Flight attendants have discreet ways of signaling to each other about attractive passengers onboard. While navigating the aisles at cruising altitude, there’s limited space for maneuvering food trolleys or engaging in idle chatter. That’s why flight attendants utilize two code words to indicate their romantic interests.
“If you hear them mention ‘Bob,’ they are actually using the covert term ‘babe on board.’ Moreover, when you are deplaning, if a flight attendant bids you ‘cheerio,’ it could be a subtle hint of a secret crush,” revealed an anonymous flight attendant to eShores.
“We quickly inform the crew about the location of a charming passenger. We go the extra mile, offering them complimentary items. It’s no secret that phone numbers have been discreetly exchanged on napkins,” the insider added.
Sherry Martin Peters, a seasoned flight attendant and the brain behind Atlas + Wild AtlasAndWild.com, wants passengers to understand that beyond their professional facade, she and her colleagues have captivating and sometimes less glamorous lives.
“During my 26-year tenure as an international flight attendant, passengers only see the well-groomed, smiling side of us—but there’s more depth behind that facade,” she shared with the Mirror.
“We communicate in acronyms as airline jargon becomes a language of its own. Our schedules are not measured in days but by cities: ‘I’m on an Athens trip this month.’ Mentioning a lunch in New York followed by breakfast in Paris isn’t boasting—it’s just a typical Tuesday for us. While it may be perplexing to outsiders, you might start grasping it and even pick up our lingo if you’re part of our inner circle,” she explained.
“Our sense of geography is fluid, and our bodies no longer adhere to a single time zone. Hence, we establish routines to feel grounded—even when we’re soaring 35,000 feet above ground level.”
In addition to the ‘Bob’ and ‘cheerio’ codes, flight attendants use various other subtle terms when discussing passengers.
