subject: The Job As Flight Attendant [print this page] Millions of young high school graduates worldwide are eyeing for the job as flight attendant. Most likely, they are attracted to the chance to travel to foreign countries and getting paid at the same time. Many of whom have never flown before and may be wondering what the job of a flight attendant or cabin crew is all about. For the benefits of this group, I am putting the salient points highlighting the main activities involved.
The job may be known by different names, depending on which region do you come from. In USA, the job is likely to be called a flight attendant. In Europe, the term cabin crew is more often used whereas in Asia, the same person is known as an air hostess or stewardess.
Nature of the Job.
The job can be classified under the heading of customer services. However there is a significant different as the main responsibility of a cabin crew is to handle the safety of the passengers in the event of emergency. In a normal flying conditions, they provide the services and attend to the needs of the passengers.
The following are the normal activities of a cabin crew as viewed by a passenger.
1. As a passenger steps into the aircraft, a cabin crew welcomes him or her and show him the seats.
2. As the pilot start the engine, the crews assist in the safety equipments briefings.
3. After takeoff, they will serve the drinks, then probably the dinner or lunch.
4. They distribute the audio aid and collect it before landing.
5. Assist the passenger with immigration and customs' papers.
6. Make the in flight sales.
What is not visible are the activities before the passengers board the aircraft and after the passengers left the aircraft. These are the activities:
1. The crews need to arrive to the office 1.5 hours before flight, then they attended the flight briefing by the supervisor or purser where flight briefings were given.
2. The crew received the passengers list, for the Club Class and First Class, the crews need to remember the names. Their special needs such as vegetarian food, special drinks etc to be reviewed and notes taken.
3. Get to the aircraft about 40 minutes before departure, check the equipments and provisions. Sign the receive notes from the Food suppliers. Check the cabin conditions and get ready to receive the passengers.
4. For some airlines, the crew clean the aircraft.
5. Report all incidents and accidents in the cabin log. Cabin log should contain the non-airworthy items. However some items affect the safety of the aircraft and have to be reported to the captain. Things such as fire extinguishers, oxygen and fluid leakage affect the safety of the aircraft.
6. The inflight sales have to be managed and reported on the first return to the base.
The Responsibility of the Job.
The responsibility of the job relates to the intended job's outcome. In this case, there two basic intended outcome:
1. The crew is responsible to ensure that the passengers are safe, both under the normal circumstances as well as under emergency situation.
2. To get a satisfied customer who will not complaint about the airline and hopefully will fly the airline again.
Flight attendants play an important role in the success of an airline. This is especially true for airlines that intend to compete in the premier league based on service quality. In most cases, the crew services are more likely can be considered as a "service dissatisfier factor" as unhappy passengers will generate a negative publicity. It is rather rare for passengers to give a positive feedback while it is more often to receive negatives ones.
