The Rerouted Skytress

Something old is new again at 35,000 feet. Yes, we are serving beverages again on the airplane. We started our new beverage service on April 14th. Oh it’s still the old carts we drag down the aisle. But, what is inside is new to everyone. So new in fact, we have had glitches every day to get the catering right. I confess…No two beverage services have been the same for me. Which isn’t good since everything should be uniform. If variety is the spice of life, well things have been quite spicy for my fellow Skytresses and Skyters these past few weeks.

April 14th was the first day our airline started catering the airplanes in -house. For years we have been using a contracted catering company. Eventually, it will be easier for my airline to be in control of the catering system. Eventually. I confess…Right now things are a wee bit out of control. My airline likes to talk about the hiccups and glitches that are happening. Fortunately, Skytresses and Skyters are hiccup and glitches magicians.

The first day of our new beverage service my crew and I were deadheading to Chicago. We all thought it was a wee bit odd that the working crew was handing out cans of soda without any plastic glasses. Actually, we thought it was a wee bit gross. Skytresses and Skyters don’t drink directly out of the cans on the airplane. Oh, we will drink directly out of cans at other places…just not on the airplane. On our flight to Chicago, the Skytresses only took out one beverage cart. Another Skytress handed out snacks from a different cart. When we deplaned and started walking to the hotel shuttle pick up area, my crew and I talked about the service. Our ultimate conclusion was the crew was just trying to make the service work. The next day when we were faced with a hodgepodge of supplies, we ABSOLUTELY knew the crew was trying to make the beverage service work. I confess…At first we were frustrated we didn’t have the correct supplies boarded on our airplanes for the new service. Eventually, though, we just laughed about it.

Unlike our service prior to COVID-19, we are currently only offering a small selection of beverages. We are serving single-size cans of soda and juices. This way we don’t have to serve multiple drinks out of one can. This helps us have less touch points. It also keeps us moving in the aisle so we are not near the passengers as they remove their face coverings to eat and drink. Everyone is aware of how cumbersome the face masks can be to understand one another. Thus, our company designed a big beverage display card so the passengers can clearly see what we have to offer. The idea behind the cards is that the passengers can point to the card and we can clearly understand what they want to drink. Ummm..the problem with the cards….the passengers like to grab them or they like to point directly onto the card. Which isn’t the best thing when our company is working so hard to eliminate touch points. Yes, it slightly defeats the purpose of the cards. I confess…We quickly learned not to use the cards. Instead, we ask the passengers what they would like to drink. It’s old school. But, it works. New school that doesn’t work so well…..all the cans are either red, green or silver. Yes, the cans look alike. Unfortunately, the contents are completely different. I confess, ….It’s a wee bit aggravating that all the cans look similar. I must, also, confess,…..If a passenger asks for an alcoholic beverage I tell them the price before I press any buttons on my sales app. The alcohol prices have gone up. I’m pretty sure some airline tickets may be cheaper than the new prices of the in-flight alcohol.

Here is a major confession. We are supposed to wear our plastic gloves when we are conducting our beverage service. I wore my gloves for one trip and then stop wearing them. What!? I know. Please don’t tell anyone at The Mayo Clinic. I stopped wearing them after I observed my fellow Skytresses and Skyters not wearing them. Yes. I am a conformist when it comes to certain things. Thankfully, I have had my vaccinations shots. I confess….I got frustrated with trying to separate my cocktail napkins while wearing my gloves. Especially, when I had to wear a pair of gloves that are too big for the Jolly Green Giant, himself. I lost count of the number of passengers who grabbed my gloves as I handed them their napkin and snacks. It was awkward for the passengers and for me. I confess…I also hated the feeling of the gloves when they got wet from the water bottles. Unfortunately, we have Old Faithful water bottles right now. The water inside is filled up to the bottle cap. Yep, we quickly learned to pour out some water in bottles before we put them on the beverage carts. If we don’t, when we go to pour a glass of water, the water shoots out like Old Faithful is erupting. Just like watching Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone,….watching the water bottles erupt while you’re in the aisle is quite the spectacle. Unfortunately, when my plastic gloves got wet from the water eruption, they stuck to my hands like a wet Hefty bag clinging to my body on a hot summer day. Egads!! I know….I shouldn’t have confessed this last image to you all.

