Flight attendants, despite the long haul flights, have many perks. They get to travel the world, shop up a storm in exotic locations and stay in the most luxurious hotels.
But at the moment it is not a career everyone is jumping at the chance to secure. The coronavirus outbreak, which started in Wuhan, China has caused undue pressures for airline workers. Despite their brave faces, airline workers are frightened.
"We're definitely worried," a Delta flight attendant told Business Insider. The flight attendant said worry is imminent, especially since not everyone experiences symptoms and only realises it when it is too late.
The flight attendant told the publication: "I know of one person who worked a China flight before the quarantine order and then ended up working domestic flights. Crews were afraid to work with them. And that person had to go back to China before our flight suspension started. No one wants to go; people said they'd just call out sick.
"Part of the reason we're concerned is that they haven't set up protocols for everything, like how to deal with cleaning up people's food after meals. Plus we were the last airline to suspend flights,” the flight attendant added.
A flight attendant from Spirit Airlines said the crew were cautious, including wearing gloves to collect the trash, washing their hands often and other preventative measures.
Some, who did not fly near China and only in certain areas, was not worried. A New York-based employee for a US airline told Business Insider that they did not have to work since the outbreak.
The flight attendant who is travelling said: “I'm not too concerned about catching it, and from the looks of it, most passengers were not either. I only saw about a handful of people wearing masks on my flight to and from Europe the other day.”