FA's have it easier nowadays?

[CHIVILCOY]

Is it just me I wonder? but it does seem that on longhaul flights FA's do not seem to work as hard as they did in the old days.

I have been on flights (Air France especially) where after the dinner service has finished the whole crew seem to disappear for hours leaving the token one to walk through the cabin section making sure her charges are all asleep and behaving themselves whilst their mate sits in the galley reading a mag. Where did all the others go?

I know this will raise a few hackles but on a 13 hour flight I noticed that all the FA's only seemed to be about together for about five hours out of the 13.
Is this just an Air France thing or not? come to think about it Iberia do it as well. I would like to know how much rest period you are allowed on a longhaul flight?

Awaiting your responses. :ouch:

[Juud]

CHIVILCOY, a very good question. And one I often wonder about myself.
In some ways we have it easier, in others not. :)

Easier:

better tools (like trolleys) to serve meals. No more 'walking out by hand' of hundreds of meals like on the DC8
Better trained Pursers/No1/in Charges who do not any longer sit on their @rses all flight but actually work
Shallower authority gradient which makes life, especially for junior FAs, a lot less scary and more predictable
Legally/as per labour agreement mandatory rest on flights longer than xxx hours. (with us that's anything over 11.30 for example)
Some aircraft are fitted with bunks for the crew, which makes a nap possible.


Harder:
More passengers per FA, more passengers in a cabin, less leg room and less seat recline. Gives pax a trapped-rat feeling wich heightens aggression.
More service to be done per flight
Less time off on layovers and less time off at home
With aircraft technology improving, non-stop flights are much longer than they used to be. 13 hours at work, plus 2 hours reporting and 2 hours 'getting off and to the hotel' making a total of 17 hours, is no longer unusual. Flying Europe to Japan directly also make the jet lag a lot harder to deal with than it was when this was still done via Anchorage
With the advent of Computerized Rostering Systems like CARMEN, rostering is such that it pushes the CC as far as the law allows. Which is pretty d@mned far compared to both pilots and people working on the ground.
Aircraft cabin design in modern aircraft is such that it maximizes seat space (revenue generating) and minimizes crew working space. The galleys are smaller, the aisles are narrower, there is no cross-over possibility for the pax which makes them walk through the galleys to get to the loo. Which again puts more pressure on the CC to get the work done in an already cramped space.
With catering and booking systems improving, there is hardly ever any 'extra' food or extra seats. Extra food and extra seats give FAs the chance to solve minor problems for their pax. Take them away and there is nothing to smooth over small mishaps.
With falling prices, a larger segment of the public travels by air. This entails a higher incidence of feckwits, psychopaths, drunks and criminals for CC to deal with on each flight.



I have been on flights (Air France especially) where after the dinner service has finished the whole crew seem to disappear for hours leaving the token one to walk through the cabin section making sure her charges are all asleep and behaving themselves whilst their mate sits in the galley reading a mag. Where did all the others go?


I'm pretty sure that AF, like most other airlines, regulates for 1 FA minimum per galley during rest periods. If this is enough, who can say? In an emergency it becomes precariously few, and to the pax it looks as if we've all disappeared.
At the same time, FAs are human beings and need to rest.
Pax wanting to pay as little as possible for their tickets has pushed airlines into providing minimal staffing levels to save costs.

If you as a pax regret that, think how much we as FAs regret it! We all start out wanting to give our pax the best service we possibly can. When the means at our disposal and the number of FAs on board become fewer and fewer, giving good service becomes almost impossible.
Which is very difficult to accept for people like us, so we work ourselves half to death to still make pax happy.

OK, long answer to short question ;) No hackles raised, and no precise hours given because that's different for every airline. But I hope it has provided you with a bit of useful background info. :ok:

[GalleyChick]

I know this will raise a few hackles but on a 13 hour flight I noticed that all the FA's only seemed to be about together for about five hours out of the 13.
Is this just an Air France thing or not? come to think about it Iberia do it as well. I would like to know how much rest period you are allowed on a longhaul flight?

Awaiting your responses. :ouch:

On our flights, we do london to asia flying. All the flights are anything between 10.5 to 13 hours long. Do you think we are physically able to stand up and serve customers for the whole of the flight? We do have bunk beds at the back of our 747's for us to be horizontal for a few hours of the flight. After the first service (takes around 2-3 hours to complete) is finished half of the crew go to sleep in the bunks (or rest as I can't sleep) the other half are on to attend to call bells, snacks, drink runs, fruit runs etc... Then we swap over so the others get some sleep. Then we are all on again to complete the last service before landing (which can take between 2-3 hours again). Hope this answers your question.

