‘The glory days are gone’: The truth about pilot and cabin crew perks
The airline industry is a far cry from Leonardo DiCaprio’s suave depiction in Catch Me If You Can - Andrew Cooper/Film Stills/Dreamworks
The world’s most famous aviation impostor once wrote of his exploits: “Some books are judged by their covers, it seems, and in my uniform I was an immediate best seller.”
Frank Abagnale, the conman who inspired the 2002 film Catch Me if You Can, took up to 250 flights while posing as a Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) pilot in the 1960s. This was the so-called golden age of air travel, when flying not only meant silver service and champagne for passengers, but often entailed designer uniforms, 12-day layovers in five-star hotels and free leisure flights for crew.
Are his scams continuing to inspire modern-day fraudsters? Over half a century on, Dallas Pokornik faces a 20-year prison sentence in Hawaii for allegedly conning his way onto hundreds of flights using a similar ploy. Yet the reality of modern-day airline staff travel bears little resemblance to the jet-setting luxury of yore. It is a headache of hierarchies, waiting games and under-the-table deals.
Dallas Pokornik is alleged to have posed as a pilot to take hundreds of free flights - Facebook
“That image of Leonardo DiCaprio with a bevy of blonde air hostesses? Those days are gone,” said one pilot, formerly of Middle Eastern airline Emirates, who asked to remain anonymous.
Abagnale would pretend to be “deadheading” – a term used to describe off-duty pilots travelling to their next work assignment, often in the fold-down seat in the cockpit known as the jumpseat. Speculation that the 9/11 hijackers might have used jumpseats on previous flights – along with shocking cases like that of a deadheading Alaska Airlines pilot who, high on magic mushrooms, tried to overpower the flight crew and cut the engines of a plane – mean that in reality, jumpseats are quite inaccessible. Instead, most employees rely on the bread and butter of staff travel: the standby seat.
Stuck on standby
Standby tickets allow employees travelling for leisure to catch a flight should there be any spare space on the plane. IATA figures suggest that around 10 per cent of passengers on commercial flights are no-shows, and as staff are only required to pay the tax on the ticket rather than the full fare, the system can offer extremely cheap opportunities for flying. However, these tickets are a gamble.
“I’ve been left at the airport before, so it can be very anxiety-inducing not having a confirmed ticket,” says a current BA cabin crew member. Standby seats are assigned on a seniority basis with captains and longer-serving staff getting priority, but even epaulettes offer no guarantees. The former Emirates pilot was once left at the gate in Cyprus while his wife, who had a normal ticket, flew to their next destination without him.
The inability to properly plan a holiday using the roulette of standby travel forces many airline employees to simply pay for their tickets. These are slightly discounted but – according to Lee Cobaj, formerly of the now-defunct Thomas Cook Airlines – staff deals were far more generous in the past.
“Our perks were amongst the best in the business. We were entitled to 75 per cent off any Thomas Cook Holiday, including to places like the Maldives and the Caribbean,” she says. “But the kind of cut-price packages that we used to get are harder to come by nowadays.” By contrast, BA crew today are only entitled to negligible amounts off BA Holidays, despite the airline being widely considered an industry leader in terms of benefits. “It’s such a rubbish discount that it’s not even worth it,” says the BA worker.
‘A rubbish discount’: BA crew are only entitled to negligible discounts on BA holidays - Oli Scarff/Getty
Nevertheless, purchasing tickets internally can still unlock unforgettable travel experiences for employees and their companions, particularly as staff bookings will often get upgraded. The veteran Emirates pilot was able to fly first class to the Canadian Arctic for a bucket-list dog-sledding trip with a cheaper ticket than anyone in economy, for example, while the BA flight attendant was able to take a group to Rio de Janeiro – including upgrades to business class – for around £300 return per person.
Sleaze and scandal
While extending such perks to family and friends might sound like a treat, for many crew members it is a double-edged sword. “You’re totally responsible for anything they do,” says the BA air hostess, who explains that she has had to refuse friends who enjoy a few too many in-flight drinks for fear of professional repercussions.
“I was working on a flight during which a man got so drunk that he started pleasuring himself. We looked him up and he was the boyfriend of a crew member using staff travel. His partner had to be disciplined and nearly lost her job.”
The majority of airlines allow workers to nominate people close to them who can also use standby seats and access lower prices. On legacy carriers, nominee rights usually last a year – a system that these days is marred by its own fair share of scandal. United Airlines dismissed over 35 staff members in 2019 for partaking in a brokering scheme through which they sold this annual perk to members of the public for a profit, and just last year, a BA employee was sacked for attempting to flog these “buddy passes” on eBay.
A black market of benefits
It’s a black market of benefits that operates internally, too. After all, one of the most attractive aspects of airline work is travel as part of the job itself, with certain routes and layovers being more coveted than others. American Airlines recently launched an investigation into trip trading after senior flight attendants – who get first refusal on routes – were found to be selling them to more junior staff.
Yet, despite paying for the chance to visit these supposedly desirable destinations, airline crew say that layovers today are a far cry from limousine transfers and leisurely days by the pool.
“Sometimes the hotels can leave a bit to be desired,” says the former Emirates captain. “The transit times to accommodation can be difficult, and the layover times are hard because you’re jet lagged and you’ve only got maybe 18 to 30 hours to rest, which isn’t a very good period for your circadian rhythm. Many companies also don’t want you travelling too far away from the hotel or the airport because things can change and they might want you back in a hurry.”
Layovers are certainly not for letting your hair down, according to the BA source. “It’s not like going out on your own time; you’re still at work. There have been loads of incidents where people have a few too many drinks in the bar. If you say anything, do anything, you can still be disciplined for that.”
Whether the world of airline staff travel is a golden ticket or a gilded cage is clearly a fine line. But while impostors might chase the lifestyle of those who work at 35,000 feet, the novelty wears off swiftly for airline staff. “I know a pilot who is frequently asked what his favourite destination is,” says the BA flight attendant. “He always answers: ‘My front room’.”
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