Flight attendants, or cabin crew as we are sometimes known, are often judged by what the passenger sees - a smile, a uniform, and welcoming you onboard the aircraft. We are seen serving meals and drinks and that might be all you see of us during your flight. However, being a flight attendant is not as it seems...

Training days

Flight attendants are very highly trained and take on an intensive training course of around 6 weeks. This involves emergency procedures on land and water, security, dangerous goods, and survival in the jungle or polar conditions. In aviation medicine training, we learn about advanced first aid and medical emergencies, childbirth, CPR, and defibrillation as well as understanding hypoxia and sleep hygiene.

We are trained in fire-fighting on the aircraft, and we also take self-defense training. We learn the importance of communication and crew resource management, in order to understand how accidents happen and how we can mitigate risk. We also study food safety and how to be observant of human behaviors that might involve something like drug smuggling or human trafficking.

Flight attendants also have to learn everything about the aircraft type that they are working on, this is called aircraft-specific training. Basically, this means knowing where all the safety features and safety equipment are in the cabin and what the sounds, lights, and messages on the flight attendant panel all mean. Service training is only a tiny amount of our training, we are trained for emergency situations and to keep our passengers and colleagues safe in a sometimes difficult environment.

Surprisingly...

We are tested every year to make sure our safety standards are high, and have to achieve above 95% pass mark to remain in our jobs. We also have safety briefings before flights to test our knowledge is up to scratch - if not you could be going home.

Flight attendants have strict grooming standards that have to be followed, or you can be removed from a flight! There are certain allowed hairstyles and makeup is very specific, down to the correct shade of lipstick. Shoe heel heights are also checked as well as skirt length for the ladies. We are the face of the company, so have to be immaculately groomed.

The application process is long and complicated and not many people make the grade. Recently, Emirates received over 300,000 applications for just 6,000 available positions. There are very specific requirements, like fluency in English, being able to reach 210-215cm to reach safety equipment onboard, and having customer service experience. There are also various interviews and tests that take place before securing a job.

Flight attendants come from all walks of life and are often highly educated with bachelor's or master’s degrees. Some flight attendants will decide to train to be a pilot - as the passion for aviation develops their career. We also have nurses, lawyers, teachers and chefs looking for a career break or change - we are a truly mixed bunch!