Just Air Crew | Dec 2015 | Issue 2

CREW ISSUES | CREW LIFESTYLE | GALLEY FITNESS | TIPS AND ADVISE | GROOMING | #JACFIE | DISCOUNTS | PRIZES

Win 20 tickets to peppermint experience with David Guetta

Best Tips to deal with Parents

Galley fitness talk

The country of magical realism, COLOMBIA Sixty seconds with a crew

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CREW SMELL …THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM6 10

ARE CREW ASSESSMENT FAIR & VALID??

ISSUE 02 // DECEMBER 2015

THE FIRST AND ONLY PRIVELEGE CARD PROGRAMME /MOBILE APP FORPRIVATE | VIP | CHARTER | CORPORATE AIRLINE CREW

JAC an Invited Exhibitor / Participant in

JAC participant Guest Speaker for Investment Opportunities in Aviation SME’s in( First Aviation Investment summit in the UAE)

ISSUE 02 DECEMBER 2015

Just Air Crew online magazine is the only publication to support a world first mobile app for the airline community and provide its services free of charge. With a global access and reach, Just Air Crew magazine crosses all borders, cultures and altitudes to communicate, advise and entertain the air-

line industry staff. Just Air Crew is available on ISSUU online publishing platform and through the Just Air Crew mobile app.

Just Air Crew is an independent in-house online magazine that is collectively created and compiled by aviation and specialised contributors from around the world. Views of those contributors don’t necessarily represent the views of Just Air Crew.

CREATOR : Shadi Joweihan

CONTRIBUTORS:Ana Gak (Hawai) , Camila Asenjo (Dubai), Carrie Bradley(UK),

Gayle Lawton (UK), Dr Guillermo Gomez (USA), Holly Purdy (Dubai), Kerry Quin (Dubai), Louise Matson (Australia)

PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTORS:Ana Gak , Camila Asenjo, Louisa Seton (Australia), Pamela Robbie

GRAPHIC DESIGNER : Eugeny Sverdlov

Global Marketing & Advertising inquiries Managed by Hyper Ideas FZE

[email protected]+97142780945

An In-house online publication for Just Air Crew

www.justaircrew.com

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You can also follow us on @justaircrew on all your favourite social platforms

Contents

Galley Fitness talk

Tips for VIP catering

Tips for crew dealing with parents travelling with children

How juice detox can help back to back flying

Grooming focuses on crew Hygiene

Memo to carriers “Stop Killing crew Mojo"

Exploring Colombia

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IntroductionHere we are again, presenting the second issue. Time flies when you are

having fun! Wow, we have received an overwhelming amount of amazing reviews by mem-

bers of the airline community and we thank you dearly for your feedback and support. We will continue with our mission to serve and bring together the airline community, without bureaucracy, favoritism or hidden, business-driven, objectives.

With our global contributors and original content, we are driven to promote positivity, healthy lifestyle, career tips, networking and awareness of our aviation environment that we are so passionate about.

In this issue, we explore how some carriers conduct their assessments and could be potentially killing the crew mojo.

We welcome Carrie B. with her expertise on how you, as a crew member, should deal with parents and how to win them over. Louise M. discusses the importance of footwear for crew, and no one knows better than she, the kind of footwear you should operate with. Our beautiful Gayle bravely tackles taboo grooming and hy-giene topics. We bring our VIP crew readers tips on processing and simplifying their catering orders from the leading private aviation catering firm.

Ana Gak covers Colombia, the country of magical realism, with a little on the most exciting cities in Colombia, supported by beautiful photography.

Just Air Crew loves a healthy and happy lifestyle. In this issue, we explore the benefits of Bikram yoga, detox through juicing, and try the super healthy paleo Christmas treat— perfect for your next trip while you select one of our recom-mended Aviation books, that no doubt will get the gossip juices flowing in the Galley.

Do not forget to tag us with #jacfie for a chance to win amazing prizes. I look forward to hearing from you with whatever feedback you may have that

will help us continue to improve our magazine, services and set new benchmarks in serving our global airline community.

I would like to wish you all a happy and wonderful festive season, wherever you may be and whatever altitude you may be at.

Happy & Safe Flying

Shadi J

Big thank you to photographer Louisa Seton and Celebrity Yoga teacher Charlotte Dodson for sup-porting us with their images

This front cover issue by Victor Zastol, perfectly depicts the world of aviation when it comes to different cabin classes, whether in TV advertising isolating the majority of travellers, only highlighting first class services or every time econo-my passengers disembark and have to walk through these cabins for 10 sec-onds in awe and amazement.

SMELL.......THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM!It is a problem nobody likes talking about, and even

fewer like working with, but it’s a problem that one

must address to address tactfully, rather than leave it to

the discovery of a less tactful person, maybe a colleague

or even worse, a passenger.

by Gayle

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JUST AIR CREW | DECEMBER 2015

A survey by Australian Recruitment Em-ployment Office found that 75% of peo-ple find it difficult to work alongside someone with bad body odour. Add in a

metal tube, varying degrees of heat, fatigue, stress and no escape, and it is a recipe for disaster.

I don’t know about you, but I would always prefer to know if I was leaving people gag-ging from my smell— ignorance is bliss but not for those around you. I am lucky I have friends who wouldn’t hesitate to tell me if I have spinach stuck in my teeth, or whether the garlic I ate the night before is rearing its ugly head in magnificent form. Nevertheless, I do understand the sensitivity of this issue when you have to address it as a supervisor or on the other hand, get told you “smell,” (Far more diplomatically, I would hope!)

Lets take a closer look at what causes peo-ple to sweat:

Stress - We are told this is the most pun-gent form of sweat.

Women - Not changing their bra often enough- Many women over-wear and conse-quently don’t wash their bras enough. The lacy odour-trapping fabrics touching the skin are central to sweat prone places, which mean they require washing more often than you think.

What causes crew to smell? The obvious fac-tors:

Not washing/showering often enough. A survey by Laterooms.com polled 2,000 adults and found that on 111 occasions someone didn’t shower or bath on at least one day of the week. Research by the Universities of Man-chester, Edinburgh, Lancaster and Southamp-ton found that 20% of Britons wash just four times a week or less.

Not changing clothes often enough— Par-ticularly for airline crew— If you are operating out of a hot destination, Gents: always wear a cotton short sleeve white t-shirt under your shirt, and all crew should take clean, replace-ment uniform (including under garments) on lay-overs/night stops.

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However, there are conditions which can make body odour worse.

Being male – Men sweat twice as much as women.

Suffering from excessive sweating – 1% of the UK population suffer from a long-term condition called Hyperhidrosis.

Fasting – Whether for religious or health reasons, fasting can cause sweat to smell differently.

Fish Odour Syndrome (Trimethylaminuria)— A genetic condition that makes the individual’s sweat smell like fish.

Many people use deodorants and anti-per-spirants to control their body odour, but there are cultural differences in their use. For exam-ple, most people from East Asia don’t produce smelly sweat, a quick trip to the supermarket in Japan will show the difference in the pop-ularity of deodorant usage with a single-shelf in Japan versus shelves of choice in the UK.

What people also fail to realise is, a de-odorant will not stop you sweating. All a de-odorant will do, is mask the smell created by sweat— but only to a certain extent. An anti perspirant cuts down on body odour by actu-ally keeping you from sweating. If you prefer to use a natural product, a good website to refer to: www.findwholeness.com.

As a supervisor giving feedback to a crew member with a body odour problem, it is always a good place to start by questioning if they use a deodorant or an antiperspirant and continue your conversation from there.

It is not only sweat that makes employees smell and their col-leagues complain.

Bad breath is another workplace gripe: 64% of workers struggle to work with someone with bad breath— even worse— if you are a passenger being served food by someone with halitosis. Be sure to stay hydrated, have regular dental check-ups, use a breath freshener and avoid strong foods the day be-fore a flight.

