Air Hostesses / Flight Attendant

Who is a Flight Attendant?

Flight attendants or cabin crew (also known as stewards/stewardesses, air hosts/hostesses, cabin attendants) are members of the cabin crew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard flights. They are an integral part of flight schedules taking care of complete non-technical aspects of a flight from take-off to landing.

What Does A Flight Attendant Do?

Primary Tasks are-

• Getting briefed from the captain on the coordination of the crew, flight duration, evacuation procedures in case of emergency, expected weather conditions, and special issues regarding passengers

• Greeting the passengers boarding the flight, assisting them with seats and luggage.

• Demonstrating how to use life-saving equipment in case of emergency.

• Helping passengers who are in need of assistance (Children, Elderly, patients, etc)

• Serving/selling food items such as snacks, tea, etc. and distributing pillows, reading materials as per the requirements

• Taking care of inventory and making sure that the aircraft has an adequate supply of cabin requirements such as Food, Water, Medicines, Blanket, etc.

• Answering the queries of passengers during the flight

• Keeping the hygiene and appearance standards of the passenger area

What is the Eligibility Criteria?

Eligibility guidelines vary from company to company. We will try to mention the basic and common guidelines common to all.

• The applicant at entry-level is desirable to be unmarried and the minimum educational requirement is 10+2 (Senior secondary)

• The candidate must be 18 years old. However, as per government of India guidelines, the upper age limit is relaxable by 5 years for candidates belonging to SC/ST and 3 years for OBC categories ( in the case of government-owned airlines)

• Must have passed the medical examination as per the DGCA guidelines

• Medically fit to discharge the duties mentioned in the flight’s operational manual

According to DGCA guidelines, cabin crew members must not be overweight and or obese. For male crew members, the BMI (Body Mass Index) of 18-25 is termed normal and BMI of 18-22 is termed as normal.

BMI of 25-29.9 for the male crew is overweight and 30 and above is obese. For female BMI of 22-27 will be considered overweight and 27 and above will be considered obese.

What is the Admission Procedure?

If you have a graduate or a hotel management degree and have knowledge of a foreign language, then it is a plus. There are also some training academies that help you train for the job.

Some prominent training institutes are Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training; Wings Air Hostess & Hospitality Training; PTC - Aviation Academy; Indira Gandhi Institute of Aeronautics (IGIA); Institute For Personality, Etiquette, & Grooming; Air Hostess Academy (AHA); Lovely Professional University.

What are the required skills?

• Flight Attendant must be a problem solver and must have excellent coordination and communication skills

• He/she must have good reasoning and decision making skills.

• They may need to lift baggage and stand and walk for long periods. Hence, good physical stamina and have a vision which is correctable to at least 20/40

• The empathic approach is an added advantage. Discretion, time management, great organisation skills, stress tolerance, customer service skills, patience among others are some important skills that will help you excel in your Flight Attendant career.

What is the cost of training programs?

The cost of such training programs depends upon the type of course and institute you choose. The total cost of training programs may range from 50,000 - 150,000 Rs (per course). Contact individual institutes to get real-time information on the fee structure.

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What are the job prospects?

This career is suitable for those who love to travel. You don’t need to have high technical degrees to choose this lucrative career option. The average salary of a Flight Attendant who is a beginner is between 30-35,000 Rs per month. And the minimum qualification required is class 12th. This is one of the few careers that promise such high attractive salaries with only school education. What's more, if you choose this career at an early age, you can earn up to 50 - 60,000 Rs per month by the time you reach 23-25.

The job prospects for Flight Attendant are directly proportional to growth in the Aviation industry. According to experts, India aims to become the third-largest domestic aviation market by 2024. The domestic aviation market grew at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 12.72 per cent during FY06-FY18. Indian airline companies are planning to increase their fleet size to 1,100 aircraft by 2027. The passenger growth in FY19, passenger traffic in India was reported 344.70 million. The domestic passenger traffic was 275.22 million while international traffic stood at 69.48 million.

India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets and expected to cater to 520 mn passengers by 2037. These are statistics that depicts that there will be an ample number of flight attendant jobs available in the near future.

How much you can expect to earn?

According to Payscale, the average salary of a Flight Attendant in India is Rs 486,082 according to Payscale. An entry-level Flight Attendant with less than 1 year of experience earns on average Rs 388,843. Flight Attendant with experience of 1 - 4 years earn on average Rs 420,000 based. A mid-career Flight Attendant can expect to earn Rs 786,108 on average. (All salaries are per annum)

Who are the Major recruiters?

Major domestic recruiter airline companies are Indigo, Vistara, AirAsia, Air India, Air Charter Services Pvt Ltd, Air Charters India, Aviation India, Go Air Airlines, Spicejet and others.

Major Global companies recruiting Flight Attendants are Lufthansa Group, American Airlines Group (AAG), Delta Air Lines, United Continental Holdings, Air France-KLM, Emirates Group, International Airlines Group (IAG), Southwest Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China.

Interesting Facts

Heinrich Kubis was the world’s first flight attendant.