A group of South Korean celebrities are appearing in the second series of a wildly popular reality show that sees them become fully-fledged members of cabin crew. The show follows them from initial training all the way through to their first day on the job with different airlines including budget carrier Air Busan and Cebu Pacific…. and it’s an experience that may change their opinion of flight attendants forever.
“Whenever I’m on a plane I’m almost always sleeping so I had never actually met a flight attendant,” explained Eun Ji Won, a South Korean singer and former K-Pop band member ahead of the season two premiere in December.
“I’d always been curious about what they do. Having now gone on flights, I’m determined to never take my own beverage on a plane. I never knew that they have to dispose of beverages in the lavatory because there’s nowhere else to do so,” he said of his experience.
Kim Yu Jin, a South Korean singer and actress who’s better known simply as UEE, is also appearing in the show and again her opinion of cabin crew has been transformed after appearing on the show.
“Going on flights, I felt that flight attendants are truly amazing. I always just slept on planes but after this experience, I realized that flight attendants do so much,” she said in comments translated to English.
The show also stars Song Yunhyeong, a member of K-pop group iKON, along with Korean actor Shin Hyun Joon and comedian Hwang Jesung.
Ji Won initially struggled with some of the more simple tasks… getting pushed along the aisle by passengers during boarding much to the bemusement of his fellow crew. Then came the simple task of heating up noodles – which wasn’t quite as simple as you might imagine.
In South Korea, a career as a flight attendant is still highly sought after – so much so that’s it’s claimed some wannabes are willing to have plastic surgery to attain the ‘perfect look’. In fact, there are even cosmetic surgery clinics in Seoul that offer special ‘stewardess’ programmes.
South Korean airlines have long been accused of only hiring young and predominantly female crew who match a specific ‘look’. At least Channel A’s ‘Cabin Crew’ proves there’s a lot more to the job than just looking good.
