SKYPRO: A Fly Guy is a combination between a travel guide and a description of a flight attendant life.
What is your main source of inspiration?
I get my inspiration from my profession as cabin crew. The roles and responsibilities of being crew cover a vast range of expertise from safety professional to tour guide and a lot of stops in-between. There’s a lot of material to work with. Also the people I interact with and the staff from other airlines I come in contact with during my working day provide loads of inspiration.
Why do you think A Fly Guy is such a success between your fellow flight attendant?
If there’s one thing flight attendants are great at, it’s networking. Yet, before Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge, cabin crew, as a profession, weren’t networked. We weren’t united on a global level. I decided to do something about this and used social media as the platform to build this network and the response has been mind blowing! Right now the networking is reaching nearly 8 million people a week and has peaked at 26 million weekly viewers. Positivity is also a key to the success of The Fly Guy Network. There are many flight attendant related sites out there, but post were only highlighting how awful our fly lives were, or how the passenger is the enemy. I took a different approach, and it worked.
Are you proud to wear a uniform? Why?
I’m extremely proud to wear my uniform because it’s one of the most iconic uniforms in the sky today. When people see it in the airport they automatically think luxury, safety and outstanding service. That’s the power of my uniform. Also, I think about how many thousands want to be wearing this uniform and it makes me feel even more privileged to be among the few that get to put it on.
How do you think uniforms will be like in the future?
I think we’re finally pulling away from the “casual and comfy” phase that airline uniforms were slipping into and finally returning to the iconic and couture glam of the golden age of flying. Luxury airlines like Emirates, Etihad and Singapore are fueling this resurgence by putting their crew at the forefront of their advertising campaigns dressed to the nines. Other airlines are following their lead and investing in more flattering, eye-catching looks that attract brand attention.
What are the best and worst things about uniforms today?
For me, the best thing about current uniforms is seeing how many airlines are bringing the hat back into action. There’s something about a hat that demands respect and turns heads. A hat perfectly completes a uniform and brings that aviator appeal to any outfit. As for the worst, I think the majority of crew who are given uniformed footwear would agree its the shoes. Airlines aren’t investing enough in good footwear. Cheap shoes kill our feet.
In your opinion, how should the perfect uniform be like?
The perfect uniform should represent its airline perfectly. It should incorporate the brand’s colors as well as ethnic and cultural accents that give hint to which country the crew are jetting in from. For example, Gulf Air isn’t as well known as it once was, but when you see that uniform, you know that plane is heading for the Middle East because of their beautiful hat and scarf. The perfect uniform also fits! It’s not too loose and not too tight. Skirts are short enough to arouse interest, but long enough to cover the basics as we say in the southern states, where I’m from. The perfect uniform is also eye catching and doesn’t blend in with all the the other apparel competing for attention in an airport. When crew do their airport strut, the uniform should do most of the work at catching the eye. The perfect unifom makes people say, “dang, I’m flying with the wrong airline!”
In your opinion, how should the perfect uniform be like?
The job of cabin crew is extremely physical and our uniform shouldn’t be an obstacle that impedes us from doing what we gotta do. An airline uniform needs to look like its ready for the runway, but move like its made for the gym.
The future of aviation is a mystery for us, how do you think it’s going to be like in the future? Do you think we can maintain the same glamour that is commonly associated with the the industry?
Maintaining glamour depends on society. I’ve lost all hope the general population will ever return to the day where people gave a thought to what they put on and dressed to impress when they took off with us. However, I’m hoping my fellow crew resist the urge to conform to society’s norm and remain a benchmark in hospitality and safety professionalism. I always say, flying never stopped being glamours, it’s the people in the plane that started wearing flipflops. It’s hard to keep up appearances when everyone around you looks like they don’t own a mirror, but I think if we continue rebuilding our image as an industry, the stewardess(ed) image will maintain its charm well into the future.
Regarding shoes, what do you think the perfect flight attendant shoe should have?
When building anything great you start from the bottom and work your way up. The same is true for a uniform. The shoe is the base of the uniform and it needs to be fashionable as well as functional. It also needs to last as its the most used part of a uniform. Comfort is also key! If I’m spending 19 hours in something, I want it to feel like it’s part of my body, not an enemy to it. For airline crew, shoes don’t need to be a time waster at security checks. I hate my uniform shoes every time I hear that beep beep and I loose my valuable duty free shopping time allowance.
How would you describe a day wearing SKYPRO shoes?
The day moves faster because I’m not pulling my shoes off at every security check. The day is also more enjoyable because my feet are happy. I must say I traded in my favorite pair of LV’s for my SKYPRO shoes even when I’m traveling as a passenger because they look great and feel good.
