In line with its growth plans, the airline said it has already recruited more than 1,000 cabin crew this year and is preparing to welcome around 1,000 more by the end of 2024.

Etihad精东影业 diverse cabin crew is made up of people from 112 nationalities, all based in Abu Dhabi.

Along with a competitive tax-free salary, Etihad cabin crew are provided with fully-furnished modern accommodation, medical insurance, allowances, and have access to discounts on dining, shopping, leisure activities, car hire and more.

Cabin crew also enjoy travel benefits and have access to a wide range of destinations.

Etihad will conduct Open Days and Invitation Days from June to the end of 2024 in the following cities:

Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Athens, Antalya, Malaga, Manchester, Copenhagen, Vienna, Singapore, Nice, Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Milan, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Colombo and Jaipur.

According to the airline, 31% of its cabin crew members were promoted within the past 12 months. A number were also promoted to positions in the corporate division at the airline精东影业 headquarters, to pursue careers in marketing, guest experience, network operations, aviation training and finance.

鈥淭his World Cabin Crew Day, we celebrate and recognise the contribution that our Cabin Crew make to our airline精东影业 success,鈥� Dr Nadia Bastaki, Etihad Airways Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer said in a statement.

鈥淎s Etihad continues to grow, we are looking for exceptional individuals to join our team who share our ambition to become the airline that everyone wants to fly. We鈥檙e looking for the world精东影业 best, who will embrace our passion for growing the airline and share our commitment to providing warm hospitality and a truly remarkable experience for our guests,鈥� Bastaki added.

Etihad cabin crew will have the opportunity to work across the airline精东影业 fleet including the superjumbo Airbus A380s, Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 777s, Airbus A350s and Airbus A320 and A321 family.

Requirements to be eligible for cabin crew application include the following:

Minimum of 21 years of age at time of application 

• Minimum height of 160 cm
• Able to inspire our guests through innovative hospitality
• Fluent in English (written and spoken)
• High school graduate (Grade 12)
• No visible tattoos while you鈥檙e in your Etihad cabin crew uniform (cosmetic and bandage coverings aren鈥檛 allowed)
• Comfortable to work irregular hours and on a roster

Interested candidates are invited to attend an Open Day, or register their interest and apply online at careers.etihad.com. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an in-person or virtual assessment.

Thousands of hopefuls line up for Emirates cabin crew open day in Manila

• Airlines

byJean Carmela Lim

April 9, 2024

The applicants lined up for an Emirates open day in Manila on April 8, 2024, the first time the airline has opened recruitment for cabin crew in the country after a 14-year hiring freeze.

Video footage posted to a cabin crew recruitment Facebook group in the Philippines showed applicants from all over the country started to line up as early as 01:00 local time, even though screening hours were only from 07:00-11:00. 

Later in the day, video clips uploaded on social media platforms showed thousands of applicants lined up, with the queue spilling out onto the streets and reaching the road.

Once applicants reached the Industrial Personnel and Management Services (IPAMS) building, the airline精东影业 local recruitment agency, they were met with the first screening procedure: height measurement.

The airline has a minimum height requirement of 160cm (five feet two inches), and an arm reach of at least 212 cm. In the Philippines, where the average height of women is 150cm (four feet 11 inches), this requirement can be challenging.

In the footage, applicants can be seen removing their high-heeled shoes and standing against a measuring rod set up by the door of the recruitment agency building. Those who fell short of the requirement were asked to leave.

According to local aviation blogger Mond Ortiz, the applicant queue for Emirates was significantly longer than the one seen by Qatar Airways when it held a recruitment drive in the country in 2022. 

Based on his personal surveys, Ortiz revealed that Emirates is the top choice for aspiring cabin crew in the country, followed by Philippine Airlines.

Ortiz said Emirates recruitment is known to be more 鈥渞igorous and challenging鈥� compared to competitor airlines, with recruiters being selective who they choose to fill the limited spots. This is attributed to Emirates’ reputation for taking exceptional care of their cabin crew, along with attractive compensation.

In an emailed statement to 精东影业, Emirates said that it is looking to recruit 5,000 cabin crew globally this financial year in line with our growth and expansion.

