City mums return to the skies together after 25-year break
TWO Glasgow mums who decided to restart their cabin crew career in their 50s have ended up flying together again – after 25 years.
Michelle White, 52, and Laura Moore, 51, first met on Air UK 29 years ago. Now the pair are back together working on Loganair where they welcomed passengers for a Glasgow to Stornoway flight on Friday.
They lost touch after they both gave up their flying careers to raise their children, but were amazed to find themselves on the same Loganair training course in August last year, as they both re-joined the industry.
The friends said they were delighted at the prospect of crewing flights together again after so long.
Michelle, now a mum to three teenage boys, said: “When I worked in cabin crew 30 years ago, it was a job for younger women. There was nobody over 29 entering the profession, let alone over 50. So I never imagined it would be possible to start flying again at my age.
“In fact, Loganair has plenty of mature cabin crew and they seem to value the experience we bring.
“I couldn’t believe it when I found out Laura was on the same training course. We hadn’t flown together in 25 years but our lives had taken very similar paths – leaving the airline industry behind to concentrate on our children, finding ourselves as single parents, caring for relatives, then getting a second chance at the job we loved.”
Loganair employs 900 staff across 11 operating bases and has the highest ratio of female pilots and pilots of minority ethnic groups of any UK airline.
Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles made a special announcement before the 3.10pm flight took off, letting passengers know the significance of the cabin crew on board.
He said: “I was delighted to welcome Michelle and Laura back to the skies after such a long break and the fact that it reunited them as friends was the icing on the cake. Our friendly cabin crew are an essential part of flying Loganair and we pride ourselves on being an airline that looks on its staff as family.”
Michelle is pleased to be setting an example for her three sons – twins, Max and Anton, 17, and 16-year-old Reuben. She added: “Now that my boys are teenagers, it’s easier to work shifts and I’m really proud to be back working in the airline industry in my 50s.
“I used to tell my boys all about my flying days and now here I am doing what I love again.”
Loganair flies to more than 40 destinations and is based at Glasgow Airport.
For more information on vacancies, visit www.loganair. co.uk/info/careers