The problem is that there are 2 very different views:
One which is is the public view that our life is glamourous and it is enhanced by the likes of "the Virgin Ad"!! Yeah - I wish my uniform was made by prada and looked that good! I was actually asked once whether we wear heels that high when working! - well I do anyway lol. 5-star hotels, clubbing and then off to the FOs hotel room etc...blah blah
The other view is that what comes from a few of our low cost airline colleagues where the work is bloody hard, you have to pay for your uniform (and training in some cases) and the money is not very good.And to top it all, rather than landing in a 30'c airport with blazing sunchine, you actually land in rainy glasgow or Leeds!
The truth is this job is excellent if you are with the right company and have done a couple of years. International flights (especially night time flights) are excellent. Work for 2 hours, turn the cabin lights off, and chat with the team in the galleys for 6 hours. Then back to work. Money good, hotels good, sun goooooood! And when you have this much fun and you are surrounded by the whole atmosphere, the sun, the sand, the hotels, then yes, what you do see on those rubbish TV shows actually does happen.....(only some of it though)
But I do agree that programmes like that do tar the whole Cabin Crew with the same brush. What I was pointing to was the more "amicable" side of the life of a flight attendant.