Personal Traits of a flight attendant

Being a flight attendant is not merely a job. This is a dream for many of the people who want to start their career in the aviation industry. They have been nurturing the dream for long to be a flight attendant. But not every one of them can be the flight attendant. Only a few of them are selected for the post in various airlines. So, why this happens? This is a valuable question to answer.

Not everyone, who applies for the post of a flight attendant, is selected for the position. In fact, the position requires some specific set of expertise and personal traits. When the recruiting authority does not find any suitable skills and the required personal traits among the applicants, they cannot select the right one. Besides, the recruitment process is also complex and needs several sets of official interviews.

Hence, if you want to be selected for the interview against the post of a flight attendant, you are to demonstrate certain qualities. Before the demonstration, you need to know about them. The article will guide you through the basic personal traits of a flight attendant that the employers seek among the applicants. If you can show your skills and the personal attitudes, hopefully, you will be selected for the next phase of the interview and gradually move for the job of a flight attendant.

In fact, the flight attendants should have some personality traits that will make them different from the others. This is an essential thing for them when they are on the job. If they cannot communicate effectively or unable to meet and greet the other people and the passengers, they won’t be able to last longer in the job. They need to be a reliable person to all. And the employers are in search of such individuals who will be able to deal with all types of situations and uphold the reputation of the airline company.


[Image source: wikimedia.org] 

There might be a question that why the airline companies seek so much perfection. The answer is simple. The majority of the events that will take place during a flight are unpredictable. So, if the flight attendants are unable to deal with them, the situations or events may lead to a massive destruction or accident damaging lives and properties. Therefore, they require the people with some specific personality traits who can handle the things smoothly.

Eager to know the personality trait details? Okay. Let’s start reading the article to the last line and know the usual traits that are most sought in the industry.

Public relation:

This is the most important skill for a flight attendant. If the flight attendant is not able to deal with people, it will be hard to work as a flight attendant. They need to know how to handle passengers. Since all classes of people can travel by air, the flight attendants need to behave accordingly and make them feel at home. with a warm attitude and helping mode, the flight attendants extend their hands to the passengers and other people inside the airplane. Hence, they need to be skilled in dealing with the public. They need to have people management skills. Without the skill, they wouldn’t be able to survive in this profession. But if they are skilled with the public relation skill, the flight will be peaceful and smooth.

Flexible service providing:

The types of services are not fixed during or after a flight. Certainly, there are some basic tasks that every flight attendant needs to perform. But there are some other tasks like helping a senior individual to take the seat, or providing a helping hand to a disabled person to ride on the aircraft etc. should also be done. The flight attendants need to know about the matters and respond in such situations in a positive manner. If they are not able to have a positive attitude or outlook about the issues, they will be considered as unfit for the position. They need to provide personal and cordial services to passengers and their clients. 

Self-control:

Controlling the emotions is an admired issue for the post of a flight attendant. For instance, someone stumbled during the boarding and everyone laughed at the individual. But this is a natural phenomenon and it may happen. But taking part in the laughing like the others is unexpected from a flight attendant. Rather, you should move forward to help the person. Besides, sometimes, you might feel awkward with the behaviour of any passenger. You may experience criticisms as well. But don’t express your emotion before everyone. It is unwise to show your anger to the passengers. You need to be tolerable in such situations. If you turn angry or express your inner emotions, you are inviting some detrimental impacts on your career. You need to ignore the issues that you don’t like.       

Being cordial:

When you will be working as a flight attendant, you need to provide some cordial service. You have to be sensitive to your attitudes. If you do not show sympathy to your passengers or customers in their needs, it would be difficult for you to shine in the career. In fact, you have to show respect to other people’s feelings and emotions. You need to understand their needs. If you can understand the needs of your customers or passengers instantly during the flight, it is expected that they certainly will praise for your service. If you can provide a better service, the chance of your success increases.

Team player:

This is another personal trait that is a must for you if you want to be a cabin crew. You need to be a team player for many reasons. First of all, during a flight, you need to be with your team and deal with everything. If you want to handle all the things and alone, it wouldn’t be possible for you. Besides, when you are in a team, you will experience various types of team members. You have to adjust with them every time. Further, in a large aircraft, there are over 300 passengers. So, it is almost impossible to manage all of them without a team. Being a good team player, you will be able to complete your tasks. You may also need to help the other team members while the rest of the members will also provide a helping hand to you if you need.


[Image source: wikimedia.org]

 

Physical fitness:

You need to be fit in terms of physical fitness. It is a must for every flight attendant. Most of the time, the flight attendants need to stand on their feet or even the flights could be stressful. Hence, if they do not have the physical fitness to undergo the stress or the standing situations, they would be unable to continue the job for a long time. Therefore, you need to be physical fit and take mental preparations to deal with the matters when you are on a flight. Your eyesight should be clear and hearing ability should be sound. Often you may need to carry various types of objects and goods to and from the aircraft. If you are physically unfit, you cannot do them exactly. So, the airline corporations seek flight attendants with physical abilities.  

