What makes a great flight attendant
 

Hello all,

since my last post was deleted. Here is another one.

What makes a great flight attendant?

All comments / opinions appreciated.

Thanks heaps

genuine
great listener
can hold a conversation
great sense of humour

usually the ones who are good to work with, are also great with the pax. those would be the most important to me.

This is a good question - as customers expectations are ever higher and competition fierce...

Young people nowadays are more assertive and 'pushy' - this doesn't bode well among airlines or its passengers...

BA recently fired 9 crew during ONE training course, because of these reasons:eek:

It therefore pays to :
A) Have alot of respect
B) Don't be over-assertive
C) Do NOT act precious
D) Be prepared to work hard within a team
E) Be able to have fun

Some new entrants we have had recently, have come on-line with a real chip on their shoulder, been lazy and dead precious - this doesnt go down at all well.

As far as the customer is concerned , be subtle,friendly,helpful and not over-bearing ...

Happy flying :ok:

I have known some great flight attendants, and also unfortunately some who should have been in other jobs! :}

However the great ones had the same qualities:

Friendly & approachable

Can-do attitude

treat everyone equally whether they be "important" or ordinary people

Lovely smile

Able to put people at ease

Think "outside the box"

Able to deal with practically anything!!

PATIENCE!!! :D

Hard working

Assertive when needed & cool in a crisis

Good communicators/listeners

Make people feel special even by "little things"

To all of those great FAs (you know who you are) I always counted it a privilege to know you, and you did the profession proud!! :cool:

As a Pax I fully agree with SkySista, but I would like to add that in my mind it boils down to one thing:

A great f/a makes a pax feel like individual person and not just a "bum on a seat". While you rightly say:
That can be as simple as addressing the person directly and not trotting out the same corporate approved words when handing over a cup of coffee.

Sorry to one airlines' crew here (no names, no pack-drill), but a game we play on trans-Atlantic flights is to see who can get the most responses of "You're Welcome" by saying "Thank You" every time you hand something over. If you held eye-contact and said "Sure" or something instead, it would be much more friendly.

The irony here is that for flight attendants, just like a lot of other jobs, the people who do the best job for their company (and ultimately promote the company best) are the ones who do not fit the company mould.

Quals
 

1.Active listening skills
2.An ability to anticipate pax needs
3.The ability to work within a team
4.A friendly and happy disposition..even at 0300
5.The ability to deal with shift work
6.Be customer service oriented.
7.Not internalise other peoples anger(don't take it personally)
8.Be physically fit
9.Have a good sense of humour
10.Be able to think laterally
11.Be happy
12.Empathise

I think one of the biggest ones that no one has mentioned yet is to have the ability to laugh at yourself!!! Because at one time or another (probably multiple times) you will be the subject of a joke or funny story of some kind, and it helps to be able to laugh at yourself.... I think also most flight attendants develop a very black, dark sense of humour - you start to find the nastiest and weirdest things funny! I think its a coping mechanism - some of the stuff we see and deal with can be just horrendous, so laughing at it helps us deal and "not internalise" as someone else already mentioned...

(of course, I dont have one of those dark senses of humour - I am perfectly angelic and pure *cough cough* :E )

Here's a simple one: treat people the way you would like to be treated.

This has become a hackneyed phrase, but it's a great approach to any social interraction, not just work.;)

Good flight attendant
 

I believe it's all about personality. I'm not naturally clumsy, but now into my 5th year of the job and having dropped my fair share of tea, coffee (wine on Muslims!) and the like, believe that a smile and friendliness can let you get away with murder!

Saying that, there's nothing more embarrassing than that what slips out of your MOUTH when you're exhausted! The other day, whilst doing Duty Free, I actually told a pax that I'd "show him my goods, in a moment!" He thought this was hysterical and soon shared it with the rest of the cabin. Also, what is it with the PA? sometimes I get the most awful oral dyslexia!

Ending sentiment - good F/A = compassion, care, service with flair , personality, BIG sense of humour and the ability to strut through that airport at the end of a 9 hour hour flight, looking like you're off to a premiere (wish I'd been in this profession in the 50s!!) C'mon gals and boys let put the glam back in!!!!

As a contract pilot working in Algeria I regularly fly on Astreus Airlines. I have to congratulate Astreus on knowing their target market, typically a bunch of contract workers who have spent the last 5 or so weeks in the desert. Order a beer - they give you 2!

On a recent flight the hostie asked me if I would like chicken or beef. "Chicken please" I said. "Only if you do a chicken impersonation", she replied. Had to cluck and flap my wings to get my meal! Cracked me up thinking about it later - turned an ordinary flight into a memorable one. 10/10 for originality.

batninth I play that game too with anyone from the USA - it's such fun!

cheers ;)
FF

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

:E

*Must remember that one*

Many years ago when I was a young pup starting at one of the largest airlines in the world - I was told the number one quality a successful FA needed was flexibility.

I've since added the ability to hold your drink to that list.

Being a great Flight Attendant? Well apart from all the obvious things like customer service/smiling lets get realistic when it comes to the day to day running. Here is a typical bitchy PPRUNE answer:

01) Being able to get everyone or most out of the plane when it's an emergency
02) Knowing the Manuals & procedures word for word like you are programmed. So if you're questioned you never have to worry and its cruisy when ya briefed or doing ya reevaluations
03) Even though you know the correct procedures from the manuals - You do not always follow them ie not always doing the proper service training by cutting corners so you look fast and effecient and ability to not get caught
04) Making friends with the right people & make a good impression so when you F%$# up it's not so bad!
05) Making sure you know enough dirt about others so they dont try to sink you
06) Dont hang around other people that make you look bad
07) Be bitchy and intimidate others to your advantage.
08) Dont work too much harder then the rest of the team or you let them down by putting more pressure on them to work harder.
09) Keep your friends close and enemies closer
10) Be a bit reclusive and dont give too much away
11) Work frieken fast and knock em over so that ya not late with anything

A good Flight Attendant:

"Good morning Captain!"

A GREAT Flight Attendant:

"It's morning, Captain..."

Just being able to take as much money as possible out of your passengers and then getting their name and addrsss..