- A flight attendant told The Guardian they were frequently dealing with abuse from customers.
- The worker said they felt like "the physical embodiment" of customers' issues amid the travel chaos.
- They said they take their uniform off for safety reasons when traveling home.
A flight attendant says they are having to deal with rude customers, mid-flight abuse, and vomiting children during a summer of chaos in the aviation industry.
The flight attendant, who works for an international airline, spoke to The Guardian under the pseudonym Meryl Love.
The attendant said they felt like the physical embodiment of all their customers' "flying woes" and that customers often take their anger out on them.
"I am seemingly responsible for every bad experience passengers have had so far with this airline," they said.
They described a scene in which a child "emptied the contents of their stomach," on a delayed flight. This led to vomit running down the aisle of the plane like "that chocolate river in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'" they said.
The attendant also told The Guardian that they have resorted to taking their uniform off when they finish work because they no longer feel safe in it.
"I used to leave it on for the way home but now, if you're anywhere in the vicinity of the airport, you're an unofficial public relations rep for the whole airline industry," they said. "People forget that people in uniforms are real people."
Airlines are struggling to keep up with the increased demand for travel post-pandemic after cutting staff during a business slump during COVID-19.
This summer has been marked by stories of chaos within the aviation sector. From lost luggage to canceled flights, travelers have faced a wave of disruptions to their vacation plans.
Staff shortages across the sector are also making travel disruptions more difficult for workers to deal with. The limited amount of workers is "only increasing the likelihood of difficult encounters," the attendant told The Guardian.
"I'm just a very minor player on a very minor salary," they added. "But it's part of my job to take it, so I do."
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