Reading and Speaking. 2.13 Scan the text to make a list of pilot’s duties

2.13 Scan the text to make a list of pilot’s duties.

2.14 Skim the texts below and define Sarah’s profession. Give five proofs of your opinion.

Being jolted awake by a 3.30am alarm would be torture for most people, but for Sarah it’s really no problem as she has such a genuine passion for her job.

“Honestly I love my job,” says Sarah [not her real name] who has been working for Ryanair for almost four years, and currently flies from the airline’s East Midlands base. “Of course the early starts and long hours can be tough, but for me the whole experience of flying is so exciting and rewarding. You meet fantastic people, and no day is the same.

"A typical day can be 10 hours for Sarah, and although she’s only working three days a week, making life sound easy, it can be tiring. “You really feel it because you are on the go the whole time – before and during flights. Also people forget that you are physically working hard at 30,000 ft – it’s like being up a mountain at that altitude – so your body needs to adjust to that. But the flexibility my working hours allow is fantastic, and I have a great lifestyle,” she says. “On days off you can catch up, do your shopping when Tesco isn’t mobbed, see friends. It all balances out.”

“I start the day with getting ready, and that means paying real attention to the grooming regulations set out by the airline,” she explains. Lipstick colour must match nail varnish shade, skirt must be exactly on the knee. Even tights have to be the regulation colour for cabin crew. Hair must be short enough not to touch the collar, or if longer, in a ponytail or bun with not a hair out of place. “I once went to work with red and blonde highlights and got into loads of trouble,” says Sarah.

She’s learnt a lot since her early days, following training in 2008, and is now an operating senior, so on most flights leads a crew team of four. This means getting to the airport in plenty of time to sign in and prepare for the pre-flight briefing. “Delivering the briefing is a vital part of the day because you are talking your team through how the day will go, the flight, the number of passengers, who’s allocated which tasks, any new security procedures to consider,” says Sarah. “Then it’s time for us to go through security check in exactly the same way as passengers.”

Then the crew boards the aircraft well ahead of passengers, and carries out a complete search of the interior. “This is very important as my job is to ensure the safety of the aircraft, the passengers, and the crew,” says Sarah. Once passengers are boarded and correctly seated there’s a head count to make sure numbers tally with what the ground staff have stipulated.

“If everyone’s on board we ‘close up’, hand out the magazines, menu cards and often do the safety demonstrations while the plane is taxiing for take-off. Once in the air it’s really non-stop - serving the passengers drinks, snacks, scratch cards and doing lots of clearing up as we go.”