{"id":6273,"date":"2017-08-10T09:40:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T14:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=6273"},"modified":"2017-08-10T09:40:08","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T14:40:08","slug":"flight-attendant-duo-makes-best-every-trip-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2017\/08\/10\/flight-attendant-duo-makes-best-every-trip-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight attendant duo makes the best of every trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the cabin of an Embraer 175, two best friends are having the time of their life. They\u2019re meeting new people, entertaining cute children and cracking jokes.<\/p>\n

Luckily for Donna O\u2019Dea and Whitni Bragg, they\u2019re having that great time on the job. The two Envoy flight attendants have been working flights together as the \u201cDream Team\u201d for the past nine months.<\/p>\n

Donna takes out her iPad and shows it to a group of passengers and says, \u201cThis is what happens when you give your best friend your password.\u201d A photo of Whitni making a face like a paused video of a rollercoaster ride pops up on the screen, and the passengers burst out in laughter.<\/p>\n

Every flight they work together, Whitni says she will announce to the cabin that it\u2019s the passengers\u2019 \u201clucky day\u201d to be flying with them. And they would love to continue to make that announcement every day as long as they buddy-bid <\/em>to work the same flights.<\/p>\n

By coordinating their schedules, they are never laboring a day, but rather spreading joy and goodwill to their customers together as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make it our mission that every time someone steps off our plane, they\u2019re smiling,\u201d says Whitni. \u201cWe try to personalize our service, because people like to feel like they\u2019re the only ones on the plane. It makes their day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above-and-Beyond: The new norm<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-FS-Buddy-FAs-Odea-Bragg-5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On a regular basis, Donna and Whitni are doing things\u00a0to help elevate their customers\u2019 experience, like bringing honey in winter for sore throats, cutting straws for children to drink out of the wide-mouth cups without spilling, providing portable battery chargers for waning phones or chasing down passengers to return an item they left behind on the aircraft.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not required of Envoy flight attendants, but they will often help passengers trying to make a connecting flight in any way they can. Also not required is a Christmas serenade, but Whitni has been known from time to time to belt out a few verses from \u201cJingle Bell Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to kids, Donna and Whitni are nonplussed in the red, tear-drenched face of adversity. They have brought kids into the cockpit, showed them the galley, played games with them on their iPads, and will try to bring calm to\u00a0parents juggling kids and luggage onto a crowded cabin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good to make people happy,\u201d says Whitni. \u201cAt the end of the day, you get out what you put it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to treat people how we would like to be treated or how we would treat our own family,\u201d adds Donna. \u201cThe difference is that we take time to engage with our passengers, because we care. We genuinely do care about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not work, it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-FS-Buddy-FAs-Odea-Bragg-6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even though they say it\u2019s not work, they do perform their duties at an elite level. Like any great team, they complement each other and work to their individual strengths.<\/p>\n

They say that Donna takes the lead in the cabin and Whitni follows, but they have the same goal to have fun while being great at their jobs. It\u2019s also important to them to give the same seamless customer service that they would expect on a mainline American Airlines flight.<\/p>\n

Donna knows that by giving their customers fabulous service, she is creating return customers \u2013 which in turn ensures a stronger future for Envoy. Accomplishing this goal is fairly easy for the Dream Team, because they have a spirited personality and make sure there\u2019s \u201cnever a dull moment when you fly with us,\u201d Whitni says.<\/p>\n

So far, their plan to keep customers coming back has worked, as many have asked them if they can fly with the Dream Team again, says Donna. The customers want to continue getting the amazing above-and-beyond service provided by Donna and Whitni.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Birds of an Envoy feather fly together<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-FS-Buddy-FAs-Odea-Bragg-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna and Whitni\u2019s special friendship began on their first trip where they bonded over commonalities in their personal lives. From that point on, they have been inseparable \u2013 bidding for trips together, booking adjoining rooms on work trips, getting manicures together and talking on the phone on their days off.<\/p>\n

Whitni, who is younger than Donna, often referrers to Donna as her \u201cwork mom,\u201d and takes the liberty to poke fun at Donna like a niece would tease their older, cool aunt. Over the nine months, they have become as close as family \u2013 Donna even helped Whitni\u2019s boyfriend plan his engagement proposal on one of their flights!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look out for each other and if she isn\u2019t feeling well, I\u2019m there to make it better,\u201d says Donna. \u201cWhen we work together, it\u2019s not work. It makes being away from home for four days better, because we have so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Donna\u2019s speaking, Whitni reaches over to adjust Donna\u2019s scarf and gives her a playful barb.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer scarf is always a mess!\u201d says Whitni. \u201cBut she has me to fix it. See? We\u2019re a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IMG-FS-Buddy-FAs-Odea-Bragg-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The two Dream Teamers are posing for photos in the terminals of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport cracking up as they tug at each other\u2019s hair, poke fun at each other\u2019s accents and make faces into the camera. When asked whose name would go first on a billboard, they begin to trade jabs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I should go first because of the saying age before beauty<\/em>,\u201d says Donna.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m first because I\u2019m higher on the seniority list \u2013 you\u2019re just senior,\u201d Whitni jabs back. \u201cSee? This is the most fighting we will ever do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then Donna lets it slip out that she didn\u2019t share her Schlitterbahn Waterpark tickets with Whitni.<\/p>\n

\u201cScratch this whole interview,\u201d says Whitni jokingly. \u201cThat\u2019s it! We\u2019re never flying again!\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully that won\u2019t happen. These best friends\u2019 bond cannot be broken that easily \u2013 they\u2019re family now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the cabin of an Embraer 175, two best friends are having the time of their life. They\u2019re meeting new people, entertaining cute children and cracking jokes. Luckily for Donna O\u2019Dea and Whitni Bragg, they\u2019re having that great time on the job. The two Envoy flight attendants have been working flights together as the \u201cDream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":42271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[105,64,66,77,247,173,185,248,58,51,68,87,88,249,90,82],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}