You may think that a career as a cabin crew member involves little more than looking immaculately turned-out while wielding the tea urn and calculating the duty-free allowance. However, it’s a job which requires stamina and initiative as well as good grooming.

If you’re thinking about applying for a cabin crew job, the list of necessary attributes is a lengthy one. You need to be a team player, have excellent communications, time management, interpersonal and customer service skills, be able to stay calm and smiling under pressure, be adaptable, flexible, as well as fit and healthy. In addition, cabin crew work long, irregular and anti-social hours which will often include weekends, holidays and night shifts.

As a result, cabin crew training is extremely intensive and, depending on the airline, the pass rate is around 95%, which leaves no room for error or carelessness. For the large commercial carriers, such as British Airways, training lasts for four to six weeks, and is often preceded by preparation to bring entrants up to speed, such as researching terminology, airport codes, the phonetic alphabet and time differences. Around 2,000 aspiring cabin crew will attend BA’s training centre every year, and, having passed, each member will return annually for a refresher course.

Customer service is at the heart of the job. BA’s Customer Service Course includes modules on:

• Setting the tone
• Creating a good impression
• Uniform and appearance
• Fundamentals of communication
• Listening skills
• Transactional analysis
• Building relationships
• Getting to know your customers and their needs
• Service recovery
• Feedback
• Practical exercises

If there’s an emergency during the flight, it’s the job of the cabin crew to keep passengers safe. Training involves operation of all the on-board safety apparatus, including firefighting equipment, and advanced first aid which covers the use of defibrillators and CPR.

Confined conditions on a plane mean this is a more complicated process than it would be on the ground. By the end of training, a cabin crew member should be able to assess a passenger’s condition, identify the injury or illness, give the correct treatment, prevent deterioration and assist recovery until the plane can land and transfer them to hospital.

In July 2022, cabin crew from Emirates Airlines saved two separate passengers from cardiac arrest on different flights; using a defibrillator and CPR techniques they kept both passengers stable until the planes were able to land. However, it’s far more common for cabin crew to have to deal with fainting, respiratory issues or nausea. They also have to be up to speed with procedures to restrain aggressive or drunken passengers, and conflict management techniques to resolve issues between passengers which may become heated.

Other essential training involves learning about the safety of the aircraft and the emergency procedures. Different situations are taught and repeatedly rehearsed so that response becomes second nature.

Decompression is what happens when the aircraft’s pressurisation system fails to maintain its correct pressure, and it can be caused by a system malfunction or structural damage to the aircraft such as a faulty door seal. A cabin crew member’s first duty in this situation is to don their own oxygen mask in order to ensure they are able to look after passengers during an emergency descent to a safe altitude of 10,000 feet, and ensure everyone’s oxygen masks are worn. The crew themselves will have portable oxygen cylinders so they are able to move around the cabin to help anyone who needs it.