A shiny airliner, blue heights - and in a matter of hours a person descends the ladder to unfamiliar lands located thousands of kilometers from home. For some, air travel has become a part of life. And someone climbs on board with trembling legs.
Despite popular belief, air transport is one of the safest. Passengers have virtually nothing to worry about, entrusting their lives to experienced pilots.
And the stewards and flight attendants, who are well trained and know how to find solutions in difficult or unforeseen situations, will take care of comfort and safety during the flight. The professional holiday World Flight Attendant Day is dedicated to these workers. civil aviation, which is celebrated annually on July 12th.
Is flight attendant a romantic or dangerous profession?
Nice and always smiling flight attendants, strict and collected stewards are a common accompaniment during the flight.
They know several languages, know how to communicate with unbalanced individuals, are able to provide medical assistance, and have experience in serving passengers.
This combination of qualities of a psychologist, physician, waiter, and translator embodies the romantic and complex profession of a flight attendant.
These people have to regularly change time zones, travel thousands of kilometers in the air, while remaining friendly and polite.
New countries, lands, people, on the one hand, are confronted with constant overload, inadequate communication and long hours of staying on high altitude. So decide how life-threatening the romantic profession of a flight attendant is.
The history of the profession goes back more than 80 years. First passenger transportation did not provide for the presence of an additional person on board the aircraft. The functions of the flight attendant were performed by the co-pilot.
They started thinking about flight safety in Germany - and in 1928, an airliner took to the skies with a steward serving passengers. His responsibilities included ensuring the comfort of passengers. Therefore, stewards were recruited from waiters at elite restaurants.
In America in 1930, the idea arose of inviting girls as flight attendants.
This idea was supported by the requirement to attract pretty girls who would create additional advertising for passenger air travel. In addition, representatives of the fair sex have less weight, which was important for flying at that time.
Ellen Church, who lives in Iowa, received the title of first flight attendant. The girl was fond of flying and took private lessons in aerobatics. Therefore, she risked offering her services to the airline, which, surprisingly, risked trying a woman as a flight attendant.
The girl passed the test and was tasked with recruiting the first squad of flight attendants. The group consisted of seven nurses. The main requirements for them were: age - up to 25 years and weight - up to 52 kilograms.
International Flight Attendant Day: who celebrates?
Modern flight attendants are not subject to weight requirements like the first flight attendants. But to become a flight attendant, you will have to graduate from a special educational institution. In addition, when selecting personnel, airlines adhere to the principles of the three Cs.
A: The image is external. Attention is paid to speech, facial expressions, external attractiveness, makeup, and ability to carry oneself.
A: the image is internal. We are talking about certain character traits: self-control, restraint, sociability, stress resistance, determination.
A: The image is professional. Here, applicants are required to show the knowledge and skills that they acquired at an educational institution or at their previous job.
A modern flight attendant is a guarantee of ensuring the comfort and safety of passengers during the flight.
Airlines try to emphasize the company's image by appearance flight attendants. To do this, companies select special uniforms for flight attendants, which can reflect national motifs. Form ideas can focus on elegance, severity or sexuality.
It is the people of this profession who celebrate their professional holiday on July 12 - World Civil Aviation Flight Attendant Day.
They are, of course, joined by colleagues, friends and relatives. Students with teachers from specialized educational institutions are also not lagging behind.
World Civil Aviation Flight Attendant Day July 12: holiday traditions
On International Flight Attendant Day, not only Russian stewards and flight attendants celebrate. The holiday brings together flight attendants from all over the world. The celebration usually takes place among colleagues and friends - in a restaurant or outdoors. Words of greetings and heartfelt congratulations are heard.
A toast must be made, in which they wish the number of takeoffs to coincide with landings.
On this day, airline management tries to recognize the best and most professional employees, who are awarded certificates, cash bonuses, and valuable prizes.
The importance of flight attendants in providing airline service is noted.
The purpose of the event is to attract attention to the profession of young people and raise the prestige of the profession.
Every year, representatives of one of the most romantic professions in the world, better known to us as stewards and stewardesses, celebrate their professional holiday.