“This recruitment day aligns with our unwavering commitment to our customers, who look forward to the exceptional services delivered by our multinational crew, and our support for the local community,” an Emirates spokesperson said.

Emirates鈥� recruitment process consists of several stages. Once applicants pass the initial screening, they are invited to an interview with the airline, and further assessment and test days are conducted.

Successful applicants will then undergo an intense seven and a half weeks of training in Dubai. 

Based on the airlines鈥� website, starting pay for new flight attendants average to AED 10,170 (USD 2770) per month.

Emirates launches cabin crew recruitment drive in Australia amid demand growth

• Airlines

byJean Carmela Lim

June 7, 2023

Age is just a number

Some of the most notable changes that flight attendants have seen in recent years 鈥� in some cases even months 鈥� have been regarding age. Some European airlines have started recruiting people over the age of 45, also called 鈥榚mpty nesters鈥� for a flight attendant position. Alison Dsouza, Director of Aerviva Aviation Consultancy, an international consultancy, specializing in aviation recruitment and document management, notes that certain requirements have made a big shift and even been noticed by passengers.

鈥淲hile none of the basic requirements like general education and minimum age have changed, others regarding age and looks especially, have been dropped by several prominent airlines around the world. With the changing views in societies globally, it is only natural that positions, which followed certain traditional ways prior, would make the same change, too.鈥�

Bringing more of the 鈥榚mpty nesters鈥� 鈥� people whose children already left home and now have more time on their hands or think about switching careers 鈥� have proven to be beneficial for airlines as well. There has been positive feedback from customers on board that have praised more senior flight attendants for their superior customer service and people skills, which made travelling not only memorable but very pleasant.

Mirror, mirror

Even more basic things like makeup, hairstyles, jewelry, and uniforms have gone under a review. Dsouza highlights that not only jewelry but piercings and tattoos are now allowed on board by some airlines in Europe and North America.

鈥淚t精东影业 a completely natural process for some things that were a taboo in the past to become accepted. Tattoos and piercings are now more widespread than they were say ten years back and are losing their 鈥榙elinquency鈥� connotations. Rather, they are seen as a form of one精东影业 expression. With this wider acceptance in societies, flight attendants also get to bring that part of themselves on board the aircraft.鈥�

Makeup and nail polish, although still in neutral tones and colors, have been permitted, regardless of gender, and the same level of acceptance was applied to hairstyles like so-called 鈥榤an bun鈥�.

However, Dsouza notes, that a more significant change came in uniforms and more general non-gender-specific rules that some airlines have applied most recently. Two of Britain精东影业 aviation giants have, too, taken on to reflect the diversity of their workplace. Some airlines have updated cabin crew uniforms to include tunics and hijabs, and jumpsuits for cabin crew. Others took it a step further to erase gender-specific options and offer 鈥榳hichever one is more comfortable鈥� options, meaning that all genders can choose their preferred way to dress for work.

鈥淚t精东影业 exciting to see these types of changes happening in aviation, an industry that 鈥� in some parts 鈥� has still been rather traditional and conservative. It精东影业 important both companies and industries move in step with changing times and take time and care to reflect it. After all, inclusivity and diversity are important in this day and age.鈥�

While that passenger traffic 鈥渋s still below the level before the COVID-19 situation鈥� and the airline is currently operating at around 50% of its pre-pandemic capacity, it is 鈥減re-emptively鈥� preparing for an increase in passenger levels.  

“Currently, the volume of air travel is still not up to the level it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, and some cabin crew members are still on leaves of absence,鈥� a Korean Air spokesperson said in a released on October 14, 2022.  

Two airliners collide while taxiing at London-Heathrow airport

• Civil Aviation

byClement Charpentreau

September 29, 2022

鈥淗owever, we decided to hire new crew members as we expect there will be a sharp increase in demand for international passengers after the end of this year, starting with the resumption of visa-free travel to Japan,鈥� the spokesperson added.  

The airline精东影业 announcement follows the South Korean government精东影业 recent decision to continue to gradually ease pandemic-related air travel restrictions.  

