Andhra Pradesh   

Give wings to your career

B. Madhu Gopal

EducationPlus For a Plus Two candidate it offers the fattest pay packet. But, to be an air hostess or flight steward, the wish to soar high won't suffice. You need to be adept in swimming too!

SET TO FLY: Sky is the limit for these prospective air hostesses. Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Wish to join a course where you can have your cake and eat it too? Air hostess training is the one for you. This is one course that can literally give your career a flying start while enabling you to realise your childhood dream of soaring up and above.

Perhaps, no other job in the service sector can offer such a huge pay packet to a candidate with a plus two qualification. What's more, reputed institutes are offering the one-year course for around Rs.90,000. The fee is all-inclusive including the cost of in-flight training and course material. The dream career, which was earlier restricted to girls, has now opened up for boys also with many airlines recruiting them as flight stewards.

Industry boom

A pleasing personality, strong communication skills, confidence, ability to deal with people of different temperaments, a lot of patience and friendly disposition are the basic prerequisites of a successful air hostess or flight steward.

Generally airlines recruit girls and boys between 17 and 26 years of age as air hostesses and flight stewards. Knowledge of swimming is a pre-qualification in the recruitment of staff by many international airlines. This is because when a flight makes an emergency landing at sea, rivers or other water bodies they should be able to swim to safety apart from saving the lives of passengers.

There is a boom in the aviation industry now with the number of airports estimated to increase during the next five years all over the world. With the Government of India opening up the skies to the private sector, a number of private players have come up and many more are in the offing.

Training

The Frankfin Institute of Air Hostess Training, which has branches in Hyderabad (phone no. 55156618), Secunderabad (55967744) and Visakhapatnam (5547543), is offering one-year diploma in Aviation, Hospitality and Travel Management. Apart from classes on self-development and grooming, the course also includes sessions in English language (with BBC Active), Galileo, a computerised reservation system for the travel industry, and Fidelio, a hotel reservation package essential for front-office operations. Though international airlines do not insist on candidates knowing foreign languages they are particular about their fluency in English language.

"The international vocational qualification, BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) in aviation, hospitality and travel management from Edexcel International, UK, is recognised in more than 110 countries," says Aarthi Girish, the centre head of Vizag branch. "Ours is the only institute in the world to have an Airbus A 300 for training students. On completion of training the candidates would also be given in-flight exposure to get a feel of the real-life situation in a commercial flight," says Paramita Das of Frankfinn.

Admission process

The institute admits candidates on the basis of an interview. The selection is based on the personality and communication skills of the aspirants. The minimum height required for girls is 5' 2" (5 feet 2 inches) and for boys is 5' 7". The best part is that the trainees can pursue their graduation simultaneously along with the course.

"Candidates who fall short of the required standards are placed in the `waiting list' and would be admitted if they are any dropouts after admissions. Those candidates who are not up to the mark would be asked to improve and attend another interview after six months," says Ms. Aarthi.

Job assistance

The institute offers 100 per cent job assistance to its students for 18 months on completion of the course. Information on openings in the aviation sector would be mailed to them through e-mail and also sent to them through courier.

They would also get a free subscription of `Aviation Times', the magazine which gives them complete information on the goings-on in the aviation industry.

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