"It's humiliating to be weighed like a cow." What requirements do leading airlines have for their flight attendants? Requirements for flight attendants in different countries of the world, and their results

15.10.2019

It happens at the expense of the airline, if you fit perfectly, it happens for yours. Study, take exams, and then how lucky. Regarding exams: May be different. But in our airline you need to pass an interview, language tests, and medical examination. commission and only after that you will be hired. Pass the exam on these techniques and fly.

As practice shows, higher education is not a prerequisite for obtaining the profession of a flight attendant. In order to gain professional skills, it is enough to take special courses for flight attendants, open on the basis of airports and airlines. To obtain a profession for free, you must enroll in the airline's courses, and upon completion of the training, work for at least three years in this organization. Upon completion of training, cadets take an exam on special simulators. To become a flight attendant, you must pass the final certification with at least a grade of "4", as well as have thirty hours of flight experience with an instructor. To obtain the profession of a steward, it is necessary to complete at least special training courses.

How to become a flight attendant

To enroll in a flight attendant school, you need to pass an interview. Before you enter school, you will have to undergo a serious medical examination. After you pass it and pass the final exams, you will be allowed to work.

Below, experts will tell you in detail about the main steps that will help you achieve your goal - to go to the sky as a flight attendant.

If all these requirements do not frighten you, then further, you will need to pass an interview, which is a kind of selection for future training in flight attendant courses. After passing the medical commission, you will be trained at the school of stewardesses. Thank you very much! In fact, I'm still in the 10th grade and I live in Petrozavodsk, I just really want to fly. I think I can go to a university in St. Petersburg and combine it, is this possible? I really want to fly. It's a pity there are no flight attendant courses in Nizhny Novgorod. And where in Kazan do they train to become a flight attendant? Hello! could you tell me if there is a flight attendant school in novosibirsk? Is it possible to study as a flight attendant closer to Arkhangelsk only in St. Petersburg? You study for 3 years and then you study 4 5 courses in Ufa. Well, is that for sure? But in Ufa, are there educational institutions where they train to be a flight attendant? And you will take full-fledged exams after completing the flight attendant courses. This is not a flight attendant course.

It is easy to guess which profession is the most romantic for girls - of course, this is a stewardess or, it would be more correct to say, a flight attendant. Many young girls are thinking about becoming an air conductor.

How to study as a flight attendant: paid or free

Answer No. 3 How to become a flight attendant - what courses to go to, which school to enroll in? Of the 100 women and men who want to become flight attendants-stewards, only 30 people at best pass the competitive selection for courses at the school of stewardesses.

Therefore, if you doubt that you have made the right choice, it is better not to make a commitment. If you want to independently choose where to work after receiving a specialty, you should pay attention to higher state educational institutions. In addition to them, the profession of a flight attendant can be obtained in some colleges.

Many girls dream of her, because what could be better: a beautiful shape, blue skies, new interesting acquaintances and distant countries. But where to study as a flight attendant and how long does it take?

You can get to them only if you successfully passed the interview and you were invited to work. You will study for free and, most likely, you will even be paid a scholarship. If you did not manage to get into free courses, then you can enroll in the “School of Flight Attendants”.

When the courses are completed, the applicant girl must pass an exam in which a distance of 25 meters must be covered. Of course, first of all, you need to clearly define which airline in the country you want to get into. If everything is done correctly, then for sure this resume will be of interest to the personnel department and its author will be invited for an interview. The stewardess is the face of the company, she is able to solve any stressful situations, as well as provide assistance to pilots. Upon successful completion of training and passing exams, a flight attendant should fly about 30 hours on airplanes as an internship, and then an appropriate entry will be made in her work book.

Which educational institutions train flight attendants

I don’t know about other companies, but when applying for Aeroflot, you must fill out a questionnaire, pass an English language test and pass an oral interview. No exams are required, you just need to pass an interview. Already after 3 months, after training as a flight attendant, in order to obtain a flight attendant certificate, you will need to pass a series of exams. To enter such a school, you need to pass an interview. When applying for employment, they do not pass exams, maximum testing.

Where to study to be a flight attendant depends on which airline you interviewed with. Before becoming a flight attendant at Aeroflot, you need to graduate from the flight attendant training school of this company - the Aeroflot Aviation School. During their studies, students master the skills of providing first aid, undergo emergency rescue training, and a course in organizing air transport.

