Have you ever considered what it must be like to as a flight attendant aboard an airline? They bring us food, pour us drinks, and offer us hot flannels which seem to have a volcanic temperature one second and permafrost chill the next – (I will never comprehend how a hot flannel can change temperature at such a rapid rate) but that’s irrelevant really.
Working as an Air Steward or Stewardess can be one of the most exciting, engaging professions in the world for which surprisingly few qualifications are needed to enjoy a respected and often very enjoyable lifestyle.
For a start, most airlines require you to be at least 18-21 years of age at the time of application, have some consumer experience, and be of a reasonable height and weight. There aren’t really any boundaries as to how attractive you are, but needless to say, if you have a face like a cave-dwelling lizard you aren’t likely to get very far. Generally a low level of qualifications will be required, such as High School grades.
Emirates Airlines, for example, are one of the most competitive employers – out of around 50 candidates interviewed they’ll only select around 7 to go on for further tests. Of course they’re one of the best employers to work for – while the salary (like most people in the profession) is rather small, benefits such as the routes being flown and accommodation and so on are said to make it well worthwhile.
Many Airline companies have quite creative ways of separating “the wheat from the chaff”, such as Virgin Atlantic who have a preliminary group interview, where they can observe how each attendant works as part of a team and how much attention to detail each candidate has naturally and so on. After which they’ll put you through a series of (presumably) challenging tests which must be passed and you’ll have to pass an interview with two assessors. If you pass, you’ll then undergo a rigorous medical examination before commencing training.
And it’s not one of those sorts of professions that fizzle out after you reach a certain getting older either. Senior Flight Attendants can often “rise up the ranks” and go on to become a Cabin Service Director (CSD) who often commands quite a considerable salary.
But there’s one thing I forgot to mention: the physical strain of the job. Any Flight Attendant you ever talk to (and I assure you: they’re interesting people) will tell you the demands, long hours, and jet lag which are something of a norm with this kind of job. However, look on the bright side – it’s everything that working at that normal office or day job isn’t – paid-for travel is a constant part of the equation, while spare time and holidays that even allow for the pursuit of a degree. A great majority of people who work in the industry have also seen pretty much every country you’d ever want to travel to, and all as part of their job!
Photo of air hostesses in Seoul Airport, South Korea, by Lookat Lao
Topic: General Travel |
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Tags: airports
About the author
Paul Crompton is an avid reader and has a passion for cars and technology, primarily. He loves traveling to whichever exotic travel location which is cheap. His dream is to become an advertising executive.
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