During the years I have worked as a flight attendant for El-Al Israeli airlines, I have found that many passengers are very interested in the flight service routines the flight crew commits along the way. In this article I will structure the details that make the cross-Atlantic flight service routines, and will chronologically specify when, where and how long every part of the service routine takes place in tourist class.
Please note that every step of this routine starts at the last row and ends at the front row.
-01:30 – Fight Crew briefing: getting to know the crew, pilots and purser, and safety movie presentation. Flight attendants are also divided between passenger classes (first, business and tourist) and aircraft zones.
- 01:00 - The flight Crew boards the aircraft, and makes arrangements for the flight. This includes counting the number of meals, marking the special meals, etc.
- 0:45 till – 0:15 – Boarding time.
- 0:05 – Turn on the ovens and start warming up the meals.
0:00 - Take off
0:20 – Fasten seatbelt sign is off, and attendants start serving drinks. Meanwhile, the galley attendant makes sure that both trolleys are full, and that the meal is ready to serve as soon as the trolleys return to the Galley. If this is a morning flight, then breakfast and warm drinks will be served at this time (skip to 0:45).
0:40 – Two attendants walk around with a garbage bag, while the rest serve the special meals and prepare the food trolleys for serving.
0:45 – Dinner (or Breakfast) is being served, along with a warm bon or bagel.
1:05 – Two attendants start serving coffee, tea and Sabra liquor.
1:15 – All meals have been served, and the trolleys go back to the last row in order to start picking up the trays.
1:30 – All trays have been picked up, and the lights are turned off for sleep. At this time, movies start showing, and half of the attendants go to get some rest.
If this is a morning flight, the duty free trolley will make a round.
5:00 – Change of shifts, the other half of the attendants go to sleep while those who just woke up serve a snack for those passengers who are not sleeping.
8:45 – Attendants start making breakfast – warming up the bagels and coffee pots. If this was a morning flight, a round of drinks will be handed out, followed by a warm dinner according to the dinner proceedings detailed above.
9:00 Breakfast is being served along with warm drinks and a bagel.
9:30 Breakfast is being picked up.
9:45 Duty free trolley makes a round.
10:30 Warm Turkish towels for refreshment are handed out and then picked.