Then, there’s smelly feet (you

see, its not just those passengers) if this applies to you, try Odour Eat-ers they are great!

M e n s w e at t w i c e a s

m u c h a s w o m e n

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Too much perfume— Yep, that’s a big problem with cabin crew, especially when you have males and females all spraying a dif-ferent scent, mix it all together and a headache brews! Always choose a scent that isn’t too heavy and one that lasts for a long time. When trying perfume in a store its always good to spray a tester and then leave for around 30 minutes to see how it has adjusted to your body temperature. Hence why some fragrances smell lovely on one person but completely different on another.

You do, however, need to always be sensitive to the different cooking and eating traditions of different cultures which can af-fect body odour and the impact of fasting which can cause bad breath. If in doubt, it is always best to leave offering advice to a colleague or a senior or supervisor.

Personal hygiene is exactly that, personal. Sensitivity and di-plomacy are key. No one wants to upset a friend or a colleague, so always bear this in mind when dealing with such issues. Al-ways think, if I were in their shoes how would I feel? (Apart from if its a sweaty feet issue, sorry I digress!).

GAYLE LAWTON

Gayle has a wealth of experience within service delivery, ser-vice standards, professional image and course design and development. For 11 years she flew in every grade on board, eventually to flight purser and then to premium cabins train-ing officer. During her 8 years in the Emirates aviation college she honed her skills in professional image, cultural under-

standing, etiquette and service standards. Gayle was also selected to trav-el the world representing the emirates brand as part of the promotions team. She maintains a strong passion for impeccable service standards, managing performance and profess all image.

Pet hates, bad attitude and poor grooming.

When you wear the airline uniform you should wear it with pride, a big smile on your face and immaculate grooming.

I f i n d o u b t , i t i s a l wa y s b e s t t o l e av e

o f f e r i n g a d v i c e t o a c o l l e a g u e o r a

s e n i o r o r s u p e r v i s o r

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Tough interviews, great

competition, moving overseas,

you’re on top of the world.

Feeling “the mojo”, being part of

a new culture an ambassador of

Global Carrier.

BY DR. GUILLERMO GOMEZ, MBA, LPSY.

MEMO TO GLOBAL CARRIERS…..DON’T KILL THE MOJO!!!

MOJO

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A fter six weeks of intense training and conditioned to represent a culture, the new life begins, it takes sacrifice, fortitude and a will to make it… and

you did it!!Welcome to a new system, that at the be-

ginning appeals to you, then a new routine… sickness, jetlag, nostalgia, poor attention to your health … doesn’t help. Many challenges face you and then you are introduced to a bu-reaucratic, intrinsic, senseless system.

The equation formula to be a successful Glob-al Carrier is a great business plan, follow by the alignment of brand efficiency, customer’s loy-alty and team passionate commitment. (Mojo).

And this is when the fact of the matter com-mence, how do we measure and recognize the mojo? Does the Global carriers possess the

tools to plant seeds of compassion and dedi-cation to the team?

One thing we learn in life is that some of our most important lessons come to us slowly.

We don't get every big "Aha!" all at once in a flash of insight. Sometimes the learning drips in slowly, instead.

That's what happened with me with respect to performance reviews at the In-flight lev-el. The greatest challenge of Leadership, to created annual performance review at several airlines I worked for. I helped other HR people create their performance review systems, too.

I looked at dozens of formats and perspec-tives surrounding the performance review pro-cess. I reworked our company's process slightly every year to make it better - or at least that's what I was trying to do.

A little voice in the back of my brain nagged at me: "Despite your efforts to make them more compassionate and less uncomfortable for everyone, performance/flight reviews are stupid from the get-go, GG!”

"How does one human being get to evaluate another one, when their personalities and per-spectives may be radically different?

"Why would we sit down and talk about the whole past year, especially from the perspective 'How well did you do your job in the past 12 months?' What was your absenteeism rate? In-Flight Review’s Percentage? What a time-waster and mojo-killer!"

I had doubts, but I still administered performance-review and performance-management systems and of course, I wrote scores of performance reviews myself. Completing Selector for Business Class, First Class, Cabin Supervisors and Pursers.

I sat through dozens of performance-review- selector meetings --where the director reviewed the past year's performance, and meetings where I talked with my team members about their past year's results. Here's what I noticed.

When my Director and I were in synch, the performance review meeting was pointless, be-cause it was well-covered ground already.

Welcome to a new system, that at the beginning appeals to you, then a new

routine… sickness, jetlag, nostalgia, poor attention to your health … doesn…t help.

Many challenges face you and then you are introduced to a bureaucratic, intrinsic,

senseless system.

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When the manager and team member were out of synch, the performance-review conversation was point-less again, because it didn't value the manager's advice and had no intention of following it.

Now I can see clearly that performance reviews-selec-tors are not only a massive waste of time and energy, but damaging to the fabric of a healthy culture as well.

What do in-flight teams run on? They run on their col-lective momentum and trust. At Hu-man Resources we call that power source Team Mojo. Performance re-views, flight reviews, selectors no matter how they are executed, can only deplete your Team Mojo.

They come from a place of fear -- fear that you might have screwed something up during the year and will be called to task for it.

Managers are afraid of giving calm and supportive performance reviews in case they're accused of being too "soft" on their team, as though the hard-soft continuum were relevant to leading and man-aging capable adults.

There is no benefit to looking back over the past year and asking a working person "How well did you perform?" much less in telling him or her "Here's how I think you per-formed!"

If we are going to get better at what we do individually and in groups, we have to talk about situations we're dealing with when they arise, not months later!

We have to talk about them from the vantage point "What can we learn?" versus the perspective "Have you been a good or bad little elf this year?"

It is an act of power, not of trust, to call a team member into a con-ference room and review the past 12 months with the question "How well did you perform your job this year?" hanging over the conversa-tion.

People who are immersed in their work don't invest enormous amounts of energy to get a gold star or to kiss their manager's rear end.

They throw themselves into their work because their work speaks to them. That's why evaluating their work from the standpoint "Are you an Excellent, Good or just Average employee?" is demeaning and in-sulting.

M a n a g e r s

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s u p p o r t i v e

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c a s e t h e y ' r e

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Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs! When we presume to break the sacred connection between people and their work -- work that speaks to them and connects them with their power source -- we are behav-ing stupidly.

If we were tuned into the human channel at work -- the channel that broadcasts fear and trust signals -- we would see why performance reviews, selectors are so damaging to individ-uals and to the teams.

Sadly, in the business and professional worlds we have trained ourselves not to notice the waves of fear and trust swirling around us.

That is a shame, because we'd be much hap-pier and healthier and our airline would be more profitable if we saw the waves and talk-ed about them.

We have constructed our crusty, archaic per-formance review, flight reviews, selector sys-tems to give team members our feedback whether they want it or not, because we be-lieve that our feedback is good for them -- whether they value it or not!

Without a bond of trust, even your most thoughtful coaching won't have any impact, but the problem posed by performance re-views is worse than that.

By reinforcing the idea that managers by virtue of their positions naturally and inevi-tably know more about how the work should be done than their underlings do, formal per-formance review systems reinforce everything that is broken about work.

P e o p l e w h o a r e i m m e r s e d

i n t h e i r w o r k d o n ' t i n v e s t

e n o r m o u s a m o u n t s o f

e n e r g y t o g e t a g o l d s ta r o r

t o k i s s t h e i r m a n a g e r ' s r e a r

e n d

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That turned out to be false. In the Global Aviation sector, we have the Employment at Will doctrine in place. It protects em-ployers against claims from terminated employees far better than anybody's performance-review notes will.

Employment at Will says that your employer can send you pack-ing because they feel like it. They don't need a reason to dismiss you, as long as they don't discriminate or break Labor Laws.

We need a way to figure out how to pay our team each year, but trying to peg their new year's pay to their last year's results in the job is idiotic and insulting.

