How Accurate Are Flight Attendants in Movies & TV Shows?

Hollywood has a lot to say about flight attendants! While we aren’t always depicted correctly, we still love most of the shows on this list.

Flight attendants are trained to be safety-centered and approachable, yet we're often portrayed as overly dramatic or the first to panic in critical situations. In this episode, we’re breaking down 20 movies & TV shows that may or may not have properly depicted us aviation crew. Let’s talk about pop culture and how these portrayals have evolved over the decades.

What are your favorite movies or shows featuring flight attendants? Let us know in the comments!


Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Welcome to Episode #44
[1:09] Drew has no complaints
[2:18] That one crazy thing tips Rich’s day
[5:03] Flight attendant portrayal in the media
[7:00] Flight attendants need to see this movie!
[10:21] Catch me if you can
[11:42] Bridesmaids—a personal favorite
[13:36] A 1980s classic
[14:36] Flight
[16:41] Who remembers this movie?
[17:59] A beautiful analogy for marriage
[20:43] The worst case scenario
[22:00] This movie made us feel seen, respected
[23:48] A pretty good depiction of flight attendants
[25:53] In crucial moments, we are the first responders
[27:10] Obsessed with this TV show
[29:37] An intriguing representation of flight attendants
[31:50] A mockumentary
[32:52] Drew approved this TV show
[33:56] Fly Girls
[34:46] The most accurate take on flight attendants?
[35:25] Nothing to do with aviation
[35:56] Mad Men
[36:28] We can’t forget Friends!

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Transcript

Welcome to Episode #44

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Today we are talking about movies and TV shows, which my flying usually feels like one or the other. As funny and dumb as that show was, and unrealistic in so many ways, I was like, these are real people that I've flown with for sure. Why is Samuel L. Jackson involved in so many airplane movies? So you have like an aviation fetish or something? Probably for the same reason that he plays God in like so many movies. So he's a pilot. From glamorous Pan Am Stewardesses to chaotic layovers, mile-high stereotypes, and impossible passenger scenes. But

Drew has no complaints

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Andrew, first, how's flying been going lately? Um, you know, I don't have any big complaints. Which is probably shocking. That is shocking. You're a flight attendant, you're supposed to complain about things. Uh no, uh considering we're at the like end of spring break, front of summer travel, um, it's been surprisingly um okay. Um it's usually empty one way, full the other. Um kind of how we like it. It's been kinda quiet. I don't know. Been flying with good crew.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

I don't I don't really have a lot to complain about.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

That's actually amazing, and I'm really impressed. I was like, I don't know. Have I come home and said anything crazy recently? Cause I don't remember. No, you've been very It was a day. Like, there's there's no like overwhelming joy, but there's no like overwhelming negativity. I mean, I really hate to be like, it's just been work recently, but I don't have any like good or bad. It's just been relatively calm, which uh, you know, is my preferred w um flying day. What about you? How's

That one crazy thing tips Rich’s day

SPEAKER_01 2:54

flying been for you recently? Flying has been okay. Um it's been like a lot of little things that are adding up and making me crazy. So, like, okay, this day wasn't that bad because of whatever, but then it's like you've got that one crazy crew member who just is rambling about things or making up policies and procedures, and you're running behind them and you're trying to put out their fires, or it's like, okay, everything was fine except catering screwed something up, and now you have this like massive issue that you weren't planning on. It's it's just it's like everything's okay, and then there's that one thing that just tips the day enough to a point where you're like, This was supposed to be an easy day of work. Supposed to be an easy day. For one of your recent like crew interactions, but it's very specific, so I'm gonna leave it alone. Wait, which one? Where they were feeding each other grapes. Oh but I feel like they're gonna know who they are if we say it. So considering they both mentioned listening to this podcast, we let this part out. No, we can leave it in there, but I flew with a married couple and they like to feed each other grapes in the galley. And I get it, like, married couples fly together a lot, but like, why are you making it weird for other people? It wasn't that they were doing it. I as I understand it, they offered to feed you grapes too. That's where it got a little touchy. No, see, here's where it gets worse because I made it worse. Because I was like, Well, it's my turn now, like someone feed me grapes next, and then like you feed me, I'll feed her, you feed him. Like, it that's when it got weird because I thought I was making like a cute little jokey joke, and I made it so uncomfortable. And ironically, I was uncomfortable because of their marriage, and I'm gonna be the one that's probably getting a phone call about this interaction. I hope HR does not call you. I didn't I didn't know it had gone that way. It had it's me. Of course, it went that way. Whether I wanted it to or not, I accidentally led things into the wrong direction. This is hilarious. It was it was an experience for sure. Today we are talking about movies and TV shows, which my flying usually feels like one or the other. And that that scene has never been in a TV or movie produced. I've said this before, but like Hallmark Call Me, I got some movies. Lifetime Let's Go. We've got a whole flight attendant series of movies just waiting to be written. Um, but

