Ever wonder what it’s like to fly private? This high-end, luxury service isn’t only reserved for celebrities. Business professionals, corporations and families going on vacation utilize this exclusive service for the convenience and flexibility it offers—choosing to experience a superior level of comfort and safety that far exceeds their travel needs and expectations.
As a private flight attendant—or as she likes to call herself, a cabin attendant—Lauren Baum, along with anyone else who has the privileged job of catering to celebrities, athletes and other high-profile clientele in the air, goes through extensive training, many of them obtaining specialized culinary and etiquette training in addition to their initial and yearly education.
On any given day, Lauren explains she can wear the hat of executive assistant, travel agent, chef, nanny, florist, bartender, medic or party planner. Basically, whatever her guests need her to be, she finds a way to accommodate them while providing the highest level of service.
“It’s so much more personal in that it is completely catered to that specific flight and set of guests,” Lauren says. “There is always something to learn and skills to expound upon. I am constantly looking for cooking, plating, floral and aircraft setup inspiration in between flights."
Essentially, Lauren networked her way into getting her first flight, setting herself up in training after running into a friend who was in the aviation space. Private aviation, she says, is “the biggest smallest industry,” where you must “network like it’s your job." As with most careers, relationship building is key to success, as is professionalism.
“Going from training to getting that first job is very difficult,” she explains. "It’s being in meetings and networking with pilots. You need to be able to interview very well and be able to carry yourself well.”
The most surprising thing about her job, she says, is how kind her clientele is. It may be easy to assume there is self-importance with people who fly private, but Lauren reassures us that is not the case.
“I feel such pride in my work,” she says. “I’m able to enjoy certain things I wouldn’t otherwise be able to, and with that comes so much responsibility. You have to constantly be asking yourself; ‘How can I elevate the guest experience?’”
In addition to accompanying guests to their desired destinations, which have included Budapest, Italy, London and Prague among many others, Lauren also coaches others looking to get into the private aviation space through her consulting business, Cabins in the Sky.
Her group coaching sessions, which are mostly conducted online, guides those looking to get into private aviation on preparing for interviews, helping with resumes, learning how to network to get your foot in the door and building the foundation of being in the industry.
“You’re not waking up going to a mimosa brunch—you’re working,” Lauren confirms. “That’s a big misconception in the industry. The cabin attendants who do the best? They see [the job] for what it is.”
She emphasizes that your professional background (or personal, for that matter) isn’t a huge factor in finding success with private aviation—it’s much more about having a charismatic personality, a rigorous sense of discipline and a love for networking. Through her consulting programs, she has coached everyone from nurses and teachers to yoga instructors, dietitians and fitness coaches.
“You need to be able to carry on a conversation and know what’s going on in the world,” Lauren says of the profession. “You don’t need to be a doctor, but you need to be able to carry on a conversation considering the caliber of people you’re working with.”
“Going from training to getting that first job is very difficult,” Lauren explains. “You know the saying, ‘It’s not what you know; it’s who you know?’ I think it’s a combination of both. It’s being in meetings and networking with pilots. There has to be a different level of professionalism."