The teams are not machines whose output can be easily count-ed and sorted, especially in the moment. One person is a weaker in absenteeism than another but holds the team together as the unofficial cheerleader and leader.

Another member is lousy at grooming and needs help with fol-low up but is an incredible genius at problem-solving onboard.

Real life and real work don't fit into our arbitrary categories or fit conveniently into one spot on the Poor-Fair-Average-Above Average-Excellent spectrum.

Our job as leaders is to inspire our teams and remove roadblocks from our team members' paths. We can get rid of a massive energetic roadblock by removing performance review/flight reviews systems.

In a Human Resources environment that values people beyond their daily output, your brilliant team members bring themselves completely to work, heart and soul. That's a good thing! You want them focused on the big win for the company and for themselves, not a list of goals posted on a chart on the wall.

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Dr. Guillermo Gomez, MBA, LPsy."GG " 38 year commercial airline professional with a Doctorate Business Administration, Major in Training and Management Development/Leadership.

Completed his Dissertation: "Realization of cost effective service excellence in the airline industry through efficient management of human resources."

Since 1977, he has worked as a Flight Attendant, Purser, Instructor, Manager and Inflight Director. He patrolled the aisles of 12 carriers: Aerolineas Ar-gentinas, Pan Am, ATA, Air France,Air Algerie, Air Af-rique, Icelandair, Forbes Capitalistic tool, Northwest, KLM, Emirates and National. He also consulted over 22 carriers worldwide.

His expertise is Management/Leadership Devel-opment ,Inflight Service Delivery,Catering, Corpo-rate flights, Royal Air Wing VIP and the SkyTeam.

Alliance( Alitalia, NWA, KLM,Korean, Air France) .His passion is Group Mentoring, Leadership and

Service Delivery. GG worked in four different conti-nents for major carriers. He has a great knowledge of the Middle East and is fluent in Spanish, Eng-lish Italian, French, Portuguese, Dutch and conversa-tional Arabic. Due to his European descent he holds three passports: Argentine, Italian and USA. He is self- motivated, enthusiastic and endowed with an insatiable thirst for mentoring multicultural teams, showing them how to design a way to success in life and in their careers. His motto is “Live with a Lion’s Passion”. Through the years he keeps in touch with all his former team mates dispersed around the world, always ready to lend an advise or provide clarity.

You can follow Dr. Guillermo inspiring and mo-tivational posts on linkedin pulse.

Slowly executives are realizing that they've wasted precious time, money and energy in their faulty recruit-ing systems. When they ask us "What's the next piece of the Godzilla structure to dismantle, once we've human-ized our recruiting process?" we say, "Kill performance reviews!"

The time and energy savings available to employers who toss annual performance reviews in the dustbin where they belong are enormous, but in order to over-come our addiction to measuring our teammates' output, we have to trust ourselves to lead through trust rather than to manage through fear.

If you're on the fence about nuking your performance review process, ask your team member what they think. Anybody who wants feedback from his or her manager should surely be able to get it.

Some of your teammates might love a steady stream of coaching suggestions, and they are entitled to them. Other folks might pass on your kind offer to critique their work, and that's their privilege, too. If a major issue were to arise, you'd address it then and there.

You can trust your teammates to manage their work, can't you? I hope so - you hired them! You trust yourself to hire adults and treat them as adults, right?

Of course you do! So don’t kill the Mojo that in turn will impact the Global Carrier Success.

Lat de Leeuw !! Vamos Leon! 我们去吧 Wo Men Qu Ba. GG59

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DEALING WITH PARENTS ON-BOARD

We all know crew interact with many different types of

passengers every day and we all have our favourite, but

capture the parent’s heart and you are onto a winner.

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W ith air travel becoming more and more accessible, you may have noticed an in-crease in young children on board and yet more CHML’s and BBML’s requests.

For crew it can be both a blessing and a curse, less demands for certain requests, but lots of accidental-ly pressing of the call bell keeping you on your toes.

From parents perspective, many dread flying with their children. A huge fear is disturbing other pax with a crying baby or fidgety child, and the look of fellow pax holding their breath as the parents walk past them with a babe in arms, and then the obvious look of relief as the crying baby entou-rage head down to the next bulkhead bassinet po-sition…

It is also this fear, stress of preparing for the flight, lack of sleep on top of whatever concerns they have this day, that can make parents some-times seem like demanding pax. However, a little bit of understanding can completely turn around the experience for all, the child, parent, fellow pax and of course you.

My two little ones are now very frequent flyers, despite me hanging up my crew wings a few years ago. Now, I see it from a different perspective and have seen some wonderful examples of crew in their dealing with parents. I’ve just landed this morning after a 15 hour flight with a very under-standing and helpful crew. When I thanked a partic-

ularly helpful steward, the MH crew member sim-ply said, ” being a parent helps you understand the needs. .” But what if you are not a parent and are crew? I certainly wasn't when I joined the industry as a bright eyed and bushy tailed 21 year old and wasn’t til I left in my thirties. To be perfectly hon-est, I didn't really give parents’ additional needs a second thought. The point is, as crew you can make a real, positive difference to how the flight goes for parents.

Here’s how. .

F r o m p a r e n t s p e r s p e c t i v e ,

m a n y d r e a d f l y i n g w i t h t h e i r

c h i l d r e n

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Time

Allow parents time to sort themselves and the kids out. Offer them help whether it’s holding the baby (if your airline policy allows you too), a bag or asking if they have any immediate needs- a bottle warmed for take-off etc. The same for landing, the parents may have a connecting flight or a long journey home, a refill of milk or a bottle warmed up at descent can be really helpful .

UnderstandingIt takes a great deal of skill to balance a baby in your lap, manage a

fidgety toddler by your side, juggle all the meal trays , plus some precar-ious balancing of the drinks. Ask the parents if they would prefer you to serve the kids meals first and save theirs for later. Parents understand that you can’t keep food hot for ages for health reasons, but the offer is always greatly appreciated. By the time you have got to the last row, its likely the children have finished their meal anyway, so you can easily serve the parents then and to win their hearts, clear the kids trays at the same time. The look of gratitude you get for this will be immense and you know which airline they will recommend….

On the subject of meals, if the parent has a baby with them, offer them the BBML as soon as possible, with a teaspoon and/or a baby amenity pack if your airline provides. Babies aren’t patient and don't understand the service routine, so providing the food to the parent enables them to feed the baby when required, and also means you are unlikely to be in-terrupted during the busy meal service.

For the older infant, where pureed food is not sufficient, seeing if there are any other options available can also make a huge difference to the parent – maybe some spare crudities or a piece of fruit going from busi-ness or first class.

l i t t l e b i t o f u n d e r s ta n d i n g

c a n c o m p l e t e l y t u r n a r o u n d

t h e e x p e r i e n c e f o r a l l , t h e

c h i l d , p a r e n t , f e l l o w p a x a n d

o f c o u r s e y o u

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Patience

That bassinet position is fought over. Believe me, parents ring up months in advance to reserve; they reconfirm before the flight, at check-in and at the gate and they are devastated if asked to move. If flying on a USA/Canadian airline, parents aren’t told if they have a bassinet position until at the board-ing gate, so this underlying stress is prevailing.

For them, the bassinet is the holy grail for flying with a baby. Occa-sionally, they are told their seat is a bassinet position, only to find out too late that it’s not. If you can move them to one, please do! Also don't expect the parent to know the ex-act weight of their child in kgs or lbs or their babies length. Hardly any parent I know does, especial-ly with second or subsequent chil-dren. As a rough guide, if an infant is around 1 years old they will fit into an 11 kg 24 lbs, 75 cm limit bassinet.

