Leaving
school at the age of 18 I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was
always very envious of those who had a set plan and knew where life would take
them. All I knew is that I did not want to go to university and that I want to
travel the world with someone I love but I did need a job.
To
cut a long story short a good friend of mine, Clare, told me about how a local
airline were hiring for Cabin Crew and how she had applied. On a whim I also
applied. I had an interview and I got the job.
Before
the training, like many others, I took Cabin Crew for granted. They were they
people who did the demonstration before a flight and provided the food and
drink service. But there is so much more to being a Cabin Crew member then just
that.
What
a lot of people don’t get to see is the preparation cabin crew (as well as
pilots, engineers, dispatchers and security) need to do before each flight to
ensure a safe journey. As cabin crew we need to ensure all paperwork is filled
out, conduct and take part in a pre-flight briefing, ensure the aircraft is presentable for the passengers and conduct security
searches and safety checks before each flight.
The training
process was roughly a month long and I still learn something every time I go to
work. Only the last hour in this whole training was based around food and drink
service and working with our EPOS machines (to take credit and debit cards).
The rest was all safety related. All cabin crew, at any airline need to learn
about:
- Safety equipment on board the aircraft- where it is, pre-flight checks, how to use it and when to use it correctly
- Emergencies – what to do in the case of every type of emergency situation and the procedures we have to follow (I wont go into detail, I wouldn’t want to scare the nervous flyers reading this – but I promise, we are trained well and we know what we’re doing)
- How to treat people with first-aid including CPR on adults and children, using a defibrillator, side-effects of flying and physical injuries & trauma
- Passengers – how to treat special assistant passengers (e.g. deaf or blind) in the correct manner. How to deal with intoxicated or unruly passengers
The
list goes on and on…
As
well as learning in the classroom we also had physical training. This included:
- Raft training and survival in water (during this time we actually got to test out the life vests we have on-board and see how they feel and work)
- We also met with the airport fire fighters and learnt about different types of fires and had a go at putting out fires in an aircraft replica.
- One of the aircraft types we work on is a jet with automatic evacuation sides therefore we needed to learn how to use the doors and what to do in the case that slides do not inflate etc.
Again
I could go on…
In
learning all of these safety aspects and emergency drills, Cabin Crew have the
knowledge to deal with a situation to the best of their ability ensuring the
safety of the passengers. The hope is that what we do learn in our training we
will never have to use but we are always prepared.
You
may have heard over a PA that ‘cabin crew are here for your comfort but
primarily your safety’. Yes, we are there to make your flight enjoyable and as
comfortable as possible. You may see the crew as your waiters and waitresses, cleaners or personal assistants but cabin crew are
first-aiders, fire fighters, lifeguards and lifesavers.
In
the event of an emergency cabin crew increase your chances of survival; we are
more than just trolley-dollies.
Bye
for now x
PS: For more insight on being cabin crew I would highly recommend watching 'A Very British Airline' which was aired on Channel 4 - watch on 4oD. It shows the intense training of the British Airways cabin crew as well as other members working in the airline industry
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