Flight attendant

Pink Bunny

I have been thinking of becoming a flight attendant and wondered if there was anyone on this board that is one or knows someone who is? I have searched the Internet for information and although airlines will hire someone without training there are quite a few online flight attendant classes set up to help you get an edge over the competition. I thought it would help if I actually could make contact with someone who really does that for a living to see what they really think of the job.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

eth0_

You could try Easyjet, they have a base in Belfast (chances are you'd have to relocate no matter what airline accepts you...) and I believe they're recruiting. easyjet.com.
Flights are generally Belfast > UK base > European destination and back again, all on the same day.

Pink Bunny

Thank you

ToxicPaddy

Have a look here

I know a few people who've done this course and 2 are now with BA and one with
Emirates.. so it seems pretty good training course..

To be honest, with the state of the airline industry, it will be very hard to get started
and get experience but like any industry once you get in it should be easy enough
to get work.

The good things about this are:
- the travel (especially if you do long haul flights)
- the chance to live abroad if working with a foreign carrier

bad things:
- hours involved, some long haul flights are over 12 hours and ya have to stay
cheery, take sh*te from assh*les and still smile
- starting off usually involves working on smaller charter companies dealing with
drunk holidaymakers.

The girl who worked with Emirates loved
every moment of it, was based in Dubai and had a ball there. She said the work was
hard but she travelled all over the world and the pay was tax free, lived in a duty
free zone and they were fairly well looked after as they usually stayed in top hotels
when staying overnight..

She only moved home to settled down and marry.. but said that she would
recommend it to anyone..

Its really up to you, whether you are willing to put up with a few years of sh*te on
charter companies to get into the proper side of it, with national carriers and good
working conditions...

Tox

p

A freind of mine applied for two jobs just from looking in the papers recently, so don't forget the traditional route.

If you're killing time & really want it I expect getting any kind of customer servcie job similar to it would be good experience too.

Keep at it, if you really want it i'm sure you'll get it.
Perhaps even get in otuch with the Union's of Aer Lingus, and see if they can put you in touch with someone who might be able to talk to you about the job & give you advice etc...

secret_squirrel

Aer Lingus have just released a load of temporary (summer) cabin crew, and have replaced them with staff from other Depts on secondment. They are also in the middle of releasing a load of cabin crew through voluntary redundancy.

One of my friends is a cabin crew trainer there. PM me and I will let you know when/if they are recruiting Cabin crew directly. The way things are going there...I wouldnt be surprised if they recruit from within again, so it might be worth keeping an eye out for any other jobs there that could serve as a stepping stone.

Raskolnikov

Originally posted by eth0_
You could try Easyjet, they have a base in Belfast (chances are you'd have to relocate no matter what airline accepts you...) and I believe they're recruiting. easyjet.com.
Flights are generally Belfast > UK base > European destination and back again, all on the same day.

Bluehair

I wouldn't count on Aer Lingus. They are determined not to hire anymore perm staff and it seems unlikely they will rehire any seasonals either. Ground Ops staff who are going flying are being replaced by internal transfers from Catering/Loading etc its unlikely there too (and they certainly won't be perm contracts if they do so no chance to transfer to cabin crew anyway).

For DUB based you should consider BMI. Hard work, lots of double sectors (e.g. over to London Heathrow and back, twice. Or over to Heathrow, on to (say) Paris and all the way back.). Long days but not the worst company to work for.

Cityjet have both Dublin and Paris bases but even as Dublin based you could easily spend 3-5 overnights in Paris. Money not to bad (as they go) and fun crews.

Ryanair pay well but work you hard. Little recruitment for Dublin but positions available in London Stansted and their European bases.

BA are recruiting at the moment but obviously it would be London based (either Heathrow-Short Haul European routes or Gatwick-Long Haul [the 'beach fleet' as it's called). Eventually the best money in the industry even with their problems at the moment.

If you're considering a move to London then you could also consider Virgin Atlantic. Moneys not great but a nice selection of destinations and pretty good travel benefits. Also they'll be operating to Australia this Summer which could amount to upto a fortnight away in total each trip (between overnights in Hong Kong and Sydney). Again long tiring work but fun if you're young and no commitments.

If you'd consider living in Dubai then Emirates is a lot of fun too. Decent tax free salary, free (shared) apartment and a great network thats even extending to the US soon. If you've never been to Dubai it's a fantastic and very cosmopolitan city. Great place to spend a few years.

All in all things have changed a *lot* in this industry over the years. It's not glamorous, it's not well paid and you have to deal with a *lot* of complete tosspots. On the other side I've seen a lot of the world and made some lifelong friends.

If you're young and looking for a laugh then go for it. I can think of no better way to enjoy a few years working and seeing the world (long-haul that is).

If you're thinking of a career I'd say forget about it. About the only airline left worthwhile in that regard is BA and there's plenty more changes on the way there too.

(Any more questions I'm more than happy to help )

eth0_

Originally posted by Raskolnikov

huh?

pablo21

My sister is the HR and Recruitment manager with BA if thats any help?

Ronaldo7

Originally posted by pablo21
My sister is the HR and Recruitment manager with BA if thats any help?

and?

BuffyBot

Originally posted by Ronaldo7
and?

Well, the HR and Recruitment Manager of one of the worlds largest airlines might be a helpful contact to have if your interested in this kind of career...

pablo21

Well done buffy, I knew sooner or later the the relevance of it would register with somebody. if you want to bang together a cv or something I can send it on to her.
She's also the "Face of BA" i.e. she's on their promotional team. No promises but sure it couldnt do any harm!

Sarsfield

You could try visiting the Professional Pilots Rumours Network at www.pprune.org/forums

There's a cabin crew forum there. Plenty of info there already and plenty of people to answer specific questions too.

Good luck!

HappyDude

Don't forget the charter airlines- a friend of mine got a job with Air 2000
(owned by First Choice), I think.

They tend to hire just for the summer months really, but they will provide their own training for the job. Another option that may be worth looking into. My friend typically flew to the Canaries and back in the same day. I think she worked 4 days on, 4 days off, or something like that. If she had to fly out of a UK airport, which happened occasionally, they would pay her wages for the time she spent travelling to and from UK.

Good luck.
HD