Passengers = Walk-on freight
"All the problems that passengers bring......."
For all of us who have had years of experience, that is a comment born of pragmatic realism. Over 35 years many of the operational problems with which I had to deal involved passengers......late, missing, drunk, smoking in toilets, scared, or even bypassing Special Branch when late for the last Belfast etc, etc.
Oh, and how about the sectioned mental patient who escaped from hospital and managed to board the aircraft...........an actual event on a command route check I was conducting. Rather naughtily I told the captain under check that she was also sitting next to a nun with a guitar, ('Airplane' reference, in case you are too young to have seen the film).
From the age of 20 I was served my flightdeck lunch over the Atlantic by BOAC 'A' ladies - they were wonderful......I should know, I married one. Those on the programme, selected for filming, were a completely different type for what is now a completely different airline, operating in a different World. I'm sure that if BA had wanted to recruit similar CC to those it chose 40 to 50 years ago they could have done so; the pay back then wasn't that good either, although the pound went a little further and overseas allowances were generous. The quality of staff is in the hands of the recruiting team; if senior management are not completely happy with the end product perhaps they should start by replacing the recruiters. It was very obvious that some CC hopefuls had managed to 'slip under the wire', only to be humiliated by the programme makers.
The cadet pilots in the last programme deserve all due credit for succeeding in their chosen careers. For me, they were as obviously pleased, proud and 'chuffed' as I once was as a 19 year old on a BOAC 707 course. I wish them all good luck.