British Airways offering a crash course to retrain pilots as flight attendants

by Scott Carmichael on

Faced with another threat of a flight attendant strike, British Airways is preparing for the worst. The airline asked everyone within the company to voluntarily sign up for a 21 day training program to turn them into temporary flight attendants.

As of right now, only 216 volunteers signed up for the initiative, which falls quite a bit short of the 13,500 flight crew members that will walk out when a strike takes place. Five of the nine retraining courses are designed for pilots – which would turn them into the best paid cabin crew members in the world. The average BA pilot earns a just under $200,000 per year.

Of course, the union behind the flight attendants is not impressed, and they are quick to point out that the 21 day course is much shorter than the normal 3 month training a flight attendant receives, and could be a serious safety issue.

It makes sense for them to say this – as the public perception of the union and this strike is very negative. The same union almost shut down British Airways over the Christmas period last year, but a British court blocked their efforts at the last minute.

A union spokesperson said “Not only does this show contempt for the crew, what message does it send to passengers who have paid to be cared for by a premier airline?”. Personally, I’d rather have a cabin crew with just three weeks of training than be stuck at the airport for a week because a union was unable to reach an agreement on new pay cuts.

The British aviation authority, CAA, has approved the measures and will be monitoring the safety aspects of the training, to ensure that passengers are never at any kind of risk when they fly on a plane with the new temporary crew members.

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Galley Gossip: How to prepare for a flight attendant interview

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

I’m interested in becoming a flight attendant. I was wondering if you could give me a little advice as to what to expect in an interview, how should I prepare for it, etc. I would really appreciate it.

Donna

Dear Donna,

Whatever you do, do not wear a canary yellow suit to the interview. That’s exactly what I did the first time I interviewed with a major airline. Needless to say, I didn’t get hired. Not that that was a bad thing because I wound up graduating from college instead. Not to mention, I prefer the airline I work for now. That said, education is key. There aren’t many airlines hiring these days so competition is fierce. Only the most qualified will succeed. Since the aviation industry isn’t as stable as it once was, it’s always a good idea to have something to fall back on.

DRESS THE PART: If you want to become a flight attendant, try looking like one. Start by wearing a blue or black suit to the interview. Skirt length should be no more than an inch above the knee and pantyhose are a must. Keep fingernails clean and polished and long hair pulled back or styled conservatively. Jewelry should be kept to a minimum – no dangly earrings! Do not overdo the makeup. Think fresh and neat.

BE YOURSELF: First impressions count. It’s a nerve wracking experience, but try to relax and don’t forget to smile. Introduce yourself to other candidates in the room. Airlines prefer applicants who are friendly. So be yourself, enjoy the moment, and laugh! Have fun.
CONFIDENCE IS KEY: If your experience ends up being anything like mine, you’ll find yourself participating in a group interview with about four other candidates a lot like yourself. It’s important to make a good impression. Keep it positive whenever answering a question, especially when discussing yourself or any past employers and coworkers. Also, don’t be the last person to answer each question. Be confident. Raise your hand.

TALK THE TALK: Use the phrase “good customer service” and the word “flexible” as often as possible. Flight attendants spend more time with passengers than anyone else in the industry, so airlines are looking for applicants with experience in customer service. Try sharing stories about the times you provided good customer service. Because a majority of flight attendants do not get based where they live right out of training, and because a flight attendant’s schedule is constantly changing and many of us are on-call for days, even months, at a time, it’s very important to remain “flexible.” Show examples of that as well.

SLOW DOWN: All I remember during my one-on-one interview fifteen years ago was reading a safety demo announcement out loud. While I know you can read, otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this, doing it out loud in front of a stranger who does not crack a smile while analyzing your every move and scribbling notes on a clipboard, is totally different. Remember to slow down and add a little life to what could be a long, drawn out, monotone speech. Before the interview takes place, try practicing reading magazines, books, whatever, out loud at home.

BESIDES TRAVELING AND MEETING NEW PEOPLE…. why do you want to become a flight attendant? Trust me, that is a question you will have to answer. So come prepared. I think I may have said something about looking for a career with a reputable company that I would be proud to work for. And then I’m sure I went on to say something about how much I enjoyed providing good customer service and how appealing I found the flexible lifestyle, since I wasn’t really a 9 to 5 kind of person. Two other questions I can remember were, “How did you prepare for the interview?” (I bought a navy blue suit and a pair of navy blue heels) and “what question did you think we would ask, but didn’t – answer it” (When can you start training – now).

