Britannia's Dorothy

[sweety]

Just watched a TV program on Britannia's trainee called Dorothy. She was 74 years old, she completed the course and... I missed the end of it.
:(

Is she still working? What happened next?....

Very touching indeed, I admire her for taking up the challenge! Well done, Dorothy!!;)

[miss yvonne]

Dorothy completed her training, did her supernumery and loved every minute of it. Unfortunatley she was not going to be a permanent fixture of Britannia's crew, she did it for the challenge. But wasn't she BRILLIANT!!! I agree very touching indeed, I think we should have more 'mature' stewardess's online - a refreshing change!! Not at all superficial in any way - how nice to be able to go to work and not have to talk about the latest Louis Vuitton accessory! Good on yer Dot!!

[Pilot Pete]

A view from 'up front' if I may........and this is my first time in the cc forum, so be gentle on me.

I thought she was an exceptional individual who showed qualities that would grace any cabin. My only concern was for her physical strength, I noticed the only shot we got of her closing or opening a door was when somebody else did the 'work'. Don't get me wrong, I'm still full of admiration and not ageist at all (I can't afford to be!) but, as we always point out, cc are there primarily for pax safety and I doubt (from the evidence shown) that Dot would be able to handle an evacuation as well as someone with more physical strength.

The subject of people beyond the normal retirement age continuing to work non-self employed, thus preventing a younger person from working in that position also crossed my mind.

All that said, bloody well done to her though.

Views?

PP

[Jerry Attrick]

Good on you Dorothy - an inspiration to the rest of us in our Autumn years (well...late Spring actually) hoping for a new career as cabin crew.

[airmail]

In answer to one of sweety's questions, apparently Dorothy is on standby for Britannia to cover on an occasional basis-this wasn't taken from the programme but an article in one of the listings mags. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

Personally I thought she was incredible-all power to her pension book!! :D

[Tomb Raider]

Enjoyed the programme and agree with all.An intelligent and wise lady who had great rapport with both crew and punters and seemed to be a lot of fun to boot!

Good on her,I say.

[happy-cappy]

And lets not forget Jill Dando RIP. When I was last in the Britannia Training Centre, just as u go into the Cabin smoke Training room at reception, theres a picture of her in the uniform. My wasnt she gorgeous.

RIP

[Crash Barrier]

Have to agree with Pilot Pete on this one. Although 'Dorothy' was obviously capable of handling passengers, it did seem as though she was a tad on the frail side when it came to closing doors etc.
I also thought that if the crunch came and an evacuation was likely, our Do would become pretty flustered with the whole situation. This is not a criticism but just an observation of her behaviour during the programme. I for one think that Britannia are giving out the wrong impression to other wannabe cabin crew of older years. Sure, take on older staff but you should have a cut off point of say 65 at the most. 74 is far too old to be at your most alert during a crisis..

Oh and as for 'crying bloke' at the wings ceremony, GET A LIFE!!!

[Pilot Pete]

What, Crash, you trying to tell me you didn't boo for hours when you passed your ATCO exams?!:D

I think he's picked exactly the right job.........very caring indeed.

PP

[DrinksMealsSales]

I believe that Dorothy has now been given a temporary job share contract for the summer.

She mainly operated routes such as PMI, AGP, ALC etc. Dorothy likes to fly as the No.6 on most flights if she can.

Her favourite part of the job is operating the video and chatting to passengers about their holiday.

Apparently, they are making a sequel at the end of the summer.

Good luck Dorothy!

[DOME]

Didn't a UA captain a year or so ago refuse to fly with and "elderly" attendant because she was so frail she was a safety risk?

[becster]

well drinksmealssales am i the only britannia cc on this web site? ive only just discovered this site today and im pretty impressed! As far as i know about dorothy, [she trained with a few friends of mine including the lovely jodie who held her hand throughout the entire 6 weeks] Dorothy wasnt taken on as crew afterwards. it was purely an experiment to see if it was possible for someone of that age could do it. If i am wrong and she did fly on job share, how do you know that for sure?