By the Cabin Crew door?

[Crosswind Limits]

Hi,

I completed my flight training about 4 weeks ago and apart from chilling out and generally recovering, I have been looking at possible options for me to pursue whilst I wait for that first RHS job. One of the options I have heard mooted before is to work as cabin crew and keep your flying hours ticking over on days off. I am aware that certain airlines will not consider frozen ATPL cabin crew for pilot positions but would still like to explore that option as a means of staying within the industry and potentially developing some useful contacts.

Anyone out there care to offer me some insight into this option? I would be most interested to hear from those who have been/still are in this position, did it help or hinder your career and did you have sufficient time to keep building those hours on days off?

If this is the wrong forum, for what is essentially a question, then I apologise.

Thanks.

[Splat]

I've heard it said that CC are discouraged to make the switch into the cockpit. Don't understand why.

Why not consider getting a job in the Ops room, dispatcher etc.

S

[Blighty Pilot]

I am at present operating as cabin crew. I am finding it very enjoyable and also very interesting. It is a good way of getting to know the company and the people that work within it. I have been encouraged by the flight deck and the cabin crew and both departments view this as bennifical for a multi - crew environment. Some of our present flight deck use to be cc and all of my my cc colleagues say that you can see a difference and that they are much better pilots for it. Ultimatly it gives you the oportunity to see what happens on both sides of the door, fit into a commercial airline, and spend quality time on the aircraft that you may possibly be flying one day.

[Piper Warrior Pilot]

Also Pilots need to be good comumicators, team leaders and best of all good at customer service etc... isnt cabin crew ideal for this?

[SCOTSMAN32]

any advice on cabin crew???

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of applying for Cabin Crew but have'nt a clue where to start. Was wondering what are the best airlines to work for and who has best working conditions, pay, promotion prospects etc.
Can anyone tell me what a typical day from start to finish entails, what sort of take home pay i can expect (as some basic pays seem alarmingly low, i'm assuming allowances bring pay up)do u enjoy ur job, just generally trying to get a feel for the job.
Also do i need to speak a foreign language and what other qualities or experience should i have? I'm currently a Police Officer so obviously have a lot of contact with the public but have no Bar/Restaurant experience. Is that necesary?

Any advice whatsoever on this subject would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Scotsman

[joe]

Try the cabin crew forum.

[Manflex55]

Yeah I think your post will be moved soon. Re: pay, O'Greedy says that "his" cabin crew can get up to £23k (yesterday's Daily Mail) but the average in this country is probably between £10k & £15k.

MF

[jeanbean]

Scotsman Ive sent you a PM

[poobaboon]

Working in an airport or cabin crew...could it help?

I was just wondering if working in an airport or on board as cabin crew could help job prospects in the future if you successfully get the required licenses to apply to airlines?
Could working in an airport possibly get you good contacts?
And may be working as cabin crew could get you good contacts as well as being known by the airline and possibly moving in the company?
Sorry if these are stupid questions, I haven't even started any flying lessons yet but I was just looking at possible job opportunities to fund my training (if I go modular route) and those kind of jobs came to mind of something that could be more useful, and also they are in the industry I am most interested in

Thanks!

Dan

[jskeffin]

similar situation

Not a stupid question at all Dan, infact i'm pretty much in thesame boat myself. I graduate ths year from Uni, i on the other hand do have some experience on the piper warrior aircraft out of coventry, highly insufficient however it may seems i got the taste as they say. Currently i'vew been looking toward graduate jobs within airlines at operations management level, for the same reasons as your good self. The truth is i don't know if this will or even can help. Sponsorship seems to be a forgone conclusion, until those cheque books appear, wll we can do is persavere with as best knowlege we have, Good luck

[AIRWAY]

Hello,

It will be good and valuable experience either working in an airport or as cabin crew has you get to know many aspect of the business, many of my friends that are pilots started their careers as Cabin Crew.

Its worth a go.

Good Luck

[jskeffin]

thanks

Its nice (and reassuring) to here some positive news about the current situation, cheers for the reply regards

[witchdoctor]

Don't knock yourself for thinking these things. The really dumb ones (like me ) only give this kind of thing due consideration when they stumble out of their flying school, clutching a licence with its ink still wet, wondering why the airlines aren't queued up outside waving their chequebooks.

Any aviation experience you can get in addition to your flying is a bonus - the more involved with actual a/c ops the better. It will give you the opportunity to learn about the way the industry works beyond the invaluable skills of making cows get bigger or smaller, and you will get to meet many people whom you will most probably want to contact upon completion of your training and will inevitably meet again at some point in the future. Contacts in the industry can certainly be a good source of information and advice, and even those who are in no position to influence the recruitment decision are worth having as allies - the industry is so surprisingly small that they may know somebody who can.