BUH-BYE, ADIOS SAYONARA, SEE YA LATER: Flight attendants are expected to welcome and say goodbye to each and every passenger while boarding or deplaning a flight. Wouldn’t hurt to do the same to the person(s) conducting the interview process. Thank the interviewer for their time and tell him or her you look forward to seeing them again.

Let’s say you score an airline interview, but for whatever reason you aren’t hired. Don’t give up. Keep on reapplying. Or try another airline. My friend Shirley who worked for a charter airline applied to a particular commercial airline eighteen times – eighteen times! – and never did get hired. Did I mention she speaks three languages and is an amazing flight attendant? Finally Shirley applied to my airline and they hired her on the spot. Two weeks later she attended flight attendant training. Another flight attendant I know attended a yearly flight attendant open house like a contestant on American Idol. Five years after his first open house interview he got hired. Just goes to show, you never know. Just keep on trying.

Hope that helps, Donna. Good luck to you!

Heather Poole

Got a question? Email Skydoll123@yahoo.com

Photos courtesy of GeorgeParilla’s and Changing_Name

Gadlinks for Tuesday, 1.19.2010

by Katie Hammel on

Yesterday, January 18th was supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Congrats, you made it through. Now here are some more travel tidbits to cheer you up!

More Gadlinks here.

CW network to launch series on Virgin America flight attendants

by Grant Martin on

Have you ever wondered what Gadling’s resident flight attendant Heather Poole does in her spare time? It’s the stuff that legends are made out of — or maybe TV shows. That’s what the CW is banking on as they prepare to launch their new series called ‘Fly Girls’ this spring, in which they follow a hand full of Virgin America flight attendants around the country, working on planes, dating rockstars, hitting up parties and enjoying the life of young jetsetters.

As a recent article in the LA Times puts it, think Gossip Girl meets The Hills — in the airline industry. The perfect recipe for drama, right?

As to Virgin America‘s role in the overall series, they’re trying to stay hands off. That same article quotes Porter Gale, the VP of marketing as keen on letting the production crew do its thing without any egregious VX branding or advertorial throughout the series. Good call.

Having personally met two of the crew around which this series is based I’m interested to see how their personalities filter through CW. In real life they’re fantastic, friendly people and my hope is that the camera doesn’t change this.

Either way, ‘Fly Girls” premiers in March, at which point you can see Louise (left) and Mandy (right) in action. Keep an eye out for them in the skies in the meantime.

Galley Gossip: Lawyer wants to become a flight attendant

by Heather Poole on


Dear Heather,

I am an attorney, but I stopped working to go back to school for a tax-law post graduate degree and learned so much in school about flight attendants – weird right? Well it’s not really that weird because my professor used to work as a tax lawyer for an airline, so income tax and flight attendant benefits were a big topic! It really got me thinking… wait a minute… this could be an AWESOME way to see the world and have fun being in customer service. I’m a pretty personable person and love meeting people and helping them out. Does it take a certain type of person to be a flight attendant? I just really want to have some fun and adventure. I know there is a lot more to the job than that, but is there ENOUGH fun and adventure to make the not -so -glamorous parts of the job worth it?

Claire

Dear Claire,

Believe it or not, you’re not the only attorney interested in becoming a flight attendant. One of my colleagues who works part time for the airline owns his own law firm in Boston. There’s a reason he still flies when he really doesn’t have to. That’s because the job is still filled with enough fun and adventure to make the not-so-glamorous parts of the job worth it! But it’s up to each flight attendant to make the most of the job, to focus on the positive and take advantage of the flexibility and flying benefits. You’d be surprised to learn how many flight attendants don’t do that. Otherwise it becomes just like any other job. And remember no one ever becomes a flight attendant for the money, but you probably already learned that in tax-law class.
Most of the letters I receive from those interested in becoming a flight attendant are from people who are trying to decide between attending college or a flight attendant training school. I always advise them to go to college first and to avoid the training schools altogether. No need to waste money when airlines train you once you’re hired.

These days the airline industry is not stable. Most airlines are either cutting back or going under, which is why it’s so important to have an education or something to fall back on in case the job doesn’t work out. It’s only because you, Claire, already have an education, as well as a rather impressive career, that I say go for it! Why not? If it’s not the job you’ve always dreamt about you can always quit and go back to being a lawyer. Or better yet, do both!

The biggest problem you may have is actually finding an airline that is hiring. Check out flightattendantcareer.com for a list of airlines now accepting applications. Corporate flying is another alternative. I’ll write more about that in an upcoming Galley Gossip post. Until then, good luck!

And keep me posted!

Heather Poole

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Have a flight attendant question? Send an email to Skydoll123@yahoo.com

Photos courtesy of Dmytrok and Morberg