Please don't be militant like a recent experience, where the crew mem-ber demanded I straighten my babies legs to see if she fitted in- babies don't lie like that and often bend their knees up frog leg style. Even if the baby is too obviously heavy, and can’t use the bassinet, the extra leg space is appreciated, as is a spare seat if available. Unfortunately, on this same flight, the crew member’s attitude was robotic and cold. She literally stood over me in a foreboding manner until I had satisfied her request, no make that demand… How did I end up feeling? Angry, frus-trated and annoyed as hell, all before top of climb….A little bit of kind-ness and awareness of your body language goes a long way in reducing the likelihood of this scenario.

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Carrie Bradley flew for 12 years, first with a major in-ternational airline, and as a Purser for her last few years in commercial flying. She then moved into the corporate flying world; flying royalty and prominent businessmen before settling down into parenthood.

Carrie maintains a strong interest in flying and travel-ling, with her young baby globe trotters following suit and clocking up their own airmiles with her and her husband. After being asked by many parents for tips, she used her wealth of experience and research to set up a helpful site for any parent flying with young children. www.flying-withababy.com She has been featured in Boots Parenting magazine, Woman & Home Middle East, The Age, Huffing-ton Post to name a few. If you see her on-board, a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc will always be appreciated.

Turbulence Check if the seat belt sign really does need to be on

and it’s not just been put on because too many pax are standing up and are hindering the service flow ( it has been known!) Obviously, safety comes first, but is the sign required for the slightest suggestion of a bump? Perhaps so if other aircraft ahead are experiencing some CAT… The seat belt sign chime strikes terror into a parents heart, as it is often timed with when they have just got their baby/child to sleep and have to re-move them from bassinet. The nightmare fear of their baby waking and disturbing everyone has just got very real. Thankfully, QF and VS have bassinets which allow you to keep the baby strapped in, but the others don't and policy is to remove the baby. To reiterate, safety does come first and parents are aware of this, but it’s just something to ponder on for future flights. Maybe ask your airline if the product team can look into sim-ilar bassinets such as VS and QF?

DiplomacyThere is always one child that kicks the pax seat in

front, and often the pax affected expects you to deal with it, and turn to you rather than asking the parent. Understandably, this puts you in an awkward position, and your best diplomacy skills will be needed. My top tip, would be to quietly mention it to the parent. (Please don’t embarrass them publically, as they may not even be aware of their child kicking, especially if it is inter-mittent and they are distracted with other children). A possible solution, is to suggest that the child cross their legs on the seat, or if possible move the family to a bulkhead position or move the pax affected on the rare occasion that the flight is not full!

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HOES THAT LAST THE DISTANCE


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Former Australia basedflight attendant LouiseMatson, has searched theworld and selected a rangeof shoes perfect for femalecabin crew.

Owner of online store www.louisemshoes.com, Lou-ise has done the shop-ping for you and brought

a range of shoes together that meet the standard airline uniform require-ments into one easy to find location.

“Throughout my 17 year career fly-ing for major Australian airlines, I al-ways bought Italian leather shoes. I wanted to look stylish but I wanted to look after my feet too. As you know we only get one pair of those in a life-time. It is the best investment I made,” said Louise.

“However during the final years of flying it became increasing-ly difficult to find these quality shoes. I found myself in synthetic materi-

al, ill fitting, smelly shoes, feeling a little embarrassed! The pride in my uniform, and confidence I had, faded. This was the moment I knew I had to do something about shoes for all fe-male cabin crew,” Louise remembers.

Airline employees know the impor-tance of adhering to the strict uniform guidelines provided. Airline uniforms are one of the most recognizable cor-porate uniforms in the world, portray-ing professionalism and style. Time and money is invested in ensuring cloth-

ing is comfortable and durable for varying duty periods

and extreme working conditions, as well as

meeting safety and health standards. Shoes are import-ant for these same reasons.

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From her own experi-ence Louise knows that fashion retail stores do not understand the shoe requirements for cab-in crew often leading crew to stilettos, wedges, sandals, and shoes with ornaments such as buckles and bows. These are clearly not suitable.

Additionally, many shoes that are worn by cabin crew are made for the mass market with poor quality or non leather materials. These tend to overstretch within weeks of wearing, causing sloppy shoes, offering lit-tle support for feet.

We often neglect the shoes we wear for our day job, seeing them as simply ‘work shoes’. However we wear them every day, for long periods at a time, meaning they should be the shoes we care most about.

Unfortunately the real cost of wearing poor quality, ill fitting shoes can take sev-eral years to be noticed. It is often too late to rectify the damage caused to your feet,

knees and back and women then suffer the long term consequence

of choices they made when younger or as inex-

perienced crew.Based in Australia the ma-

jority of Louise M’s customers are cabin crew working for the major airlines, Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Belinda, a Qantas cabin crew member in Perth, says. “I will never buy cheap shoes again after wearing Louise M cabin crew shoes. I used to buy 3 or 4 pairs a year that would not last long, and now I only need to buy one pair that last at least the year, if not longer. I wear them all day, every day with-out having to change into cabin flats. I now know the value of buying European leather shoes. I actually save money!”

Louise M is offering Just Air Crew readers an instant AUD$25 voucher to spend on your first pair of shoes at www.louisemshoes.com, simply use the coupon code ‘JAC25’ at checkout. This offer is valid until 31/03/2016.

24


FITNESS HQ

www.fitnesshq.aeDownload your free daypass

Start your CROSSFIT JOURNEYBeginner Classes every day

download your free classpasswww.crossfitdropzone.com

BENEFITS OF BIKRAM YOGA and how is it different from other Yoga Styles?

And what’s with all that sweat?

Images used with permission from: Photographer Louisa Seton @louisasetonphotographyand Model Charlotte Dodson who is a celebrity yoga teacher in Sydney@Charlottedodsonyoga

26


According to the principles of Bikram yoga, heating the yoga room to around 100

degrees Farenheit serves several purposes. The heat helps to protect muscles safely

while allowing for deeper stretching and detoxifying the body by opening pores and

letting toxins escape via the sweat. It also stimulates the heart rate for a better

cardiovascular workout.

T he warmer your muscles are, the more flexible and adaptable they are. It’s the old spaghetti in hot water trick – the heat will make your muscles more

supple, allowing you to work deeper while avoiding injury. So say you’re not so naturally flexible; say you’ve been training for a mara-thon and the idea of having to stretch out your quads makes you want to cry. No need to shed a tear – just some sweat. Your hamstrings are going to fall in love with our furnace.

Sweat is the body’s natural way of low-ering your body temperature when you get too hot. When the sweat hits the air, the air makes the sweat evaporate, and as the sweat evaporates off your skin, you begin to cool down. Sweat is made almost completely of water, with tiny amounts of other chemicals like ammonia, urea, salts and sugar (ammo-nia and urea are what is left over when your body breaks down protein). Toxins – harmful chemicals that can come from food or water, or from chemicals used to grow or prepare food – are processed by organs like the liver and kidneys and then eliminated in the form of urine, feces, and, (drumroll here …) sweat. So yes, sweating more will help you rid of harmful toxins. Many of us discover that we feel clean and refreshed a few weeks into our Bikram practice – some would even say we glow.

M a n y o f u s d i s c o v e r t h at w e f e e l

c l e a n a n d r e f r e s h e d a f e w w e e k s i n t o

o u r B i k r a m p r a c t i c e - s o m e w o u l d

e v e n s a y w e g l o w

27

There is one last thing to note about the heat & heart rate: Please be aware that dehydration ALSO causes an increase in heart rate and that coming to a class de-hydrated ISN’T a smart way to force a cardiovascular workout. When you become dehydrated, your blood vol-ume decreases and, as a re-sult, less blood is pumped with each heartbeat. That means if you come into the yoga room dehydrated, the combination of the exer-

cise, the heat, and the dehydration could be enough to take you OVER your target heart rate, or at least make you feel really uncomfortable in your yoga class. We want you to feel invigorated and alive, not dry and draggy. HYDRA-TION IS KEY!

