I have met a lot of flight attendants and flight crew couples and for some reason, I just love seeing them together. Is it because they look so good in uniforms? Or maybe because they have become my friends. For many of these cabin crew couples who found their love at 30,000ft, they say it is the best kind of relationship to be in. Imagine traveling the world together for free, speaking the same language, and of course for some, wearing the same uniform while working together.
Philippine Airlines flight steward Nico Dabao and Cebu Pacific flight attendant Joannie Claire Pepino is no different from the other cabin crew couples who I met, and so I thought. Well, first of all, they both come from two different airlines, PAL and Cebu Pacific. So seeing these two together in uniform proves that all cabin crew members are united in wings. Second, their story is unique, well everyone’s are actually. However, Nico and Joannie’s story proves that with love, nothing is impossible, even during the most challenging moments that we go through.
Unlike other cabin crew or flight crew couples who met during work or through a series of connections through people in this small aviation industry, Nico and Joannie have known each other for eight years. They both were born and grew up in Dumaguete. Both had dreams and goals in life, and they wanted to pursue these dreams together. However, it was Joannie who wanted to become a cabin crew from the very start. Nico on the other hand wanted to be a nurse in a different country.
At the end of the day though, who would not want to achieve those #couplegoals and #relationshipgoals which you have set to achieve soon?
Entering the airline industry
After graduating college, Nico and Joannie began their journey towards their careers. Nico went to Manila with hopes to be able to apply for a job in Japan. However, misfortune struck Nico after finding out that the agency handling his Japan employment was a scam. Nico lost a huge amount of money which he had saved, in which he decided to get a real estate job in Manila since he was there already.
On the other hand, Joannie wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a flight attendant. When Cebu Pacific held a job hiring event in Cebu, Joannie proceeded there to apply for a flight attendant position. Fortunately, she made it in.
Indeed when God closes a door, He opens another window. After seeing Joannie enjoy the perks of a flight attendant, Nico wanted to be at the same job too. Opportunity knocked when Philippine Airlines was looking for more cabin crew members and Nico decided not to let the opportunity pass. With luck on his side, Nico made it through the recruitment, training, and officially became a PAL flight steward in 2017.
Different colors, united in wings
Both being cabin crew members from two different airlines, Nico and Joannie’s relationship was even strengthened. First, they both understand how it’s like becoming a cabin crew. In one story that Joannie shared with me, “there was a time I arrived from a 4-leg domestic flight. I was so tired. Nico was not yet a cabin crew at that time. When I wanted to sleep and get some rest, Nico was insisting that we still go out but I said that I was tired. He did not understand much during that time.
Then later on when Nico was already with PAL, he arrived from a turnaround 2-leg flight. I was on my day off. I was insisting to go out but then, it was he who said that he is tired and wanted to rest! Hahahaha! I told him ‘now you know!'”
That’s indeed one of the many beauties of cabin crew relationships. You have more in common. You get to share stories onboard your respective flights. When one experienced a ‘bad flight’ due to like an encounter with a very unruly passenger, the other one understands. You share your “galley” stories, some “maritess” stories that you hear, layover experiences, recurrent training, airline stuff stories, and more. Given also the erratic schedules, you both know how to work things around.
Understanding is a very important factor in every relationship in being in one industry has indeed helped a lot of these crew relationships flourish.
Traveling together
The biggest advantage of being an airline crew couple is the free travel benefits that the airline provides. There is indeed nothing like traveling together to different countries, going on new adventures, and creating lasting memories. For Nico and Joannie, they were able to coordinate their schedules and they use their benefits to see places together such as Melbourne in Australia and other regional destinations.
So how did they do it despite flying for different airlines? Airlines would provide the crew with their schedules ahead of time. Before the covid-19 pandemic, both Nico and Joannie will coordinate their schedules. They then try first to look for common destinations such as in one case, Dubai. Nico saw that he had a flight to Dubai with a 3-day layover. Joannie will then try to exchange schedules with other crew members in-order to either get a working trip to Dubai on the same day too or to time it with an off. Fortunately, Joannie was able to find a way to schedule her day off on the day Nico would be flying to Dubai.
She then used her travel benefit to Dubai and stayed there for the duration that Nico was on a layover there too. While it was short only, it was indeed sweet!
Popping the question abroad
Their most memorable trip together was their Taipei trip in 2018. Again, same arrangement. Nico was to fly to Taiwan as a working crew with a layover. Joannie followed. However, something else was brewing. The couple headed to the Shifen Lantern Station, a popular tourist area in Taiwan. Just when she thought was a normal activity of lighting those flying lanterns, Joannie turned around and saw Nico kneeling on one knee holding a ring. He then popped the simplest but most meaningful question “will you marry me?” It was an easy “YES” for Joannie, without second thoughts.
Another thing common among many crew couples is proposing abroad, usually done at outlying stations. I have seen pictures of my crew friends proposing in other places like New York Grand Central Station, Eiffel Tower (most common), San Francisco Golden Gate, and other tourist spots around the world. The best thing again is that most likely, the trips were free.
“We had the best time ever with PAL and Cebu Pacific, and flying was special to us. Special in a way that we enjoyed every mile and every flying time we had. We shared every experience we had on every flight and shared every moment. We enjoyed every second at each destination we flew to. For us, flying was the best job we ever had. We enjoyed every bit of it, especially those people we meet. Every colleague we had on every flight, different passengers on each leg, and all the new friends we made along the way were priceless.”
