Flight attendants or cabin crew (also known as stewards/stewardesses, air hosts/hostesses, cabin attendants) are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.
2. What are the general duties of Flight Attendant?
► Attend preflight briefings on details of the flight
► Ensure that adequate supplies of refreshments and emergency equipment are on board
► Demonstrate the use of emergency equipment
► Ensure that all passengers fasten their seatbelts
► Serve, and sometimes sell, beverages, meals, or snacks
► Take care of passengers' needs
► Assist passengers with special needs
► Reassure passengers during flight, such as when the aircraft hits turbulence
► Administer first aid to passengers, when needed
► Direct passengers in case of emergency
3. What are the responsibilities of Flight Attendant?
flight attendants attend a safety briefing with the pilots and lead flight attendant. During this briefing, they go over safety and emergency checklists, the locations and amounts of emergency equipment and other features specific to that aircraft type. Boarding particulars are verified, such as special needs passengers, small children traveling as unaccompanied or VIPs. Weather conditions are discussed including anticipated turbulence. Prior to each flight a safety check is conducted to ensure all equipment such as life-vests, torches (flashlights) and firefighting equipment are on board, in the right quantity, and in proper condition. Any unserviceable or missing items must be reported and rectified prior to takeoff. They must monitor the cabin for any unusual smells or situations.
4. What are the basic responsibilities of a Flight Attendant?
The most visible aspects of a flight attendant's job may be safety demonstrations and serving refreshments to passengers, but the position actually carries a considerable amount of responsibility. A flight attendant acts as an ambassador between the airline and its customers by making passengers feel comfortable during the flight. Flight attendants are also effectively the administrative staff on board the aircraft, responsible for the reporting and inventory work that keeps a flight running smoothly. Their most important duty, however, is seeing to the safety of everyone on board.
5. What are the job duties and tasks of flight attendant?
► Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.
► Answer passengers' questions about flights, aircraft, weather, travel routes and services, arrival times, and/or schedules.
► Assist passengers in placing carry-on luggage in overhead, garment, or under-seat storage.
► Assist passengers while entering or disembarking the aircraft.
► Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.
► Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.
6. Why do I need a certificate from the In-flight Institute?
The In-flight Institute is the ONLY online Flight Attendant training school in the world that is used by airlines right here in Canada and airlines around the world.
Our member airlines gain a great advantage by selecting pre-qualified candidates from our database. This enhances the quality of their candidates while decreasing their classroom training time. The In-flight Institute provides up to 80% of the required regulatory knowledge that you need to fly; the airline will provide the rest.
If you are serious about becoming a Flight Attendant you can improve your chances with a certificate from the In-flight Institute. If you are interested in working with any of our preferred member airlines then you MUST have a certificate of completion exclusively from the In-flight Institute.
7. How do I get started as a flight attendant?
Preparation is the mother of your success however your first priorities before you spend any money are twofold.
First up is to ask yourself two questions:
► Do I really want to be a Flight Attendant?
► Am I prepared to do what it takes?
If you answered yes to both of these questions then the second priority is to do something about it. Now's your time to get serious about getting your dream of the ground and into the air and it's what this site is all about. My passion as I sit here and write the information you are reading right now is to help you in any way I can to get your dreams take flight.
8. Do I need to undergo training before I apply to become a flight attendant?
While any training is advantages if your previous work experiences involving life skills or customer service are limited, the required specific airline flight attendant training will be provided by your new employer.
Typically this will take 4 to 6 weeks depending of course on the airline that you apply to. There are flight attendant training schools and on-line training sites that offer intending flight attendants, programs and courses that are very often expensive and are not recognized by any airline.
The choice is totally yours. You can attend one or two day courses and spend anything up to $350 for the privilege and you can even spend $4000 to $6000 for a 10 to 11 week course although I don't really recommend any of these courses. Many of the skills and competencies really should be gained by your work and life experiences.
9. Is a medical evaluation required to become a flight attendant?
A medical evaluation is required to ascertain a standard of health required to perform the duties of a flight attendant and to be able to cope with the aviation environment. Some specifics will be your ability to adjust to the pressure changes that you will experience every day.
This includes having healthy and 'normally' operating Eustachian tubes of your inner ear that equalize pressure as you ascend and descend on every flight. Most people will have absolutely no problem with the ability to equalize pressure. Similarly your sinuses must be able to cope with such pressure changes.
10. What are the background check requirements to be a flight attendant?
Common to many employers, not just those who recruit flight attendants are criminal history checks. This means that you will have to obtain a police check. Sometimes an employer will ask for your State of residence check only but don't count on that ever being replicated. The standard is for you to obtain and pay for a Police criminal history check for your country of origin.
11. What are the customer service requirements to be a flight attendant?
You will normally be required to possess some sort of customer service background. In most cases it does not matter where you obtained your experience so long as you can apply your knowledge to the requirements of the airline that you do apply to.
