How thorough is an air stewardess's medical?

I was once told by a girl who worked for a major UK airline that her pre employment medical only took 10 minutes. She worked in PR, but was told that that the cabin crew girls medical lasted an hour. Has anyone here been through it, or know what is involved?

That's a very and erotic question I also would like to know more about the subject. I would perform a complete physical head to toe, with special focus on lung and heart exam and neurologycal exam also. I know that they can not have any kind of lesions or scars. I suppose that blood and urine analisys, chest X-ray and ECG will be asked. Breast and gynecological exam shoul have also special attention.

Great subject. Imagine being the company doctor for a major air line!

I used to live near a UK airport and knew a lot of Cabin Crew. Every time they moved airline they would have to attend the ominous pre-employment medical which was notoriously rigorous. I knew more than one young woman that failed it, probably on the drugs & alcohol screening but would always push to find out what the deal was. Being a mildly ashamed at failing however they were reluctant to discuss and just wanted to get off the subject as quickly as possible. One did however mention that they stuck loads of things to her chest and made her run on a hamster treadmill – complaining that it was only for cabin crew and not the marines.

That would suggest that she underwent a stress test and that the examination was very thorough.

Don't know about the U K buthere in the U S three of my girl friends have been employed by major U S air lines. All three said they had to submit to very complete exams. Pelvics included. Both in training and annually.

My brother used to perform these exams for flight attendants and pilots. In the US they are required -- pelvics are required because there is a limitation on how long a flight attendant may fly while pregnant (beyond the first trimester requires medical certification). Certain immunizations are required because flight attendants handle food.

Full body checkup including pelvics are done

I think most of the focus in the strewardess medical is on the body strength and if the back, legs, knees and feets are strong. I also think there are speciel requirement and exams for the vision and hearing. Never saw a stewardess wearing glasses (of coruse they could wear lenses)

I would definitely want the doctor to be thorough to make sure that crew of the plane I happen to be on are physically fit to perform their jobs.

I agree with the above post regarding the important parts of the job of a flight attendant. I also think knowing pelvics are done for their employment could be a nice in-flight fantasy.

Thats more rigorous then the physical for firefighters

Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but my own daughter (she is 22) works for a major airline here in the UK and her whole medical on joining the company 2 years ago invovled taking a form to her GP to fill out and sign giving her consent to her medical records, an eye test at her regular opticians, and a height/weight check at the training base in Luton.

Nothing else requred.

Also she has been on recurrent training once a year for 3 days of training, and has not been required to even answer any health questions, let alone an annual medical!

She has also never been required to have any other vaccinations.

Boring it may seem, but true it is.

I am kind of surprised to hear actually that flight attenants are required to have such complete physicals. Doctors who perform FAA physicals are required to have a special certification to perform them. Doc is certified to give FAA physicals and does so probably on a weekly basis for pilots and the FAA doesn't require any nakedness during or for their physicals. From what I gather, the FAA mainly focuses on the heart and vision. Doc is also pilot and is required to have a physical done by a certified doctor and he hasn't had to drop his pants at any of them either. I would have thought that a pilots physical would have been more complete than a flight attendants, who knew?

I'm sure things are a lot different in the US, it usually is..

And of course maybe differs for different airlines.

I only know what my daughter had to do (or not do!) here in the UK..

In fact I think there was more emphisis on how far she could swim!

My ex-boyfriend was a pilot and he had to go through all kinds of tests yearly in order to fly. He was even given a colonoscopy every year. He had a hatred of enemas due to that test and that's part of the reason we split up. Strange, though. He was kinky (whatever that means) in other ways and loved being dominant and loved giving anal sex and double penetration (with a toy). But giving me enemas was something he absolutely refused to do.

Actually it's a nice fantasy. Who among us male medfets wouldn't enjoy examining a parade of flight attendants and doing breast exams and vaginals on them?

But the truth is that it's mainly the vision and cardio that's important. In fact one airline got in trouble for going too far last year with prospective flight attendant candidates:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/airline-breast-check-ups-_n_936095.html

This is a direct link to the FAA website and exactly detail for detail what it requires for a first, second, and third class physical. If you look under all the naughty bits sections, it basically states that having ones naughty bits examined is optional, and is optional by the person getting the physical, not the doctor giving the physical.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/exam_tech/

Well said Andrea!!! And this is coming from a MALE flight attendant with 30 over years of service.

As with most other jobs I'm guessing, laymen don't really have any idea how hard, or how much responsibility is required from those doing their jobs.

