"I would never stoop to giving in to demands for sexual favours to land a job!"

Cabin Crew life may seem glamourous at first instance, but then it has its downsides too. Pinky Eppaturi who has been a flight attendant with two international airlines and a qualified Human Factors and Behaviors trainer writes about her experiences in her first book "Nothing but the Plane Truth: Revelations by the Flight Attendant". An extract:

Before my graduation, the Open Skies policy was announced in India and we saw many new airlines, that sported a completely different outlook, coming into the picture. They also had a slightly simpler method of recruitment. One had more hope of making it with these new carriers than with some of the existing ones; if successful, upon joining, one wouldn’t even have to leave one’s hometown.

Without telling my family, I secretly applied to one of the private carriers, just to get a feel of what the interviews would be like, but I was told to re-apply after completing my graduation as I was too young to qualify for the job. So I confided in my mother and told her that I wished to pursue aviation studies. After graduation, I attended a course on airline ticketing. In those days (the early nineties), there weren’t many coaching classes for cabin crew training that would tutor eager youngsters to give perfect answers during interviews and groom themselves impeccably.

Then one day, my father got wind of my interview. He felt that since I had already made up my mind to work with an airline, it would be better and safer to be fully supportive. Very kindly he brought me the advertisements of two airlines that I could apply to and even helped me prepare for the interviews. But as luck would have it, in spite of having the required qualities, I did not make it to either airline and ended up feeling disappointed.

In one of the airlines, Nordost, I made it to the final interview. The executive who interviewed me grilled me with a barrage of questions:

‘Pari, if you had to advise a foreigner about just one place to visit in India, which place would that be, and why?’

‘It would be the Taj Mahal,’ I replied, ‘a place that is the epitome of true love, besides being one of the seven wonders of the world.’

‘Good, Pari! And what if he asked you to accompany him?’

‘I would tell him that it wasn’t possible for me to leave town then,’ I retorted.

‘Come on! Dinner, coffee, something is definitely possible?’ the executive pressed on. His questions made me very nervous, but I kept my cool and insisted that I would politely decline. He smiled at me and the interview came to an end, leaving me feeling proud of my performance. Yes! I was sure I had nailed it.

I firmly refused the offer. Only to be told by the caller that my recruitment depended on this ‘date’ with the executive. It felt extremely demeaning but I stood my ground, declining the invitation.

Two days later, I got a call from someone in the airline office informing me about a late evening dinner and drinks invitation from the same executive. I almost fell off my chair! I firmly refused the offer. Only to be told by the caller that my recruitment depended on this ‘date’ with the executive. It felt extremely demeaning but I stood my ground, declining the invitation.

‘Think again,’ repeated the caller. ‘If you won’t do this, there will be other girls who would agree and will end up getting the job.’

I was pretty clear that I would never stoop to giving in to demands for sexual favours to land a job! This experience shattered me and I couldn’t even bring myself to share it with my family.

‘There’s nothing to think about,’ I muttered. I am modern and open-minded about sex, that wasn’t what bothered me. But I was pretty clear that I would never stoop to giving in to demands for sexual favours to land a job! This experience shattered me and I couldn’t even bring myself to share it with my family.

So I accepted a ground job in one of the airlines. My heart would break looking at all the girls who had interviewed with me and were now flying. One day, at the airport, I met the person who had called me with the strange invitation, and he said, ‘I told you so! You will feel miserable.’ That day I realised I had to get out from there and do better. Extraordinarily better.

Excerpts from Nothing but the Plane Truth: Revelations by the Flight Attendant, copyrights 2017 (c) Pinky Eppaturi, published by Amaryllis Publishing. MRP: Rs. 399, No. of Pages: 337

Love books? Follow authors? Join the SheThePeople Book Club On Facebook. Click Here