[poobaboon]

Sounds like a good idea then in the future if I get the chance, I live 40 mins from LBA and 50 from MAN if the motorways are kind (yeah right) so they are both options.
I need to finish my degree first though, or should that be start but when the time comes it does seem like a good idea to me, aviation is my main interest so I was thinking of those kind of jobs anyway before thinking of any advantages in the future but if they are there anyway then I'll take them

Thanks for your quick replies, if anyone else has anything to add its always welcome

Cheers

Dan

[PPRuNeUser0215]

Hi

A friend of mine joined "Sabre", ex excel a few years back. Within 4-5 months he had made a few useful contacts but a particular one put him in touch with the right guy.
So with his 300 hours he went on to fly the 727 (not for Sabre though). So who know ? Worked for him though...
As for me, I worked as cabin crew, check-in agent and now fly the 75. It didn't give the job but helped in developpong my personaility which certainly was more than helpful to prove myself at the interview.
If you want to give it a go then why not? Nothing like finding by yourself plus you will probably enjoy it and get even more motivated in achieving your ultimate goal.

Good Luck anyway

[euroboy]

Working at a airport/cabin crew is invaluable experience.

I worked in airports due summer vacations etc doing everything from engineering to check in. Learnt loads.

And once I had a license in my hand I became a dispatcher, bad money but great fun. 2 months latter I had a jet job with a company I used to dispatch.

So look at it as part of the training and enjoy.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Its a good strategy. Join the likes of Servisair and work as a ground handler then move into despatching. You'll gain a very useful insight into the operations of an airline which will stand you in excellent stead at interview. Plus you get to make contacts with airline employees. Similarly joining as cabin crew is a viable strategy.

Good luck,

WWW

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Glad someone has brought this up, as similar thoughts have crossed my mind and I am sure many others.

How about if the situtation is reversed, you gain your frozen ATPL, then you go to the airlines and apply for a cabin crew position, hoping you can make the necessary contacts in the business to get employed as a pilot. Would they see this as inititive, or blagging it?

Personally, if I was employed as cabin crew, I would work hard and take the job seriously and give it 100%. However, in the back of mind, I have thought that airlines may take the attitude this guy onlys want the flight deck and may take a relaxed approach to the cabin crew job?

Any opinions please?

[PPRuNeUser0215]

Cat3, after I came back from Africa where I had been flying for a year, I joined a ground handling agent then followed by BA (cabin crew).
Although I met some great people I am still very much in touch with I was not considered for any flying position wether I am talking about BA or British Midland.
Actually when I tried BA, I was told by the guy in charge of recruitment (POD for those who know him ) all sort of porkies plus told to leave the company and rejoin as flight deck once I have more experience.
I guess I did just that but I am very unlikely to rejoin as there is nothing there for me anymore.
A shame really since at the time I really wanted to stay with BA...

As for British Midland it didn't work out probably because I was LGW based and recruitment being at LHR, I couldn't just pop in. It happened a couple of times but no doubt, I was far from being the only one doing that.

On the other hand, I ve heard or met some people for whom it worked out juts the way I had tried but been unsuccessful. So there we, once again no rule there but why not giving it a go ? I mean, I really enjoyed my time in both jobs and learnt about what goes on on the other side.

Personally though I have always omitted to tell I was a trained pilot during interviews. I figured out this could go against me so I chose not take the chance. Whether or not it happened to be the case I don't know and I never will but the end result was satisfactory which is what mattered.

Bye

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

AMEX,

Thanks for your response, some interesting points made. I am hoping to finish my IR off in the summer, so this is the time I will be looking for work, either flying, which would be great of course, or something else. I really would like a job in the industry whether it be ground crew or cabin crew, just to keep a hand in, if I can't get a flying job straight away. I was involved in the Aerospace prior to starting pilot training, however it was indirectly and not at an airport.

Personally though I have always omitted to tell I was a trained pilot during interviews. I figured out this could go against me so I chose not take the chance

Now I must admit, I have thought of taking this approach, however, due the fact I finished my ATPL exams 6 months ago, and have been flying full time since finishing, I have now been out of full time work for a long time! I would dread the question in the interview that say's, 'so, I see that you have not been actively working since 2002, so what have you been doing with all that spare time?'

Will just have to see what happens I guess, mind you more importantly, I still have the pass the IR flight test!