Has the cabin crew role changed as we return to travel in the post pandemic period?

This will be a popular interview question by all recruiters in the post pandemic period.

The ME3 airlines of the Middle East - the 3 big luxury airlines - Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are three of the world’s biggest airlines and were affected badly by the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic period. Only a year ago, all were laying off staff and cutting back significantly on operations.

As vaccination take-up improves globally, countries start to reopen and flights return. Several countries are still badly hit by the very transmissive nature of the Delta variant and it is now thought that a third booster vaccine may be needed for those in high risk and the elderly population.

In terms of the return to travel, new procedures are formulated and implemented for those wanting to travel, new safety COVID-19 protocols are now introduced at every stage of the travel cycle, from the arrival on board the aircrafts and at the destination airport.

The airlines have to continually reassure their passengers that they operate safe flights including fully vaccinated flights.. The new role of the cabin crew has changed too! They now have to be in PPE kit (mask, visor, apron and gloves), to monitor and ensure safety and hygiene on board is observed by all, hygiene when working at the galley and preparing food and the service itself. The team and passengers also have to wear masks. In a metal tube and a pressurised environment, the risks can be quite high if one person is asymptomatic. PCR testing or vaccination before boarding is now the new normal for all passengers at the departure airport. Without it, you will not be permitted to proceed to boarding.

It is definitely a more challenging time for cabin crew duties. The ME3 airlines continually reassure passengers that they have a high level of hygiene onboard, cabin crew members are reminded to follow extra strict sanitizing rules on each of their flights.

Rebuilding trust and confidence for the passengers and to reassure some of the passengers who may still be fearful is now part of their new role. The delta variant has affected travel in some countries and brought other countries back to lockdown . On certain flights to higher risk countries, the airline needs to reassure the passengers that the crew are double vaccinated. No airline wants one of their staff member to be the COVID super spreader on board.

Another change on flights especially to higher risk countries could mean minimising contact with passengers. This could mean that on certain sectors - instead of traditional service, the cabin crew may  provide a passenger with a box meal and a drink and then return to the crew station. Crew may even have to limit their conversations and interaction in the cabin.  This again is a big change to ensure the crew are not the cause of any spread of the covid virus and passengers are kept safe during the duration of the flight.

We may feel we are losing touch with the social side of interacting with passengers. However, we have to realise that the pandemic is far from over and different countries have different rates of vaccinations and infection spreads. Keeping passengers safe is the number one priority.

Other changes that affect the cabin crew include destinations where countries will require quarantine for crew, regular PCR swab tests, and flights have to be changed at short notice due to rise in infection rates.

Yet, the love of flying and being a cabin crew for Emirates, Etihad and Qatar remains an attractive proposition for many millennials out there, and as these 3 airlines return to recruitment, we see a very competitive demand and only the best will achieve their dreams to fly.

In that sense, having the best CV optimised for keywords of the airline that you intend to apply to becomes even more important, We can help by designing and writing an Emirates , Etihad or Qatar CV to blend your experience with keywords so you stand the best chance of getting shortlisted by both the Artificial Intelligence - ATS scanners or the traditional human recruiters. We also edit your pictures for you so your application pictures look impeccable.

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