It may seem surprising, but this profession has been around for over 80 years. It is believed that it originated in Germany in 1928, when a special person began to be hired on board the plane, whose duties included providing service during the flight - a steward. Previously, this was done by the second pilot of the aircraft, which was risky from a flight safety point of view.
At first, the functions of flight attendants were performed by men - most often they were former waiters of expensive restaurants. However, already in 1930, the idea arose in the United States to attract attractive girls to work - this was supposed to become additional advertising for passenger air transportation. There was another argument in favor of the fair sex: they weighed less, which was of great importance for the aircraft of that time.
The first flight attendant in the history of aviation is called Ellen Church (Ellen Church, 1904 - 1965) from Iowa. She took her first flight in this capacity in 1930 on a flight from Oakland to Chicago for air transport Boeing.
Ellen Church (standing in the doorway, left) became the world's first flight attendant
Ellen completed nursing courses, and also took private lessons in flying an airplane - this served as a decisive argument in her favor: the girl herself offered her services to the airline. Moreover, it was Miss Church who was tasked with recruiting the first group to train future flight attendants; they were seven nurses under the age of 25 and weighing no more than 52 kilograms.
The weight of a flight attendant is not that important these days. But when recruiting personnel, the “three E” principle is often used: this is an external image (speech, facial expressions, makeup, external attractiveness); internal image (presence of necessary character traits); professional image (professional knowledge and skills).
The main responsibility of a modern flight attendant is to ensure the safety of passengers during the flight. In addition, stewards and flight attendants do everything to make passengers feel comfortable.
If you want to see the world -
It's best to fly by plane.
There is coziness and comfort on board the aircraft,
The flight attendant creates it!
May everything in your life be in order,
May takeoffs and landings be safe,
Flight weather, happiness and patience,
Always good luck and luck in everything!
Aviation allows for short time move goods and people over significant distances. Despite the common misconception, this type of transport is one of the safest. It is an important part of the economy of developed countries. An international professional holiday is dedicated to specialists working in this industry.
Who's celebrating
Civil aviation flight attendants take part in the event. The holiday is celebrated by employees of aviation enterprises, teachers, students, course participants, and graduates of specialized educational institutions. Their relatives, friends, acquaintances and close people join the action.
History and traditions of the holiday
The holiday appeared after the formation of a similar profession in the 20s of the 20th century. It first appeared in Germany in 1928, where the functions of serving passengers were transferred from the co-pilot to a specially trained person. This decision was dictated by security considerations. Thus, the crew was freed from performing extraneous tasks.
The purpose of the event is to increase the prestige of flight attendants, draw attention to their problems, and introduce them to their ranks. This action demonstrates the high role of workers in the competitive struggle of companies.
International Flight Attendant Day 2020 brings together specialists in many countries around the world, including Russia. Colleagues and their acquaintances, relatives, friends, and loved ones gather at festive tables in cafes and restaurants. Participants exchange experiences and discuss innovations. There are congratulations, wishes for health, success in responsible work. An invariable attribute of the celebrations is the pronunciation of the traditional toast so that the number of takeoffs coincides with the number of landings.
Distinguished employees are awarded certificates of honor and valuable gifts. Management notes the important role of employees in providing high service.
Means mass media preparing programs about the history of the industry. The main characters of the stories and interviews are civil aviation veterans, former and current flight attendants. They talk about their life journey, interesting cases during flights. Events often take place outdoors if the summer weather is favorable. A picnic is accompanied by swimming in ponds, fishing and cooking over an open fire.
About the profession
Civil aviation flight attendants perform passenger service tasks during flights. They are required to provide advice and provide the prescribed food and drinks.
The path to the profession begins after completing courses or an educational institution. The graduate masters the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Only those who have passed the required exams are allowed to work.
Employees are subject to strict requirements regarding knowledge of foreign languages and level of service. The steward must have first aid skills.
The activity is classified as hazardous to life and health. It is caused not only by significant stress and possible disasters, but also by prolonged radiation exposure. Its background during flight in the upper layers of the atmosphere is much higher than on the surface of the Earth. In the West, the profession of boat attendant is highly paid and in demand thanks to big park aircraft of numerous airlines.