To work in an airline - a passport. We take a certificate from a narcologist that you are not a drug addict.

Therefore, admission to the school of flight attendants is a kind of beauty contest. Willingly accept medical workers, teachers, linguists, waiters, bartenders. An important stage in the training of flight attendants is classes in providing first aid to passengers. The etiquette course (the rules for serving carts, the standards of service for first and business class passengers) is just as important as the initial medical training. Transfer options are not available everywhere. By the way, serious theoretical training will serve you well in the future - about once every six months, airlines arrange offsets for employees.

Training costs about 30-40 thousand rubles, but the girls will pay for the training, working directly for the airline.

There are special agencies that train business aviation flight attendants.

Not so long ago, a scandal erupted at Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline, after several flight attendants filed a lawsuit for discrimination based on age and appearance, as well as violation of labor rights. The company was accused of setting standards for appearance and dividing flight attendants into special beauty groups.

As it turned out, all the flight attendants of the airline were forced to take a full-length photo, they took a large face and measured it with a centimeter, eventually dividing everyone into several groups. The first group included young, slender and tall, and the last - those who are already over 40 or who wear clothes larger than 46. The flight attendants who disagree with this approach have already filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office and even written to President Putin, and now they have decided to go to court.

One of the initiators of the lawsuit was 41-year-old flight attendant Evgenia Magurina. Until recently, Magurina was a senior flight attendant, she flew mainly abroad and received encouragement from management for good work, but since last summer, the sky has been open to her only over Russia. And about 400 flight attendants found themselves in the same position as Magurina, who, by age and appearance, did not fit into the new unspoken rules of the airline.

We were all told that only young and thin people would now fly abroad with Aeroflot. We were all massively photographed and measured, some were even weighed - this was done under the pretext of rebranding the airline and ordering new uniforms for employees. My life has changed since mid-August, but many have suffered earlier. Everyone who was over 40 and whose clothes were larger than 46 was no longer put on foreign flights. We were all gathered in department No. 1, having arranged a real torture for us: they left only night and short morning flights. When I asked what was actually happening, they told me that these are the new rules of the game and I was removed from international flights because of the size of clothes - now it should be no more than the 46th, and I had the 48th, - said Magurina.

Stewardesses suspended from foreign flights have dramatically lost their salaries, since payments for flights outside of Russia are several times higher than those for those in the country. At the same time, the workload has only increased due to frequent night flights, and it is very difficult to work in this mode.

According to the company's employees, uniforms of sizes 50-52 were taken out of the warehouse, and the doctors of the VLEK (medical flight expert commission), as part of the rejuvenation trend, were instructed to get rid of employees who do not meet the new appearance standards under any pretext.

However, as it turned out, not only Aeroflot makes strict requirements for flight attendants. Here are the flight attendants recruited at Aeroflot and other popular airlines:

Aeroflot

1. Relevant higher education.
2. Excellent health, which is checked by a special medical commission.
3. Youth, because after 30 years they do not take this job.
4. It is desirable that the candidate for this position be small in stature, of medium build and with a pleasant appearance.
5. Clear speech and diction, pleasant voice.
6. Knowledge of two languages ​​(native + English).
7. Pretty and smiling.

Delta Air Lines

1. Not older than 25 (we still allow some concessions regarding age, in America - for nothing. If you are at least a month older than 25, you will not be hired).
2. Height not less than 165 cm, weight not more than 65 kg (at the interview you will be weighed and measured).
3. Ability to swim (a reasonable requirement, but we do not have it).
4. Education must be related to medicine (education requirements are the most stringent of all, if your education is not suitable, you will not even be invited to an interview).

Emirates

1. Know the history of your country.
2. Have a breast size of no more than 75C (that is, girls with a size larger than the third do not get to work).
3. Place of birth - United Arab Emirates (only those who were born in the country are hired).

Lufthansa

1. The color of the nail polish. Only French, red lacquer and colorless are allowed (if you show up for an interview with black lacquer or pink, you will not be hired).
2. Be unmarried.
3. Clothing size no more than 46th.