[flyblue]

CHIVILCOY,
I'll add my 2 cents to what Juud already said.

To someone watching the whole biz from the outside, it may seem that CC are not working hard. But there's a lot going on behind the scenes.
In between the 1st and the 2nd service, the time is split in half for crew rest. This means that if there is a crew of 14, 7 will be resting on the first shift, and 7 on the second. Which makes at least a couple of CC per galley (except on the U/D of the 747). On AF there are bars where pax can help themselves with drinks and (depending on the flight) snacks, and can always use the call button to get someone to their seat if they need something during this time. CC then usually start preparing the 2nd service 1 hour/1 hour 30 before it starts, which is quite short if you think that some of the shorter flights (JFK, EWR, BOS, YYZ etc) have barely that time left between the services.
At the same time, CC have to take care of the F/D, the in-flight sales, filling in the tabulation forms (= counting of all alcohol on board) for US Customs, and last but not least all the safety cabin/toilets checks every 15'. Of course, provided nothing else requiring their attention has happened as well (like, say, a lady giving birth on a First Class seat, with subsequent diversion, as it happened on one of my flights at the end of September).

And now let's see it under another point of view, to understand why CC need to have some rest during the flight. Let's take a CDG-LAX flight as an example. For an 8.45 Reporting Time, it means a CC had to wake up at least at 6 to get ready, reach the airport, have breakfast (won't be having another real meal before 3 or 4 O'clock PM) and read the latest Company Memos in his pigeonhole before the briefing. 8.45 briefing, 9.05 move to the aircraft (at least 15 min) to perform all the Safety/Security and commercial checks before boarding starts at 9.45 for a 10.15 departure. The flight will be 10 to 12 hours long. Then it will be another hour and a half/2 hours before the crew are inside an hotel room between 11.45PM and 1.15AM (provided of course there are no delays or else). And he will have to suffer a 9 hours time change while he's there.
Quote from a Human Factors book:
"After 8 hours awake, the performance tends to slowly deteriorate, then quicker and quicker with symptoms of sleep deprivation appearing after 12 hours awake. These effects pile up with the the Circadian effects on performance".
But at the time of our landing, when his attention will be the most required, it will be 15 to 17 hours since our CC woke up. And we are talking the best case scenario, with a morning flight and not a night flight (like on the return flight) when the Circadian Rythms will be all wrong, adding up to the effects of fatigue.
Which leads us to the main point: fatigue. It is the primary concern in a CC's profession: to be fit for flight. Being well rested is primarily a safety duty. I would beware of an airline that primes the commercial side (not having the CC rest during a LH flight and make them perform commercial duties) because it would mean it regards the pax's money as more valuable than their safety.

[CHIVILCOY]

Judd;

Your reply certainly was informative and welcome.

GalleyChick;

No I don't expect you to be on your feet the whole flight serving customers, neither do I expect to take part in the "find a FA game":eek: whenever I need something during the night.

I have been on a flight on a 777 where the whole economy section was being looked after by only two FA's positioned way back in the rear galley.This didn't seem to be the way it was done years ago and I was wondering if longer breaks are the norm for FA's these days.

[GalleyChick]

I was summarising my answer, but flyblue has put it quite perfectly. What flyblue has written is exactly why we have rest breaks in between the services. We have 8 FA's working in economy on any flight. You don't need 8 flight attendants at one go in between the 2 main services to attend to the needs of the 315 economy passengers. I work always first and business class but when I do stick my head around the curtain or come back from my break i always see at least 2 FA's down each aisle doing a water/juice/fruit/toilet clean run. Then there are the daylight flights where all the passengers are awake and need snacks (we have pot noodles for this reason), and let me tell you the poor FA's are run off their feet with that. Sometimes to some passengers they think they're being neglected because the FAs can be sooo busy attending to call bells for noodles.

I wasn't having a go at you CHIVILCOY, just stating that you don't need all the FAs walking down the aisles at once. This is also disturbing for the sleeping passengers who get bumped all the time or have torches from us shining everywhere, and this might look like we're being slack. Lately though the passengers are wising up to how much work we do have. I've had passengers come up to me to say how shocked they are to see us running back and forth without stopping (believe me it happened the other day on Hong Kong to London in Upperdeck where I was non-stop for 3 hours making sandwiches and drinks and trying to fit in serving the tech crew and cooking the breakfast which takes an hour to do. I did not sit down once to even rest my feet let alone read a mag....lol).

