MBC Channel's Chairman Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz life
Jets, Palaces and Mansions of the Extravagant Playboy Royal Highness Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz
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Graham woman travels the world with a prince
Ravenna Mashburn has served as a flight attendant for His Royal Highness Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, a Saudi Arabian prince.
Submitted photoPublished: Monday, November 26, 2012 at 16:48 PM.
Twenty years ago, Ravenna Mashburn had all intentions of becoming a computer programmer.
Didn’t work out that way.
For the last eight years, she has found herself in the presence of royalty working as a flight attendant for the Prince of Saudi Arabia.
Mashburn spent one year working as a flight attendant with Midway, and a second year training other employees. She wanted, however, to experience working for the private sector. Over the next four years, she got the chance to fly with sports teams, musicians, politicians such as U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry and even the CEO of Krispy Kreme.
Always seeking adventure, Mashburn came across her current position one day while looking on www.planejobs.com, a website for aviation jobs. The listing was for a flight attendant for a Saudi Arabian prince.
Recalling the application process, Mashburn said that she sent in a headshot and a full body photograph.
“Two months passed, and I had almost forgotten about the position,” she said. “But then I got a phone call to do an interview in Florida .”
Mashburn said it was a very laid back interview where she explained her credentials and saw pictures of the prince’s plane. That same day, she was offered the job.
Mashburn’s parents, Roger and Sue Edwards of Liberty , were very concerned about their daughter’s new job. Like many U.S. citizens, they understood the limited rights and potential dangers for women in Saudi Arabia . They feared for the safety of their daughter, as both a female and a westerner.
But while Mashburn has described it as a leap of faith, she points out that she did not make the leap completely blind.
“I had done my research, read as much as I could, and tried to fully educate myself before committing,” Mashburn said. “I sat down and talked about it all with my parents, and I think that eased their fears some.”
When she started, her new employer, Mideast Jet, sent her through initial emergency training, but that was all. Any other training came on the job. The job offered new challenges and opportunities that she had never before experienced.
Mashburn works a schedule of six weeks on and six weeks off. While at work, she is on call 24/7, though she often has free time. When she starts her shift, she flies to wherever the prince is located. Most of the time, he can be found in New York , Los Angeles , Las Vegas, Miami and, less often, Saudi Arabia . She said he leads a very extravagant lifestyle, traveling mostly for pleasure.
His Royal Highness Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, 39, was named the richest teenager in the world during his younger years. He now has three planes: a Boeing 777, a 737 and a Challenger. On his primary plane, there are two bedrooms (one of which can open into a full hospital), three showers, eight bathrooms and a salon all on the main floor. On the bottom floor there are 10 beds and two bathrooms for the crew.
When the prince is ready to fly, all flight attendants and pilots are expected to be ready and on the plane. Mashburn said the longest she has ever had to wait was 17 hours. The prince, who was supposed to arrive at 2 p.m. did not board the plane until 10 o’clock the next morning.
Mashburn and the other attendants, hailing from Sweden , Croatia , Greece , Romania and Australia , wear black dresses as their uniform. It can be difficult to understand the prince because there is a language barrier. The prince only speaks Arabic. To further the challenge, the prince sometimes travels with an entourage of up to 150 people, most of whom do not speak English.
“You learn to work around it,” Mashburn said. “There are ways that he can indicate to us what he needs, and some of that understanding just comes with time.”
For someone who has experienced such a privileged life, she notes how friendly and generous His Royal Highness Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz can be.
“Every time he boards the plane he tries to greet us, but his English is limited so it’s usually ‘Good to meet you’ every time,” Mashburn said. “He treats the crew exceptionally well.”
If the prince is staying in an area for an extended period of time, the crew lodges in hotels. For Mashburn, one of the scariest job experiences came just one month after leaving Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt .
“The hotel right next door to ours was bombed,” she said. “There have been members from other crews that have been killed before.”
The many challenges of Mashburn’s job are offset by some impressive perks.
Mashburn has been able to travel the world at almost no expense. While working, her accommodations are paid for, and she receives a daily per diem on an American Express Card. Some of her favorite places to visit have been Dubai , Hong Kong , Singapore and Paris .
“There are definitely some demanding parts of my job, but I have gotten a unique chance to travel the world and experience all kinds of different cultures,” she said. “It can be hard to be on call 24/7 but a lot of the time I’m free to do what I want, so I’ll read, work out, go shopping or just explore the area.”
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London Mansions of Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz jets and Palaces
