How to Become a Cabin Attendant

A cabin attendant may also be called flight attendant cabin crew or gender specific air hostess/stewardess or purser.

Cabin crew forms the supporting staff on a flight, apart from the pilot who may be a captain or commander and his co-pilot. Depending on the kind of airline the cabin crew works for, the demands of the work vary, but basically consist of taking care of the comfort of passengers.

The Work

Cabin attendants’ duties include welcoming the passengers on board, showing them to their seats, helping them in any way required, serving them food and drink, clearing up, and attending to their needs. A cabin attendant may work for a local/domestic airline or an international one, for long haul or short haul flights. In low cost carriers which are now very common for short flights, the cabin attendants may have to sell food, water, drinks and also on flight items either auctions or fixed price items. Most importantly, cabin crew is responsible for the safety of passengers in case of emergencies.

Basically this is a service industry and the work can involved erratic hours of flying, staying over in hotels in strange places and interacting with the passengers and other cabin crew members, working as a team and being the ‘face’ of the airline as its representative.

Personal Qualities

You need to have excellent people skills, communication skills, be patient, poised and tactful. You also need to be diplomatic, can never be rude to passengers, be calm in an emergency, have a pleasant personality.

You should also have a well-groomed appearance, be reasonably attractive, of a particular height, and preferably know swimming. Some airlines insist on normal vision without glasses, but with the rampant use of contact lenses most airlines are not strict about this. Usually airlines prefer unmarried air hostesses when they are joining and there are also age requirements.

Academic Qualifications

Most airlines prefer at least a High School or some college education though graduation may not be a requirement. However, graduation will always give a person an edge when promotions are around or for supervisory or managerial positions. Apart from English, knowledge of your local language is necessary and if you know even more languages whether local or foreign, that will be an added qualification.

While there may be some courses for cabin crew attendants, these are not mandatory and usually do not promise jobs. But they do help ‘polish’ your skills and increase your chances of selection.

Most airlines have their own training which you have to undergo for a few weeks or a few months and you do not have to pay for the training either.

Jobs

Jobs are available with local and foreign airlines and these are usually advertised in the newspapers and websites. Then there are private and government run airlines. There are also jobs available with private charters, VIPs and private jet operators.

Prospects are promotions in due course – from junior to senior levels, from cabin class to business class and then first class. As you move upwards in the hierarchy your pay and status also goes up. You can also jump airlines say from domestic to foreign carriers to enhance your prospects.

Earnings

In the US you can expect to start at a pay packet of around $23,000-$40,000 annually and go up to $100,000 on the higher end of the scale. However, do keep in mind that many airlines pay on an hourly rate depending on the number of hours you have put in a month, while others pay a flat monthly salary.

However, pay packets depend a great deal on the airline you are working for and whether it is domestic or international. International airlines pay higher salaries. And apart from salaries you get other benefits as well – uniforms, hotel stays, transport and extra money for layovers or flying times. You also get to see many places and you and your family may be entitled to free travel or highly discounted tickets as well.

If you have worked as cabin crew, your job prospects in the hospitality industry also increase and you may find it easier to get a nine to five job once you get tired of doing work at erratic timings.