China Southern Airlines

1. National appearance.
2. Straight teeth (when applying for a job, they will look at the shape of your teeth, if they are uneven, you will be refused work or advised to correct them).
3. Foot size no more than 36 (Chinese women already have small legs, but this is a requirement).
4. No scars.
5. Height not less than 1.67 m.

Air France

1. No tattoos (at all, even if you have a small dolphin on the back of your head, under your hair, you will not be hired).
2. Lack of piercing.
3. The volume of the hips is not more than 100 cm.
4. No allergies.

british airways

1. Lack of children (this is understandable, air travel is associated with risk).
2. The absence of a criminal record and in general any problems with the law.
3. Hair not below the shoulders, democratic color.
4. You must come to the interview as if you had already arrived on your first flight.
5. Minimal makeup.

Background

At first, passengers on the plane were served by the co-pilot when he had free time. The position of a flight attendant appeared only with the development of aviation. At first, only men were accepted for this position, since they needed to carry heavy loads, and the comfort requirements of the first passengers were not the same as they are now. Ellen Chen was the first flight attendant. She herself offered her services to the airline.

The company's managers, just at that time, who were going to introduce the position of a steward on passenger flights, following the example of German air carriers, decided that female stewards would be a good move: the presence of young girls on the plane, who are not afraid to fly all the time, would reassure both passengers and them relatives on earth. In addition, the skills of a nurse could come in handy in flight, especially considering that the then low-flying planes were shaking and rocking a lot, and many passengers did not feel too well. As a result, together with Ellen, the company hired 7 more nurses no older than 25 years old, who would weigh no more than 52 kilograms. Then the planes could not yet carry a lot of weight, so every kilogram counted.

The first flight attendant in the USSR was 20-year-old Elza Gorodetskaya. In the staff list then there was no flight attendant position, so the girl was issued a storekeeper, but was called a barmaid. She had to carry 40-kilogram suitcases with cutlery, so the work was not easy.

In 2015, British feminists staged a rally about the demands on women. At this rally, many opposed the strict requirements for flight attendants. The women at the rally assured that such demands were illegal and should be cancelled. Now many companies hire not only stewardesses, but also stewards so that the girls do not have to carry heavy loads and help passengers fold their luggage. This is what Aeroflot does on many flights.

Flight attendant (stewardess / steward) - a specialist of the rank and file on ships and aircraft, who serves passengers and ensures their safety. This is one of the most romantic professions. To see the world, to get acquainted with different countries, to see people of a different culture - many people dream of this, and for the conductors of an air liner, these dreams become a reality. However, for all its exoticism, the work of flight attendants cannot be called easy.

Stewards and stewardesses should not only greet passengers affably at the gangway and serve coffee with a smile, but also provide first aid if necessary, maintain order and cleanliness on board the aircraft. It was especially hard for the first flight attendants in the 20-30s. XX century. Flight attendants were charged with duties at intermediate landings to carry buckets of fuel to refuel the aircraft. And after arriving at the final destination, they had to help the ground staff to drive the plane into the hangar. In addition, the flight attendants had to weigh the passengers themselves and their luggage, load and unload luggage, clean the cabin and the pilot's cabin, clean the toilet and even clean the passengers' shoes!

Much has changed since then, and the work of stewards and flight attendants is no longer so harsh. However, the specifics of the profession still leaves its mark on the selection of personnel. Each airline puts forward its own requirements for applicants for the positions of stewardesses and stewards, but there are also general rules. The desired age of candidates for recruitment is 20–24 years (the person has already developed as a person and is fully aware of his actions), although it can vary from 18 to 29 years. Height for girls - from 160 to 175 cm, for young people - from 170 to 185 cm. Weight must correspond to height and medical standards.

The appearance of the flight attendant should be pleasant, without flaws. There should be no moles and birthmarks on the face. They will not take those who have noticeable scars, tattoos, shiny metal crowns in their mouths. Excess weight, like thinness, is unacceptable. But the color of the eyes and hair do not matter, except for the very extreme shades. The candidate should have a pleasant timbre of voice and smooth speech without defects. Candidates must necessarily have good health, which is associated with increased physical and mental stress. A future flight attendant needs good hearing, vision, and vestibular apparatus. Diseases of the internal organs and neuropsychiatric disorders are also not allowed.