Flight attendant portrayal in the media

SPEAKER_01 5:38

we're gonna go through flight attendant portrayal in the media today. And whenever we tell people about how rigorous and intense like flight attendant training is, people are always shocked to find out how safety and security-minded our training is, how important our job is. And I feel like that's largely in part because every time you see flight attendants in the media, they're usually just portrayed as a stereotype that's like serving drinks and snacks, making jokes about a mile high club, and not actually doing anything that we really do on a day-to-day basis. I had a friend the other day who was like, You are one of the most observational person people I've ever met. And I was like, What do you think my job is? Everyone literally, my job is to pay attention to everything. You have noticed the most minute details about people, like what you are so observational. And I was like, What do you think I train for? It's crazy to me. Exactly. And I feel like when you watch these movies and TV shows as a crew member, it's so frustrating. Really, anyone in aviation, because you can pick out all the things they're doing wrong. Like, what was that show recently with um uh was it Natasha Rothwell? Do you remember? She was like a gate age. Oh, she was a wheelchair uh like a yeah, she was driving the cart around the airport. Yeah, she was driving the cart around the airport. And don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great show, and I love her so much, but there's so many things about that where I was like, what is this like three-gate terminal at JFK where she works? Like, what is happening here? Also, I've never seen uh wheelchair person out on the ramp with rampers pushing airplanes before. Like it just she did it all at JFK too, which well, she didn't do it, she was out on a smoke break. Yeah, I mean there are smoke areas down in terminals like that, but they don't then also go help the rampers push an airplane. It was all very confusing. But it's stuff like that where I'm like, I this unrealistic portrayal of our industry is so confusing. Um, but we've got a whole list of movies and TV shows here that I want to go through. Uh so let's start with movies. Okay. This is my

Flight attendants need to see this movie!

SPEAKER_01 7:35

favorite movie of all time. I don't care who judges me for this, but view from the top, Gwyneth Paltrow, say whatever you want. She's like denounced this movie so many times to be like, that was one of the worst things I ever did. Iconic. Iconic movie. If you're a flight attendant and haven't seen this, go watch it. If you're not a flight attendant, but you find flight attendant life funny, go watch it. Is that she keeps putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable when it comes to this movie? She just needs to understand what a piece of work it is. I it's it's I mean the most it's the most unrealistic. Iconic people in that movie, Candace Bergen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Cena Applegate, Kelly Preston, like Mike Myers, Mike Myers. Everybody's performance in that movie is so iconic, and it's just like they all are such, it's like such a star set and cast. And the fact that that movie gets so much crap, I'm like, no, everybody delivers. I mean, it gets crap because it is the least realistic movie ever, right? Um, in how like training and moving between regional to first class Paris international. You're either assigned Cleveland or Paris. All of that was unrealistic. Uh, but you know, the training was maybe halfway realistic, except you didn't get to go to your boss's um home for dinner. Home for dinner. Imagine going to the CEO of your airplane's house for dinner as part of training to find airplane soaps. I would die. Would I die? It's I don't care if it's realistic or not. It was a very good movie. It was a very cute rom-com. Yeah. And I do feel like as much as they put the um like focus on the fact that like being a flight attendant is like it's very glamorous, and you could have this Paris first quest international experience. They did talk about training and the safety part of it, and at least that was in the movie. But we've talked about this in other episodes, the regional versus mainline flying episode that we did. Like, I do believe that that mentality is out there and like regional life is really looked down on, and you have to get to. I mean, I've said it, that's what I thought I was supposed to do. I was supposed to move on from regional life into Paris First Class International. Yeah, that is one thing that this movie fails at because it it does make it seem like you should be striving to achieve Paris versus Cleveland. Like it's you're not as good of a flight attendant if you work Cleveland, like that's crap. And from two guys on a plane, you are. We love you. We love regional stews. And I be regional. If that's a life you want, do it, enjoy it. Love every small town that you get to fly to because I did. That's the best part about this job, is there really is an area of flight intendant life for everybody, like uh like international, the regional low cost, ultra-low cost, regional. There's something for everyone, and everyone gets to enjoy the part of life that they pick to be a part of. Yeah, but all that being said, hilarious movie, for sure, albeit a little unrealistic with their approach, but it's Hollywood. But in terms of where we're ranking these movies, overall, I'll take it. It was a pretty good portrayal of our crazy life. 10 out of 10 guys. 10 out of 10 guys. What a weird rating system. Well, that's what we're doing now. 10 out of 10 guys on a plane. Next

