Professionals take to the skies
Bankers, tax inspectors and social workers are among a growing band of professionals quitting their careers for a job as a flight attendant, a leading airline said.
Virgin Atlantic said most of its cabin crew now held bachelor or masters degrees in a huge range of subjects totally unrelated to the travel industry.
The airline said rising unemployment was playing a part in the changing profile of its staff, but it also believed that people were becoming disillusioned with their previous lifestyle.
Virgin Atlantic's Anna Catchpole said: "The economic downturn has encouraged many professional people to re-examine the things they once thought were important.
"With so much uncertainty, people want to live for the moment, so a nine to five existence to pay for a mortgage and a car no longer holds much attraction.
"Big companies are always urging employees to indulge in blue sky thinking, and now hundreds of executives are literally putting that philosophy into practice."
PA Media