Korean Air to build loyal wingman drone for South Korea’s air force

• Defense

byValius Venckunas

August 19, 2022

Changes made to candidate screening methods 

The South Korean flag carrier has changed its screening method when recruiting 鈥渋n consideration of the COVID-19 situation and for the convenience of applicants鈥�, the airline added.  

The carrier has implemented a video interview system, where candidates are asked to submit a three-minute video clip to 鈥渞educe the burden on applicants while allowing them to demonstrate their capabilities in a more familiar and comfortable environment鈥�, the airline said.  

Among other changes, the company has also altered its physical fitness test, adding a number of locations, rather than the previous single location. Applicants are now invited to select one of 76 regional certification centers authorized by Korean Air.  

The airline will continue the recruitment drive until November 4, 2022.  

Korean Air to resume flights to Israel in January 2023

• Airlines

byGabriele Petrauskaite

August 11, 2022

The low-cost airline announced that it had launched its largest-ever recruitment drive, focusing on employing 205 new employees. The new roles will consist of 150 flight attendants and 55 flight crew members.  

Currently employing 150 cabin crew and 70 pilots, PLAY is looking for both experienced and inexperienced staff to join the company, the airline said in a public posted to LinkedIn on September 1, 2022. 鈥淭he plan is based on PLAY精东影业 growth in the coming year as PLAY will operate ten aircraft next summer,鈥� the carrier said.  

鈥淎t PLAY, safety comes first, with our core principles being on-time performance, simplicity, happiness, and low prices. […] We want to onboard optimistic and powerful people who want to change the course of aviation,鈥� the airline added.   

Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY Airlines to launch flights to Washington Dulles

• Airlines

byJean Carmela Lim

August 24, 2022

Founded in 2019, PLAY Airlines commenced operations in 2021. The airline currently provides air connectivity services from its main hub at Keflav铆k International Airport (KEF) in Iceland to various across Europe and the US.    

The European airline精东影业 network includes scheduled flights across 21 destinations, including operations to Stavanger (SVG), Gothenburg (GOT), Copenhagen (CPH), Berlin (BER), Prague (PRG), Salzburg (SZG), Bologna (BLQ), Geneva (GVA), Paris (CDG) and Brussels (BRU) as well as to London (LHR), Liverpool (LPL), Dublin (DUB), Madrid (MAD), Barcelona (BCN), Mallorca (PMI), Alicante (ALC), Malaga (AGP), Lisbon (LIS), Gran Canaria (LPA) and Tenerife (TFS).   

Meanwhile, the transatlantic network currently consists of four routes in the US, including New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), and Washington D.C. (DCA).   

Most recently, on August 24, 2022, PLAY announced it will launch an additional route to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) starting in April 2023. The flights will operate daily on PLAY精东影业 fleet of Airbus A321 and A320 aircraft, each with 180 or more seats.  

PLAY to lease A320neo over the A321neo LR in summer 2022, cites high fuel costs

• Civil Aviation

byMichael Jonga

May 25, 2022

Wizz Air is currently aiming to expand its fleet by 500 aircraft by the end of the decade and has said it will need to hire around 6,600 new pilots. 

The news was confirmed during Pilot Expo 2022, Europe精东影业 largest event for flight crew recruitment and training, which took place between May 7 and May 8, 2022, in Berlin, Germany. The carrier said that the 20,000 new recruits will be across both flight and cabin crew. Wizz Air currently employs 6,000 workers. 

When asked about the exact number of pilots the airline aims to hire, Ewa Danecka-Latka, Head of Crew Resources of Wizz Air, said that flight crew members will account for around 33% or up to 6,600 of all new employees, while the remaining 13,400 vacancies are expected to be filled by flight attendants.  

鈥淭he plan is to grow three times in just nine years and it is not just a dream, this is one of the KPIs that we have to deliver. For our recruitment team it means that we have to recruit one person every hour, which represents our goal of 2,000 new hires per year,鈥� Danecka-Latka said.  

鈥淎s we need a lot of new pilots and a lot of new cabin crew members joining our operations, this is what we are preparing ourselves for,鈥� she added.  

