Flight Steward as a Career Option

The recently-introduced open sky policy of the Government of India has led to opening up of dozens of private players in the aviation sector. All this has resulted in large number of vacancies for qualified cabin crews.

Cabin crews are the first professionals to welcome and greet passengers aboard an aircraft.Primarily, they lend a hand in supervising their seating arrangements and in arranging their hand baggage in the appropriate style.

Once all the passengers are inside the plane, they ensure and check the safety-belt arrangements and also exhibit the use of emergency equipments in case of any emergency.

Members of Cabin crew are also responsible for making essential announcements over the public address system on time to time basis. Generally, their duties and responsibilities start much before the arrival of the passengers as they check that blankets, pillows, magazines, newspapers, etc are in good order and in their correct places. They also supply first aid and serve meals to passengers.

Life of cabin crew is always full of adventure and sightseeing as they often change planes at ‘step-overs’. During those times, they enjoy the liberty of staying at luxury hotels at the airlines' expenditure.

Many institutes in India offer training programmes for grooming candidates for this adventurous profession.
 

Flight Steward Personal Skills

A sense of responsibility, ability to handle crisis, ability to take initiative and friendly nature are some of key-skills for this profession.

The job of a cabin crew demands lot of dedication and presence of mind as they have to be very alert throughout the length of the flight. Most importantly, as they come across air-sick travellers, sick children and babies and even elderly people, hence they must have strong sympathy towards them.

Flight Steward Eligibility Criteria

Nine times out of ten times, Airlines recruit cabin crew on the basis of the following criteria:

Age : Below 25 years

Height: Minimum height should be 170-180 cms (barefeet).

Weight : Proportionate to height as per the company's standards

Status(Marital) : Unmarried

Vision: Preferably normal eyesight without glasses; or minimum uncorrected vision (distant) should be 6/24 in each eye.

Educational: Graduate degree from a recognized university, or Plus Two/Equivalent with 3 year diploma in Hotel Management and Catering from a recognized institution.

Knowledge of the national language and at least one international language (English) is generally essential. The applicant should be physically fit with a pleasing personality and clear complexion.