Wanted: trolley-dollies for Air Force Boeings

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Flying politicians and other bigwigs in the Air Force's flash new jets poses one question: who will serve the drinks?

Most people know the armed forces are short of staff, but few realise this includes a dearth of flight stewards.

Finding people to work the aircraft cabins in the Boeing 757s has been a big headache for the Air Force, which has asked stewards who have left to rejoin.

Last May, when the first Boeing arrived, the Air Force had barely half the 15 stewards it needed.

It responded by delving into its "active reserve" list, phoning ex-stewards who had left the Service and asking them to come back.

"It's a system where we employ people who have been in the Service before," said Air Force spokesman Squadron Leader Ric Cullinane. "We're doing it for the trolley-dollies in the 757s."

There is more to being a trolley-dolly than pushing drinks up an aisle.

These crew - all but one of whom are female - are trained to fire pistols, survive in hostile territory and swim with their boots on.

This is in addition to the usual skills of civilian stewards, such as first aid, customer service, aircraft equipment and emergency procedures.

At least four stewards serve on board each 757 flight when the aircraft is full, and sometimes up to six when the passengers are VIPs.

The chief of the stewards, Master Aircrew Ceilidh Martin, said safety came first and service second, although the service aimed to be good.

Meals were made by armed forces cooks when the aircraft were at military airfields, and civilian caterers when flying from commercial airfields, she said.

One area the Air Force is still adjusting to with its new planes is in-flight movies. The attendants have had to borrow videos from the Whenuapai base canteen.

Master Aircrew Martin said there were some advantages to being a military steward over a civilian one. "We fly wherever the aircraft take us. One day we'll be flying a load of grunts to Bougainville, and next the Prime Minister to Nigeria."

The stewards wear overalls when flying with soldiers and full dress uniforms for VIPs. In the latter case, they sometimes serve alcohol and use silver-service.

They mostly have ranks - and pay - equivalent to sergeants, and have boosted their number to 12 by delving into the reserves list.

Unlike pilots and mechanics who are in demand overseas and for commercial airlines, the loss of stewards has more to do with their desire to raise families than to move into the private sector. They get paid slightly less than their counterparts on big airlines and a few have gone on to fly with them, but their skills are less specialised than those of other flying trades.

The Air Force has also turned to its active reserve list to find staff to keep its Aermacchi and Skyhawk aircraft in mothballs until they are sold.

"Of course we're always keen on people joining up," he said.