鈥淐urrently we have 42 bases all over the world and they are located in 18 countries. So, there is a huge number of locations that a pilot or a cabin crew member can be assigned,鈥� Danecka-Latka explained. 

M101Studio / Shutterstock

Applicants aiming to join any of Wizz Air Holdings鈥� (WIZZ) subsidiaries, including Hungarian-based airline Wizz Air Hungary, British low-cost branch Wizz Air UK or its newest affiliate, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, will operate a monogamous fleet of Airbus A320 family jets, such as Airbus A320ceos, A321ceos, A320neos, and A321neos. According to Wizz Air精东影业 , the carrier currently operates 153 planes. 

However, according to Danecka-Latka, the airline is committed to tripling its fleet size in the future. With a capacity of 500 jets, Wizz Air plans to generate 鈧�15 billion yearly by the end of the decade. 

Wizz Air receives 1000th Pratt & Whitney GTF-powered Airbus A320neo

• Civil Aviation

byMichael Jonga

May 3, 2022

A male-dominated profession

The flight attendant profession began in the early 1910s, appearing alongside the rise of the German airline DELAG, which was the world精东影业 first air carrier to operate a fleet of zeppelin airships and provide commercial air travel services on transatlantic routes from Europe to North America.

Prior to the development of the air steward role, the German company required its co-pilots to serve passengers food and drink as well as controlling the airships. Following an improvement in passenger air travel, the carrier reassessed the importance of catering to passenger needs and separated flight operation and customer service duties. So, the first male steward was hired and was solely responsible for servicing passengers.

At the time, air travel was a lavish affair and was only affordable for wealthier customers such as businessmen. But, due to engine noise and turbulence, passenger comfort was often disturbed. Subsequently, air carriers sought new ways to provide a more comfortable experience during long operations.

DELAG highlighted a real need for in-flight service and assistance. Soon, other airlines began to follow suit and recruited additional crew members whose main task was to support travelers. For instance, in 1929 the American air carrier Pan Am started employing male stewards to serve food. Meanwhile, British Airways鈥� predecessor, the commercial long-range airline Imperial Airways, began recruiting so-called cabin boys to load passenger luggage onboard the aircraft, reassure passengers, and enforce fire safety regulations by extinguishing cigars and cigarettes during the flight.

World精东影业 first male flight attendant survives Hindenburg disaster

The first cabin crew member to be mentioned in aviation history was Heinrich Kubis, a German waiter who worked for DELAG on its zeppelin airships.

Initially, Kubis was serving passengers on an early fleet where he was the only cabin crew member. But he was later promoted to Chief Steward and was responsible for a team of up to 15 male crew members. The experienced waiter, who had previously worked for several luxurious European hotels, including the Carlton in London and the Ritz in Paris, was accountable for meal preparation and servicing processes. His role also included the observation of airship passengers to ensure that none of them brought cigarette lighters, matches, or any other fire source onboard.

In the early 1920s, DELAG was offering round trips between Europe and North America on its LZ-129 Hindenburg airliner, which was considered the fastest and the most comfortable airship for transatlantic operations.

In May 1937, Kubis was working on the zeppelin Hindenburg, which was supposed to fly the route between Frankfurt, Germany, and Lakehurst in the United States. The airship was expected to reach its final destination in the US about three days after the takeoff. But the flight ended tragically, resulting in 13 deaths out of 36 passengers on board the zeppelin.

On May 6, 1937, the airship was approaching the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst but due to poor weather, the flight crew decided to delay the landing until things improved. After an hour of waiting, the Hindenburg approached Lakehurst and started preparations for landing.

At 7:25 p.m. local time, just minutes before landing, the Hindenburg caught fire and exploded into flames. The fire spread quickly onboard, consuming the zeppelin in less than a minute. Passengers who were inside the cabins were trapped by the crumbling airship and tragically died in the fire.

At the moment of the accident, Kubis was performing his duties in the airship精东影业 dining room and was lucky to escape death. As soon as the Hindenburg sank close enough to the ground, Kubis encouraged evacuation and assisted passengers and crew who were jumping out of the windows of the burning airship. Having landed without injuries, the world精东影业 first flight attendant continued living in Germany until he died in the 1970s.

