'Travelling didn't bring much excitement anymore': Ex-SIA stewardess shares downsides of being a cabin crew

The life of a cabin crew seems glamorous to many, what with its perks like free holidays and good salaries. 

But just like any other job, it has its downsides too. 

Ava Ong, who was an air stewardess with Singapore Airlines for several years, experienced her own fair share of struggles. 

In a recent YouTube video, the 30-year-old, who joined the industry in April 2016 and left in October 2021, shared some of the good, bad and ugly parts of flying full-time.

One thing she didn't like was the nature of how she travelled as an air stewardess, but she added a disclaimer that this was a personal opinion and it "would not be the same for everybody". 

"After my first or second year, travelling did not bring me as much excitement anymore.

"Because I realised that I started to gain the desire to travel to places with people that I love instead," she admitted. 

She also shared that even though cabin crew get to explore different countries, the time they get at each destination is not always sufficient.

"For example, if you fly to Australia, it's only one night," she explained.

"Even if you do different things, there's only so much you can do because there's only so much time you have." 

In comparison, if she were to go to Australia on a holiday, she'd have the freedom to plan road trips and spend as much time as she wanted exploring different cities. 

"When you're flying as a cabin crew, yes, you can do road trips too. But there's a very limited amount of time," revealed Ava. 

"Normally, you'd have to sacrifice a little bit of sleep by either waking up really early or coming back a bit later." 

She also pointed out that after doing so, you'd still have to fly back to Singapore the next day and operate on the flight, no matter how exhausted you are.

But that's not to say Ava regretted any of it. 

"Yes, it was tiring, but it was so fun as well," she said. 

"It was a good experience. It's just that it's not something that I would probably do again." 

Over the years, Ava soon got jaded of travelling, especially when she kept flying to the same places. 

And by her fourth year of being a stewardess, she admitted that she would prefer to stay in and sleep in the hotel instead of exploring a foreign country. 

Another downside that she struggled with was jet lag. 

It wasn't just her either, Ava shared. 

She shared how after every flight, the do-not-disturb lights of almost every hotel room would be switched on. 

"Because everyone's sleeping!" she said. 

"There are times where I sleep so much that suddenly, when I wake up, I don't know which country I'm in." 

Getting to travel for free was still major perk 

While travelling so often has left Ava feeling jaded, she admitted that it was still one of the biggest perks of her job. 

"[I was] able to explore different countries in a very, very short period of time as compared to how normal people outside would travel," she said, adding that back when she was flying, Singapore Airlines flew to 64 countries. 

While travelling "non-stop every single month", Ava managed to visit places that she had never been to like New York, Frankfurt and Moscow. 

She reminisced her experience on the longest non-stop flight in the world from Singapore to New York, where she spent almost 19 hours in the air. 

Aside from being able to explore New York in all its glory, she also managed to catch the magnificent Northern Lights on the airplane. 

Another fond memory Ava had from her flying days was when she visited Copenhagen in the winter.  

There, she and some friends drove eight hours to Sweden and resided in a cosy Airbnb. 

The second thing she loved about being a cabin crew was getting to stay in different hotel rooms. 

"Before I joined the airline, whenever I travelled, I used to be able to backpack, stay in hostels," she shared. 

"After leaving the airline, all I can ever do is just stay in a nice hotel. Especially if there's complimentary breakfast." 

Switching industries

While Ava had been paid well and was comfortable with the job scope, she eventually decided to leave the industry after five years. 

One reason was that she felt stagnant. 

"I felt like there was no growth. Flight after flight, you will repeat doing the same thing over and over again," she explained. 

She also felt that her job scope was very "confined to the plane". 

"What I was looking for was something much bigger than that." 

By her second or third year in the industry, Ava realised that flying wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life. 

"I didn't feel fulfilled in my purpose or my career. I felt that there's more that I could learn." 

Ava also began to feel something called "pre-flight blues". 

"Before every single flight, I would feel so depressed," she said, likening it to her being on her period. 

Another factor that made her leave the industry was the Covid-19 pandemic, when all flights were grounded.

"Suddenly, all of us went from flying to staying in Singapore," Ava said. 

"It really started to get me thinking and venturing into other industries," she shared. 

So, during this period, she tried her hand at drop shipping. 

While she didn't particularly enjoy it, she learned plenty of new things and it also increased her interest in the outside world. 

With all these factors, Ava eventually quit her job as a flight stewardess. 

"I realised this job wasn't making me happy anymore even though it really was my childhood dream job."

Speaking to AsiaOne, Ava shared that being an air stewardess was her first job. 

And now, she's a realtor and wellness coach who does YouTube on the side. 

Ava told us that back when she was going through the recruitment process, it had been an "extremely joyful and stressful" time. 

"Stressful because I wanted to join Singapore Airlines so badly, and we often hear it's not easy to get in!" she shared. 

While that phase of her life is now over, Ava admitted that she does miss some aspects of being a stewardess — after all, it was her dream job. 

"I miss travelling and having layovers in as many as three to four countries a month. I also miss wearing my kebaya to the airport!" she reminisced.

ALSO READ: This SIA stewardess juggled school and flying at the same time

melissateo@asiaone.com