Catch me if you can

SPEAKER_01 10:57

we have catch me if I can. Catch me if you can. Uh, that was the Leonardo DiCaprio movie where he impersonated a pilot uh back in the past. Yes, Frank Abingdale Jr. Yeah, I loved that movie when I came out. This is like pre-crew life for me. Um I think I was in middle school when it came out, but like it was such a good, fun movie, and I really loved the glamorous like Pan Am version of Flight Attendant Life. You know what I thought they did really good in this uh movie, um, like showing crew life was really how the jump seat works and like the crew mentality between the pilots and the flight attendants to like get people on and get people where they need to go. That whole like I mean, I know it was all fraudulent, and we don't really love that part, but the actual like uh jump seating and our ability to like get to Miami or Panama or wherever we wanted to go, like that whole crew camaraderie part of it I thought was done really well. That was definitely done really well. As as crazy as some of the other stuff was, and obviously his impersonation of a pilot, like the security issues that are there are insane. But truly, I think you're right. They captured the crew life vibe while like throwing these like glamorous layovers somewhere, hanging out together, like all that is is based in some version of reality. Right. Uh,

Bridesmaids—a personal favorite

SPEAKER_01 12:17

next up is another personal favorite, and this is probably such a terrible depiction of flight attendants, but I don't care because it's such a good movie. It's Bridesmaids. Whatever, stove. Are you an appliance? I mean, I can't say what you want about that movie. The flight attendants in it were funny, everybody in it was funny. I literally say this out loud, like in I say this in my head, but sometimes out loud to passengers. That like red-headed flight attendant when Kristen Wigg first gets up in that scene, and the flight attendant leans into the aisle and she goes, ma'am, we're still ascending. I like say that to people in that accent just to mess up. Oh my god, that's so funny. It's like you're getting up and going to the bathroom and the wheels aren't even out up yet. I don't think it fairly depicts flight attendants, it really depicted us as like very like rigid, um kind of demeaning. Um, but I think that from a flight attendant's perspective, it didn't depict us correctly. But I do think that's how passengers often see us. I think from a regular person's standpoint, they see us as those people because they don't understand the rules and are never following them. Right. And they definitely look at us as the villain, which that movie did. And I mean But I don't understand why I can't sit in the first class seat. It's open, it's right here. All my friends are up here. Right. Well, you didn't pay for it. You won't also in that case, like of course we're acting like that. Someone like Kristen Wig, who's now popped pills, had the drinks, and is running around telling people there's a colonial woman on the wing of the plane. Yeah, she's gonna have to be handled. What I'm not doing is throwing my leg up and trapping a air marshal in a bathroom. That whole thing, hey, not air marshal John. I mean, honestly, just such a funny scene, but a flight attendant's worst nightmare. Worst nightmare, all of it. Uh, next

