Being a cabin crew member can be very exciting and glamorous; after all, there are few career paths that allow you to travel and work at the same time. But to be a successful flight attendant you need to have the skills, the personality and the look to fit the description. If you're looking for a job in cabin crew, here's a list of the top qualities you must possess to set yourself apart from the competition.
1. Customer Service Skills
Customer service is probably the most important skill that a
cabin crew member should have; your entire job is about ensuring that the
customer is safe and happy. You must go above and beyond to make sure their
journey with you was memorable and that they will return to fly again with your
company. As Cailey Rizzo explains in Travel + Leisure, “it’s the airline
employees that set the experience apart”.
2. Teamwork
A successful and happy flight is a result of teamwork.
You’ll find that you will rarely work with the same people each day and should
be able to adapt and gel with different members of the team for the flight to
run smoothly.
3. Communication Skills
Flight attendants must be effective communicators; you’ll
need to advise passengers on proper emergency procedures and convey information
clearly. Listening to the clients request and responding to it in a timely
manner is essential. In emergencies, cabin crew members need to relay
information to their team members and passengers plainly and effectively.
4. Friendliness and Positivity
The long hours and hard work can sometimes take a toll on
your mood. But, you need to make sure you remain friendly and positive. A
customer won’t know how many unsocial hours you have worked in the past week,
or the tough journey you had to work, and they will expect the highest level of
customer service. You will be chosen for the job on your bubbly personality so
never forget that.
5. Caring and Understanding
Your customers will have a varied range of needs and issues.
You need to demonstrate that you can understand those needs and care for all
your customers in a timely manner. You must show that you are compassionate and
kind when you are dealing with fragile problems.
6. Professionalism and Responsibility
Cabin crew are primarily responsible for the safety of their
passengers. You must always perform your duties in a professional manner and
show that you are trusted to take the health and safety of your customers and
colleagues seriously.
7. Independence and Dependability
A flight attendant is required to perform their duties
independently with little or no supervision. It’s important that you’re
reliable and dependable and can fulfil all the tasks and obligations to the
best of your ability.
8. Empathy
It’s important to be sensitive to others needs and feelings,
including passengers and other crew members. If you see that a colleague is
struggling, be understanding and helpful.
9. Adaptability and Flexibility
In this line of work, it’s essential that your personal
qualities include being adaptable and flexible to changes in the workplace.
Although you can receive your scheduled flights a few weeks in advance, it’s
important that your diary is kept free as you may also be required to be on
standby and available to fly at short notice to cover sickness or another major
issue.
10. Cultural Awareness
You’ll most likely be working with a diverse team including
people from different cultural backgrounds to your own. You must be someone
that can work with anyone, no matter what their race, age, nationality and
gender is. In fact, you should be excited to work in a differing environment to
broaden your knowledge on humanity and different races.
11. Physical Fitness
As this is a physical job, you need to ensure you have a
good fitness level and can endure being on your feet for over eight hours a day.
You will also need to meet some specific requirements during your application
process.
12. Well Groomed and Graceful
Flight attendants are the public image of the airline and
must look the part. Your grooming should be impeccable and your posture graceful.
You’ll be working long hours and have to look just as fresh at the end of the
flight as you did at the start.
13. Self Control
A flight attendant must keep their composure at all times.
Even if you are faced with a difficult situation that can make you angry or
upset, you must keep your emotions in check and avoid any behaviour that is
out-of-character.
14. Stress Tolerance
Sometimes, a flight can be very stressful because of certain
situations such as flight delays, full flight load, difficult and demanding
passengers, or even crew conflict. Flight attendants must be able to accept
criticism and deal calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. It’s
important to have a stress-management routine that you follow; whether it’s
taking a deep breath when you are faced with a demanding situation or learning
to let go and not letting something bother you. Phang, a current flight
attendant, said that “a tolerant attitude… has helped him greatly in his job.
In fact, he found he could also apply such good-natured mien to other areas of
his life.”
15. Attention to Detail
Another key skill is having great attention to detail. Paying
attention and being careful about details is one of the top qualities that a
cabin crew member must have. Most airlines spend a lot of money training flight
attendants on how to deliver their core values effectively.
16. Initiative and Leadership
You must have great enthusiasm in taking responsibility and
finding quick solutions to problems that arise. This, in turn, shows good
leadership qualities; having the ability to take charge, and offer opinions and
direction to crew and passengers when required.
17. Organisation
A highly sought skill of a flight attendant; you must be
able to display good organisation skills especially in the workplace to
maximise time for other tasks. As there is a time constraint on flights you
must be able to prioritise. This is also important in your daily life too; you
will need to ensure you’re organised so you can be on standby if you are needed
to go to work at the last minute.
18. Good Time Management
In a similar vein, good time management is another
requisite. It’s important to manage your own time to be at work well before the
scheduled flight; otherwise, you would lose your job.
19. Discretion
Discretion is important when dealing with a potential issue
with either a passenger or crew member. A metal tube in the sky is not the
place for anyone to have a meltdown. There’s a saying amongst flight attendants
that “what happens on a flight, stays on a flight”.
20. Numerical Competence
Cabin crew members need to be competent in using basic
mathematics; during the flight, you will need to work with money when selling
duty-free products and refreshments. You will also need to have an
understanding of currency rates and conversions.
Some of these skills will come naturally to you, whereas others will be learnt through previous work experience, or on the job.
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