A video showing a flight attendant’s nightly bedtime routine has gone viral on TikTok.
The footage was shared by TikTok user @linnkrouthen, who is a flight attendant for budget airline Norse Atlantic Airways. According to a later comment from the poster, the video was shot on board a Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
A message superimposed on the clip reads: “I’m quietly making my ‘bed’ at 40,000 feet.” The video has been viewed 2.9 million times since it was posted on July 25.
The footage shows the flight attendant setting up the camera in a tube-like room. She is later seen unpacking bedding for a sleeping area at the other end of the room.
After placing sheets and pillows on the bed, which has seat belts on the sides, the flight attendant is seen closing a small curtain at the foot of the bed before lying down in it. She lies in bed in her uniform, with her hair pinned up and a blanket over her.
“Grateful for crew bunks,” reads a caption shared with the poster.
“Goodnight, see you in two hours,” reads a note on the screen as the flight attendant presses a button at the top to turn off the lights as the clip ends.
Dan Bubb, professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, historian and former pilot, said earlier Newsweek that pilots and flight attendants can access a “secret compartment” in the upper part of the aircraft that is “inaccessible and invisible to passengers”.
The pilot Patrick Smith, the author of Cockpit confidential, said before Newsweek that pilots retreat to a sleeping quarters that are “hidden” somewhere on, above or below the main passenger deck.
On planes without these bunks, a first or business class seat is used instead, which is often closed off with a curtain, Smith said.
The viral post comes after the flight attendant profession was named the top 100 jobs in this year’s annual ranking of US news and world report. The job ranked third among the highest-paying jobs without a degree and fifth among the best public service jobs and best jobs without a college degree.
According to forecasts by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of flight attendants will grow by 11 percent between 2022 and 2032, “significantly faster than the average for all occupations.”
“Like a coffin”
TikTok users were horrified by the cramped space in which the flight attendant was resting.
One Rya said, “That would feel like a coffin” and @naive321123 said it was “like a grave.”
Eevie1 wrote: “It’s like sleeping in an MRI machine.”
Leika Souffrant wrote, “My claustrophobia could never do this,” and ejopinion agreed, saying, “Dude, this is claustrophobic.”
“I couldn’t go to sleep with my hair tied up like that,” said @mibexxm.
Some were less bothered by this, such as Cut2theChase99, who said: “Looks comfortable. I would also put on earmuffs.”
Hugo agreed, saying, “Looks so cozy,” and Amber wrote, “Looks comfy though.”
Newsweek has reached out to the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
iStock / Getty Images
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