Q and A with a Flight Attendant
Derick Moore, Hostos ‘13, Flight attendant with JetBlue
This interview was conducted by Jason Libfeld, Student Leadership coordinator,
and has been edited for length and clarity.
How have you been involved in your communities response
to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Well, I heard the word "essential worker" for many years, like going through high school
and college and stuff, but you never think that you're an essential worker until you're
actually kind of cleared. Being a flight attendant, it started off good, and it's still good now,
but because of the COVID virus, I've been sitting a lot. I commute to New York every
month, I was working, flying a lot, but now I'm just sitting in the crash pad a lot. And that's
a good thing for me, but it kind of put a damper on how much I'll be flying. So I don't know
if I'll ever fly again, I don't know if I'll have a job again, but they are kind of trying to help us
out with hours and stuff like that.
I'm basically just stuck right there, but I'm also a DoorDasher, which I found out is an
essential worker too, so when the airlines are not working me, I'm always at a steady, fulltime
job with the DoorDashing.
What have you been asked to do differently,
and how has your role changed as a result of the current crisis?
Because JetBlue is kind of the entrepreneurs for every other airline, a lot of the flight
attendants were already saying people need to start wearing masks, people need to start
wearing gloves, it should be mandatory whenever you go out to do certain things, or if you
want to fly, it should be mandatory. So to see that actually happening now with a lot of
other airlines and to know that the company that you're working for is listening to you,
that's a good thing. That's our impact as flight attendants under the JetBlue. I can only
speak for JetBlue, I can't speak for other airlines.
How has your job and role during this crisis impacted you?
I mean, personally, professionally, emotionally, physically?
Professionally it's still the same because of the good things that they're doing, but
personally I'm a little worried because I'm used to flying, so I came to this new airlines for
better opportunity, but COVID happened. It's just kind of put a damper, because I don't
know if I'll ever fly again, or I don't know if I'll ever be able to be offered another flying job
because of COVID. So I'm just hoping for the best. It's put a lot of stress because I go to
New York and I sit, not knowing if they're going to need me, which they haven't needed
me for two months. And then I just come back home, and I don't know I'll get a seat on the
flights now for work, so commuting has become a little bit stressful now, to where I need
to take at least a month off.
What advice do you have for others entering your field
during a time of crisis?
I don't think they'll get to enter the field at this time of crisis, but if they do, in this industry,
it's a lot of hurry up and wait, so I've just gotten used to waiting a lot. You just have to stay
positive; if you really want to do be a flight attendant or whatever career you want to be in,
it's a lot of waiting around before you get to actually rush and get to do what you need to ...
that you want to do. I'd rather be sitting [at home] than be at the airport around the virus
and stuff. It's kind of working out for me, but at those times I feel like it's not working out, I
just have to remain positive and just be happy that I still have a job.
If there was another crisis, what would you recommend people do?
If there was another crisis, since we already know how difficult this one is, people need to
be more attentive. Airlines, safety is their number-one priority, and I felt like if people were
more safe and more clean, then a lot of things wouldn't develop. I feel like a lot of things
develop over time because people, they get too comfortable about what might not happen.
I think this is showing us that certain things can happen, but being safe for just yourself
and other people can prevent things like this in the future.
What have you observed of COVID-19’s impact on your field, community,
city, or nationally from the perspective of your profession?
I didn't really think that it would impact me, but over time, it impacts everyone, everything
just slowed down. People didn't take it seriously, and then when companies started
closing, there's a lot of major companies that are really closing, so it's a little frightening to
not know, well, is my company going to close too? It's just mind-boggling, I try to just not
focus on it a lot, but I know lot of people out there that don't have jobs and are struggling
when a lot of industries are really, actually hiring, but a lot of people are not going to want
to take those type of jobs. It's understandable, because they're so used to doing one
certain thing.
Please share your message to the Hostos community
during these difficult times.
When I graduated from Hostos, I wanted to do music, that was my main goal when I
graduated, to do music. I moved to New York to do music, and there were times I got
discouraged, that's why I went to college and got my degree and stuff, for better hope,
hoping that discouraged-ness would actually lead me to being positive about music and
maybe getting a career in music.
It's taken a little longer, maybe I'm not pushing myself more, and for some reason I ended
up in the travel industry. I use that opportunity to stay positive, saying, okay, well, if I'm a
flight attendant, I can get free flights to go back and forth to New York to do my music. I
was working on that as we speak, but COVID happened and through all the times of
struggle with the music and then, just now with COVID and my job, I still have to remain
positive. I can't get unfocused, I have to stay focused on what the main goal is, and I think
everyone needs to stay positive and focused on what the goal is.
We have crises like this all the time, it's just this one just got worse. We'll prevail from it,
you just have to stay focused for the next time and be prepared.