“People think that we are butterflies with low IQ” A Russian woman became a flight attendant at a business jet in Monaco. How did it change her life?

A Russian flight attendant working in Monaco described her profession with the phrase “hard work”

The work of flight attendants of business jets seems to most girls to be a real dream — a carefree vacation at expensive resorts, huge tips, dating billionaires and the opportunity to charm the most enviable bachelors of the planet. However, in fact, behind the gloss and beautiful wrapper lies hard work, endless training, crazy schedule and huge competition. Russian Olga Prokhorova, after many years of working as a flight attendant in Russia, got a job as a stewardess of private planes owned by rich people from the Principality of Monaco, and learned the downside of this profession. She told the “Tape.“, why Russian girls are loved abroad, what businessmen prefer during flights and how flight attendants can be fired at the click of a finger.

“The name of my native village determined my fate”

If a little girl, Olya, had been told about Olga Prokhorova, having looked at the future, she would have taken it for a prank. My personal story is probably enough for the lives of five people.

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I was born in the small village of Airport, in the north-easternmost point of Russia — in Chukotka. The name of my native village determined my fate. The windows of our apartment overlooked the runway, where civilian and military aircraft took to the sky. I was fascinated not by the fighters that shook the windows, but by the beautiful long-range Il-62. Besides, when I flew on vacation with my parents, I always stared at the flight attendants and dreamed of being like them.

Many people think that flight attendants are “butterflies” with a low IQ. But this is not the case at all. To go up the career ladder and become, for example, an instructor or the head of the flight attendant service, you need a higher education. That’s why I entered the Pedagogical University in Samara and in my fourth year I started working as a flight attendant at Samara Airlines.

Samara. Kurumoch International Airport Building

This city gave me a good start as a professional, and ten years later, the airline instructor Galina Cech — an amazing woman who always looked incredibly impressive — offered to try herself in business aviation. At that time, I had only seen this in films, but with her blessing, I still went to Moscow and hit my career with renewed vigor. The most crucial period in my life has come.

“The native country should learn something from Western colleagues”

I’ve been flying in Moscow for 15 years. For many years I was alone, I lived a profession, I thought about the future. But at the age of 42, I faced an unpleasant stroke of fate, which drastically changed my whole life.

I love Russia very much, but my native country has a lot to learn from Western colleagues. The fact is that 33 years for a flight attendant in Russia is a kind of ceiling, while in other countries flight attendants 40-50 years old are considered the most in demand in the profession.

I worked for a famous Russian family for a long time, and as a result I was left without a job because of the sale of their plane. However, years of hard work still played into my hands, and I was offered to do freelance work for a famous person from Monaco.

Freelance in aviation — flights without being attached to a specific board

That’s how I moved abroad, and I’ve been working for this gentleman for 8 years now. I flew to Moscow, how people ride the tram in the morning. The Nice — Sheremetyevo flight has become my regular route. When the coronavirus pandemic started, the airline offered me to rent an apartment on the French Riviera.

“Russian girls are singled out for service with a soul”

There are few Russian girls left in the Western market. Only the strongest are in the ranks, and we all learn endlessly. You can’t relax here, because styles, cuisines, serving and service are constantly changing. Now it is very difficult to get to work in the west, but our flight attendants are singled out for a special “service with a soul”, in this regard, few people can compare with their native country.

The service varies greatly. In Russia, lunch on a private plane implies an abundance of dishes, often one plate touches another. In Monaco, it is important to have a space on the table with a minimum number of snacks, but with a strictly verified serving pattern, so that the passenger gets aesthetic pleasure.

I still remember passengers from the Caucasus in Russia. These are hospitable people. For them, the crew set a very rich table, where quantity and abundance are more important than aesthetics. France is a completely different matter — everything small, concise, sometimes individually packaged is welcome here. Therefore, flight attendants have to retrain.

Specifically, I have an English setting on board, which combines both silver and porcelain. In this version, not only a certain configuration of dishes on the table is important, but also the position of the stewardess so that she does not interfere with the communication of passengers. In such a pitch, the long arm technique is used when the hand does not pass in front of the customers. You can learn this all your life, because you have to take into account a lot of nuances.

from $1,500

the salary of flight attendants in business aviation begins

The salary of flight attendants in business aviation starts from 1.5 thousand dollars and above. A specialist of my level can receive 7.5 thousand dollars.

“I am burning with my work”

To get a job abroad, you also need to know the basics of the profession flawlessly, speak English, always look presentable and have refined manners. People of this level, like the owners of business jets in Monaco, will not tolerate a person with a bad temper next to them. The stewardess should be calm, collected, friendly. Yes, we are the maintenance staff, but we have to be on an equal footing with the passengers.

That’s why I always advise girls who dream of becoming a flight attendant to read books, study etiquette, improve their speech, get educated in every possible way and watch how professionals behave. This will all go into the personal brand’s piggy bank. It is necessary to do more of your capabilities and try to go beyond them.

I have several stories on this topic. There was a famous chef in France, Paul Bocuse — a real legend. And one senior citizen gave me the task of taking food from his Michelin-starred restaurant. Back then, getting takeaway dishes from such an institution was something on the verge of fantasy, but I decided to try it anyway.

The boss was so surprised by the audacity of this request and my determination that he came out to greet me. He politely explained that I would not be able to take the dishes with me, and burst out laughing. I started offering a triple check, but it made him laugh even more. However, in the end, Bocuse still gave his student the task to cook food for me and said: “You are so funny, tell your boss that he is very lucky to have you!” It was a real victory. The passengers did not believe that I had managed to organize such a dinner.