I have always been of the belief that if a person does their job well, to an outsider it will look as though that persons job isn't that hard. A flight attendant is no different. To us laymen them passing out snacks, pillows and what not looks easy, but most of us can't even begin to fathom all the other things going through their minds, their constant checking for any signs of odd behaviors, odd noises, or anything amiss, so that they can jump into action and keep everyone safe. I have always admired them, and I am always respectful, I always smile, and I always say please and thank you.

Dealing with people isn't easy, and being a nurse isn't all that different than being a flight attendant. We both have to please the public, keep people safe, and no matter what happens, always remain calm, cool, and in charge.

A friend of mine worked for Emirates and she had a mandatory pap smear. This is confirmed on a number of websites including this one: http://www.cabincrew.com/forums/please-help-pap-test-for-females-only/45789/

It is irrelevant wich US based airline I hail from. I have worked the counter, the gate, OPS, reservations. All of this also includes customer care and customer relations.

I think you'll find that wasn't me, but Lindsey11 asking...

However, you seem to come across that you feel some people were questioning your experience?

I'm sure Cabin Crew in the US have different training, medical requirements, and job needs, I was merely pointing out that as far as my experience goes with my daughter's training and medical, it was very basic.

I'm sure she takes as much pride and respect in the job role as you did, with whatever airline it was with.

She has only ever trained as Cabin Crew, but is loving her job flying all over Europe on a daily basis.

Maybe some airlines in this country need to revise their medical exam process... ?

Who knows!

Found this on the recruitment page:

CABIN CREW / FLIGHT ATTENDANT JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Minimum Requirements

Age 18+

Height 5’2" (1.58m) to 6’3" (1.90m)

Weight in proportion to height

Physically fit and able to pass a medical assessment

Fluent in English & language of European base

Able to swim 25m

Able to tread water for at least 1 minute

Valid passport with unrestricted EU travel

No visible tattoos or body piercings

Able to arrive at chosen base within 90 minutes

Verifiable 5 year work history

Crew Bases: Basel & Geneva, Switzerland & Berlin Schoenefeld, Germany

Last updated 24-Mar-2012

There used to be a show on that I loved to watch, and it seems to me that it was about Southwest, but I could be wrong. It was a weekly show and was on about 6 years ago, and it wasn't a sitcom, but was filming in real time for the most part.

It was very entertaining, not to mention interesting and it gave us laymen a tiny look into the lives, jobs, and all that both entail when working for a major airline. I was always amazed at how much crap, sass, and backtalk the people at the gates took. But at the same time, also showed us how good they were at detecting possible serious issues before they boarded the flight.

Mashie

A close friend of mine was a flight attendant (then called a stewardess)back in the 60s and 70s. She loved her job and worked for a major airline traveling all over the world. The only thing she did not like was her annual flight physical which she described to me in detail once. She told me it was humilating experience, She had to strip naked, get weighed and then was given a short sheet to use to cover herself. The exam was given by a male doctor who she thought was a perv. She had to pee in a cup in front of him for the drug test, got thoughly poked and proded including a full pelvic. The end of the exam was the worse as she had to get up on the table on her knees, chest down legs spread and her preformed a 2 finger rectal/vaginal exam which seemed to take at least 3 minutes. She felt she was being taken advantage of but had no choice because that was the was it was done those days and she had to submit or not pass the physical.

I think you're thinking about Airline, which aired on A&E. It's in syndication on one of the lifestyle channels and airs nightly. It might be on DVD, as well.

A little of topic, but the physical I had when I applied for the Air Force was rather in-depth. Naked in full for the entire 30-40ish minutes. Bending over pulling butt cheeks as wide as possible apart then being fingered, jump on the spot while he was holding my testicles, pulling the foreskin back and if I recall a cotton tip (or something similar) inserted in my urethra. At least 1/2 of the examination was down there.

Wow, XYZed. What an exam. Did they expect you fly the plane with your genitals? That would be quite a feat.

Airline was a fun show. They exposed the absolute worst of the travelling public.

It always amazes me how incredibly ignorant, stupid, inconsiderate and obnoxious people can be in airports. I love how the drunk $99 coach ticket holders think the airports revolve around them.

AIRLINE on A&E is about Southwest Airlines. None of it was scripted it was all live as it happened.

*Just a quick note about those who are drunk before boarding. If the person at the counter or jetway entrance or if the in-flight crew feel that the guest (customer) is toooo drunk, boarding can be denied. I have seen it happen many times. I have also talked to these people after it happens when they are still drunk and when they are not drunk. It is quite the experience!

Every airline is different as to what there policies are with this and if there are additional charges for the guest to take a later flight.