Maintaining passenger confidence

In the late 1930s, attitudes towards the role of air steward dramatically altered. While the aviation industry was dominated by male crew members, the American air carrier, United Airlines, became the first company to hire women.

The idea evolved when airlines started to express concern about the health of travelers. The move to employ women was strongly encouraged by a trained nurse, Ellen Church. Church, whose career in aviation began in the 1930s, became the first world精东影业 female flight attendant. She helped to secure prospects for thousands of women to join the aviation industry.

Church had a successful career working as a trained nurse at a San Francisco hospital, but she had always wanted to pilot a commercial aircraft. However, at the time such career options were not open for women. After a few failed attempts, Church successfully convinced Boeing Air Transport (BAT), the predecessor company of United Airlines, that using nurses as flight-stewardesses would increase safety and utilizing trained medical professionals would help to convince passengers that flying was safe. Church was hired as Head Stewardess and was the first female to attend to passengers, serving them food and drink as well as helping them with hauling luggage. Her duties also included fueling and assisting pilots to push the aircraft into hangars. She was also the first female to work on the Boeing 80A three-engine biplane during a 20-hour-long flight from San Francisco to Chicago with 13 stops and 14 passengers on board.

After the success of her historical debut, Church persuaded her employer to hire seven more female cabin crew members for a three-month-long trial period. She proved that a female cabin crew was able to handle all the tasks as qualitatively as men did. Her idea encouraged the other air carriers to follow BTA精东影业 example and hire more female nurses for work in the cabin.

The air carriers also believed that the onboard service provided by physically attractive women would significantly improve customer satisfaction. And so, BTA became the first airline that started recruiting nurses for service duties. The female stewardess was required to provide meal service and attend to those who became airsick.

Double standards and rising dissent

During World War II, the demand for medical workers had risen and the majority of nurses left aviation for duties in military units. Due to the lack of female stewardesses with medical education, airlines changed the requirements for service staff and began hiring young women without nursing experience.

Over the next 20 years, air carriers continued to hire women for stewardess positions. But the role came with extremely strict standards, including physical appearance and age. A stewardess had to follow stringent conditions and was forced to leave the profession by an average age of 32. Marriage, pregnancy, or even weight gain meant that a stewardess could lose her job.

Companies also insisted that their female staff should follow impeccable grooming standards to keep up with their glamourous image. On duty, they were required to wear hats, high heels, and white gloves. While the requirement of nursing experience was withdrawn, stewardess uniforms were designed to mimic the original nurse’s uniforms from the 1930s as a way to instill confidence in their abilities.

These strict standards were met with rising dissatisfaction among female cabin crew. The bravest members began to oppose the rules and speak out against the inequality. Flight attendant Edith Lauterbach was among the first to fight for gender equality in the aviation industry.

In 1944, Lauterbach joined United Airlines. But noticing the blatant discrimination, she united with another three female crew members, Frances Hall, Sally Thometz, and Sally Watt, to set up the first trade union dedicated to the in-flight aviation workers. By 1945, the quintet founded the Air Line Stewardesses Association, representing the rights of aircraft cabin service personnel, which, nowadays, is also known as the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. During the decades that followed, many air carries began to drop employment restrictions based on age, weight and marital status

Racial prejudice

Although changes in airline policy were being made, some carriers continued to discriminate against female flight attendants of color. Journalist and nurse Ruth Carol Taylor became the first African American airline flight attendant in the United States when she joined Mohawk Airlines in 1958. 

Born in Boston, into a family of black, white, and Cherokee heritage, Taylor graduated as a nurse from the Bellevue School of Nursing in New York City. She had always dreamed about working as a cabin crew member and, in early 1957, Taylor applied for a job with US major, Trans World Airlines (TWA). Her application was immediately rejected, simply because of her skin color. She subsequently filed a complaint against the company with the New York State Commission on Discrimination. While no action was brought against the airline, other companies began to re-think their policies on hiring minority crew members.