There was another interesting situation in Russia with the wife of a fashion executive. I cannot name specific names, but Natalia Vodianova represented her collection. My wife and I had a very affectionate relationship, she adored vintage fashion, and therefore in Paris I always bought old magazines from the 1970s and 80s for her, she appreciated it very much. Of course, it is not necessary to make such gestures at all, but an exceptionally formal attitude to one’s duties is always felt and noted by clients. And such actions show that a person is burning with his work.

“There is no way to get through the bed”

Flight attendants are often mistaken for ladies of easy virtue. Some people believe that girls choose this profession to arrange a personal life. This is not the case at all

Of course, there are affairs and marriages between flight attendants and pilots. There is a place for everything in this life. However, there are companies in which it is forbidden to have a husband and wife as part of the same crew. It seems to me that this is fair. Because when you work with a couple on the same flight, it feels like you’ve come to visit them in the kitchen.

And yet there is no way to get this job through bed. It’s just out of the question. We have very high-ranking passengers flying here, they appreciate quality. There is no room for permissiveness here. In addition, flight attendants must have a huge number of professional skills.

I used to be sensitive to such stereotypes, but now it’s gone. If a flight attendant goes beyond the professional framework in communicating with a passenger, then this usually ends in failure. You can be out of work at the click of a finger.

They can be fired even if the wife of the jet owner thinks that the flight attendant is allowing herself too much in communicating with her husband. It happens that flight attendants are inattentive to babysitters, security guards or family drivers. This is also a big mistake that can cost a career.

They can instantly be kicked out for not showing up for a flight, for poorly washed food containers left in the heat, for going to work after an entertainment event, lack of hygiene, disclosure of confidential information. We are not allowed to share passenger data, take photos of their personal belongings, or show the flight number on social networks. Even the profile needs to be maintained with a slight delay so that subscribers do not understand where I am.

There are many nuances in the service of such people. There are rules that must be strictly adhered to. For example, when the main passenger prays, it is forbidden to enter his cabin. Someone eats kosher food, someone is on a diet. Someone likes only an expensive layout on porcelain, someone is squeamish and asks to serve food directly from the boxes that the catering brought.

So it is simply impossible to imagine that a girl got a position as a flight attendant for her beautiful eyes and outstanding appearance. Such people will not last long in the profession

“There is a downside to the coin”

Private flights are often delayed because a passenger may reschedule a business meeting. Jet owners are the most successful people who have complete freedom of movement, they think differently and solve very large—scale issues. For them, an airplane is not a toy, but a means of transportation and a necessity to do big business and be everywhere on time.

In some cases, airplanes almost become an apartment for their owners: they have both a shower and a kitchen

Therefore, flight attendants of private jets live in multitasking mode and should always be at a low start. Usually, the working day begins like this: the flight attendant orders food on board herself and sometimes even picks it up herself, orders drinks and flowers with her other hand, and does styling and makeup in parallel. Unlike civil aviation, there is no clear structure or schedule here. It just needs to be accepted.

Sleep is very important to us, but it will be difficult in this profession. We often spend the night in hotels, change time zones. This, of course, affects not only the lifestyle, but also the hormonal system. In addition, flight attendants often do not have a permanent home. In general, every bright profession has a reverse side of the coin.

But there are also pleasant moments, like traveling. I’ve been to almost every continent in the world. I only missed Australia, Japan and Brazil. The most memorable trip was to Greenland, it reminded me of my native Chukotka. There are incredibly warm people there, it’s like I was in my childhood.

“My story is not like a Cinderella fairy tale”

After moving abroad, a lot of things in my life changed. And in terms of habits, too. Now, for example, saying hello to a stranger no longer seems strange to me, as it used to be. I had to say goodbye to sullenness. I’ve also slowed down, there’s no rush here.

But the main thing is that I met my current husband here. We met on a well-known dating site, which is currently not available in Russia. I registered there with skepticism, but for some reason it was the photo of my future spouse that hooked me, he was already with our dog now.

We talked, exchanged social media, and behaved very cautiously because of the divorces. My story is not about Cinderella, who came to other people’s loaves. We were both financially stable at the time we met. Three months later, we met offline. They quickly realized that they had not made the wrong choice.

Now we live in the north of Italy in the city of Turin, we legalized our relationship in October 2022, and I received a residence permit in Italy. I have everything left in Russia except my daughter, who studies in the Czech Republic. But I can’t imagine life without relatives, I often fly to them with gifts. My Russian and Italian families are my source of strength and a real joy.

My husband treats my work as a flight attendant well, he is proud of me, because this is a prestigious profession. But for now, our plans are that in the future I will leave her and we will move to his house in Sardinia

There is another striking difference between my new life and life in Russia. I constantly hear from my spouse that I am beautiful. And it doesn’t matter if I wear makeup or not, whether I got better or not. At home, many girls are used to having to be on parade, constantly take care of themselves, make borscht and indulge their husband in every possible way to hear these words. In my new relationship, this is not the case at all.

I know that there are many stereotypes about Italians. They like loud phrases and bullshit, but this is mostly a trait of Southerners, and my husband is a northern Italian, a very serious man, with the Turin Conservatory behind him. It is not customary for them to throw words to the wind. Looking back and remembering how I lived as a child, I still can’t believe that all this happened to me. After all, I’ve never asked so much of life, but it turned out that I got everything.

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