My tongue is my friend

Flight attendants are not required to have special education, the main thing is that it should not be lower than secondary special education. However, such professions as a medical worker, teacher, waiter, bartender are welcome. In the past few years, when recruiting flight attendants, airlines prefer candidates with higher education, especially medical and psychological. One of the main selection criteria is a good command of Russian and one or two foreign languages ​​(this is a mandatory requirement for working on international lines). Most flight attendants have a diploma from a language school.

Of course, there are special courses where you can get training on a commercial basis for the profession of a flight attendant, but most airlines prefer to select and train people on their own. The decision to accept a candidate for training is made by a special commission. Applicants will have to go through a series of interviews and answer special psychological tests to determine how sociable, patient, friendly and stress-resistant future stewards and stewardesses are. If the interviews and tests are successfully passed, and the members of the commission approve the applicant's candidacy, he will have to pass the medical flight expert commission (VLEK). And only after all the successfully passed tests, the candidate is credited to the position of a trainee flight attendant and sent to the training center for primary training courses. On average, training lasts about two months. If the employer prepares employees for international flights, then the training period increases to 3 months.

During the courses, future flight attendants learn sufficient vocabulary for in-flight communication: professional phraseology, colloquial vocabulary. During the theoretical course, students study international legislation, get acquainted with the politics and culture of different states, with the mentality and habits of foreigners. Future stewardesses and stewards are taught to understand dishes and drinks, properly serve food and serve carts, know the intricacies of various standards of passenger service.

At the end of the theoretical course, the trainee takes exams. If the exam results are positive, the trainee is allowed to the practical part of the course - trainee flights (at least 30 hours). After trainee flights, the qualification commission issues a final certificate and assigns the trainee the status of a 3rd class flight attendant.

Ready for anything

The training program for flight attendants necessarily includes the study of certain psychological techniques and skills. There are different clients: capricious, tactless, and frankly rude - they can both offend and offend. The cabin of the aircraft is not a place for quarrels, and the flight attendant must be correct, no matter how the passengers behave. It is necessary to find the right intonations and words in order to correctly respond to the situation, to put to rest a raging passenger or a crying child. A special responsibility falls on stewards and stewardesses in Russia, where passengers still consider it normal to celebrate air travel with alcoholic drinks, like a big national holiday.

No matter how reliable modern aircraft are, accidents, alas, happen often. In addition, in the modern world, hijackings of aircraft by terrorists are not uncommon. What this can lead to is shown by the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States. Therefore, flight attendants must be prepared for anything. The basis of program training is actions in emergency situations, because the main task of the future flight attendant is to ensure the safety of passengers in emergency situations. For example, if an aircraft enters a zone of severe turbulence, if there is a fire on board, an emergency landing, if the airliner is hijacked by terrorists, and even just when hooliganism is attempted on board, the flight attendant must be fully armed.

At training courses, flight attendants work out emergency landings on land and on water, learn to use inflatable rafts and life jackets, throw out a rescue ladder, open aircraft doors and hatches. In case of an emergency landing, they are told about the flora and fauna of various countries (for example, about ticks and snakes), about possible ways to survive in winter and summer. Stewards and flight attendants must be able to competently provide first aid, know what medicines should be used in a given situation.

Flight attendants constantly experience neuro-emotional stress associated with high requirements for the performance of their official duties and strict discipline. Frequent changes in climatic zones and time zones, changes in temperature, pressure, physical stress in flight, work while standing and on the move, lack of oxygen and vibration affect. Over time, hearing begins to suffer, back diseases, varicose veins appear. That is why flight attendants retire at 45, and men can fly up to 50.

The salary of flight attendants averages 30-60 thousand rubles and consists of the official salary and allowances: for flight hours, assigned class, work experience, knowledge of a foreign language, as well as the level of the airline they work for. Stewards and flight attendants have every chance for career growth. At first, a novice flight attendant will fly short flights. As experience grows, business trips will become longer, and destinations will become more interesting. Two thousand hours of flight entitles you to the assignment of a 2nd class flight attendant and a corresponding increase in salary. To qualify for the 1st class, you need to fly six thousand hours.

