Nigerian men reveal why they always fall in love with air hostesses

How interesting it is to fall in love in the sky; even at about 40,000 feet above sea level.

It is a norm while traveling by air to
see charming, beautiful, down-to-earth, well dressed and courteous young
ladies serve as air hostesses. Their male counterparts are known as air
hosts. These people are also known as flight or cabin attendants, cabin
crew, stewards and stewardesses.

To say their presence in the plane is as
important as that of the pilot might not be far from the truth, because
they are also members of the aircrew employed by airlines primarily to
ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights,
private jets and even some military aircraft.

Often beaming with enchanting smiles and
being overly polite, coupled with their glowing appearance as they walk
from one end of the cabin to the other, taking orders and attending to
the needs of passengers, it is heart-warming to know that in the middle
of all these, some men fall in love with these hostesses, even though
they (very) rarely have exclusive contact with passengers.

“Their movement and courtesy alone are
enough to appeal to anyone because these ladies are always very
beautiful and polite,” says Tolu Abe, a regular air traveller who says
he has ‘fallen in love’ with them many times.

Tolu gave an insight into an experience
he had whereby he couldn’t resist the move to talk to the hostess later
in the course of the trip.

He recalled, “It was a flight from Lagos
to Atlanta, United States. There was one of them I had been admiring.
She was so beautiful and young. I looked at her ring finger and I saw
that she was single, so I made up my mind to say hello to her later, not
even for anything funny but maybe friendship.

“When we were about seven hours into the
journey, the main light was off and many people had slept. I saw her
passing, so I beckoned to her and asked if she could give me her number
but she declined. Even though she was polite, it didn’t strip me of the
feelings I had developed for her. She was so appealing. Till date, I
still wish to see her again.”

Perhaps, the popular saying that men are
moved by what they see, is enjoying some credence once again. It is
noteworthy that there are men who got married to air hostesses whom they
met in the line of duty. For example, popular American actor, Kelsey
Grammer, eventually got married to British air hostess, Kayte Walsh,
after Walsh served him in first class while he was on a trip. Another
actor, Clint Eastwood, also got married to an air hostess, Jacelyn
Reeves.

Findings by gooo/love-in-the-air-why-men-fall-in-love-with-air-hostesses/”>Saturday PUNCH also
revealed that a number of men have developed serious liking for these
hostesses in the course of their trips, and it appears such feelings
tend to escalate on longer trips for obvious reasons.

Thus, one is tempted to ask, why do men fall in love with air hostesses?

A psychologist and body language expert,
Judi James, who undertook to unravel the reason, said the trend could
be placed down to the fact that men tend to be vulnerable to people who
look after them, adding that care from people often creates a feeling of
love and dependency.

James, in a chat with Mail Online,
said, “When people fly, they are in a state of helplessness – they
leave all their ability to control at check-in and this makes them
vulnerable and dependent.

“They might also be anxious or scared of
flying, so the hostess becomes a form of support and reassurance, you
just have to sit back and let them take care of you. Because you are
helpless and they are taking control of your life, this creates feelings
of love and dependency, almost a parental feeling. It is the same
reason some patients fall in love with doctors and psychiatrists.

She argued that people of influence,
like businessmen and celebrities, are more likely to have such feelings
because they are used to being treated as such all the time, and that
the attractiveness and courtesy exhibited by such people tend to make
them more acceptable.

She continued, “This tends to focus
their attention on the people that are there to help them more than they
usually would do. If you watch people with waiters and waitresses, you
can often see the same thing because they are in charge of the food,
much like mummy and daddy used to be, so there is often a degree of
flirting going on in their mind and this is more prolonged on a long
haul flight.”

James explained that the seating
position in the plane, which makes passengers seat like people in need
of attention, and the fact that hostesses are always dressed in a
stylish manner all contribute to the reasons why they tend to be
attractive.

She added, “They look groomed and smart
in a way that turns them into a fantasy figure for a lot of travellers.
Some people still like to know that there are old fashioned, traditional
women around who wear high heels tight skirts and red lipstick. It’s an
old-fashioned trigger.

“This combined with a flight attendant’s
high level of concern and charm is often unique in the modern world and
it is very seductive. These all combine to create the perfect storm for
creating feelings of love.”

In the view of Prof. Toba Elegbeleye,
who is a psychologist, air hostesses are like other young ladies who
could attract men. He, however, cautioned that such love could be
one-sided because most of the time, they don’t have personal
relationship with the passengers.

“But if the love is abstract or a kind
of fantasy in the mind of such men, it is possible. It is the same with
when you go to a good hospital and you meet nurses who are very polite,
neat and good at what they do, you tend to fall in love with such. A man
could start having a kind of feeling for such a nurse. So, it is not
limited to air hostesses. It covers nurses, secretaries and other jobs
that require women to dress smart, have a smart outlook and good
inter-personal relationship.”

On the other hand, another psychologist,
Prof. Oni Fagboungbe, opined that men would always find well-dressed
ladies attractive, adding that with the polite manner the attendants
relate with the passengers, men tend to find such ladies appealing. He
noted that some men could condemn the dressing of some of these ladies,
but that some of such men could also be admiring the ladies quietly.

He said, “Usually, a lady that dresses
in a cute and smart form would attract a man, regardless of the fact
that they are in a plane, or several feet above sea level. It is not
surprising that some men tend to condemn the way these hostesses dress,
but deep down in the mind of some of these men, they admire the
attendants. So, any lady with a good dressing would attract men.”

Fagboungbe explained further that the
polite way the hostesses relate with the passengers could also bring
about such feeling to the mind of such men. “Even though politeness is
part of their trademark as well as an instrument of performance, it
reinforces the patronage of the customers because it makes customers
feel big, and boost their ego.”