Cabin Crew: Revealing Gender Inequality and Current Set of Skills
To start with, aviation is one of those industries that had numerous developments throughout the years. Besides the improvements in technology and different abilities for people to travel, there is still a dispute regarding gender equality. This industry has been known as 'male industry'. Only 22% of employer are female (in Europe) in the aviation. This could be worse for countries under development, the industry seems to have lots of female walking down at the airport/travel agent, the truth is, there are women in this sector. Therefore, they are mostly on board, ground sections and customer-facing jobs etc. It clear that gender diversity is insufficient in the sector more specifically in technical roles such as aircraft engineer, air traffic controllers the list goes on. According to gender equality at full throttle, only 5% of the pilot are female and 80% of cabin crew are female.
F. McCarthy journal of air transport management shows data of men and women working in the industry as a part of cabin crew. The unavoidable remark was: the number of men and women that have been questioned was not equal 6/4. In those number there was four captains, one first officer, one-line captain and the women side all four of them were the first officer. One thing that cannot escape your eye is the hours of experience on the current aircraft, men had thousands of hours of experiences and women only had hundreds. The second table by Kom Ferry is the percentage of senior management roles occupied by women, also here the same inequality repeats, there is less than thirty per cent of women in all domains. The one with the lowest is the airlines, they got 20.9% female and 79.1 %, male. This shows how women suffer from inequality in this industry, it clearly shows how much they were under-respected and not taken seriously.
What been done about the situation is that: In 2018 America opened an association of female technicians, they competed as the primary all-female commercial carrier group within the Aviation Support Competition. They raise the awareness all over the world that aviation support could be a career path for individuals of all sexual orientation.
So the aviation industry is gradually working on its progress comparing to year ago. Now days there are several opportunities for women of all ages to make their dream job in the aviation to become true. Big organisations like international civil aviation (ICAO), international air transport (IATA), international society of women airline pilots (ISWAP), women in aviation international (WAI) and the government are all working to stop the inequality. Also, they are ensuring that young girl grow up with a changed perception or vision toward the aviation industry and provide all the support for them.
Current Skill Set
Being a flight attendant is one of the very demanding roles in the industry. This job required a high level of responsibilities which can get your mentally exhausted. Therefore, most airlines prefer their staff to live by the airport, so it is easier for the staff member and much easier if you are on standby or overnight stays.
A flight attendant must have an effective communication skill, as you will be meeting new people on your daily shift, it is important to interact with your colleagues and customers. Being able to transmit clear information in case of emergencies and be able to listen to passengers' enquiries and fulfil it efficiently. For a flight to be successful, cabin crews need to be able to work as part of a team, in most flight, there are hundreds of PAX and only a couple of staffs, so cabin crew needs to work together and meet all the requirement of the flight. Also, being friendly, caring and understanding, being a cabin crew is all about having the knowledge to deal with problems. long hours flight tends to bring rage of attitudes and issues on-board; you need to remain friendly and be able to deal with a sensitive situation in empathy way. Depending on the company you are working for, but this job is about being adaptable and have culture awareness as your shifts might not always be in one county/city along with working with people with different background and be able to show your knowledge on humanity plus races. A flight attendant is representing the image of an airline, your look (be well-groomed) needs to be impeccable at all the time most importantly in working hours and while wearing you uniform furthermore fitness needs to be part of your life due to long hours shift and pressure. Other skills that are also important include: customer's services, professionalism, independence and dependability, self-control, stress tolerance, attention to details, organisation, time management etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, to be a good cabin crew it is important to be adaptable with different places. There is a need to be organised, to know things in advance, being respectful, respect rules and being mindful about other's opinions as well as working as part of the team, 'two heads are better than one'. Overall Airlines require to all cabin crew to be able to swim at least 25m. A good flight attendant is all about being the safety of your passengers. Also, being able to make profits for the airline so customers' service and selling skills need to be developed.