Meanwhile, Mohawk Airlines, a regional passenger airline operating in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, expressed interest in hiring minority flight attendants and Taylor took a chance to apply for a position. Taylor was selected from 800 black applicants. On February 11, 1958, history was made as Taylor became the first-ever African American flight attendant, operating her flight from Ithaca Tompkins, Regional Airport to New York, JFK.

But Taylor精东影业 joy was short-lived and, just six months later, another discriminatory regulation caused her to lose her job in aviation. Before applying to the airlines, Taylor had been engaged. However, the marriage ban operated by all carriers in the 50s and 60s meant that Taylor was forced to resign.

She was later significantly involved in covering the 1963 March on Washington and became an activist for consumer affairs and women’s rights. She also wrote The Little Black Book: Black Male Survival in America (1985), in view of the endemic racism in the United States towards African Americans.

In 1977, Taylor returned to work as a nurse and became a co-founder of the Institute for Inter-Racial Harmony, which developed a test to measure racist attitudes known as the Racism Quotient. At the time, Taylor attended several demonstrations to end police brutality against the Black community. In 2008, 50 years after she joined the airline industry, Taylor精东影业 efforts to fight for equality were memorialized by the New York State Assembly. In a media interview, she admitted that she had no-long term career aspirations as a stewardess, but her goal had always been to break the color barrier in the air carriers鈥� policy.

Equality achieved?

In the early 1970s, trade unions gained more traction, and the role of the stewardess began to alter in line with the fight for gender equality. 

Following the Civil Rights Act, which came into action in 1964, the federal courts of the United States began intervening to stop air carriers forbidding their employees from getting married as well as firing stewardesses once they reached a certain age. Air carriers could no longer discriminate against their staff based on race, sex, age, or marital status.

This legislation transformed air stewardesses from a short-term role for young, single women into a long-term career opportunity. Most notably, in a landmark 1971 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that airlines could not discriminate against men after Celio Diaz Jr. of Miami claimed his two applications for Pan Am were rejected on the basis of gender.

Following the non-discrimination policy, air carriers began to hire more men for passenger care duties and the need for a non-gender specific term to describe the profession arose. In the next decade, the term 鈥榮tewardess鈥�, defining an onboard assistant job, was replaced with 鈥榝light attendant鈥�, which reflected both genders.

True devotion to duty

Women in aviation have proved time and again that they are just as courageous and devoted to their duties in the aviation industry as their male counterparts.

One such woman was British flight attendant Barbara Jane Harrison, known as Jane Harrison, who sacrificed her life to save passengers during a catastrophic incident in the late-1960s.

Harrison joined British Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1966 and started her career onboard the fleet of Boeing 707 aircraft. On April 8, 1968, after two years of work for the air carrier, she died in a fatal accident.

Harrison was rostered to fly the long-haul BOAC Flight 712 to Sydney, Australia, via Zurich, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Bombay, Singapore, and Perth with the Boeing 707 jet. However, immediately after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport, the second engine of the plane caught fire and detached from the aircraft body, leaving a fierce fire burning at the engine精东影业 position. The flight crew immediately reacted to the emergency right and landed the jet at the airport of departure.

Following company requirements for emergency procedures, Harrison opened the rear galley door and inflated the slide for evacuation. But unfortunately, it twisted while being automatically inflated, making the exit unusable. Her colleague decided to climb down the slide to straighten it, so it could be used for passenger evacuation, but once out of the plane, he was unable to return on board, leaving Harisson alone with a duty to evacuate people. Reportedly, the slide caught on fire, but Harrison continued to encourage passengers to exit the aircraft.

Witnesses later recalled that Harrison was so devoted to her duty that she continued pushing passengers to safety even as 鈥渇lames and smoke [were] licking around her face鈥�. Once all the passengers were out, she was supposed to evacuate. But the flight attendant appeared to turn back inside. There was another explosion, and she was not seen alive again. Her body was found with four others near the rear door, and all had died from asphyxia.

In August 1969 Harrison became the only woman to receive the George Cross, which is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy, during peacetime, and its youngest female recipient.