As a beginner it is not unusual to feel nauseous or diz-zy in your first class. Bikram writes, “Practicing yoga in a heated room reveals to us our present condition and in-spires us to take much better care of ourselves.” Usually that nauseous feeling is related to dehydration. Most of us just do not drink enough water to get us through our busy workdays, let alone enough to get us through yoga in a heated room. How much water do you need to drink every day to do yoga? That answer is different for each of us, but at least 3-4 liters a day is a good place to start. Tanking up before class should really help cure that woozy feeling.

d e h y d r at i o n A L S O c a u s e s

a n i n c r e a s e i n h e a r t r at e

a n d t h at c o m i n g t o a

c l a s s d e h y d r at e d I S N O T

a s m a r t wa y t o f o r c e a

c a r d i o va s c u l a r w o r k o u t

28


Our JAC partner Bikram Yoga is giving away during December and January one free class to ALL NEW CREW, in addition to exclusive rates that you can avail from the JAC app.

The other thing to remember is that if you do feel sick in class, don’t let it scare you, but do take care of yourself: sit down, drink some water, watch some poses and join back when you are feeling better. Try not to leave the room unless you feel very nauseous. Bikram yoga is not recommended for people with high blood pressure. If you have any concerns about your health please consult a physician before join-ing. For maximum benefits we suggest to prac-tice a minimum of 3 times per week.

Bikram Yoga will help you to take care of your body. You’ll learn to drink more water and eat better so you can feel even more terrific in class! The more you learn to relax in class and take care of yourself inside the hot room, the more energized you will feel throughout the class and throughout the rest of your day.

Attire: You need to wear stretchable light clothing.

bikramyogadxb

@bikramyogame

www.bikramyoga-me.com

P r a c t i c i n g y o g a i n a h e at e d r o o m

r e v e a l s t o u s o u r p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n

a n d i n s p i r e s u s t o ta k e m u c h b e t t e r

c a r e o f o u r s e l v e s

29

DETOXING, JUICE CLEANSING AND FLYING

Every little girl and boy dreams of becoming a member of cabin crew or a pilot. A dream job that allows you to see the world and is high paying. Nevertheless, being part of an

airline crew is a serious occupation! There are 101 challenges, like working long hours on your feet all day, shift work, missing family events, and it can sometimes be a lonely job. Then there are the day-to-day things, like dealing with difficult pas-sengers, hectic schedules and sheer loads of hard work. Working for an airline is far from glamorous. In the words of a human resources manager:

Flight attendants are the most visible of airline employees, but they do a lot more than just serve

drinks. Yet, that’s what a lot of people think. Flight attendants are responsible for everyone on the plane, including their general safety and evacua-tion procedures. They go through a lot of rigorous training and put in a lot of unseen hard work.

What does this demanding lifestyle leave the flight attendants and cabin crew with?

Feeling sluggish, digestive complaints, poor skin, lots of cravings, the list goes on.

What will help? Organic Low Glycemic Cold-Pressed Juice

Cleanses.

30


It is worth considering doing a juice cleanse if:

— You feel perpetually sluggish, day after day— You notice digestive complaints such as bloat-

ing or slow-moving bowels— Your skin is not clear and glowing— You have a few stubborn pounds to lose— You are craving sugary foods or caffeine

A juice cleanse can help you feel:

— Cleaner and lighter— Energized and revitalized— More aware of what you are putting into your body— Rested and rebalanced— Freshly motivated to continue a healthy lifestyle

31

Look for cleanses that are designed to give you an all over revitalizing boost. While your digestive system gets a rest from heavy meals and processed foods, your body gets a super infusion of healing nutrients. A cleanse can help you detox, shed weight, rebuild on the cellular level and bring out your skin’s natural glow. It’s a great way to reboot your health and kickstart a program for healthier living. Juices should be low glycemic and low in sugar.

Go Organic ME offers Signature Low Glycemic Cleanse and Super Green Cleanse with 6 bottles of alkaline juices per day. Each bottle is 500ml and the only sweetener is one single organic apple per juice.

Order on www.goorganic.me or call 0556250664 Do not forget to use your JAC digital ID for a further 35% discount

Now that you're ready to do a cleanse, JAC recommends Go Organic ME in the UAE for a number of reasons that tick all the boxes for the perfect cleanse:

— They are the first Organic food store Company certified for Organic Juice Cleanse in the UAE.

— Go Organic ME uses a commercial cold press, to ensure that juices retain maximum nutrients and taste the best

— Never heated, never frozen and never pasteurized juices— Hassle-free fast delivery— Experienced staff (who juice regularly themselves!) to help you choose

the cleanse that best meets your needs and will help you achieve your goals— Support provided for you before, during and after your cleanse, to en-

sure that the programme gives you lasting benefits and isn’t just a quick fix— Go Organic ME strives to be environmentally responsible with their

packaging and delivery methods.

32


GALLEY TALK...MORE LIKE, FITNESS TALK

By Camila

Asenjo

34


A s crew, it’s very easy to fall into a lifestyle where all you do is sleep, work, and go out. I’m sure many of you can relate. . .It’s no news really. Our bodies are constantly feeling

drained but sometimes it’s all part of your mental state. I like to think that this is where beauty begins to shine. One of the biggest challenges we face as crew is deal-ing with our minds, what I mean by this is that if you don’t push yourself to move around and stay active, your brain will chose to shut down. So what to do? Take a quick power nap, put an alarm, and move those cakes and ducks!

I can speak for myself that thankfully I’ve always been an active person, but don’t get me wrong; I highly enjoy sleeping in and rolling around in bed. So how can you get your mind into this fitness and wellbeing life-style? Fall in love with some-thing that will push your limits, most importantly set yourself a goal.

Over 7 years ago, I fell in love with Pole Fitness (some people simply call it Pole Dancing). I was in complete awe one day when I saw an instructor climb

the pole and do crazy tricks on it and I immediately thought to my-self “I want to do that”. So I got a pole and began teaching myself while observing and analyzing vid-eos. I practiced quite a lot and one day I decided to go and check out an intermediate class. I guess the instructor was happy with what she saw so she offered me to teach some classes. From then on, it’s history. I was going to school during the day and teaching at night. Later on I began working full time and still continued to teach. Classes and student numbers began ex-panding to the point where I was teaching 3 classes back to back on Saturday mornings. The improve-ments that I saw in my students was so incredibly satisfying for me because I could see their happiness and will power to continue to get better and stronger. This became my gateway to working out regu-larly and surrounding myself with like-minded people.

F a l l i n l o v e w i t h s o m e t h i n g

t h at w i l l p u s h y o u r l i m i t s ,

m o s t i m p o r ta n t l y s e t

y o u r s e l f a g o a l

35

THE BEST COACHESTHE BEST FACILITIESTHE BEST YOU

BJJ, MARTIAL ARTS, MMA, BOXING, KICK BOXING, MUAY THAI, BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU, GYMNASTICS, CHEERLEADING, CROSSFIT, CROSSFIT HIIT, CROSSFIT WATER WOD, GENTLE YOGA, VINYASA YOGA, SWING YOGA, POWER YOGA, PILATES, ZUMBA, RPM, TRI-BLAST, TRX, CORE BLASTER, CIRCUIT TRAINING, KICKBOXERCISE, BOXERCISE, BODY ATTACK, BODY PUMP, BODY BALANCE, BODY COMBAT, BODY BIKE, OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING, STEP, GRIT, BAREFOOT, SWIMMING, SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING...

Click here to visit our website for more information

Living an active life does not necessarily mean you must do complex things. It is really simple to do exercises that only involve your bodyweight and no equipment, a.k.a. Calisthenics. Things like squats, lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees and planks, are just a few examples I can name off the top of my head. Once you arrive at your layover destination, take the time to rest but again, set an alarm so you don’t sleep 12 hours straight. You may think your body needs that, but that’s not nec-essarily true. Unfortunately your body and brain get more confused when this happens. You skip

meals, you’re not keeping yourself hydrated and of course, you’re not moving.