An experienced specialist can take the vacancy of a foreman, an inspector who checks the work of flight attendants. A senior steward who has been flying for at least 5 years, with first-class qualifications and higher education, has a chance to take an even more responsible position - a flight attendant-instructor, who reports to about fifty people. And an experienced instructor with a higher education may eventually enter the leadership of the airline.

Background

Today, the profession of a flight attendant is considered exclusively female and is associated mainly with air travel. However, long before the first plane took to the skies, the male profession of “steward” already existed. It became widespread in the 19th century with the development of commercial navigation and the beginning of regular passenger traffic. The steward began to act as a waiter or bartender, acting as an intermediary between the ship's cook and passengers. In the future, the stewards, as well as the train conductors, were assigned a wide range of duties to ensure comfortable conditions for the passengers' stay - from delivering dishes to cleaning the premises. As the labor market became more open to women, they increasingly began to master the profession of a steward, not only displacing men, but even taking leadership positions in it.

Initially, in passenger aviation, as in the navy and railways, they also tried to introduce male stewards. While passenger planes were small, and the flights themselves were quite rare, the co-pilot was engaged in passenger service. Flight attendants as individual crew members appeared in Germany in 1928. For this position they took either waiters of expensive restaurants, or former military men to maintain order on board. The first air flights were not as comfortable as they are now, and passengers still did not take the planes for granted.

Ellen Church is considered to be the first air stewardess. After graduating from nursing school, she worked at a hospital in San Francisco and took private flying lessons. In 1929, she offered her services to Boeing Air Transport as a pilot. However, the company's management immediately realized how much the attractiveness of air travel would increase from the presence of female flight attendants on board. This would calm the passengers and their relatives who remained on the ground. In addition, the skills of a nurse could come in handy in flight. Ellen was asked to recruit a group of seven fellow nurses no older than 25 years old, no heavier than 52 kg and no more than 160 cm tall. At that time, flight attendants were offered a very solid salary - $ 125. After several months of preparation, the flight attendants began flying. The first flight was made by Ellen Church herself on May 15, 1930. The first Soviet stewardess was Elza Gorodetskaya, who made her first flight on May 5, 1933 on the Moscow-Ashgabat route aboard a 21-seat PS-84 aircraft. Gorodetskaya, although she was a member of the crew, was listed only as a barmaid.

Flight attendants began to be included in the crew only from 1938. As in the United States, initially they tried to accept girls with a medical education as flight attendants, then knowledge of cooking skills and psychology also became necessary. The profession of a flight attendant reached its peak of popularity with the start of regular international flights. At the same time, knowledge of foreign languages ​​began to be required from flight attendants. In the USSR, being a flight attendant on international routes was extremely prestigious - after all, this job allowed you to at least rise a little above the Iron Curtain and see the world on the other side of it.

The profession of a flight attendant is one of the most romanticized and desirable for girls. A beautiful form, the ability to travel around the world attracts girls (rarely boys) all over the world.

The modern stewardess looks like a model - a slender figure, a snow-white smile, a gait from the hip. But is it possible to become a flight attendant, having a non-standard appearance and extra pounds? An analysis of the internal rules of the world's airlines shows that most likely not.

For example, an Aeroflot employee recently lost a lawsuit against the company for having discriminatory claims regarding the size of flight attendants' clothing. Despite the fact that in many countries the requirements for the age and gender of employees are considered illegal, nevertheless, airlines find convincing arguments for their conditions for the appearance of stewardesses and stewards. Consider the main criteria.

Age. In many European companies, applications from applicants are accepted in the range from 18 to 56 years. In 2015, a British company even hired a real grandmother of eleven grandchildren, at that time she was 59 years old. But not everyone is so liberal. The American company Delta Air Lines accepts applicants strictly up to 25 years old and weighing no more than 65 kilograms.

Weight. The most popular criterion, which very often becomes a stumbling block for working in the clouds. Airlines set a body mass index range that flight attendants should have - from 18 to 25, and preferably up to 22. You can calculate your index by dividing the square of body mass by height in centimeters.

To simplify, many airlines simply set requirements for clothing size, usually it is 44-46 Russian size. But some go further and detail the requirements, for example, in one French company, stewardesses cannot have hips larger than 100 cm, and Chinese flight attendants can’t have legs larger than 36. Many beloved Emirates do not welcome large breasts, the maximum that they can allow their girls is 75C.