A 1980s classic

SPEAKER_01 14:12

we have airplane from 1980. Uh, this had Liam Neeson. Listen Nielsen. Which, funny enough, the new one had Liam Neeson. Okay, that's my mom and I were just talking about this, which is why this is really funny to me. Because it had Pamela Anderson too. I haven't seen it, but I don't know that I want to. I haven't seen the new one. Um, I'm not, I know, I know the airplane is a cult classic, um, and everyone in aviation loves it. It's not my favorite. I watched it maybe once. Um, really, the only thing that I know is there's a blow-up um first officer, like an emergency pull to get a. I just see. Yeah, I don't, I don't, yeah, I don't really remember the movie. It was never one of my favorites. I think the only line I remember from that movie is when he's like, Shirley, you can't be serious. It's like, why do you keep calling me Shirley? Funny parts of the movie, but also like, I think it's one of those ones that jokes about our job too much that I'm I'm not as into it. Yeah. Next

Flight

SPEAKER_01 15:11

up we have Flight in 2012. That was Denzel Washington, Kelly Riley, and Don Cheadle. Um, that was a really intense movie. And this was the dark one, wasn't it? This is the alcoholism and playing crash. He like orders a drink from the flight attendants. He's like drinking during boarding, like he has an alcohol issue, which obviously would never happen in. I mean, not that alcoholism isn't rampant in aviation, but like a crew member drinking and it being known about wouldn't would be stopped immediately. But I remember the flight inverted, yeah, and then there's a scene that like lives rent-free in my brain of the flight attendant crawling on the ceiling of the aircraft during this situation. And I'm like, first of all, no. Second of all, no. Like that it's insane how intense that scene is. And I just keep thinking, like, if I was in that situation, I don't know what I would do. Until you come like 20 years later, and this is actually happening, and the flight attendants are fucking badasses. Were you talking about Air Canada? Yes. Uh no, the um it happened in Canada, but it wasn't Canada, it was a Delta Connection carrier. Oh, why did I think it was Air Canada? Yeah, yeah. But Delta Connection carrierted flight. And those flight attendants were badasses.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Um, they really were. Yeah. So you watch a movie and you think, no, no, no, and then you watch it actually happen in real life, and you're like, hell yeah, they did that. But that was different. Like he in the movie inverted it in flight. Yes. And that's insane. Correct. This was like a slippery runway freak accident where the plane inverted. But regardless, it's an insane situation that I don't ever want to be put in. But that movie was intense. I do appreciate that they showed flight attendants in a light that was more safety-minded, at least. It wasn't like, you know, they usually love to portray us as being very vapid and, you know, not very bright, not very helpful, or whatever. And it's like we're seriously trained people. Uh, next

Who remembers this movie?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

we have uh Jackie Brown, uh, stars Pam Greer, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robert Forrester. First of all, why is Samuel L. Jackson involved in so many airplane movies? So you have like an aviation fetish or something? Probably for the same reason that he plays God in like so many movies. So he's a pilot. He's got a complex. He's got a complex. Um, I haven't seen this movie in a really long time, but Jackie Brown, I remember it being kind of like an iconic um movie. She was kind of like a badass flight attendant where she just like did a lot of stuff. I don't know. Like she she got stuff done. Was she smuggling drugs or money in the movie? Something like that. Is that what we were doing? If you remember this movie, please check the show notes, tap the fan mail link, and send us a text because I don't fully remember this movie, but I do remember her being kind of like a like a CIA operative. Like a little bit of a badass, yeah. Um, and in that case, I approved this message because flight attendants are crafty little badasses, although we've had a few smuggling drugs, and that didn't end well for them. So don't do that. But um, Jackie Brown, she was cool. Uh next up is Sully. Um, this one I feel personally attached to because if you don't know this already, Andrew and I got married under

