So you want to be a Flight Attendant
Most people who decide to become flight attendants do so because of the travel perks and opportunities associated with the job, but don't realize that the job isn't as glamorous as the media presents it. The majority of flights are not layovers at all, but rather return to one of the airline's bases, and many of the airline's destinations are not exotic or exciting at all. Crew hotels are usually not top five star resorts, and many layovers are only set up for the crew to take ample rest, and are 13 hours or less, not long enough to even enjoy the destination in the first place.
Flight attendants are foremost responsible for the safety and security of the passengers and flight, and secondly ensure passenger comfort by offering hospitality and in-flight services. If you still want to be a flight attendant, keep in mind that:
- You will have to work statutory holidays. Airlines are 24/7 operations and never sleep. Low seniority flight attendants are expected to work statutory and public holidays and red eye, overnight flights.
- You only work 60-100 hours a month, on average. It may sound like a blessing in disguise, but few monthly hours mean you may have to look for another part-time job, difficult for flight attendants on the low end of the pay scale, holding reserve, on-call blocks.
- You will be expected to deal with emergency situations. In my experience working with flight crew, I have heard of all sorts of unplanned emergencies, like aircraft mechanicals, diversions, emergency landings, ill passengers, disruptive passengers, fires, and even attempted suicides on board.
- Your schedule will be unplanned. For the first few years, as a low seniority flight attendant, you will not get the trips that you bid for, but rather will be placed on company reserve, meaning that the airline can send you anywhere and anytime while you are on call. You will be expected to have your cell or pager strapped to you at all time. As a reserve you must be able to report for duty within two hours of notice.
- You will work long duty days. Days at airlines can be as long as 16 or 17 hours, and you may sometimes not even return home at night, if your flight is delayed in a destination, a consideration if you have outside work commitments or small children.
If the prospect of pursuing the challenging, unconventional yet rewarding career path of a flight attendant still sounds attractive, generally airlines look for aspiring candidates who possess the following minimum requirements:
- 21 years at the time of application
- minimum height of 5'2, but not over 6'0
- 20/20 vision or corrected to 20/20
- weight proportional to height
- high school graduate, but post-secondary education preferred
- previous hospitality or customer service experience
- excellent, team-friendly attitude and professional poise
- neat, tidy and conservative appearance (no unusual haircolors, and no facial piercings)
- great communication skills
- able to work well under stress and pressure (long 16 hour days, long periods standing, jet lag, working in these conditions while meeting airline's customer service expectations)
- capable of handling physically demanding tasks, like stowing passenger baggage, and bending down often
- able to pass security clearance and medical exam (impeccably clean medical and criminal record)
FLIGHT ATTENDANT TRAINING
Because of the high risk nature of the work, flight attendant training is demanding and rigorous, and lasts approximately four to eight weeks, consisting of in-class sessions and practice drills. During training, aspiring flight attendants will learn:
- aircraft specifications and onboard systems, like cabin pressurization, water and waste, air-conditioning, oxygen, lighting, intercom, audio and video, and passenger seating systems.
- emergency equipment. Training covers effective and proper use of: oxygen equipment and bottles, face masks, lifejackets, megaphones, fire extinguishers, fire axes, and slide deployment.
- emergency procedures. You will learn how to take charge and maintain control during an unplanned situation; you will learn what to do during rejected takeoffs, missed approaches, unplanned landings, sabotages and bomb threats, cabin de-pressurization, hijacker threats and control, pilot incapacitations and on-board fires.
- survival techniques. During unplanned landings or fires, you will learn water and land survival techniques, like emergency exit evacuations and water escape and raft use.
- in-flight duties. In addition to safety measures, you will also learn about standard in-flight procedures and airline operations, such as cabin preparation, in-flight service and meal training, galley equipment, First Aid, CPR and defibrillator training, dealing with special needs passengers, handling UMs, (unaccompanied minors), and customer service.
- collective agreement and work conditions. As most airlines are unionized, your training will also cover working conditons stipulated in your union's collective agreement with the airline, as well as national transport regulations and legalities.
While all airlines perform their own individual, in-house training, aprivate flight attendant training coursemay be helpful for aspiring candidates who wish to prepare as flight attendants in this highly competitive and rewarding field.