[CHIVILCOY]

Flyblue;
Thanks for your input, I am a lot wiser now.

GalleyChick;
You seem very professional.

Can someone enlighten me on this question.
I have just returned from a flight to Cairo via AMS with KLM. The flying time was around four hours both ways.Arriving in Cairo at 01.15 the return flight leaves CAI at 03.15.
Would the same FA's work on the return leg as well as the outbound or would they stopover in CAI for 24 hours? I did mean to ask them but forgot.

Reason for me asking is that the service was outstanding both ways with the FA's not seeming to rest at all on either of the legs. If they did do the outbound and return together they certainly showed no sign of tiredness.

[air doris]

CHIVILCOY,

It would usually depend on where the aircraft was going next as to whether the same crew operate the return leg. There are many examples, firstly if the aircraft was only turning around back to AMS then after a 4 hr flight I would assume the same crew would operate that return sector (a shuttle). However it would be possible that the aircraft may continue from Cairo to another destination where your crew would have continued on to or they may have changed crew for the following leg. It all depends on their flying pattern. I would assume though if it was just a turn around it would have been the same crew.

[CHIVILCOY]

CHIVILCOY,
It would usually depend on where the aircraft was going next as to whether the same crew operate the return leg.................

Thanks for that, yep the same plane returns to AMS.

[Juud]

CHIVILCOY I can answer your Cairo question. Conclusively since I do it regularly. ;)

Cairo is an intercontinental destination for KLM, so the crew do not do a back & forth. They get off in Cairo, sleep a shortish night, hang about during the day, try to sleep from 1900 hrs until calling time at 2330 hours.
A 4,5 hour flight with little time difference is easypeasy. No problem that there's no meal breaks and no rest time, it after all only a 7 and a half/8 hour workday.
So even if we're busy with the service the whole flight, and even if ground people would consider a shift like that as normal length, we consider it an absolute doddle.

It's all in the comparative perspective isn't it?

Good to hear you were pleased with service BTW. :ok:

[CHIVILCOY]

CHIVILCOY I can answer your Cairo question. Conclusively since I do it regularly. ;)
Good to hear you were pleased with service BTW. :ok:

Well I was on an award ticket in World Business Class,very nice it was too.:ok:

Sorry Judd but another question?

Why on earth does the CAI flight operate at such an ungodly hour instead of during the day? I felt worse coming back on that flight than I have flying back on a 13 hour flight from South America.

[Juud]

KLM gets most of it's passengers not from the small local Dutch market, but from people transferring to other intercontinental and European flights. People who live outside Holland.

To give these pax the best 'connectivity' (shortest stopovers, largest range of connection flights to choose from) and to give people from the ME the chance to get to morning meetings in European capitals without having to spend a night in that capital beforehand, KLM's Middle East flights ALL leave at ungodly hours and arrive AMS early morning.

COY, do you realise that by asking if we don't work so hard anymore, you have gotten at least 4 hours of undivided personal attention from 3 different FAs?
Devoted to you during our SPARE time? ;)

[CHIVILCOY]

KLM gets most of it's passengers not from the small local Dutch market, but from people transferring to other intercontinental and European flights. People who live outside Holland.
To give these pax the best 'connectivity' (shortest stopovers, largest range of connection flights to choose from) and to give people from the ME the chance to get to morning meetings in European capitals without having to spend a night in that capital beforehand, KLM's Middle East flights ALL leave at ungodly hours and arrive AMS early morning.
COY, do you realise that by asking if we don't work so hard anymore, you have gotten at least 4 hours of undivided personal attention from 3 different FAs?
Devoted to you during our SPARE time? ;)

Many thanks.
Well I am Scottish you know so I like to get my money's worth.:rolleyes:

:hmm:................... now let me think of another question.

[britannialad]

I think FAs do have it easier
When i worked for Dan air in my initial years on turn round i was made to write out my drills. My job as the newie was to collect in the rubbish.
After some flights i would need a stiff drink. But years ago crew had respect from pax. I miss the strict old days we had so much fun

[Rwy in Sight]

One question to help CHIVILCOY rest while thinking two more questions:

Does the crew rest depend only on flight length? and

Are some flights (of similar length) less tiring? If yes what makes them better for the crew?

Rwy in Sight

[CHIVILCOY]

I think FAs do have it easier
When i worked for Dan air in my initial years on turn round i was made to write .............................