A beautiful analogy for marriage

SPEAKER_01 18:34

the Sully plane, the OG plane, the miracle on the Hudson, uh American or US Airways uh Airbus 320. Airbus 320. And um people were like, Do you really want to get married by like an airplane crash? And I'm like, it's a miracle. It survived things and it shouldn't have survived. Like, that's a beautiful, I feel like, analogy for marriage. Like it'll survive anything. I think my only problem with this movie was that it was super pilot focused, which I understand the reason that it was, because Solly was a badass and made some really important decisions that saved everybody on that plane that day. So I don't I don't want to take away from what he actually did that day. But when it came to the actual evacuation of the airplane, I feel like that Solly's role was maybe uh glamorized a bit. It was and the flight attendants were diminished, and um I d I feel like um I feel like knowing what the flight attendants do and having heard those flight attendant stories personally, I feel like that their their role was diminished a bit in the movie. I would agree with that. Obviously, Sully is quite a hero for doing what he did, but I remember being frustrated watching that movie because like these are planes we've been on, and it felt so real watching this happen because you could think about yourself in these moments. They did such a good job of like dialogue between the flight attendants on the jump seats and all of those sort of things. Sorry. No, it's okay. I I just I feel very differently about it. I feel like there was a scene where things are about to go down and they're like picking up trash and being like, put your trays up and whatever. And it was very like unrealistic because I'm like, this plane just took off when this happened. They wouldn't be doing any of this, they would have probably never left their jump seats, but they would have been coordinating an evacuation. All of that should have been highlighted way more um because of what happened to the flight attendant in the back, the two in the front, like what everyone did step by step to get that airplane evacuated and everybody into boats and all that sort of stuff. Like that was a huge part of it that I feel like they overlooked, and they made it seem like we were just out here picking up trash and that was it. Correct. And I I feel like you were correct. They diminished our role in the situation. I the part where I was saying I feel like they did it by like pushing off the gate, like buckling in the conversations that we would have on taxi out. I mean, that's where I felt like they did a good job of portraying. It felt very rare. Once they got to the actual evacuation part, like that's not what we would have been doing. And that's where I felt like we got diminished. So I agree with you. Definitely. Next I have snakes on a plane. Um, shocking to know that Samuel L. Jackson was also in this movie. Aviation

The worst case scenario

SPEAKER_01 22:19

feathers, Juliana Marghales and Nathan Phillips. Um, this was literally my nightmare. Um, it still is. Rodents and reptiles are not allowed on airplanes, so I'm not sure how we got to this movie, but this is my biggest fear in life. I have to be honest, I've only seen like a third of this because I was like, ah, no, immediately, no, I don't want any part of this. Um, I get it. There are snakes on a plane. I'm not here for it. I don't need to sit through this like worst-case scenario of what my job could be. Um it's I think this movie's funny, though. Like from just a basic movie goer experience, it's hilarious. Yeah, but like just the flight isn't it's weren't front and center of this, and they didn't need to be either because it's and it was like, of course, Samuel L. Jackson is the hero. If he's on my plane, I'm definitely going to him. Not an idiot. Um, but yeah, no, I it's just such a ridiculous movie. But so ridiculous. Not that I wanted Crew to be more center in this story because it's so insane, but I'm always rooting for the crew in these situations. Uh the next movie we have is Up in the Air. This is a personal favorite in terms of movies because there's a

This movie made us feel seen, respected

SPEAKER_01 23:36

line that he says Um I don't remember it off the top of my head what George Clooney's talking about like the cheap sushi, not cheap, bad there's nothing cheap in an airport. Bad sushi, like the bad lighting, the security, like all of that is like a warm reminder that I'm home. And I always related to that line because I'm like, as much as airports are crazy and chaotic, like they do start to feel homey to me in a way. Um and the flight attendants were very much a part of his journey, like it was like a million miler. Um there were a lot of things in that movie that kind of highlighted the mundane stuff in aviation, but also made me appreciate it more, if that makes sense. Um, I appreciated the million miler aspect when the flight attendants were involved because they would call him by name and he had a friendly relationship with what their job was and what they were doing. Um, I don't feel like the crew was highlighted a lot in this movie, but what I do feel like Up in the Air did for aviation was that it highlighted what our experience away being away from home all the time was. Like I could tell you who you are by what's in your backpack, or you know, um it really didn't highlight like life on the road. Yes, like what those very well airport hotels, eating and lounging airports, like being in an airport, like it just really it highlighted what like people who travel often for work are actually going through and how kind of isolated and lonely it is. Yeah, it captured all of that really well. Um, and yeah, still maintain some sort of respect for our profession. Right, which again I appreciate. Uh, next we have nonstop, uh, with Liam Neeson, Giovanna Moore, and yes,