Nico and Joannie Dabao
Challenging times ahead
It was not always bliss for both Nico and Joannie as 2020 proved to be their most difficult year. The covid-19 pandemic struck which greatly affected the travel industry as countries began shutting their borders. Airlines were forced to ground aircraft since there was no place to fly to. It was indeed the worse crisis to hit the aviation industry. All these resulted in airlines downsizing which included their workforce. PAL and Cebu Pacific were not spared.
Unfortunately, both Nico and Joannie were two of those many crew members who were affected by the reduction. They were forced to say goodbye to their wings. It was a great blow to their plans of tying the knot as they didn’t know where to get the money for their wedding. Good thing that both Nico and Joannie remained focused on making sure that things go on.
Angel in the sky and on the ground
Archie Osio is also a PAL steward who is an entrepreneur at the same time. He owns and operates Archie’s Events Place which has catered to numerous micro wedding clients. Now the concept behind a micro wedding is to have a wedding reception with a smaller headcount and not as extravagant in terms of costs. However, the beauty of a micro wedding is not only seen in cost savings, but more in having an intimate reception for direct family members, close friends, and relatives. It still carries the same tradition as those big wedding receptions except, the headcount is usually smaller and the set-up is simpler but still as elegant due to a smaller venue.
Archie is more than a flight steward and an entrepreneur. He has this knack for really helping people, especially during the most difficult moments. When the covid-19 pandemic struck in April 2020, Archie launched a program called “Crewmeal for the frontliners” where he created food packs and gave them to health workers, policemen, grocery staff, transportation workers, and more.
A free wedding
Archie knew that the airline retrenchments have greatly affected many crew members, including their plans for their future and their families. Hence as a way to help these crew members, exactly a year ago today (February 14, 2021), Archie held a Valentines’ day promo where they will sponsor a free wedding for couples who were retrenched. Of course, the wedding was to take place at Archie’s Events Place but more than that, Archie was backed by quality wedding suppliers from the wedding gown to the food, music, coordinator, flowers, photo, and video! Want an example? Wedding gown by Claiza Bihasa. Flowers by Boxed Blossoms. One of their performers? No less than flight steward and Tawag ng Tanghalan finalist Anton Antenorcruz!
Nico saw this ad on Facebook and didn’t take a second look. He immediately sent their love story to https://www.facebook.com/archieseventsplace. Luckily, both Nico and Joannie were chosen as the lucky couple to be given a free wedding!
However, their wedding was not met with other challenges. The covid-19 surges that caused the raising of alert levels and lockdowns have forced everyone to keep moving the wedding date. On January 31, 2022, however, the church bells rang for both Nico and Joannie as they finally tied the knot. Indeed amidst all the challenges that had gone their way, they were able to pull all the stops to make things happen. As we say, turbulent skies are not forever.
A dream wedding come true
Nico and Joannie got their ideal wedding. Small, intimate, and meaningful. Everything went well amidst the challenges encountered along the way. At the end of the day, the crew couple got their wish.
“God used Archie and the rest of the suppliers as a way of showing his unconditional love and giving us our dream wedding, for free. We are so grateful for these sponsors that made time and effort to come up with this successful and classy wedding. From the dashing gown made by Claiza Bihasa-Uy, nifty hair and makeup of Julie Profugo, splendid flower arrangement of Boxed Blossoms, refreshing souvenirs from Earth Bars, lovely instrumentals from Eastern Quintet, for our dynamic host Ryann Bahalla, Osio’s Catering for the luscious meals, Maiko and Mandy Photography for the stunning shots, creative editing skills of Renz Gayoma and Mark Aiven, rustic-themed wedding cake from Maikeyks, Anton Antenorcruz for serenading us with his soulful voice, Mond Ortiz of Flyhigh Manila for featuring us on his social media platform, to all coordinators from Archie’s Events Place who were all friendly and does their job well, and to the man behind all these, Mr. Archie Osio. This wouldn’t be possible without his effort and eagerness to help others. He now plans to do this every year and may the next couple feel the same love and support we felt up to this very day.”
Nico and Joannie Dabao
Unfolding their rested wings
Wedding bliss went on for both Nico and Joannie but something greater was abounded to happen. Joannie was recalled by Cebu Pacific to return to flying. She is set to begin training again in the next few days or weeks. Just last January, Philippine Airlines has finally recalled some of their retrenched crew to fly again. While Nico entered PAL in 2017 yet, he is optimistic that soon, he will be recalled to fly again.
According to Nico, “yes I will go back because I love being a cabin crew” after I asked him if he will return to flying. The recent reopening of the travel industry has indeed brought back so much positivity to all of us. It was painful to see these cabin crew say their “farewells” to their childhood dreams on social media way back in 2020. Now, it is so nice to see them slowly coming back.
Sharing the sky together
According to Nico and Joannie, being a cabin crew couple is one of the best decisions they ever made. However, they still look forward to wearing one uniform one day as they do look forward to working together too! So I asked them who will switch airlines. Well, secret nalang ang sagot nila!
Anyway, there are just so many perks of being a crew couple, and indeed, being one has strengthened the foundation of their relationship. Regardless of whether it’s between a cabin crew, a pilot and a cabin crew, a ground crew, and a cabin crew, you speak the same language being in the aviation industry and of course, those travel perks.
I have also met a lot of cabin crew aspirant couples who share the same goal of being a cabin crew one day. They can’t wait to train together and share the same uniform hopefully. If not, they can’t wait to travel for free using the perks their airlines provide.
For some cabin crew aspirants who are single, they are excited to meet “the one” who might be in the airline already.
To those single cabin crew looking for love within your industry, push mo lang yan! I can’t wait to feature you all one day!
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