It’s not quite 007 levels of intelligence gathering – but cabin crew on Emirates flights is required to undertake some espionage work.
So reveals former Emirates flight attendant Marika Mikusova, who wrote three Diary Of A Flight Attendant books about the five years she worked at 38,000 feet.
She told MailOnline Travel that every 30 minutes the first class crew should be ‘obliged to “peek” at passengers.
Why?
“Just to make sure they’re alive and breathing – literally,” the 35-year-old explained.
‘This peek only applies to first class suites as they are small separate cubicles with almost total privacy.
‘The business class seats are open, so there is no need for such special – albeit privacy-invasive – treatment.’
She continued: ‘Crew are generally asked to be alert and aware of what is happening in the cabins throughout the flight.
It’s not quite 007 levels of intelligence gathering – but cabin crew on Emirates flights have to undertake some in-flight espionage work. So reveals former Emirates flight attendant Marika Mikusova (above)
‘For example, we need to scan/evaluate passengers right from the start of the flight, when they board, right through to the end.
‘This is to prevent any escalation of a possible problem – a medical case, drunk passenger and so on.
“So we do this during service and throughout the flight, to see if passengers are OK.”
Did Marika see any flashy behavior during her investigations?
She replied: ‘Oh yes. We had a couple put on quite a show right outside our kitchen. We knew about it and watched them from a distance, ready to jump in at any moment should the “frisky” behavior get more frisky.
‘And it did! The male passenger sucked on his girlfriend’s lips and pushed her hard against the kitchen wall.
Marika reveals that first class passengers on Emirates flights are ‘peeped’ every 30 minutes to make sure they are ok. Above is a first class suite on an Emirates A380
Marika, up in Dubai, says: ‘We had a couple who put on quite a show right outside our kitchen’
Diary of A Flight Attendant is a warts-and-all behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to work at 38,000 feet
‘We had to intervene and send them back to their seats. Then we watched them. We walked by from time to time and watched them discreetly in case they decided to continue under the blanket.
“If you get caught, you can get in trouble for this, especially if you fly with Arab airlines.”
Is this quiet part of the flight normally the most popular with flight attendants because there is less to do?
“Definitely,” says Marika, who lives in Prague. ‘We love it when the service is finally finished and the passengers are well fed and ready for bed.
‘Before the next meal service we check and clean the toilets and check for blocked smoke detectors and refill toilet paper and facial tissues and so on.
‘Then we walk through huts with juice and water on our silver trays, and give it to those who are sleepless and still thirsty.
‘Then we go get the empty plastic cups in our brown bags for trash. Repeat every 45 minutes until the next service or preparation for landing.’
Marika Mikusova’s book Diary of a Flight Attendant is out now Click here to order a copy. You can find Marika on Instagram here.