A pretty good depiction of flight attendants

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Liam Neeson was actually in this one. Um, I loved this movie because this came out also like right around the same time as like Downton Abbey was at its height, and I was obsessed with Michelle Dockery at this point. So I was like, she's gonna be a flight attendant. I'm so excited. And she did all these interviews, being like she went to training centers, tried to figure out like what cabin crew really do. And so that aspect of it, because this is right around the time too where I started flying. I was like, I appreciate that they're taking a realistic approach to this, and like they want to understand what crew are really doing. And then throughout the movie, crew like the flight attempts are very much an integral part of the security threats and all the situations that were happening. I have to be honest, I don't think I watched this movie. I swear I need to go back and watch it. It's really good, yeah. I mean, it's it's intense, it's kind of like flight in that way where it's very intense. Yeah. Um I do love an aviation thriller. Yeah. Oh, wait, I think there's one on this that we didn't remember on this list Flight Plan. Was that Jay Um Jody Foster? I don't think we made it on this list, but um, that was another one where, and I'm just gonna sidebar this because we didn't put it on the list, but flight attends were nowhere to be found. And it's like, you mean to tell me this little girl went missing on a flight and she's like downstairs somewhere, which wears this magical downstairs you speak of on like a 319? Like, well, I don't know what the situation is, but yeah, I do love when they do that in airplanes. There's always like a downstairs, yeah. Like, there no, right? You mean a non-profit? Yeah, 319. Sure, sure, sure, Jan. These planes are not real, the situation is not real, none of this happened, right? Um, but all that to say, non-stop was was a pretty good depiction of flight attendants. I enjoyed that one. You should check it out.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

I will.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Uh, next we have 7500. Uh, this was Joseph Gordon Levitt, uh, amid MimR. Uh,

In crucial moments, we are the first responders

SPEAKER_01 27:29

it was a hijacking thriller that portrays flight attendants more realistically than most action movies, especially regarding emergency response. We watched this because I think it was Amazon Prime like a while back. And I also remember Joseph Gordon Levitt. Yeah, same. I remember watching it during COVID, and this is one of those movies where I feel like it happened in real time, but like it was very slow, and like every decision that he made, every decision that the crew made was highlighted, and it was an intensive process. Um and I really enjoyed it because I just felt like not obviously the situation was horrible, but it all felt real, yeah, like too real. And I think passengers and the general public don't realize like in these situations, this is what we are. We are these first responders, we are these safety professionals that are gonna navigate this insane situation when you like it. They don't understand this because there's inevitably one passenger who stands up while you're dealing with all this and is like, Can I get another Vacafola? Can I have a diet coke? No. Uh, but yeah, I really like this movie. Um, and I think we were portrayed pretty well. Uh next up is we're moving into the TV shows category. There are fewer options here, but there were some really good ones. The first

Obsessed with this TV show

SPEAKER_01 28:46

one is Pan Am, and you and I are both, I know, like diehard obsessed with this TV show. I just feel like this they portrayed the glamour of what aviation really was back in the day and why all of us really still want to be flight attendants. They did, and but they as much as they showed the glamorous side of it and how good the service and everything was, they showed the crew members as real people, which they're most of these shows, there's no context for that. You know, it's like this person was involved in the situation, but like you're seeing them on the plane, you're seeing them off the plane, you're seeing them on layovers, you're seeing them chatting in the galley, being like 70 is being an asshole. Like, I just I really feel like this more than most of these media portrayals really captures us as just human beings with jobs. Yeah, I think they also highlighted the realistic version of it and what we've been fighting against, too, between the makeup and the weight check-ins and sexism and the massagery and the all-female workforce that existed back then. Like you didn't see a male flight attendant um portrayed in that episode. But I think by the other things that they portrayed, the weigh-ins, the you know, uniform checks to make sure you had the right landing lips on, like I think it really portrayed all the things that we fought against to get aviation to where it is today, where we can participate. Yeah. The thing that sticks out rent-free in my head from this show is when Christina Ricci, who I'm obsessed with, Christina Ricci, Margot Robbie, like the cast was again iconic, but Christina Ricci is a purser, and she's like the only one available who can work this one flight. So they helicopter her from the Pan Am headquarters downtown to JFK to work the flight to wherever. And I was like, what a like legendary thing to happen. I remember thinking, this is not real, this never happened. It did like it really happened at Pan Am. Like they would they would transport crew, they would transport passengers, like high-level passengers. Uh it was insane to me. I was like, I could never imagine crew scheduling calling me and being like, We have a hella big flight attendant Henderson, the helicopter's waiting. We need you at JFK. Okay, let me just let me grab my Pan Am bag. Scheduling, if you're listening, I would really like a helicopter to Max Designer. Please, thanks, thanks, thanks. Fantastic show. Uh, next we have the flight attendant. It came out in 2020 at a Kaylee Coco. Um, I'm not gonna be able to pronounce these names. Rosie