This is why an alarm is important. Now, this may sound a little funny, but I strongly recom-mend your alarm to be a song you really enjoy to the point of wanting to sing along to it. It doesn’t have to be a super fast paced song, but definitely one that you associate with happiness or a beautiful memory. That’s my biggest trick to getting my body out of bed! I begin to hum and sing along to it while stepping out of the comfy sheets and fluffy pillow.

O n c e y o u a r r i v e at y o u r l a y o v e r

d e s t i n at i o n , ta k e t h e t i m e t o r e s t b u t

a g a i n , s e t a n a l a r m s o y o u d o n … t s l e e p 1 2

h o u r s s t r a i g h t

36


THE BEST COACHESTHE BEST FACILITIESTHE BEST YOU

BJJ, MARTIAL ARTS, MMA, BOXING, KICK BOXING, MUAY THAI, BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU, GYMNASTICS, CHEERLEADING, CROSSFIT, CROSSFIT HIIT, CROSSFIT WATER WOD, GENTLE YOGA, VINYASA YOGA, SWING YOGA, POWER YOGA, PILATES, ZUMBA, RPM, TRI-BLAST, TRX, CORE BLASTER, CIRCUIT TRAINING, KICKBOXERCISE, BOXERCISE, BODY ATTACK, BODY PUMP, BODY BALANCE, BODY COMBAT, BODY BIKE, OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING, STEP, GRIT, BAREFOOT, SWIMMING, SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING...

Click here to visit our website for more information

What I’ve enjoyed mostly about Bodyweight/Calisthenics training is that they can be done any-where of course! What’s even better is that you can easily get someone to join you and do part-ner workouts. This is where galley talk comes in handy! Get to know your fellow crew; you’d be surprised as to how many would like to join you for a workout! In my experience, girls can be a little trickier to encourage but it’s definitely possi-ble. I’ll be honest, I personally get a huge kick out of training with a guy simply because I love the challenge. We all have skills and different levels of fitness so when I get the opportunity to train with a guy, not only do I feel even more physical-ly and mentally challenged, but I definitely make sure to push him a lot too. I’ve become so in-volved with fitness that if I don’t workout in some kind of way daily, I feel like I missed a huge part of my day and that’s not a good feeling.

During some flights when they’re long or quiet, we tend to sit around in the galley or jump seats and relax, which is totally understandable. But you can still take a few minutes to move your body (uniform permitting). I often do lunges

and I make sure to feel the burn! You can even do triceps dips on the jump seats or push ups at an elevated angle (such as having your hands on a wall or the galley counter) you may need extra reps on this one to feel it since your body is at a steep angle. Some crew may look at you in funny ways but deep down they want to join you and a few might actually do!

T h i s i s w h e r e g a l l e y ta l k c o m e s

i n h a n d y ! G e t t o k n o w y o u r

f e l l o w c r e w … y o u … d b e s u r p r i s e d

a s t o h o w m a n y w o u l d l i k e t o

j o i n y o u f o r a w o r k o u t !

I’ve come across a lot of crew who want to make a change in their bodies and say they’re “on a diet”. But quite often, that “diet” falls through and they go back to eating anything at any time. The most common thing I hear is that they have no time to prepare food before the flight or they just can’t be bothered. Well, if you feel you can’t be bothered preparing food to fuel your body prop-erly, then don’t expect to have long lasting changes in your body either. The meal prep is another subject I will get into in the near future, but for now, keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be something fancy, on the contrary, it can be incredibly simple like steamed veggies and chick-en. What’s important is your willingness to be prepared.

If you set yourself goals, make sure they’re feasible and again, simple. Having an idea like losing 5kg might be something that will throw you off track after a couple of days. Trust me, if you maintain a form of training that challenges your body with proper eating habits and hy-dration, it will show. But be patient...Rome wasn’t built in a day after all.

Stay tuned for next months’ issue, as I will show you dif-ferent and simple ways to workout while traveling and examples of partner workout!

y o u c a n s t i l l ta k e a f e w

m i n u t e s t o m o v e y o u r b o d y

( u n i f o r m p e r m i t t i n g )

38


Camila Asenjo has been flying for 20 months, holds a Psychology degree and an impressive list of achievements in fitness.

Pole Fitness & Aerial Instructor for over 6 years.1st place - 2013 Quebec Pole Fitness Championship.3rd place - 2013 Canadian National Pole Championship.Calisthenics Level 1 & 2 Trainer by WCO.

Follow Camila on Instagram @CAMI4SENJO

Just Air Crew is Giving away 20 tickets thanks to Peppermint ExperienceSimply tag #justaircrew & #JACfie in your next Instagram post.We will be selecting the 10 most creative posts that will win Double tickets each. Winners will be contacted by the 21st of Dec.

JAC reCommends

In this issue we recommend 2 great books that

will make a great Christmas gift and improve

your galley gossip considerably. Just don’t buy

them for your loved ones!

Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and

Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feetby Heather Poole

Real-life flight attendant Heather Poole has written a charming and funny insider’s account of life and work in the not-always-friendly skies. Cruising Attitude is a Coffee, Tea, or Me? for the 21st century, as the author parlays her fifteen years of flight experience into a delightful account of crazy airline passengers and crew drama, of overcrowded crash-pads in “Crew Gardens” Queens and finding love at 35,000 feet. The popular author of “Galley Gossip,” a weekly column for AOL’s award-winning travel website Gadling.com, Poole not only shares great stories, but also explains the ins and outs of flying, as seen from the flight attendant’s jump seat.

40


Cabin Fever: The sizzling secrets of a Virgin air

hostessby Mandy Smith

BUCKLE UP FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE...

Mandy Smith spent twelve years strutting down the aisles as one of Richard Branson’s sexy and sassy flight attendants. In Cabin Fever she tells the good, the bad and the downright naughty tales of life in the air.

From dealing with projectile vomit and celebrity tan-trums to sipping Manhattans and shopping in New York, this is riotous good fun. Set against a backdrop of exotic locations, the cast of zany characters includes everyone from Courtney Love to Sir Richard himself.

Mandy’s jet-setting job allowed her to search the globe for Mr. Right, which led her to many steamy love affairs, in-flight entertainment has never been so risqué!

‘This fun read dishes on what it's like to live with your head literally in the clouds - from in-flight fist fights to sneaky rides at Luna Park during a Sydney stopover.’

Cosmopolitan

41

Healthy

Christmas

Paleo

Gingerbread

Healthy

Christmas

Paleo

Gingerbread

42


It's Christmas time and there are way too many sweet

temptations around!

Here's my healthy adaptation of a festive favourite so you can

enjoy the flavours of the season while still avoiding grains, gluten

and processed sugars. It's the time for giving, so bake a batch to

share with your fellow crew today!

Follow Holly and her amazing fitness and Paleo lifestyle on @hollytrolleydolly

Hi, I'm Holly, an Aussie girl living in Dubai. I've been cabin crew for almost 13 years so I understand the ups and downs of the job and how it can affect your health and wellbeing. Throughout my years of flying I have always maintained an active lifestyle, seeing the job as an opportunity to try all sorts of awesome things like white water rafting, horse riding, snorkeling and hiking. I'm also a keen Crossfit athlete, having competed at a regional level.

While it's super important to keep active, eating a clean, healthy diet is a must to keep at the top of your game. This has led me to writing a Paleo food blog, a way of life I believe whole heartedly in. Through the JAC magazine, I will share with you my simple Paleo recipes for dining at home, meals to take onboard and snacks on the go.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Cel-sius.

Grease a Swiss roll tin with coco-nut oil and line base with baking paper ( my tin was 32x23cm).

Beat eggs, oil, molasses, maple syr-up and vanilla together until well com-bined. Combine all dry ingredients to-gether and add to the wet mix.

Combine well. Spread mix evenly into pan and

bake for 20 mins. Reduce heat to 100 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 20 minutes until firm and edges have browned.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan.

