An Indian flight attendant has opened up about why she quit her previous job working in a hotel to join the aviation industry. Isha, who posts on Instagram under the handle @isha_skydiaries, shared an eye-opening account of the realities of working in the hospitality industry.
In an Instagram post shared yesterday, she blamed long work hours and little appreciation as reasons behind her decision to walk away from her hotel job.
Reasons for quitting hotel job
The Akasa Air flight attendant broke down her reasons for quitting into six points.
First and foremost, she blamed long working hours. Isha said that her shifts often ran 12-hours-long, if not more. The long shifts left her with little time to focus on anything else. “Long working hours became a normal part of life, leaving little time for myself,” she said.
The second factor in her decision to quit was the low salary she was earning. According to Isha, the pay did not match the effort she was putting in. “The effort, pressure, and responsibilities often didn’t match the pay,” she wrote on Instagram.
She also noticed how appreciation was rare. No matter how well she performed at her role, it was rare for someone to notice or say a simple “Good job”.
As her fourth point, Isha said that her hotel job gave her no work-life balance. She found herself missing important moments because she was always working. “Weekends, festivals, and family occasions were usually spent at work,” she noted.
‘It wasn’t my dream’
The flight attendant highlighted how the hotel job was stressful. As a customer-facing role, she was expected to always be smiling. “Guests never saw the stress behind the smile, but hospitality taught me resilience,” she said.
Finally, she quit the hotel industry because she had always wanted to be a cabin crew. “It wasn’t my dream – The hotel industry shaped me, but my heart was always set on becoming cabin crew. Chasing that dream was the best decision I made,” said Isha.
(Also read: IndiGo flight attendant fixes passenger’s broken glasses with nail glue, duct tape on Kolkata to Hyderabad flight)
Her video comparing her two different careers has sparked a discussion on Instagram.
“If you want to become a crew then you have to do the same as you did in the hotel – you have to smile under the pressure, you have to do long shifts as a crew. If you won’t be able to work in hotel industry then definitely you are not able to do job as a crew. Aviation industry and hospitality industry 90% same,” one Instagram user said in the comments section.
Isha replied to the comment saying she did not quit the hospitality industry because she couldn’t handle the workload, but because she wanted to pursue her cabin crew dream.
“I have 2+ years of experience in the hotel industry, so I’m well aware of both the similarities and differences between hospitality and aviation. I didn’t leave because I couldn’t handle the work, I left because my dream was to become a cabin crew member, and the salary and career growth in aviation matched my goals better. Every industry has its own pros and cons, and I respect both,” she said.