An intriguing representation of flight attendants

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Perez. It's okay. I'm not sure I remember how to pronounce her name either. Um, but fantastic cast all around, yes, based on a book by Chris Bajalian, fantastic author. Love it, super nice guy. So good. Um he has followed us actually in the past, and he's very nice. But um it was a really interesting depiction of crew. I love the story. Like, if I'm taking me being a flight attendant out of the equation, great story, great action, really interesting show. But then what what the hell? Like, she's like drunk on the plane, she's on a layover for like 82 days, she's a CIA operative. Like, I can't even. But where the crew was depicted, like their concern for their crew member and trying to like uh figure out what was going on in her life to make her the erratic mess she was on the airplane, that we would be doing. And they did a good job of like showing that like crew resource management aspect of like what we do. Um, we have a down crew member. How do we fill that role while we're mid-flight? Like she disappeared into a bathroom for like hours of a flight once, and uh, you know, the crew on the outside trying to figure out how to keep that flight going in her absence. I think I think they did a good job of depicting the crew resource management, although we wouldn't have let all of that happen in real life. That is a really good point. Um, and you are hit the nail on the head with CRM. Uh, but I just can't get over her being like, yeah, I just picked up this like trip, and it we go from like Paris to Rome to Beijing to LA to Seoul, and then we go to Tahiti, and I'm like, this is what? Like, girl, what is this trip and what is this airline? Because this is not a real thing, but yeah, she's like three days in this city to do this CIA operative thing, three days in this city to work this mission, and I'm like, if scheduling assigned me a trip like this, I would be mind-blown. Same. Uh, the next up we have Come Fly With Me. This is a mockumentary-style airport British comedy that

A mockumentary

SPEAKER_01 33:26

shows airline staff passengers and airport culture in a satirical way. Um, I don't think you liked this show. You hated it. I loved it. I think it's so funny. I hated it. This is where the infamous Penny, the flight attendant, I know what show is. She uh have to wear coach for the first time. Oh, they're monsters or whatever she says, and she's like spraying them with Lysol. I thought it was so funny. Do you just not like British humor, or you don't I don't know. Maybe, but this show was not for me. I did not enjoy it. I watched like one episode and was like, no, no, no, thank you. Um, well, if you're into like dry humor and SNL style stuff, come fly with me is really funny. Sketch comedy about flight attendant life. And maybe you agree with Andrew, maybe you agree with me. Who knows? Maybe I should rewatch it. Maybe my taste has changed, and I'll find it hilarious. Who knows? One that I did find hilarious was LA to Vegas. I was obsessed. It was such trash. It

Drew approved this TV show

SPEAKER_01 34:28

was awful, but I loved it. It was like the worst depiction of us. Uh-huh. They worked one route, LA to Vegas, and back, what, 82 times a day or something? I have no idea. The same passengers are in every flight. Like, none of it made any sense. None of it. But it was all the trash that we deal with on a regular basis. If you are like familiar with working the same route all the time, um, which some of us do. And the in terms of the pilots and the flight attendants, the most realistic depiction of these crew members is real people. Like, I was like, I have phone with him. Uh huh. I have phone with her. I have phone with him. These pilots were doing that just the other day. And like, as funny and dumb as that show was, and unrealistic in so many ways, I was like, these are real people that I've flown with for sure. It was funny. I liked it. Not at all realistic, but funny. Not at all realistic. Um, and then next up we have Fly Girls. I don't remember this one. I haven't seen this either.