Cut into squares and have a Merry Christmas

3 cups almond flour 1/2 cup coconut oil

4 eggs2/3 cup blackstrap molasses3 tablespoons maple syrup1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda

INGREDIENTSINGREDIENTS

43

JAC: Where you from? Treen: Canada

JAC: How old are you? Treen: 27

JAC: What made you want a fly? Treen : I have been traveling ever

since I was a little girl and I always loved being able to see new places, different cultures and meet new peo-ple from different nationalities.

JAC: How long have you been flying for?

Treen: 2.5 years

JAC: What is your favorite destina-tion?

Treen: Wow, that’s a hard one. I can't really say because everywhere I go there is something that I fall in love with in that country but if I had to choose, I would say Thailand.

JAC: What do you like to do at your destination?

Treen: I love to explore as much as I can and eat all the amazing food. If there enough time, I definitely enjoy a little bit of shopping.

JAC: Favorite turnaround? Treen: Beirut. I would love to go

there one day on vacation.

JAC: How do you keep fit? Treen: I try and go to the gym on my

layovers as much as I can and love to swim and run on my days off.

JAC: Favorite part of your job? Treen: Sounds cliché but of course

the traveling and exploring the world. I never thought in my lifetime I would be able to see all these beautiful plac-es and experience all the culture.

JAC: How many years do you think you will want to fly for?

Treen: Your guess is as good as mine :)

JAC: Your favorite quote? Treen: "If gods with me, who's

against me"

JAC: In One word maybe Two, how do you feel about night flights?

Treen: No Thanks

JAC: In One word describe your job? Treen: Fascinating

60 SECONDS WITH TREEN

Follow Treen adventures on Instagram @ treen_xox

44


46


OUR FAVOURITE JACFIEEach issue we will be selecting interesting instagram posts from the Aviation industry.

To be featured tag @justaircrew and #JACFIE on your post. Do not forget to enter our

instagram competition with over $3000 of prizes to be given away by January 2016 to

one winner. More info about competition in this issue.

Winners should be a member of JAC mobile app, download your app for free from www.justaircrew.com

@elif737

47

@ahmad_anugrahofficial

@world.pilots

@henie_picart

@aviatorzurich

@airberlin

48


@lenysyapetrova

@if_only_fly

@krissylou243@yes_she__is

@adoubleu88

49

@poppy_gee_philippines

@justaircrew

@lenysyapetrova

@e_oleola

@etihadairways

50


@miss_cabello@justaircrew

@lijuncrewlifeuae

THE COUNTRY OF MAGICAL REALISM

Words and Photographs by Ana Gak

52


Colombia is at once a place so notoriously feared and so infinitely wealthy in culture and diversity, that

a trip to this South American country will nothing short of blow your mind and all of your senses. The vastness of variety— in topography, nature, music, artistic expression, architecture, histo-ry— makes Colombia one of the richest and most fascinating countries I have had the pleasure to explore. Whoev-er came up with the motto, “The most dangerous thing about Colombia is,

you may never want to leave” was right. Colombia is perfect for nature lovers, home to 314 different ecosystems and 10% of the world’s biodiversity. For art buffs, from Botero to the array of mu-seums in each district, street art and sculptures. For lovers of the tales of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. For dancers, explorers, anthropologists, foodies, nightlife connoisseurs. In short, Co-lombia has something for everyone. Below, I share my top 5 favorite places in Colombia and what you can enjoy in each.

53

Medellin Food, Flowers and Hospitality

Medellin, the city of eternal spring. Tucked deep into a vibrant green valley surrounded by mountains, Medellin is temperate, lush, and thriving with growing development of businesses, hotels and restaurants. Of all the cities I visited in Colombia, Medellin has by far the best quality of hospitality. Restaurants here rival Los Angeles, Chicago and Bos-ton. The nightlife, in turn, is a combination of good music, cheap drinks, and beautiful people. The Paisas as the Medellin locals are called, are friendly and welcoming— a sort of “shirt off your back” type of people. When asking for directions, locals would happily take me to my destination rather than just give me instructions on how to get there. And once there, willing to share a drink, a meal, tell a story or two. Medellin is rich in

flora and fauna, the city encompassed with fruit-bearing trees, river estuaries and little waterfalls. Park Lleras is home to the best restaurants and nightclubs, many of which have 2-for-1 deals on drinks and happy hour specials all day long. Clubs welcome inter-national DJs and are open till late. Medellin, once home to Pablo Escobar, has changed drastically since his time. Going from a city where kidnappings and murders were ram-pant, it is now home to the largest free li-brary in South America, as well as plenty of parks, plazas, and meeting places that feel far from dangerous. One word of caution, it is still best to have a travel buddy and stay out of the downtown area after sunset. As a single American woman, I would have to say Medellin is the safest city in Colombia, reminiscent of Europe and a melting pot of international travelers and expats alike.

M e d e l l i n i s t e m p e r at e , l u s h , a n d t h r i v i n g

w i t h g r o w i n g d e v e l o p m e n t o f b u s i n e s s e s ,

h o t e l s a n d r e s ta u r a n t s

54


La Candelaria, BogotaBogota Street ArtColombia’s capital Bogota is sprawling, crowded, smog-

gy, and the outskirts are covered in walls of trash. At first sight, Bogota was a place I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Upon further exploring, I found the city to be quite charming with its museums, cute alley ways in the La Candelaria district, and plenty of street art to enjoy. Next to the Botero Museum and Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), the street art and bike tours in La Candelaria are my top pick for ex-ploring the city. Featuring the lon-gest street art gallery in Colombia, Bogota is ripe with art on buildings and walls, probably due to the fact that it is one of the only major cit-ies in the world where vandalism is not illegal. International graffi-ti artists flock to Bogota to share their work both in large-scale for-mat and smaller pieces— such as masks, installations and stickers. An Australian graffiti artist by the

name of Crisp provides tours in La Candelaria. He leads a walking tour throughout the district, admit-ting that some of the work is his, but without specifically acknowl-edging which pieces he is responsi-ble for, until the end. The art rang-es from murals of jungle-inspired plants and animals, tigers, leopards and monkeys, indigenous Colombi-an medicine men, to more political-ly-charged pieces. A country that has experienced as much political un-rest as Colombia, portrays a direct result of oppression on the citizens. To see a free-flowing expression of struggle in the form of visual art is inspirational, educational, and sim-ply a moving experience.

56


Cartagena Gabriel Garcia Marquez Dreamscape Cartagena is like a sunny, lyrical, brightly-colored dream. Bougain-

villeas draped across Spanish colonial style arches of pastel-painted buildings, the scent of fried fish and the sounds of the Caribbean com-ing out of every cafe, restaurant, bus, store, market. A stunning collection of doors adorning the entrance to homes and businesses, from antique wood to modern glass and metal. Walking through the narrow streets of Cartagena is akin to transporting yourself into the pages of a Ga-briel Garcia Marquez novel. People are smiling and friendly, and there are many, many tourists. Cartagena is drastically more expensive than Medellin and Bogota. And for good reason. It is the most visible Colom-bian city for travelers. It is a great destination to enjoy the Caribbean flavor of Colombia, spend time in the sun, and at restaurants serving fresh caught fish. My top recommendations for food are: La Mulata and Agua Del Mar.

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Islas Del Rosario Caribbean Paradise, FoundFrom Cartagena, a day trip to the Islas Del Rosario is a must.

If you are a fan of perfect beaches complete with sparkling turquoise water, soft pale yellow sand, and fresh lobster, you cannot go wrong with Isla Baru. Playa Blanca is perhaps one of the top 5 beaches I have experienced in the Carib-bean— and that says a lot, given that I have spent 10 years canvassing the islands for the most beautiful beaches. Lob-ster is fresh out of the water, at $2 a piece, it is a mouth-wa-tering budget-friendly lunch that will make you smile the entire time you are eating it and then some. The day trips from Cartagena take you to a couple of the islands in the channel, and leave you on Playa Blanca for a few hours. If you find this is not enough time in paradise for you— you can stay overnight in one of the raised jungle huts that line the beach. They range from $8-25 a night depending on fa-cilities, however, be aware no matter where you stay it is quite rustic. Isla Baru also does not have any ATMs so come prepared with cash. Make sure you do not miss the islands when you go to Cartagena— they are worth all the time you invest in visiting them.

