2 answers
2 answers
Updated
Rhiana’s Answer
There are several important skills that are essential for being a successful flight attendant, including:
Communication Skills: Flight attendants need to communicate effectively with passengers, other crew members, and ground personnel. They must be able to listen actively, speak clearly, and convey important safety instructions.
Customer Service Skills: Flight attendants are responsible for ensuring that passengers have a comfortable and enjoyable flight experience. They must be friendly, courteous, and able to handle difficult passengers with tact and professionalism.
Emergency Preparedness: Flight attendants are trained to respond quickly and effectively in emergency situations, including medical emergencies, fires, and other incidents that may occur during a flight.
Multitasking: Flight attendants must be able to juggle multiple tasks at once, including serving food and beverages, handling passenger requests, and attending to safety and security issues.
Language Skills: Being fluent in multiple languages can be an advantage in the airline industry, particularly for airlines that operate in international markets.
Adaptability and Flexibility: Flight attendants must be able to adapt to changing situations and work in a variety of different environments, including different time zones, weather conditions, and cultures.
Physical Stamina: Flight attendants must be able to stand for long periods of time and handle heavy luggage and equipment.
Teamwork: Flight attendants work closely with other crew members, and must be able to work collaboratively and support one another in order to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers.
Communication Skills: Flight attendants need to communicate effectively with passengers, other crew members, and ground personnel. They must be able to listen actively, speak clearly, and convey important safety instructions.
Customer Service Skills: Flight attendants are responsible for ensuring that passengers have a comfortable and enjoyable flight experience. They must be friendly, courteous, and able to handle difficult passengers with tact and professionalism.
Emergency Preparedness: Flight attendants are trained to respond quickly and effectively in emergency situations, including medical emergencies, fires, and other incidents that may occur during a flight.
Multitasking: Flight attendants must be able to juggle multiple tasks at once, including serving food and beverages, handling passenger requests, and attending to safety and security issues.
Language Skills: Being fluent in multiple languages can be an advantage in the airline industry, particularly for airlines that operate in international markets.
Adaptability and Flexibility: Flight attendants must be able to adapt to changing situations and work in a variety of different environments, including different time zones, weather conditions, and cultures.
Physical Stamina: Flight attendants must be able to stand for long periods of time and handle heavy luggage and equipment.
Teamwork: Flight attendants work closely with other crew members, and must be able to work collaboratively and support one another in order to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers.
Updated
Dr’s Answer
I've been a flight attendant for over 20 years. I can tell you that the two most important things about this job are (1) being there and (2) going with the flow. Of course these are generalized themes so I need to unpack them a bit.
BEING THERE
You're expected to be at a certain place at a certain time, whether that's reporting at the beginning of your trip, your briefings with the flight crew, being in your boarding position, being accessible on the plane, being accessible to crew scheduling, meeting your crew at the hotel lobby before starting your day, etc. You have to be where you're expected because people are counting on you. And furthermore, you're expected to do your job as well, of course. You have to know your stuff and to be able to perform as needed. But showing up is a big part of it. If you're a few minutes late to the plane, for example, that can cause a few minutes delay, which could mean the pilots cannot meet their wheels-up time, which means the plane may depart or land late, which means people may miss their connecting flights, and so on.
GOING WITH THE FLOW
You have to be a people-person. You're dealing with all types of folks. Some people, no matter who you are, you simply won't get along with. That's ok. Diversity is awesome. Let them be them, and you be you. But you still need to be smooth about it and not cause friction. Of course, what I'm specifically talking about is differences of personality. If someone is being harmful or dangerous, of course you cannot just "let them be them". I'm talking about all the day-to-day normal non-threatening stuff. As a flight attendant, you would be literally interacting with hundreds of people regularly, not to mention personality differences among your crew. But your crew are all trained and are qualified to do what they should be doing to get the job done (see the BEING THERE point), so that's usually not an issue. So, being a people-person and going with the flow is super-important. You're primarily there for passengers safety and security, but you got to also be loose and interact with people to make their journey with you enjoyable, and then it will be more enjoyable for you too! And, besides that, you also need to go with the flow with scheduling. Often there are delays or changes of plans in the airline industry. Instead of flying to one place, you've been reschedule to fly somewhere else, or your hotel got snowed in during a blizzard or whatever... you gotta roll with it. In general it all works out in the end.
So, to sum it up, I'll say if you are a person who is NOT responsible and often late or unprepared, and you are a person who is generally tight and don't like change or need rigid routines and don't like to be with all kinds of people, I'd say this job is definitely not for you.
BEING THERE
You're expected to be at a certain place at a certain time, whether that's reporting at the beginning of your trip, your briefings with the flight crew, being in your boarding position, being accessible on the plane, being accessible to crew scheduling, meeting your crew at the hotel lobby before starting your day, etc. You have to be where you're expected because people are counting on you. And furthermore, you're expected to do your job as well, of course. You have to know your stuff and to be able to perform as needed. But showing up is a big part of it. If you're a few minutes late to the plane, for example, that can cause a few minutes delay, which could mean the pilots cannot meet their wheels-up time, which means the plane may depart or land late, which means people may miss their connecting flights, and so on.
GOING WITH THE FLOW
You have to be a people-person. You're dealing with all types of folks. Some people, no matter who you are, you simply won't get along with. That's ok. Diversity is awesome. Let them be them, and you be you. But you still need to be smooth about it and not cause friction. Of course, what I'm specifically talking about is differences of personality. If someone is being harmful or dangerous, of course you cannot just "let them be them". I'm talking about all the day-to-day normal non-threatening stuff. As a flight attendant, you would be literally interacting with hundreds of people regularly, not to mention personality differences among your crew. But your crew are all trained and are qualified to do what they should be doing to get the job done (see the BEING THERE point), so that's usually not an issue. So, being a people-person and going with the flow is super-important. You're primarily there for passengers safety and security, but you got to also be loose and interact with people to make their journey with you enjoyable, and then it will be more enjoyable for you too! And, besides that, you also need to go with the flow with scheduling. Often there are delays or changes of plans in the airline industry. Instead of flying to one place, you've been reschedule to fly somewhere else, or your hotel got snowed in during a blizzard or whatever... you gotta roll with it. In general it all works out in the end.
So, to sum it up, I'll say if you are a person who is NOT responsible and often late or unprepared, and you are a person who is generally tight and don't like change or need rigid routines and don't like to be with all kinds of people, I'd say this job is definitely not for you.