaton was struck off after it was revealed he snorted coke off a woman’s bare breasts.
He then brazenly tried to fly a packed jet back to the UK from Johannesburg.
After being “so f***ed I couldn’t even lift my head”, he even boasted of his drug and drink orgy to a stewardess friend, ‘coyly’ admitting: “I’ve been a very naughty boy.”
Passing out in the cockpit
While thankfully not a frequent occurrence, it’s not the first time a pilot has landed themselves in hot water for substance abuse before a flight.
Earlier this year a Delta Air Lines pilot was arrested in June at Edinburgh airport for allegedly being drunk in the cockpit before he was due to fly a seven-and-a-half-hour flight to New York.
A month later a United Airlines pilot was handed a six-month suspended sentence after being found over the legal alcohol limit, arriving to work drunk to fly from Paris to Washington DC.
In 2016 a “severely impaired” pilot on a Canadian airline was arrested after apparently passing out in the cockpit before they were due to fly from Calgary, Canada, to Cancun, Mexico, with 105 passengers onboard.
According to Reuters, Calgary police said in a statement at the time: “Prior to departure, gate crew and crew aboard the flight noticed that the pilot was behaving oddly before he became unconscious in the cockpit.”
The Times recently reported on another serious incident, which involved a British Airways crew in 2000, when an explosive Channel 4 Dispatches documentary revealed a drinking ‘endemic among air crew’.
The programme caught a captain and a first officer drinking heavily in Barcelona before a flight to Gatwick, with the captain drinking at least 20 units of alcohol – including seven bottles of beer and over a bottle of wine – the night before, before being heard saying: “I can’t
believe I’ve got to take an aircraft back”.
GettyWhile most flight staff stay within the parameters of the rules and don’t go too far, there is typically a ‘party’ culture associated[/caption]
‘You were paid to party’
While strict rules have been introduced since then, Samantha Jones* worked for a well-known airline at that time, while in her mid-twenties as a cabin crew member for five years, during what she describes as “ the glory days of flying”.
Speaking to The Sun, she says: “A lot has obviously changed over the years, and there was a huge crackdown on drinking after the Dispatches documentary, but we used to have wild parties – basically work hard, play harder.
“It was like a big jolly – it was the job to have and you were paid to party basically.
Sometimes the behaviour of the crew would even result in being banned from certain hotels
Samantha*, former flight attendant
“We’d help ourselves to the minis from the plane’s bar and drink them when we’d landed on the bus to the hotel, or take them to drink after a night out, for parties in our rooms.
“Some hotels would have pools, and it wasn’t unheard of for crew members to have sex in them.
“Sometimes the behaviour of the crew would even result in being banned from certain hotels.
“I was always hungover while working. Onboard some crew even used to use the onboard oxygen to recover from night-stop hangovers!”
‘The drinking culture was always bad’
In more recent times, partying is still very much part of the industry culture.
And while most of the time it stays within the required boundaries, things can escalate.
Earlier this year, British Airways launched an investigation into claims a senior crew member was so drunk he dropped his pants and ran naked round the buffet at a luxury Maldives resort.
Last year, staff were also banned from all-inclusive hotel deals at a luxury resort after a drunk stewardess passed out on a beach.
However, there are now more rules in place.
Flight staff have never been allowed to drink 12 hours before a flight, but last year the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK and European Union introduced random alcohol tests for flight and cabin crew.
GettyWhen Samantha was a cabin crew member, staff would help themselves to the alcohol minis[/caption]
Former flight attendant Lucy Smith*, now 23, worked in the industry for a year when she was 18.
She tells us: “I never knew anything about drugs, and you wouldn’t expect that sort of behaviour from a person who has such a huge responsibility to get passengers safely home from their destination.
“However, the general drinking culture was always bad, and everyone was sleeping together too.
“We’d have parties and it would happen sometimes that crew members would end up not being able to work the flight back because they’d drank too much.
“We were once a member of staff down on one flight because they’d gone and slept with someone and missed the flight home as no one could find them.
“The rules say you can’t drink for 12 hours before a flight, but depending on who your cabin manager was, you couldn’t be steaming but it would be a little more lax.”
GettySometimes staff would get so drunk they wouldn’t make it to work[/caption]
‘Affairs are rife’
Casual sex and flings between crew members – pilots and flight attendants especially – has always been commonplace.
Lucy says: “It sounds disgusting, but it is also the sort of industry where everyone just sleeps with each other – and the pilots were the worst for it and would often have affairs with crew members.
“It was really bad – I had at least four friends who were sleeping with pilots.
“There was a sort of hierarchy, and obviously the pilots were earning so much money – that was obviously attractive to some crew members.
“Affairs were rife. It’s the perfect opportunity isn’t it? You’re away from home, you have the hotel, the nice restaurants and you’re uncontactable.”
Samantha*, former flight attendant
“If you had a pilot who was sleeping with a crew member and they were both working on the same flight you could always tell based on where the crew were positioned.
“There were two at the front to attend to the pilots so it was obvious who was going in and out all the time, and who was constantly sat in the cockpit.
“I never saw anything happen on a flight, but they could have got up to things on flights potentially too, as there’s always two pilots on a flight.
“I think it was also because you’re away from home, and spending so much time with certain people.”
Samantha agrees, adding: “Affairs were rife. It’s the perfect opportunity isn’t it?
“You’re away from home, you have the hotel, the nice restaurants and you’re uncontactable.”
British Airways staff were banned from all-inclusive hotel deals at a luxury resort in the Maldives last year
Given what she knows, Samantha admits she pays special attention to what goes on around her when flying – and is especially nice to staff – saying: “Now, I always watch the crew like a hawk!”
“I’m always nice to staff, but I’m even nicer having worked in the industry, as it wasn’t unheard of that a customer’s bread roll would be wiped around the toilet bowl before it was served if they were particularly horrible!
“Despite all of this, however, passenger safety was always paramount and the job was taken very seriously – we would never take it too far.
“It’s a shame some people give cabin crew a bad name, when most members are very conscientious and work really hard.”
The Sun has contacted British Airways and the Civil Aviation Authority for comment.
*Names have been changed.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
