BEHIND THE SCENES / December
FLEET / December
THE ROLE
Although we’re the people who most
visibly represent the company and serve
passengers during a flight, our primary
function is to ensure the safety of our
passengers. What remains behind the
scenes is the extensive training process
that we’ve gone through, the preparations
we do for each flight, and the safety
procedures we do – but these are our
main job and responsibility. Serving
passengers is really only a secondary
role for us, even though timewise it takes
up the majority of our time. We greet
passengers on board and help them
during boarding, we perform the pre-
flight safety demonstration, during the
flight we periodically check the cabin to
make sure the passengers and pilots are
comfortable and to check any unusual
situations or sounds. And of course, in
addition to all of that we also sometimes
act as nannies, psychologists, medical
staff, fire fighters, you name it.
What does it
mean to be
a cabin crew
member?
According to
EGITA KRASTIŅA (29),
senior cabin crew member
A flight attendant is a person
on board an airline whose
primary job is to ensure the
safety and comfort of the
passengers. Regulations
require that there be one flight
attendant per 50 passenger
seats on an airplane, which
means that Dash Q400
planes have two flight
attendants, while Boeing 737
and Airbus A220-300 planes
have three flight attendants,
one of whom is a senior cabin
crew member.
Words by Ilze Pole
Photo courtesy of Egita Krastiņa
152
/ airBaltic.com
PROS & CONS
Even though sometimes we get to spend
several days in fantastic destinations like
Tel Aviv or Abu Dhabi, at the end of a
regular work day we usually return to
Riga. Despite the fact that we don’t get to
see as much of the cities abroad as we’d
like to, airline employees do enjoy great
discounts on flights.
We work in shifts, so we either manage
to do everything or nothing. Flights differ
a lot from one to the next. Sometimes we
work one short flight or night stop and
have almost the whole day off, but other
times we work 12-hour days that include
up to five flights a day. But shift work like
that is easier to combine with university
studies and just simple everyday things.
On the other hand, we need to accept the
fact that flights take place round the clock
and all year long, including Christmas,
New Year’s Eve, Midsummer, and our
own birthdays, too.
CHARACTER TRAITS
A flight attendant should definitely love
working with people and have good
communication skills. We need to be
friendly and empathetic and be able to
identify passengers’ problems, needs, and
questions. Travelling is often a stressful
activity, and there are times when
we hear criticism instead of friendly
greetings from passengers we’re meeting
Airbus A220-300
for the first time in our lives. That’s
difficult for both sides, and so we try to
put ourselves in their shoes and vice
versa and thus look for solutions together.
We also need to have a highly
developed sense of responsibility, work
well under stress, and be able to find
compromises. Because every once in a
while there are situations on board to
which we must respond immediately,
especially when it comes to the health
and safety of our passengers.
REQUIREMENTS AND SELECTION
You can take your CV and attend one of
airBaltic’s Cabin Crew Open Days. At
the presentation, the airline introduces
you to the company, its employment
offer, and the responsibilities of the
position. After the presentation, the
applicants participate in a few role-play
situations that could potentially occur
on board a flight. During that time your
communication skills, attitude towards
other people, ability to respond quickly,
ability to find compromises, language
skills, and much more are evaluated.
After that, the applicants take a test. The
final part of the process is an individual
interview, in which the employer verifies
the applicant’s suitability for the job.
Applicants who correspond to all
of the necessary criteria then begin a
two-month-long training programme
in which they learn about airplane
equipment and operations, first aid,
various procedures, service, and how
to act in various emergency situations.
In addition, their swimming skills
are tested.
CARRIER OPPURTUNITIES
Right now cabin crew members have
good prospects for rapidly advancing
their careers. Flight attendants usually
begin working on only one specific type
of aircraft, and over our first year at the
airline we’re gradually trained to work
on other aircraft types as well. After a
year and a half, we can already become
a senior cabin crew member, and after
that it’s possible to advance to line
trainer, instructor, or supervisor. Existing
airBaltic employees are also given
preference for other job openings at the
airline. Some people have begun as flight
attendants and then gone on to become
air traffic controllers, office employees, or
even pilots.
What are the requirements to become a flight attendant, and how are employees selected?
Bring along your CV and come and find out more at Cabin Crew Open Days every Thursday at
13.00 in the airBaltic office at Tehnikas iela 3 in Riga. There’s no need for prior reservation,
and you can go through the initial selection process immediately following the presentation.
Number of seats
Max take-off weight
Max payload
Length
Wing span
Cruising speed
Commercial range
Fuel consumption 145
67.6 metric tons
16.7 metric tons
38.7 m
35.1 m
870 km/h
4575 km
2200 l/h
Engine PW 1521G
Boeing 737–500/300
YL-BBX
Number of seats
Max take-off weight
Max payload
Length
Wing span
Cruising speed
Commercial range
Fuel consumption 120/142/144
58/63 metric tons
13,5/14,2 metric tons
29,79/32,18 m
28,9/31,22 m
800 km/h
3500 km
3000 l/h
Engine CFM56-3/CFM56-3C-1
Bombardier Q400 NextGen
Number of seats
Max take-off weight
Max payload
Length
Wing span
Cruising speed
Commercial range
Fuel consumption 76
29.6 metric tons
8.6 metric tons
32.83 m
28.42
660 km/h
2084 km
1074 l/h
Engine P&W 150A
Use of portable electronic devices
BOARDING
TAXI BEFORE
TAKE-OFF
TAKE-OFF
CRUISE
APPROACH
AND LANDING
TAXI AFTER
LANDING
Connectivity
GSM,
Bluetooth,
Flight Mode
Handheld
devices
e. g. tablets,
e-readers and
mobile phones
No calls
Heavy devices
e. g. laptops and
notebooks
Shall be stowed in overhead bin or under the front seat inside an appropriate bag.
Baltic Outlook
/ 2018 / 153