12. What are the education requirements to be a flight attendant?
Minimum standards of education are required to be a flight attendant. This will vary between the airlines however US applicants must have a high school degree or Government Equivalency Degree (G.E.D.) or (year 12 in the Southern Hemisphere).
13. What are the vision requirements to be a flight attendant?
Provided your vision is correctable via glasses or contacts, vision will not be an impediment. However final consideration may be sought through an aviation approved medical examination. Correctable eyewear or contacts are most often allowed to ensure you meet the corrected vision requirements.
14. What are the weight requirements to be a flight attendant?
Weight is a personal issue. If you think you have a problem then seek medical advice. If that advice requires action on your part then do what is required. Personally I don't need a doctor to tell me I'm getting a smidge pudgy. I simply look in the mirror and if I'm honest with myself I can see what the mirror is telling me.
For most of us, me included, we all have times in our life when we let our bodies get into a condition that personally I'm not proud of and for the most part we do it because we eat and drink too much and are lazy with the exercise.
15. What are the height requirements to be a flight attendant?
Most airlines will stipulate a set minimum and maximum height limit because of operational reasons which more often than not relate to safety issues. For most, you must have the ability to reach overhead lockers to reach passengers belongings in-flight for both a customer service element and a safety element such as a fluid leak from a bag for example.
However, strangely enough fluid leaking from bags happens infrequently with bottles of baby formula, water, soft drink and the like. Such a 'fluid' leak is for the most part not a real problem but I do one occasion on one of my flights when that fluid turned out to be cigarette lighter fluid.
Lighter fluid is very volatile and the proximity of spark or ignition sources such as light switches and passenger call buttons in the overhead Passenger Service Unit (PSU) on the underside of the over head lockers made for an extremely dangerous situation.
16. How do you measure talent?
That's a very significant question. Its implications affect the future health of all organizations - probably now more than ever.."
"The reason why this is such a difficult question for modern organizations to address and resolve, is that while some organizations and leaders know how crucial 'talent' is for their survival and competitive effectiveness, you can't actually measure and grow anything until you can define exactly what it is, which is the real challenge. I believe that you can only begin to measure and develop anything when you can define exactly what it is. Talent is prime example. The concept of 'talent' alone is completely intangible.
17. What is the most difficult situation you have faced?
Here you should be ready with your real life story. The question looks for information on two fronts: How do you define difficulty and how did you handle the situation? You should be able to clearly lay down the road map for solving the problem, your ability to perform task management and maintain good interaction with your team members and other peers. It is advisable to close by highlighting the lesson learnt out of the incident.
18. What is the worst feedback you have ever got?
To answer this question you must admit and share your areas of improvement. Also sharing an action plan for improving oneself will indicate your ability to take criticism well. Your answer should reflect your open-mindedness.
This question is generally asked to assess whether you are "desktop" kind of a person or an "interaction orientated person". It also indicates your preference for team-oriented activities or projects with solo contributions. It enables the organization to place you accordingly after selection. Be candid in answering the questions.
20. Why should we hire you as Flight Attendant?
Keep your answer short and precise. You should highlight areas from your background that relates to the need of the organization. Recap the organization's description of the job, meeting it point by point with your skills.
21. What are your favorite subjects?
It is a leading question giving direction to the panel members for possible areas where they can probe in further for your knowledge base and in-depth understanding. It is advisable to select the topics that you are competent in.
22. What are your biggest accomplishments?
You could begin your reply with: "Although I feel my biggest achievements are still ahead of me, I am proud of my sense of involvement. I would like to make my contribution as part of that team and learn a lot in the process".
It will be a good idea to close your answer with also specifying what attributes and circumstances made you succeed.
23. Do you prefer working with others or alone?
This question is usually asked to determine whether you are a team player. Before answering, however, be sure about the eligibility requirement of job profile, that whether it requires team work or you to work alone. Then answer accordingly.
24. What would you like to do in six years' time?
This question is asked to assess candidate's career plan and ambition for growth and to see if the company will be able to provide that opportunity over period of time. Also to assess if your personal goals are not totally off tangent with what company's objectives are. It is also to check your stability with the organization. It is good idea to be very realistic in your answer. If required guidance should be taken from your seniors who are already in the corporate environment.
25. Why do you want to join our Airline service?
To answer this question, you need to research the company well. Here you can quote some of your personal beliefs, which are in conjunction with the values of the company or talk about specific products and services which could be of interest to you too.
In the event where your skill set is mapping with the requirement of the company, do not miss the chance to highlight the same. Specify the initiatives taken or work done to attain that skill set.
26. Would you like to tell us about yourself?
Good idea would be to structure your answer in the following three broad heads:
► Family Background
► Educational Background (starting from schooling to professional qualifications)
► Achievements
