People from next door

Flight attendant reveals anecdotes from the cabin

Hofmann is a cabin manager - known as a purser - mainly on long-haul flights, his dream job for 19 years.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Imre Antal)

Above the clouds is the work of chief flight attendant Robert Hofmann of Austrian Airlines. The 40-year-old tells the "Krone" anecdotes from the aircraft cabin.

"Krone": You have been a flight attendant for 19 years. You've been a purser, i.e. cabin chief, for a few years now. What are the challenges?
Robert Hofmann: 300 strangers sitting in a metal tube for hours on end. Some of them have their own character traits. In addition, 70 percent feel uncomfortable on the plane because they feel trapped and at the mercy of others.

What are the most common complaints you hear?
Too little space for hand luggage. My seat neighbor snores too loudly, please tell him to be quieter. The reclined backrest is also often annoying.

Have passengers become more selfish?
That and, because of the technology, many live in their own world from which they don't want to be taken out. You need to be sensitive to that.

How do you deal with passengers with a fear of flying?
If we notice that a person is feeling very uncomfortable, we ask them about it and pass it on to the crew. And I explain that the shaking of the plane before landing is normal, comparable to a sailing boat.

Hofmann thrives in his role. Good service and passenger safety are his top priorities.

(Bild: Antal Imre/Imre Antal)

Alcohol on the plane is also an issue.
We pay attention to the passengers, of course. One is drunk after two beers, another is not. Once, however, a delayed passenger arrived in an extra bus, got off and staggered straight past the plane. We didn't take this gentleman with us.

Has panic ever broken out on a flight?
Fortunately not. I've never been in a dicey situation where I felt unsafe. I worry more when I'm driving home on the A4.

More and more people are flying. How does that affect your job?
It's more tightly scheduled. On short-haul flights, the turnaround time, i.e. the time from when the plane lands to the next take-off, is 45 minutes. During this time, the passengers have to disembark, the cabin has to be cleaned, catering has to be brought in and the next passengers have to board.

You are on the road a lot. How do you reconcile this with your private life?
I love shift work, including night flights, because then you have the day off. But I have to arrange meetings with friends six weeks in advance. That's how you find out who is really interested in you.

What do you do when you're not working?
In my free time, I'm involved with the Vienna Tramway Museum, I'm a driver and conductor on vintage car rides. But I don't see my job as work either. That's why I never say that I go to work, but that I go flying.