5 Things to remember before choosing cabin crew as a career

Cabin crew as a career is a very exciting opportunity. One of the simplest ways to characterize the life of a cabin crew member is to travel around the world, experiencing different cultures week after week while also ensuring that passengers have a nice journey. Cabin crew members are trained professionals who work on aircraft and are responsible for ensuring that the passengers onboard travel in the most comfortable and safe manner possible. In addition, the cabin crew has been educated to deal with emergency scenarios. Checking all safety measures to ensure they are in functioning order, taking care of any special needs of passengers, guaranteeing sufficient first aid, and so on are all part of the pre-flight debriefing and tasks.

Cabin crew, often known as flight attendants, perform an important role in making customers feel at ease while flying. They are responsible not only for the passengers’ comfort and safety but also for maintaining the flight’s decorum by being affirmative and attentive. Excellent knowledge of languages is an added advantage. The occupation requires little formal education till the 12th grade. The job provides many opportunities to meet individuals from all over the world and to learn about diverse cultures in different places across the world. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects that India will become the third-largest aviation market by 2026 as it develops its airline services. Although this is mostly a female-dominated field, many men have carved out a niche for themselves, thus, making a lot of people choose cabin crew as a career.

 The following things should, however, be kept in mind before choosing cabin crew as a career.

1. You might be able to get more out of your vacation time than you think.

Working agreements, i.e. how much time is required in-between flights, are varied for each airline. There is, however, always a minimum legal requirement for the number of hours you can work. In general, if you’re flying more than 10 hours, you’ll need two local nights off at a specific location; anything less than that on a long trip is usually only 24 hours. Due to the airline’s scheduling, some short-haul flights may require you to make a night stop in Europe. Making the most of your stopover is, without a doubt, the key to making the most of this exciting new lifestyle.

1. Your teammates will be your closest friends.

You will create tight ties with particular coworkers after 6 weeks of training; you will not only have a lot in common, but you will also have spent a lot of time together going through the same experiences. You may not get to work with them as much as you’d want, but the hours you spend relying on each other on shift and any downtime you choose to spend together in unique areas will help you establish ties with other teammates. You won’t be best friends with everyone, but you’ll probably meet some like-minded people with whom you’ll be friends regardless of your future work choice.

1. It’s part of the job description to appear well-dressed.

Each airline has slightly varied grooming requirements, but they are all highly detailed and stringent. Each day, your uniforms must be well pressed. Neutral subdued colours, such as pink, peach, nude, or, on rare occasions, traditional red, must be used on your nails and lips. Your hair must appear natural, which means you can colour it to a different natural-looking colour but no roots must be visible. In the 1990s, airline unions battled to abolish weight limitations for flight attendants, but every year, attendants are evaluated to ensure that they can fit through every door, emergency exit, and aisle of the smallest aircraft, which means that if they can’t, they risk losing their jobs. Some airlines also impose height restrictions, ostensibly to ensure that you can access the overhead bins.

1. Hours and working conditions

If you’re thinking about joining the cabin crew as a career, keep in mind that the job requires you to work irregular and unsocial hours on any given day of the year, including weekends, nights, and public holidays such as Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. On long-haul flights, for example, working hours might be particularly problematic; some flights can take more than eight hours, which could imply eight (or more) hours of wailing babies and annoying and impolite people.

As a result, you’ll find yourself gone from home for extended periods of time (perhaps days) (personal relationships could suffer because of this). Because you’ll be working in tight locations, such as the kitchen galley, the job might be physically taxing. You should also think about the job’s health implications, such as jet lag, fertility issues, increased cancer rates, unhealthy diet, digestive issues, radiation exposure, and repetitive motion injuries.

1. Skills and attributes that are required

To be successful in this field, you’ll need to be able to exhibit a wide range of abilities, including:

• Have exceptional communication abilities.
• Have outstanding customer service abilities.
• When dealing with VIPs or royalty, keep your cool.
• Have the ability to work in a group (you may have to work on different teams each day)
• Have a good understanding of numbers (for handling cash, including foreign currency)
• Work unsociable and irregular hours with flexibility.
• Be self-assured when dealing with a diverse group of people.
• Have an excellent understanding of business and sales techniques.
• Ability to work swiftly and effectively
• Be sensitive and diplomatic when appropriate, but assertive when necessary; be able to operate in a small environment; be able to calmly and rapidly resolve situations.

Every occupation has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, but being a cabin crew member offers an experience unlike any other. Your early exposure to a variety of people, lifestyles, locations, and situations will improve your customer service abilities, train you to work as part of a team, and teach you to be an adventurer. Granted, there will be good days and bad days, and there will be times when you must make difficult decisions in your professional and personal life, but if flying has always been a passion of yours, there is no higher fulfillment and there is no better choice than cabin crew as a career.