Dependable:

This is the post where people come to get served. The service might be by receiving information or by any other means. So, the flight attendants need to be dependable. If there is an outlook that you are not trustworthy or less dependable, the passengers will not look at you and seek the support from someone else who appears to be dependable to them. This is a great quality. By your facial expression and activities, you can create a sense of dependency among your passengers and other customers of the airline authority.

Make your own ways:

You need to have the attitude to make the things happen by our own ways. Certainly, there are a good number of ways available to do the things but you should make your individual way of doing them. You may invent something new. It will make you different from others. It will also be a distinctive style for you and will create your admirers. In fact, this is the independent way of working and once you are habituated with the way, you would be able to work without or minimum supervision. This would be a plus for you.   

Listening skills:

Human nature is a bit unstable. Most of the time, we do not pay attention to what we listen. But to be a perfect flight attendant, you need to increase your listening skill. You have to pay attention to every detail. The details may appear unnecessary in the beginning but they have values. When they are needed and you cannot recall them, it might bring a serious destruction. So, you need to pay complete attention while listening to others, particular instructions from the pilots.

Honesty:

This is another important personality trait for the flight attendants. If you become a flight attendant, you have to honest in all your activities and attitudes. For instance, you got something valuable in the seats of the aircraft you are serving with and did not deposit to the lost and found department, it would be a dishonesty. The thing might be of great importance for the owner. But you are stealing the thing. If you have such traits, you need to get rid of them. Without being honest and owning integrity in character, you cannot go far with the profession.

Leadership:

A large number of sayings are available on leadership. It is a great virtue in life. In fact, if you do not own the quality, you may lose chances of success in life. The post of flight attendant requires some sort of leadership as well. In fact, you need to have the skill and it might be useful for you at any time. In an emergency, you might take the lead and deal with the situations. For your leadership skills, the relevant people might get saved. Besides, there are many other benefits of the skills. So, the employers seek this skill as well among the aspiring candidates. 

Be straight:

This is another personal trait for a flight attendant. When you are working as a flight attendant, you might get the requests which are not suitable or illegal. For instance, someone asked you to carry some illegal goods on behalf of him/ her in exchange for some rewards. You need to say NO to those people. If you fail to be straight, you are going to be a trapped. As a result, your career might come under risks. So, it is wise to be straight on issues like that. But when you are on duty and someone asks for any support within your capacity, you should offer the support to the individual.

Logical thoughts:

To be an expert flight attendant, you need to have some critical thoughts as well. You need to justify the situations, apply your imagination, bring out the real scenarios or reasons behind events and more other activities. But if you lack the skill of thinking logically, you will be unable to perform your duties in the desired manner. Actually, the employers want their flight attendants to be smart and skilled enough to apply the logics in their respective tasks. When the logics are applied, the tasks are done smoothly.   

Decision making:

Often you will find yourself in such situations where you need to take decisions by your own. In that cases, you have to take decisions. If you cannot take the right decision at the right time, you will have to suffer in the long run for the failure. So, this is another important personality trait for the applicants to take instant decisions in case of emergencies or needs.


[Image source: wikimedia.org]

 

Good looks:

This is another important issue to consider and the employers in the aviation industry prefer people with good looks for the position of flight attendant. Having a good look is really important. In fact, the value of natural beauty is more than anything here. Regardless of gender, the authority prefers to recruit people with good looks and the airlines take the issue seriously when they are set to employ a flight attendant.

Language Skills:

The job of flight attendant is interesting and the people engaged with the job have to travel in different parts of the world. So, it is a must to know a second language. If you are unable to speak a foreign language perfectly, this job is not for you. You must have a good command over the second language and you should also know how to apply the language in places. Language plays an important role here. The more you are capable of communicating with a second language, the more you are increasing the chances for your success. The industry owners prefer applicants who know a second language perfectly.

Finally, you may also need to demonstrate some other qualities as well for having the job of a flight attendant. But if you can express your skills boldly and the personality traits match with you, the job is yours. Please be noted that personality traits are considered as the most important factors. In fact, the aviation industry has been sustaining on the skilled services offered by the flight attendants and other aircraft crews.

But the role of flight attendants is directly related to the reputation of the company. So, they do not take any chances here and keep the recruitment process free and fair to all. If you have the required set of skills and expertise, you can apply for the position. And by following the formal interview process, you can have the job.

Hope this article would be helpful in providing you with some ideas about the personality traits required for a flight attendant so that you can mould yourself after the industry demand or get hired.

Wish your very success.