OK, now the coast is clear and nobody's listening................:E What with bunk beds to have a lie down in for hours on end, self service snacks in the galleys for PAX to help themselves and regular pamperings from the No 1 in charge, gosh - they've never had it so good and they still have a bit of a moan.:rolleyes:

[sydney s/h]

From a rostering point of view the CC (at QF atleast) dont have it easier.

Minimum rest and back to back trips has certainly made that side of things much harder.

[Vince1]

I think the good old days are gone, well domestic wise anyway.
What with reduced rest periods dispensations given at the drop of the hat etc.
This is not meant to be rude, but with air travel so cheap now in Australia it is accessible to alot more people and I would have to say some pax are just plain rude or maybe ignorant. Some pax have no problem answering back to crew or questioning their position.
Will give you two examples.....
1. Couple of months back my A/C went US unfortunately the technical problem was discovered after the pax were boarded. As the pax disembarked the Capt stood with me (CM) helped farewell the pax and to help maintain a cabin presence (not just leaving it to the CC). A pax walked up to the Capt and informed him that she felt it was disgusting that we discovered the tech problem after the pax were boarded. This women was out of control. She raised her voice to myself and the capt. We asked her to leave the A/C and she continued to rant as she disembarked. I understood the pax frustration but to abuse the capt? Who do these people think they are?? This was a safety related problem, doesn't safety come first? Total lack of respect!!!!!
2. The other day myself and R1 were preparing to take the tech crew their drinks into the flight deck. I observed a male pax and a small child loitering around the fwd galley/toilet area. I politely asked the pax to return to his seat for a few mins. He looked at me as if I had asked him to sacrifice his child. I explained that I was contacting the flight deck and needed the fwd area clear. He then replied "Why, what for"? I then had to point out the I needed to enter the flight deck. He then replied "So". In the end I asked him again to move away. We waited a few mins after he sat down before I entered the flight deck. I observed him talking to his wife (I assume) and clearly having a whinge about me. After feeding the tech crew I signalled to the pax that it was fine for him to return to the fwd area and use the toilet. He threw his hands in the air and said no.
I just don't understand???? Do people not remember September 5 years ago??? As a CM and a CC member pre 9/11 I am very vigilant with flight deck safety and always insist on two crew in the fwd area when entering the flight deck. Eg, One CC call flight deck and the other waiting ready to enter etc.
I just don't understand some of our pax???
Based our day to day operations I believe we do have it a bit tougher.
;)

[ozangel]

From a pax point of view, it looks like we have it easier, yes.

However, like others have said, things have changed, the good old days are gone, and crew are working harder, faster and longer than ever.

Its about give and take - reduce crew = reduce service standards, increase hours = increase rest requirements inflight to reduce fatigue or just plain tired flighties...

The long layovers crew used to get are gone, also gone are the days airlines heavily crewed aircraft to boost their product.

Add onto that, airlines cutting wages (in australia, some airlines are less than half the average australian wage for 180hour plus months).

Then again, if you love your job, every day is easy.

[sukigirl]

Here here Ozangel, I totally agree with most of the comments on this thread, One thing many people forget is that if you did a 9hr day at the office or shop, warehouse, any ground job for that matter. You would be ENTITLED to an hour lunch break and 2 15 min breaks. We are no different, though unfortuneately we have no official legislation for cabin crew (or maybe it exists but our companys deny it does!)

We go to our bunks because we are not of duty in the galleys or cabin. Any ccm will tell you that its no picnic in these miniscule areas. most of them you cant stand up in (we all look like impressions of hunchback of notre dame in there) and there may be a floor area of 3sq foot. We cant eat or do anything but rest in there.

Incidently my airline has recently removed its CRA on its baby buses. Granted they mainly do 6 -8 hr sectors but you have to hope you have no delays. They also do bom and del, I did one of these route recently and it was 10 hrs (especially as these babys arent the quickest race horse in the herd) When you add a 2hr check in and 1 hour the other end disembarking, checks immigration etc I wander how this is legal but of course our company assures us it is. :ugh:

[Juud]

CHIVILCOI, there were two ways in which one could interpret your original posts. Flyblue and I both chose to understand that you were someone with a genuine question. Someone who was interested to know the difference between now and way-back-when.

Because we both care for our passengers and love the job we do, we spent considerable time giving you our views and the facts as we know them to be in our airlines. All that to give you, our honoured passenger, a better insight in what happens behindteh scenes, and the reasons WHY it happens.

