Dear future flight attendants,
Why is it that a lot of you are deeply in love with ‘being a flight attendant’?
Is it because you love the lifestyle — globetrotting, shopping and dining?
Is it because you love the image of being all glammed up — getting the admiration of bystanders as you walk around the airport?
Is it because you love the compensation — receiving per diems while you sleep in a cozy hotel?
If these are your why’s, I assure you that you will be resigning in no time.
It’s All About Service
Being a flight attendant’s job is like any other job in the world. It’s all about serving human beings. A flight attendant serves passengers, an HR officer serves employees of a company, and a business owner serves both his workforce and the customers they have. The question is why do you serve? Where is your heart when you’re serving people?
Passengers or customers know when a service provider is giving their authentic self in what they do. They know if you have the best intention — a genuine desire to make them happy. And unlike other jobs out there, the challenge of flight attendants is that the range of service that they provide is so varied, matched with limited resources on hand because of the work environment that they have. Imagine being inside a metal capsule switching hats in a span of hours: from a food service provider to a first aider, from a customer service agent to a counselor, and from a cleaner to, heaven forbid, a life saver.
A Passenger Tells His Story
I remember this one instance when my crew in business class were complaining about a particular passenger who was being difficult. The crew was saying that he’s too demanding, rude and annoying. Being the cabin manager of the flight, I went up to the passenger to figure out what’s going on. And upon talking to this ‘unruly’ guest, I found out that his family — wife and two kids, were supposedly on their 2-week tour in Europe when they had to cut short their holiday. Their bag with all their travel documents along with their pocket money was snatched in the Metro train. They were stressed, jet-lagged and overwhelmed as they had to get everything re-organized from flight bookings, passports, getting extra cash, etc. etc. When the business class crew found out what had happened to this passenger and his family, the energy immediately shifted from annoyance to empathy.
How Much of your Heart are you Willing to Give?
There are thousands of stories behind every person taking that aircraft seat. The moment that door closes, the well-being of each passenger becomes the responsibility of every member of the inflight team regardless of their position. Whatever your plans are when you reach the destination, whether it’s shopping, dining or meeting your loved ones whom you haven’t seen in months, it must be set aside. Because as long as you’re inside the aircraft, your heart must belong to the people onboard — practicing the same empathy, compassion and love for a family member or anyone close to your heart.
If you want to become a flight attendant extraordinaire, learn to elevate your practice of empathy by clicking this link: The National Innovators Initiative
Flyhigh Manila and Ni2 aims to empower past, present and future flight attendants by honing our Innovator Spirit and propelling us to fly even higher.
About Post Author
