Emirates is truly the paragon of top-notch international air travel when it comes to technology, fleet, elegance, an unparalleled first-class experience, and of course, hospitality, which is owed to the flight crew and their incomparable reputation for quality service. To maintain this level of prestige, it’s no surprise that they take their flight crew training very, very seriously. And it doesn’t require an actual flight on Emirates to get a sense of their eminence – just observing the flight crew proudly stride through the airport in unison, clad in their beige suits, cream scarves, crimson red hats and matching lipstick, evokes a sophisticated glamour that has elicited a sense of allure for air travel since the start of the jet age. You can’t help but wonder what it took for them to get their wings.
We spoke with Catherine Baird, senior vice president of cabin crew training for Emirates airline, who gave us a closer look into the exclusive, in-depth training program that breeds some of the most well-respected flight attendants in the world.
What is the most unique element of Emirates flight crew training?
There are two unique elements to Emirates training. The first is the enormous investment into our training facility — we have highly sophisticated simulators that allows us to deliver realistic, experiential learning scenarios with our crew. Advanced computer programs enable the training team to simulate a variety of emergency scenarios including full motion and smoke simulation, as well as visual and audio displays. Our simulators, both safety and service, are state-of-the-art in design to make training as realistic as possible. The second is the highly skilled trainers, and I am privileged to work with an amazing group of people here in cabin crew training. They are among the most talented, professional, inspiring, and caring people I’ve ever met. Each one has expertise in their chosen subject area and is passionate about their role in helping our crew to meet Emirates very high standards. So, our cabin crew leaves training not only competent but confident in all facets of their role responsibilities.
What might be the most surprising qualification?
Emirates cabin crew is an amazing group of people. They are truly cosmopolitan with over 140 nationalities and speaking more than 60 languages. They come from a rich background of knowledge, education, experience and cultural understanding that we are able to leverage in our training. They guide and mentor each other in learning language phrases and understanding cultural norms and traditions, which positively impact our customers’ in-flight experience.
What makes Emirates supreme over other airlines in terms of training?
The crew go through an intense and rigorous training process to prepare them for anything from properly folding napkins to delivering a baby onboard. With full motion simulators that recreate emergency scenarios, our sophisticated training facility provides the cabin crew with the opportunity to experience any and all in-flight and on the ground emergencies, whether they’re evacuating from a full height A380 upper deck slide, fighting real fires in the purpose-built fire trainer facility or treading water in our low temperature pool. Here at Emirates, service is part of the core of our business and safety is the heart of our operation.
Is defense and security training standardized for all airlines and does Emirates do anything differently?
Emirates Security Training content is developed from ICAO standards and recommended practices (SARPs), evidence gathered from operational reports and feedback, and Threat & Risk assessment. During the course of their training, our cabin crew members go through an extensive security program that includes the following elements: prevention and management of hijacking, prevention and management of sabotage, prevention and management of unruly behavior, security searches on board the aircraft, personal security and customs, as well as prevention of on-board crime, including human trafficking. We provide a variety of media through which we train our crew, including online, classroom and practical exercises. Our main aims are to ensure that the training is interactive, relevant, regulatory compliant and of course, effective. Training Integration refers to the last part of Abinitio training where different elements from service, security, medical and SEP are included. By bringing all the elements mentioned above together at the end of the training session, this training integration lets our crew experience a variety of different scenarios before they actually go online for their first operational flight.
Can you delve into more detail on how the flight crew is trained on wine?
Specific wine training and seminars for Pursers educate our senior crew about the importance of our wine offering and share tips on how they can in turn pass this information on to customers. Groups of senior crew are selected to take part in a wine appreciation course to learn more about our offering and share this with their colleagues and teams. All of our crew also go through wine training and appreciation as part of their initial training period. Members of our Service Training team hold accreditation with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (UK). We believe educating and inspiring our crew about the amazing Emirates wine portfolio gives them the confidence to speak to our customers and sell this fantastic wine portfolio.
What has changed for female flight attendants from Emirates’ founding to 2019?
Since Emirates’ founding in 1985, the company has gone through some major changes and has made a lot of progress in the last 33 years. Emirates now has a young fleet of more than 100 Airbus A380s and more than 130 777-300 ER aircraft, serving 158 destinations in 86 countries. Keeping this in mind, the role of our Cabin Crew has transformed and adapted to keep up with these changes over the years, especially in terms of service, safety, technology and security on board the new generation of aircraft. Our crew uniform has also changed to reflect our growth, and the current stylish and contemporary look was unveiled in August 2008, when Emirates received its first A380. Over the years, we are proud to say that our cabin crew has grown to become global brand ambassadors of the airline and bringing to life our unique Emirates spirit for a better flying experience for customers.
How is training different for flight attendants who service first and business class?
Our emphasis is on the importance of how our crew make customers feel and the link to the impact they have on a customer’s journey. In training we provide cabin crew with the product knowledge and the hospitality skills to deliver to Emirates high standard service. And, more importantly, our role is to guide our crew in bringing the Emirates spirit to life through personal, considerate and attentive interaction with customers. This is regardless of the cabin of travel. For Business and First Class, the focus is on attention to detail and creating a personalized service based on the individual customer’s requirements. In EAC Crew Training we are fortunate to have a world class facility with service simulators for all cabins and specialized classrooms including a flight kitchen for plating and food preparation, wine appreciation and duty free, and seat demonstration where every seat is fully operational such as the First Class ‘game changer’ B777. This allows our training to be very practical and experiential. The Service Training team is also qualified subject matter experts coming from backgrounds hospitality, restaurants, and as chefs, along with experience as cabin crew.
