When it comes to Mother’s Day, it’s a family affair
It’s mother’s day in the USA so to celebrate we thought we’d look back at a post we published a couple of years ago when we followed mother and daughter cabin crew Kay and Meg Jones on a trip to Seattle.
As one of our mother and daughter cabin crew duos, Meg and Kay have been used to travelling the world, working in the sky and delivering amazing service to our customers. But over the last 14 months, all of that’s changed. Kay has managed to keep flying, but often on cargo-only flights, where, even though there’s are not passengers, crew still need to monitor the aircraft cabin. At the beginning of the crisis, Megs was one of our cabin team who was stood down from flying and is in our holding pool of cabin crew waiting to be called back when travel demand returns. She’s been keeping herself busy during this time working for an insurance company but is hoping to return to the skies soon.
Here’s a look back at fun times and a trip they did together to Seattle in 2019
A special flight
When Kay Jones joined Virgin Atlantic back in 1988 she could never have foreseen how her career would pan out. Back then we had just two aircraft and two routes. Little did she know that it would be the start of a long and distinguished career that would take her all over the world and see her becoming our youngest ever flight service manager. For most people, picking a highlight from such an illustrious career might be difficult, but for Kay it’s easy. She’s just flown with her daughter Meg, who’s recently followed in her mother’s footsteps and qualified as cabin crew.
To celebrate Mother’s Day, Kay was rostered onto a flight with Meg who, with only four flights under her belt, is one of our newest recruits and joined as one of our first ever group of cabin crew apprentices. They flew off together to one of Kay’s favourite cities, Seattle, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and we went along to see how they got on.
Teamwork
The day began early, with Kay driving to Heathrow from her home in Swansea and Meg from Horley near Gatwick. After checking in for the flight it was time for the briefing and pre-flight pep talk. This is when mum had to ask her daughter the tough safety questions that every cabin crew member has to answer before being allowed to operate every flight. No pressure! But of course, Meg knew the answers straight away.
Once onboard it was straight down to business, delivering exceptional service to a full planeload of customers. There’s a lot to learn in your first few flights as cabin crew and the mother and daughter partnership clearly worked well on the ten-hour flight.
After 31 years in the air, Kay still absolutely loves her job and feels incredibly proud to be working with Meg. “I still can’t quite believe it when I look up and see her there in uniform.”
Flying in the blood
Growing up with a cabin crew mum, Meg had flying in her blood. As these pictures show she could often be found serving our customers or helping her mum in the galley.
After leaving school she took a degree in geography but always fancied giving full time flying a go, so she applied to work with us and another, bigger UK airline (you know who we mean) and was offered the job at both. No contest. With her love of our airline and a great insight into our brand and culture, Meg was a natural fit. But that’s not to say the training was easy. It’s a six week course and can get pretty intense at times. Once qualified, the first few flights are always a bit nerve wracking, though Meg happily agrees that having mum as your boss takes a bit of that pressure off.
For Kay, combining flying with bringing up three children took some planning. But it was a win-win to do a job she loved which also allowed her to enjoy some precious rest time in our exciting destinations. The other huge perk of course is that the whole family got to enjoy some incredible holidays over the years.
Enjoying Seattle life at Pike Market
Exploring Seattle
When flight 105 touched down in Seattle, Kay and Meg set off to discover the Emerald City together, Meg for the first time. With its cool artisan vibe, beaches, parks and museums, the Pacific Northwest city is one of the most exciting in the U.S. It was also the perfect excuse for some quality mum and daughter time, enjoying great food and a well earned, ice cold craft beer – a Seattle speciality. Meg’s verdict? She loved the city and says it should be on everyone’s wish list. Now she can look forward to returning again very soon.
On Mother’s Day itself, Kay will be back home in Swansea enjoying time with her family. As for Meg, she’s off flying again and will no doubt be getting to know another one of our destinations.
Visit our website to book your flight to Seattle or explore Seattle at visitseattle.org