unknown 35:30

No.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

But it was a reality show that followed

Fly Girls

SPEAKER_01 35:32

a bunch of Virgin America flight attendants around balancing aviation life relationships and non-stop travel lifestyle. I don't remember this, but I do remember the Frontier one that was on I do remember this. I don't know. I watched on YouTube before. Frontier did a training one. It was and they all lived in the same house, but it was actually a really good portrayal of like what flight attendants go through in training. I think this one, if I remember correctly, it was right when Virgin America came out and it put them all on a crash pad, but it was totally unrealistic because who's living on a beach in San Francisco as a flight attendant making $14.59 an hour? Everyone. No, yeah. No one was doing it. Uh next we have Mile High. Uh, it had Naomi Ryan, Adam Sinclair, and Joanne King. Uh, it was a soap-style drama about an airline crew, relationships, hookups, and in-flight chaos. I don't remember this one. I don't remember this one either. Um, the flight

The most accurate take on flight attendants?

SPEAKER_01 36:32

attendants were portrayed as emotionally messy, overworked, flirtatious, and deeply entangled in each other's personal lives. And that sounds like the most accurate depiction of flight attendant. Like I haven't seen it, but it sounds real.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Uh, based on the description I would watch to see if it was real or not. If you've watched that or think we should watch that, please let us know. Uh, next up we have Wings, um, which I remember the show. This was kind of a classic like sitcom. It was about a small airport.

Nothing to do with aviation

SPEAKER_01 37:01

It had nothing to do with flight attendants. Nothing to do with flight attendants, but and nothing honestly to do with aviation. Because they were like, oh yeah, this air traffic controller, ramper, gate agent pilot guy is gonna go do this thing. And I'm like, no, you don't do all of the jobs gate ticket pilot agent. Yeah. Right. But I don't even remember a single flight attendant being on that show. No, there was not. Uh, next we have Mad Men. Um, and this was very much like Pan Am in terms of like glamorizing

Mad Men

SPEAKER_01 37:33

the life that we live. Yeah. But also the like sexism and the misogyny was like obviously rampant and madmen. Fantastic show, but like really highlighted some of the negative things in aviation and and some of the negative things that were happening in the workplace. Yeah, agreed. It was very, very negative. I love the show. Same. Um, it was really good. I think we have one more. I mean, we can't forget friends. We can never forget friends. There were so many airplane scenes in that show.

We can’t forget Friends!

SPEAKER_01 38:04

So many that made no sense. None whatsoever. Not one of them. And if you ran up to me talking about a phalange, I would have punched you with a phalange. I would have been like gate agent, get this woman off the plane. She's talking about phalanges. Yes, she's insane and lost her mind. Crazy. Yeah. The amount of times they let people off the plane after the door was closed, that doesn't happen. If the door is shut, you're coming with us. I promise. There's so many stories. Like, I think about that one episode where Chandler is like going to Yemen and like he just like did it on a whim. And he's like, Can can you just like pretend that I'm going to Yemen? And the gay agent is like, Are you going to Yemen or not? He's like, but also, what is this JFK to Yemen flight? Like, there's so many questions I have about that show. It was never realistic, but if you're a friends fan, you loved every one of these scenes for all of these reasons. Yeah. Rachel trying to get off the plane. It's like, ma'am, the jet bridge is gone. You're not just sit down. You're going to Paris. Like, right. You did not get off the plane. What I love what I don't love about sitcoms is how they always make us seem so militant because she's trying to figure out how to get on the plane or off the plane, and the flight attendant comes up and like slams the bin closed. And it's like, sit down, we're leaving. Like, it's not, it's not really who we are. We're not all monsters, I swear. Oh, well, that's it. That's all we have for the movies and TV shows. And what an interesting portrayal of flight attendants that has existed in the media over the years. Um, if you've seen any of these shows or movies, please let us know in the comments or text us anytime. And if we missed anything, let us know. Maybe we'll do another version of this episode soon. Or if you know like a writer or editor or producer who's thinking about doing um flight attendance in a TV show, call us. We're we would love to assist you in making us look more accurate than you all do on a regular basis. Absolutely. Uh, but, anyways, join us next time for more humor, heart, and stories from our beverage card.