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A day in a cabin<br />
attendant’s life<br />
A very important member<br />
of the crew in one<br />
of <strong>Maldivian</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Taxi</strong><br />
seaplanes is the cabin<br />
attendant. On a sunny day<br />
with no wind and calm<br />
water his job seems easy.<br />
And one might be right in<br />
that, at least if one forgets<br />
about the average 700 lbs.<br />
of baggage that he needs<br />
to manually load and off<br />
load at each stop. But then<br />
also throw in the monsoon<br />
rain, winds of 30-40 knots<br />
and 6-8 foot waves – then the cabin attendant’s job<br />
gets to be a bit more exciting than most other jobs.<br />
He has to get out in the rain, stand on the float while<br />
keeping his balance, ready to jump onto the jetty<br />
or floating platform and secure the aircraft in a tight<br />
coordinated operation with the captain of the aircraft.<br />
All the time while the rain is hammering down from<br />
above, the waves washing over the floats; the platform<br />
goes up and down like a rollercoaster ride, and the<br />
noise of the airplane’s howling turbine engines only<br />
allow non-verbal communication.<br />
MALDIVIAN AIR TAXI<br />
by Mads Wallentin<br />
They take your hand luggage and stow it in the aft luggage room.<br />
They jump from the floats onto the dock and tie down the aircraft<br />
in sun or rain. And they give you a safety brief with a smile before<br />
takeoff. Meet one of MAT’s cabin attendants.<br />
“Luckily those days are<br />
far apart, although we do<br />
experience them during<br />
the monsoon season. But<br />
ninety-five percent of my<br />
days are pure enjoyment,<br />
meeting happy passengers<br />
either on their way to a<br />
resort or coming back from<br />
an enjoyable vacation,”<br />
explains Ismail Raeef, who<br />
is undoubtedly <strong>Maldivian</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Taxi</strong>’s most experienced<br />
cabin attendant.<br />
He has been with the company this<br />
year for 18 years, joining the company<br />
when he was only eighteen years old<br />
in 1994. Today Ismail Raeef – who<br />
amongst all his colleagues and friends<br />
is known as just Raeef – has flown over<br />
16.000 hours as a cabin attendant on<br />
the Twin Otter.<br />
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... www.maldivianairtaxi.com 27
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