Undercover boss works as flight attendant to see how hard it really is
Published on Aug 25, 2023 at 4:56 PM (UTC+4)
by Kate Bain
Last updated on Aug 25, 2023 at 4:56 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
This airline boss just went undercover to work as a flight attendant so he could see how hard the job really was.
Lufthansa Airlines CEO Jens Ritter decided to don the uniform and work as a member of the cabin crew from Frankfurt to Riyadh and back.
Unsurprisingly, Ritter described the experience as “challenging”.
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“I have been working for the Lufthansa Group for many years. But I have never had the opportunity to work as part of the cabin crew,” he said.
“And honestly, that was so interesting and also challenging!
“I was amazed by how much there is to organize, especially, if something doesn’t go as planned – for example the meals offered on the menu cards were not exactly the meals loaded on board.”
Ritter appeared to choose his words carefully when describing what it was like to serve his tired and most likely jet-lagged passengers.
“It was so interesting to address the guests’ wishes individually, to deal with the different energy everyone has,” he said.
“To be present and attentive and charming – when the biological clock just tells you to sleep – was something entirely different.”
Ritter said he worked as a flight attendant in business class on the way to Riyadh and economy class during the night flight back to Frankfurt.
“I was astonished how much I learned… and honestly, I enjoyed every moment,” he said.
But he did say the experience prompted him to make some changes to the way his company operates.
“Deciding things in the office will be different after really feeling the decisions on board,” he said.
One of which, he said would be making sure the meals offered on board matched what was listed on the menu.
Considering how horrendous some flights can be, if that’s the worst that happened, we’d call it a pretty successful flight for the CEO.
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Kate is Lead Editor, overseeing coverage across automotive, tech, and lifestyle content on the site. She has more than 10 years’ experience as a journalist and news editor, having worked across a range of major publications including News Corp, Daily Mail Australia, and Sky News. Kate holds a Bachelor of Business Management from University of Queensland and a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism from Queensland University of Technology. She has been with Supercar Blondie since 2020 and played a key role in establishing supercarblondie.com as a leading automotive news destination.