I confess, too, that I had to keep taking my gloves off in the aisle to tap on my sales app. Oh I could have kept them on….only the flight would have been over long before I got my phone to accept my password while wearing my gloves. My Skytress phone refused to accept the number 8 with my Jolly Green Giant gloves on. I confess…I tried to nonchalantly take my thumb out of my glove to hit the numbers on my phone. But, something very interesting happens when you are wearing gloves while serving from the beverage cart. Passengers become fixated on them. No matter how discreet I tried to be, the passengers would see me slip my thumb out of the glove….and then slip it back inside the glove after I tapped on my sales app. No, I wasn’t fooling anyone. This was another reason I stopped wearing my plastic gloves. Don’t worry. I wash and sanitize my hands thoroughly when I get back to the galley. Yes, I confess….I don’t like the gloves. However, I also don’t like germs. So, I always wash my hands for two rounds of the “Happy Birthday” song like it states on the sticker on the lavatory mirror. I confess,….I actually sing the song when I wash my hands. I sing my name, too!

There are several other things we are supposed to do while working from the beverage cart. We are supposed to keep the ice scoop out of the bag of ice. Yep, we are supposed to place the ice scoop on top of the cart in a plastic glass between serving drinks. We can, also, keep the scoop in a plastic glass in the ice drawer….as long as it is outside the bag of ice. I tried putting the ice scoop in the plastic cup for one flight. Then, I confess,….I gave up and threw the scoop in the ice drawer like I have been doing for years. I quickly discovered I was not the only Skytress or Skyter to revert back to our old serving ways.

We are also supposed to ask the passengers if they would like ice or no ice with their beverages. Remember,….our airline wants us to have less touch points. So, if the passenger doesn’t want ice, I touch less things on the cart. I believe I only asked passengers on one flight if they would like ice or no ice. Yep, the rest of my flights I gave them their can of soda or can of juice with a plastic glass of ice. I confess…It was just easier and more efficient. Usually passengers tell me if they don’t want ice. I found out my fellow Skytresses and Skyters beat me to this old way of serving. Hey, I try to be a rules follower. I confess…I just can’t follow all the new serving procedures. After all, some new procedures were created by teams from The Mayo Clinic. I’m pretty sure some people on the team have never conducted a beverage service in-flight before. Don’t worry. I promise to never tell someone from The Mayo Clinic how to perform surgery. This is called even-steven in my book.

I confess… I’m still trying to learn the new mileage standards for the in-flight beverage service. The service standard for my flight to and from Atlanta has changed. I confess…I actually had to look up the serving parameters the other day when I got home to St. Louis. I’ve had crews serve cans of soda and juice on previous flights from St. Louis to Atlanta. Then on my flight home the other day the crew was setting up for our express service. This service consists of only coffee, tea or water. I confess…. I actually thought the crew was conducting the wrong service. Unfortunately, I had to sit on the Skytress jumpseat in order to get home. As I sat on the jumpseat, I could see the Skytresses didn’t have any ice in the beverage carts. I could also see they only had a hodgepodge of snacks for their round trip. Sadly, I thought they were just trying to be magicians and make the service work by offering the express service. I confess…As I watched them pull out every cart and every carrier looking for supplies, I was grateful I wasn’t working the flight.

I know my company is working extremely hard to get things flowing smoothly again for us all. They are listening to feedback from the Skytresses and Skyters. They even have people from different departments coming together to help support the new catering system. I confess….we have the best employees at my airline. Everyone works extremely hard every day to make our airline the best one in the air.

On May 1st we discontinued blocking the middle seats on the airplane. Yep, the middle seats will be filled with passengers again. Inevitably the overhead bins will be full with luggage, too. Much to everyone’s disappointment, we will have to go back to checking bags again. Oh, it’s definitely going to be a rude awakening for some passengers that have been flying with us for months now. They have gotten used to the middle seats being empty and the overhead bins having plenty of room for their baggage. I confess…So have I. It’s going to very different when I go to work on Tuesday. I confess…I’m not sure I’m ready for these new changes. But, I know I will adapt. After all, I am a Skytress magician!