There is so much gossip and misunderstanding in the airline industry today. If you work for an airline, especially as a crew member, there are stigmas that are still alive today. From the famous line in the 70’s novel “Coffee Tea or Me” Most stewardesses have been labeled as promiscuous women who were always looking for love. The current reality is very different. The airline industry has always been glamorized as an exciting industry full of fun, pleasure and great travel. The truth usually leans towards the exact opposite. The general day in flying for a living usually involves rude passengers and enduring government controlled environments such as TSA and air traffic control.

cheating spouses

In the airline industry it is quite easy to cheat on your spouse if you are married. The travel portion is a perfect backdrop for finding and meeting other people and “connecting” while on the road. The fact is usually further from the truth. Most airline crews, especially pilots, are pretty worked up about their company’s quest for productivity. This means resting after flying 12 to 15 hours a day and dropping dead tired after a long day. Usually you’re somewhere you don’t want to be (Detroit is a good example) late at night and all you want to do is go to sleep. Sure there are few players out there, but they definitely do not represent the majority of airline crews. The bottom line is that we just want to go home and sleep in our own beds with our own spouses. Are there cheating spouses in the airline business? Sure, but it’s just your typical nine-to-five type of company.

Witches and homosexuals

Hag’s is a common phrase in the airline industry and applies primarily to the ranks of flight attendants. The witch tag is usually applied to older flight attendants who are more or less battle-hardened from years of flying on the road. They really have no interest in meeting you or advancing their career, it’s all about getting their time for the month and then going home. The Gay label applies to the growing popularity of gay (male) flight attendants migrating to the airline industry. Is it a politically correct label? Probably not, but sometimes that’s what you end up with. No one is really sure what the appeal is to the gay community, but one can speculate that airlines provide a means of being mobile so they can move around and meet other people they’re interested in “connecting” with. This is starting. permeate the industry as a “standard” and a stigma that is not a very flattering vision for airlines.

married pilots

Married pilots, mostly men, probably have it harder than ever in the industry. There is a growing trend of gay flight attendants trying to “turn” a married pilot into a love match. This is a form of harassment that you never hear about as most men tend to ignore it or just treat it as part of the job. The truth of the matter is that pilots and flight attendants don’t connect anymore, most flight attendants don’t want to have much to do with pilots. At some point in the past, some pilots made fools of themselves in the game of love and a stigma arose that labels all pilots as gamers. Of course, there are always exceptions to this; as in any company.

So what should a pilot’s (or flight attendant’s) wife do to protect their spouses from traveling on the road? Like any spouse who wants to protect her relationship, they have to work on it while their partners are home and try to strengthen their love for each other.

In short, the media often has some sort of control over what labels or stigmas are assigned to industries. I imagine the old adage “Don’t believe everything you hear” probably applies better.