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Santa Marta The Oldest City in South AmericaSanta Marta is about a four hour bus ride North-East of Cartagena. The old-

est city in South America, it was the first Spanish settlement in Colombia. San-ta Marta features a formidable port, beautiful churches and intriguing antique shops with relics worth exploring. Most notably, the city is the gateway to the Sierra Nevadas of Colombia, a unique and awe-inspiring snow-capped mountain range that runs into the Caribbean sea. From Santa Marta, you can go up into the mountains to the coffee-growing oasis of Minca where waterfalls and cof-fee plantations are abundant. Or stay coastal and take the bus to Park Tayrona, a national treasure when you can hike (or take a horse) deep into the tropical park on the banks of the Caribbean and camp or stay in luxury cabins. No matter which direction you choose, adventure is sure to be abundant.

A true aesthete, inspired by art and nature, she has spent years can-vassing the globe for firsthand ex-periences of the vastness of beauty available to us in this world.

Internationally raised, with roots in the Balkans and a true NYC con-ditioning, Ana considers herself a global citizen. At the age of 10 her first trip to a third world country– India– opened her eyes to what lies beyond the comforts of modern day western world. Just a taste, and she was hooked. Thailand, China, Egypt, Sri Lanka followed, with thanks to

ANA GAK IS NATIVE NEW YORKER, GLOBAL GYPSYher fearless adventurer of a mother who believes the best education is derived from a wide-open world view.

Ana continue to fill her thirst for foreign culture through her travels and experienc-es abroad, always welcoming adventure when it comes knocking. It is her intention to share her perspectives through her blogs on http://bohemiancompass.com and as a contributor to Just Air Crew, giving her readers a first hand account of the world as she see it.

Follow her adventures on Instagram: @GYPFLY

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TIPS ON YOUR NEXT CORPORATE CATERING ORDER As corporate cabin crew, there is no doubt that one of

the toughest aspects of your job will be dealing with the

ever changing requests of your passengers, in particular

their catering orders. Not only are you faced with time

pressures, but the fact that you are never completely aware

of what your catering order will look like until it turns

up, mere hours before your guests’ board for departure, is

enough to send even the most seasoned flight attendant

into a spin.

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A s corporate cabin crew, there is no doubt that one of the toughest as-pects of your job will be dealing with the ever changing requests of your

passengers, in particular their catering orders. Not only are you faced with time pressures, but the fact that you are never completely aware of what your catering order will look like until it turns up, mere hours before your guests’ board for departure, is enough to send even the most seasoned flight attendant into a spin.

Every guest and flight attendant have very individual preferences when it comes to pri-vate aviation catering and no matter where in the world you may be ordering your ca-tering, there are a few key points you should always include when placing your catering order.

Here are some tips from the Dining High team that may be useful;

Make sure you include the date, airport, FBO and time that you require your catering to be delivered

Photo by Pamela Robbie


Include your contact details and the best time to email/phone you so that you can be contacted with any queries or substitutions

Give your caterer as much time as you can to prepare your order, that way you have more chance of getting all of the items you request, and there will be less need for sub-stitutes and correspondence.

Make mention of any allergies, intoler-ances or preferences that your guests/crew may have

Do you have both a microwave and oven on board? This will determine the packag-ing used

Think about your total journey time and time zones you are travelling to and from. How many meal services are required and what snacks are needed?

Do you have a contingency? What if more passengers suddenly turn up (it happens of-ten!!)– can your order stretch to cater for more guests if needed and have you provid-ed an adequate variety of choices?

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How do you like your meals packaged, in bulk (i.e. all salm-on steaks in one foil), sauces separate, salads ready-made? This is crucial information to ensure you are able to store, reheat and present with ease

Have you thought about presentation? Do you need spe-cific garnishes, lemon slices, rice rings, additional sauces bot-tles, etc? If your guests have requested ice cream, dry ice will be essential

Keep your menu interesting. Research your destination and consider national delicacies that you could add to your menu. Also remember to check for any regional restrictions, for ex-ample, within the GCC dishes containing pork and alcohol may be difficult to come by

Have you ordered crew food? Keep your pilots hydrat-ed, offer a selection of juices and non-caffeinated drinks and avoid carb heavy meals which can make them tired. Happy pi-lot, happy flight!

Do you require any additional items, newspapers, flowers, grocery shopping? If you are on a budget, it may be more cost efficient to buy these yourself if time permits

Worldwide, caterers are in the business of supplying you with what you ask for. If you want something specific, you must communicate it, or run the risk of the caterer making as-sumptions on your behalf. Be as detailed as possible, photos can be very useful.

R e s e a r c h y o u r

d e s t i n at i o n

a n d c o n s i d e r

n at i o n a l

d e l i c a c i e s

B e a s d e ta i l e d

a s p o s s i b l e


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Dining High are Dubai’s premiere aviation catering concierge service. The 24 hour operations team is led by experienced aviation and hospi-tality trained personal who oversee the ordering, co-ordination, quality assurance, packaging and delivery of all orders to assist cabin crew in producing restaurant quality cui-sine on-board.

Services expand far beyond the scope of the traditional catering menu by utilising several of Dubai’s 5-star hotel and restaurant suppli-ers. Through these means, Dining High works with the chefs to pro-vide bespoke dishes to create a truly personalised in-flight dining experience for on-board guests.

To find out more about Dining High and how they can assist you with your catering concierge needs from DXB, DWC and SHJ contact the Operations team, 24 hours a day on 00971 4818 9019 or request menu information at [email protected] You can also follow trends and find menu in-spirations on Dining High Facebook, Instagram and Facebook.

63DUBAI MARINA BYBLOS HOTEL

TUESDAYS - LADIES NIGHTSWEDNESDAYS - THE OFFICETHURSDAYS - THE WEEKEND

FRIDAYS - THE WEEKENDSATURDAYS - EXTRA TIME

10PM - 03 AM

MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLED-

YOUR SELFIE

#JACFIE WITH JAC IS WORTH $3000

As mentioned in Issue 1, Just Air Crew will be giving away a single prize to a winner to the total of 10,000 AED in prizes.

Prizes will include • 3 day drive away in a cool VW bee-

tle courtesy of dollar rent a car• Weekend get away to unwind and

relax • Girl’s EZ traveller adventure trolley

bag from Dakine • 6 months Gym Membership at fit-

ness HQ

• Yoga package • Salon beauty package from Plati-

num Black• Brunch for 6 people

The winner of the prize will be an-nounced in the January issue of JAC mag and on all our social platform.

To be eligible, simply keep enjoying what you have been doing and tak-ing pictures of your destinations, on-board, colleagues, cockpit, galley and adventures.

Time to Hastag #JACFIE on your next airline picture

on Instagram and other social platforms and win over

10000AED in prizes.

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Here are some hints to make your #JACFIE standout• Be original • Be uncommon• Use #JACFIE word in the picture itself • The more love you show towards Just Air Crew,

the more love we show towards your #JACFIE• #JACFIE can be taken by other than yourself

Happy Snapping and see you our Instagram account @JUSTAIRCREW

T&C: Winners must be able to utilize and collect the gifts in the specific given time. Prizes are not transferrable and not exchange-able for cash. Entry is open to all crew who reside in the UAE and employed by any commercial, private or charter companies.

Cabin Fever: The sizzling secrets of a Virgin air

hostessJAC PARTNERS

Just Air Crew | Dec 2015 | Issue 2

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Transcript of Just Air Crew | Dec 2015 | Issue 2