The last flight before leaving: how crews say goodbye, the traditions, and what to do on yours
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#1 Ex SAS, and my last flight was Oslo to London three years ago, and I still think about the way the crew did it. Every airline has a version. Let us collect them, for the people whose last flight is coming and who want to do it well.
Mine
The purser knew, told the crew, did not tell me they knew. On the return sector the captain did a PA: 'Today is the last flight for one of our crew after 14 years' and the cabin applauded, which I had not expected and which undid me. In the galley afterwards there was a card signed by the whole base (they had passed it around for a month), a bottle, and a hat swapped for a paper crown. At the door the crew lined up and I walked through. I cried the whole way to the bus.
Traditions I have seen or heard
The water salute for the aircraft, on some airlines, for a very senior retirement, which is arranged with the airport and is a genuinely moving thing to be inside.
The wings pinned to the card, or a set of new wings given by the purser.
The last PA, done by the person leaving, if the purser allows, which at some airlines is a thing and at others is absolutely not.
The crew room board with the photo and the years.
The crew who bid the flight to be on it, from other bases, which happens for the well loved.
What to do on yours
Tell the purser a week before so the crew can do the things. Do the flight properly, the whole way, including the last cabin secure, because the crew are watching and it matters. Take the card. Let them do the door line. Cry on the bus, not in the galley, if you can manage it, and if you cannot, nobody minds.
And on the ground afterwards, do not delete the group chat. I said this elsewhere. I mean it.
What did your airline do, or what will you want?
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#2 Melbourne, 22 years, and mine had the water salute, which I did not know about until the aircraft turned onto the stand and the fire trucks were there. The captain had arranged it. I could not speak for an hour.
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#3 Thomas Cook, and my last flight was the last flight, the airline collapsed the next week, so there was no ceremony, just a crew who did not know it was the end. That is the other kind and it is worth saying: do the goodbye when you can, because sometimes you cannot.
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#4 Emirates, and my last was Dubai to London, and the purser let me do the landing PA, which is not standard and which she did anyway. I said thank you to the passengers and meant it for the crew.
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#5 @cabinkate77 that is the version nobody plans for and it is the reason to say goodbye to a crew properly every time. Thank you.
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#6 Mine was quiet by choice. I told nobody. I regret that a little now. Do the card. Let them line up.
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#7 Training, so this is a long way off, and I have read the whole thread and I already know I will want the door line.