Flight attendant quits dream job to work at McDonald’s for more money

Many of us think flight attendants have glamorous jobs where they get to travel the world for free – but one stewardess has claimed that a job at McDonald’s is actually more lucrative. Saffron Laszkowicz (pictured), from Doncaster, known as @saffronkatiie on TikTok recently shared a series of clips outlining her employment journey, and explaining why she left her job at budget Irish airline Ryanair for shifts at McDonald’s.

Earlier this month she told fans : ‘[I] started working at McDonald’s in December 2020 during Covid. Had nothing to do because we were in lockdown. Saffron revealed: ‘[We] worked 50+ hour weeks earning good money’ in the video titled ‘Anyone else quit then come back?’.

However, things took a turn for the worse when the TikToker ‘decided to pursue her dream of becoming a flight attendant in May 2022’. Although she was initially ecstatic when she ‘quit McDonald’s and did her six weeks training’, she noticed a financial loss so decided to go back to her old job at the fast-food giant. While perfecting her golden tresses on camera she said: ‘[I] realised I wasn’t earning as much as I used to so decided to go back to McDonald’s part time in October 2022’.

But Saffron was ambitious, she didn’t give up her dreams completely, opting to work at the restaurant while undertaking flight attendant shifts to support herself. ‘Flying didn’t turn out to be what I thought it would be’, she confessed, citing low pay as the motivator behind leaving the Irish budget airline. The former flight attendant added: ‘I decided to quit and go back to McDonald’s full time’, before adjusting a grey crew member hat ready for her shift.

Sympathetic to her plight, one TikTok user said: ‘People don’t realise how bad flight attendants get paid. That’s why I haven’t left retail for it yet’. Although, a plethora of former McDonald’s workers did not recommend working at the chain, with one telling the video platform: ‘I quit McDonald’s after 9 years last October and I will never go back’. In a follow up video update shared on TikTok, she explained that as of August 2023, she was ‘at her 3rd Maccies store in 3 years’, but acknowledged: ‘Got to laugh or I’ll cry’. She joked: ‘I never would have believed you if 3 years ago you told me I’d be here working my dream job, because I’m not’, with the 23 second video showing shots of her transforming from her blue and yellow Ryanair jacket into her grey McDonald’s uniform.

In the final TikTok discussing her trajectory, Saffron responded to criticism after being slammed online for going ‘from a flight attendant to Maccies’. Unafraid, she specifically tagged the scathing TikTok user in the video and pointed out some of the perks McDonald workers benefit from. She started by asking: ‘Why are you trying to make this into a negative?’ The McDonald’s worker gleefully explained: ‘I get paid for every minute. It’s less travelling time to get to work’. Saffron went on to tell fans: ‘I’m earning the same (if not more) for much less stress’.

This time – users were overwhelmingly positive, with several coming to Saffron’s defence. One said: ‘People who don’t understand the stress and strain of being cabin crew are the only people who would comment stuff like that’. Another shared a similar experience: ‘I literally made more at Maccies than Ryanair as well’.

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