Growth. Here everything is more democratic and the applicants have more opportunities. A range of 157 to 188 cm is allowed. Although, in some companies, flight attendants must be at least 165 cm tall. Here, the main condition is the ability to reach the luggage racks, load or remove the suitcase.

Smile, teeth and hair. Stewardesses and stewardesses need to look impeccable, so straight white teeth are a must. No gold crowns or braces. The hairstyle should also be strict and flawless. Flashy colors and shocking models are not allowed. You will also have to forget about piercings, tattoos and a lot of jewelry.

But even all these requirements are not the most difficult to achieve, such as a ban on privacy. Many companies forbid their flight attendants from marrying and having children.

Details

Age and appearance are far from all the requirements for flight attendants and stewardesses when applying for a job. Aspects of health, knowledge of languages ​​and more are also important. Let's find out more about all the requirements.

The profession of a flight attendant stands out among other prestigious and highly paid specialties in that the candidate does not need almost any knowledge about the future work. Everything you need will be taught in the preparatory courses.

However, there are requirements for flight attendants when applying for a job. It is not necessary to study special literature, have a special education - it is enough to have all the necessary qualities and a desire to work.

But this does not mean that becoming a flight attendant is easy and simple. No, there are some obstacles on the way to this profession. Before writing an application to the airline's personnel department, think and carefully consider whether you have the necessary inclinations, opportunities and desire, whether you are suitable for this profession, whether the profession suits you.

Basic requirements for flight attendants

The requirements for flight attendants when applying for a job vary somewhat in detail from different airlines, but are basically similar. The first thing you need to pay attention to is that future flight attendants have requirements for appearance. They are not super complicated, but you need to take them into account, if you, say, are taller than average or have tattoos on your face, then studying to become a flight attendant will not suit you, it is better to try something else.

So, what are the requirements for air carriers for flight attendants, what is included in this list?

Of course, it is obvious that the profession of a flight attendant requires youth and good health. But the upper age limit for employment can vary from 18 to 35 years.

flight attendant health requirements

The already mentioned good health is also one of the main requirements for being able to train as a flight attendant. If you have chronic diseases, then even if you are seven spans in the forehead, they will not accept you as a flight attendant. And this is absolutely understandable - constant overload, stressful conditions, stress do not affect the human body very well.

Therefore, the requirements for the health of a flight attendant are quite strict, it will not be easy to pass a medical commission. Before the interview, you should take care of obtaining the necessary information. You will need certificates from the neuropsychiatric and narcological dispensaries at the place of registration that you do not have diseases of the corresponding profile and can work as a flight attendant.

Also, the requirements for flight attendants include the presentation of an extract from the medical record of illnesses for the last 3 years.

Requirements for the appearance of stewardesses

Different requirements may apply to the growth of flight attendants, the main criterion is that it must be high enough to reach the luggage rack and not too high so as not to experience discomfort in a small aircraft cabin.

As a rule, the interval of the required height for girls is from 160 to 170 centimeters, for men it can be slightly higher, up to 185 cm. The clothing size should be, on average, for girls 44-48, for men - up to 54.

Also, the requirements for the appearance of flight attendants include the absence of piercings, tattoos, scars, and other visible (on the face, hands) injuries. Those who want to have a bright, defiant appearance will have to choose another profession.

The list of necessary requirements of the employer includes the presence of a completed secondary or secondary specialized education. It will be a plus to have a higher education, especially in a related specialty (linguistics, psychology, etc.).

Also, most airlines want to see their potential employees have a good level of foreign language proficiency. Knowing English is a must, other languages ​​will be another advantage.

The requirements for flight attendants at admission may include the ability to swim, experience in customer service. All this is very individual in each airline. Since the competition "for flight attendants" is usually quite large, every plus sign can matter.

And finally, a candidate for the position of a flight attendant should not have problems with the law - neither present nor past. It is required not to have a criminal record, either conditional or extinguished. The flight attendant will need a valid passport for work, it must be obtained if it was not previously.

Such requirements for flight attendants when applying for a job are made by Russian air carriers. As you can see, the list is quite impressive and it is not easy to match it. If, for example, a foreign language can be mastered, then health problems are more difficult to solve.

So before you dream of becoming a flight attendant, read this list and make sure you fit all the boxes.



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