And then, in post 16, you show your true colours.
gosh - they've never had it so good and they still have a bit of a moan. :rolleyes:

You are not interested at all in what FAs have to say, you have come on here to let us know what YOU think are the facts, and to roll your eyes at 'us' moaning.
You Sir, have been a waste of everybody's time here.
Such is your privilige, and we'll still be polite to you.
But your duplicity does you little credit.

Rwy in Sight, roughly speaking, the more time zones you cross, the higher the fatigue. Consequently, North-South flights are easier on the mind and the body that East-West or vice versa.

Mandatory rest periods are subject both to national laws and to labour agreements. (see my first post) In my company for example, we do not have the right to rest horizontally if the flight is shorter than 11hrs 30 mins.
Between 8 hours and 11hrs 30 mins, the CC has to be given the opportunity to eat, but not to rest.
So we can easily go 15.30 hours with no break.

Not the kind of hours you normally find in ground based jobs.
As ozangel says, you gotta love this job! ;)

[CHIVILCOY]

Judd,
Humble apologies, please forgive me but it was not meant to be taken seriously.I appreciate the work all you FA's do to make the PAX's journey enjoyable and safe.Your answers were all very informative and appreciated and when I fly again in a couple of weeks time I shall look upon the FA's job in a different light.

My tail is set firmly between my legs.:O

[roamingwolf]

Anyone who has flown 20 to 30 years will be able to tell you that todays flying is exponentially harder than it was back in the 70's and 80's.

[HoHum]

I would like to add my two cents worth to this forum, if I am permitted without being crucified for my input.:ouch:

All previous posts ring true and have merit to all mentioned re: jeglag, rest periods and duty times. :ok:

Another aspect that needs to be included is that not every day is the same for crew. Some days with full flights, crew just don't get the chance to stop. I had a MAN - AUH flight where as CM , on the 6hours and 40 mins of the flight I did not take a 5 minute break, eat properly, do anything other than paperwork or even got to the toilet - literally!!
(I am sure my neighbours were worried about the groans of pleasure coming from my apartment once I finally got home and had a pee!!!!!:sad: :oh: :p )

The crew were similarly kept busy with a full flight with service drinks etc, and to add on top - IFE problems.
The passengers acknowledged this by stopping me through the flight and complimenting my crew for doing all that they could to help and make the journey as wonderful as they had - even going to say that they noticed the crew had not stopped once during the flight and were so friendly and helpful!!
So, for us crew, add wake-up call, trip to airport, briefing, boarding etc, the flight itself, the disembarkation and the sign off times and the day does become very long and tiring. :zzz: And we always try and keep a smile on faces!:O

For those not in the know - I ask you (without malice)- can you go to your place of employment each day, and work for 8 hours without decent food or time to stop, no rest breaks, and put in a productive day? :confused:

Airlines these days, as mentioned, know how to work their crews' to the maximum allowed (to assist in keeping airfares low):O . So the next duty a crew member might have a slightly lighter workload/ demand and may "relax a bit more." I am not saying that they sit with their feet up:= , but simply maintain the standard of service required. It's unfortunately a human nature thing which I am sure all persons would have to admit to.

Other issues are that with IFE these days, passengers don't want to be interrupted while watching their movies/ programs and are kept entertained.:ooh: There is no point in crew continually walking up and down the aisle every minute disturbing passengers. But behind the scenes, the crew are preparing next meal services, completing bar paperwork, Customs requirements, trying to keep noise to a minimum so that guests are able to sleep and rest. :O And yes, we do get in a bit of "sit-down" time where we montior the cabin every few minutes with a walkthrough.

All said, though, we love our jobs and want to look after you (our passengers) to the best of our abilities. It is not that we don't want to work :sad: - we just try and consider what is in our passengers' best interests - annoy them with our constant presence - or let them be to enjoy their flight and entertainment.:confused:

[air doris]

My contract of employment states that CC are entitled to a 20min break after the first 6 hrs of "commencement of an operating flight" and another 20 mins every 4 hrs after that. However as much as we are entitled to that rest, sometimes, depending on pax loads, demands, flight times etc it is impossible to co-ordinate that unless the CSM is willing to adapt the service, cut corners or even delete some services altogether as most airlines now fly with minimum crew but are expected to provide a service that really requires more staff. My airline expects cabin service to be provided every 20 mins, even if it is only offering water, however due to the fact that toilets have to be cleaned and checked every 30 mins, paper work and order forms and bar tallying, customs forms, duty free selling, prep for next service, call lights (I can go on), sometimes there is more behind the scenes work to be done that in the end it is impossible for all crew to take that break (if we are to do everything they ask). Believe me I would rather be out in the cabin than in the galley counting bar stock and filling in forms but it must be done. When the flight is less full or not busy we can take advantage of the fact we can actually sit down and take a break. Many passengers see us going to crew rest on a 2 or 3 hr flight. Some think we only work that sector when in actual fact we have worked maybe a 6 or 7hr flight previous to that. I know very well that if ALL FA's took their rest as awarded the customers would suffer. Some FA's including myself only take my break if I feel I need to, thats why on quiet flights you may see us sitting down in the galley reading, of course we are going to take advantage of that.

Yes I do think FA's are working harder now, airlines are succumbing to passenger demands and providing a much better service which is a great thing but they are also operating with minimum crew to cut costs. Really most of us do the best we can given the conditions we have to work with.

I recently had a flight where the CSM closed all bars 1 1/2 hrs prior to landing. From a pax point of view I would be furious but don't blame us, the orders were coming in so fast and we still had all of the above work to complete before landing and if we had continued the service we would still be on the ground tallying.

We are given a task that on most flights is achievable but sometimes it is impossible (unless all crew forfeit their rest period that we are entitled to).

[CHIVILCOY]

)For those not in the know - I ask you (without malice)- can you go to your place of employment each day, and work for 8 hours without decent food or time to stop, no rest breaks, and put in a productive day? :

Well I just had to reply to this though probably unwise of me.

From leaving the house to when I get back in the evening can take nigh on twelve hours with probably 30 minutes of time to grab some lunch whilst I work at the same time.This goes on five days every week.

[sinala1]

CHIVILCOY Out of curiosity (nothing more), your profile says your are a Non-Aviation Training Advisor. Is that a field or desk based job?

The reason I ask is that a desk based job (from my experience) is far less physically tiring than a job that requires you to be standing all day (however I agree those jobs can be significantly more mentally draining!)... also alot of desk based jobs (not all) allow people to have coffee's/snacks at the ready throughout the course of the day etc

Your reference to a 12 hour day from departing home to arriving would equate to a possibly 18-20 hour day for cabin/tech crew (departure from home to arrival at hotel) for some long haul flights...

:ok:

[CHIVILCOY]

CHIVILCOY Out of curiosity (nothing more), your profile says your are a Non-Aviation Training Advisor. Is that a field or desk based job?
The reason I ask is that a desk based job (from my experience) is far less physically tiring than a job that requires you to be standing all day (however I agree those jobs can be significantly more mentally draining!).
Well my job is both hands on and desk based,(teacher,mother,father,social worker,psycologist,nurse,financial advisor,mentor,outward bound instructor.....................) I work with socially excluded teenagers who tell me to F... off on a daily basis :eek: but hopefully I have some influence on them.
At least I am fortunate enough to have the choice of doing it or not and like FA's the most important part is to wear a smile.:) and not take life too seriously.

[flyblue]

Working in hypobaric environment (cabin altitude can be up to 800ft) is more tiring, especially on Long Haul flights, than working on the ground. This is due to the mild hypoxia (= lack of sufficient oxygen to meet the needs of body tissues, and especially the brain: the brain uses 20% of the total oxygen uptake and is very susceptible to reduction in oxygen partial pressure) caused by the decrease in pressure. The altitude higher than what is "normal" at sea level is necessary because mantaining the cabin at sea level pressure would require an exremely strong (= heavy) fuselage structure which would adversely affect weight and hence fuel economy. Aircaraft cabins are designed to maintain an altitude which gives a compromise between the physiological needs of the crew members and pax and the economy needs of the operators. The effects of hypoxia may vary between individuals, and there are factors that affect the individual's susceptibility to hypoxia in flight: time (the greater the time of exposure, the greater the effect), exercise (exercise increases the demand of oxygen), fatigue (fatigue lowers the threshold for hypoxia syntoms), smoking (smoking produces carbon monoxide wich binds to haemoglobin with a greater affinity than oxygen, thus reducing the amount of haemoglobin available for oxygen transport), and others like illness, cold and drugs/alcohol (alcohol and drugs can depress brain functions, thus reducing the tolerance of altitude) that are less of a concern for crew members (but sometimes they may be for pax).

Of course this is the very short version. The extensive one would require too long to write here, and there are a myriad of books on the subject if you are interested (CC already get the long version during their annual refresher :E )