Judging from the popularity of the Broadway show ?Boeing Boeing? and plans for a television series based on the world of Pam Am stewardesses, the public seems to long for the days when airlines prided themselves on their flight attendants and the pampering they provided.
Those days are long gone for most carriers. But some long-haul airlines are betting that service that harks back to the glory days of flying will give them an edge.
Emirates Airline is one of them. The airline, one of the fastest growing carriers in the world, plays a crucial role in making Dubai the center of a network that links the West and the East. It is using the image of an Emirates flight attendant ? her smiling face beneath the signature red hat ? on its Web site, on advertisements and even on duty-free shopping bags to make the point, as one airline executive put it, that the service provided by Emirates is of ?the utmost significance.?
?It is what we are judged on more than anything else,? said the executive, Terry Daly, a senior vice president at the airline.
Shashank Nigam, chief executive of SimpliFlying, which provides branding advice to airlines and airports, said in an e-mail that delivering a level of cabin service and high product quality ?gives Emirates a sustainable competitive advantage.? He added, ?For an airline providing mainly long-haul flights, the in-flight experience becomes supremely important.?
Emirates is one of a half dozen airlines, including Virgin Atlantic and Singapore, that cultivate an elegant image for their cabin crew. Because Emirates is growing so quickly, it is in constant need of more flight attendants.
So far, it has had little trouble recruiting them from around the world. ?It?s a fun, glamorous job,? said Nicole Domett, chief executive of Travel Careers and Training in Auckland, New Zealand, who has sent a few students to Emirates. ?For those who have that confidence and thrill of adventure, I mean, wow, it?s really exciting.?
Mona Issa, for instance, was a doctor in Egypt before joining Emirates. ?The way people look at you when you say, ?I work for Emirates,?? she said, ?It?s magic. Everyone will treat you with respect.?
Blake Celestino just joined the airline from Australia, while Maurine Moraa of Kenya decided to quit her job working for a nongovernmental organisation to fly for Emirates.
The job has also been a safety net for people like Mohamed Jaber, a 31-year-old American who was laid off from JPMorgan Chase in the economic downturn.
Newly hired cabin attendants have just over a month to earn an international safety certificate while learning how to apply makeup flawlessly and turn an airplane trolley into an attractive display of duty-free products.
To accommodate the 60 to 120 recruits who arrive each week, the training center runs 16 hours a day. For the first few days, students just get acclimated to the blazing heat and ubiquitous sand. They live in an apartment complex in an area of Dubai where camels graze near the parking lots. Catherine Baird, the senior vice president for cabin crew training, said that when the trainees see the camels, it sinks in that they are a long way from home.
Ms Baird is equal parts cheerleader and mother superior. ?We know you can do this job,? she tells them at a morning assembly shortly after they arrive, ?because you are brilliant.? But she is also tough, if, for instance, she sees a student in uniform with her long hair loose.
?We don?t want anything to be too distracting from the hat, from the logo,? said a training manager, Helen Roxburgh, of the signature hat with the silky cream-colored scarf that is evocative of the Arabic veil. Ms Roxburgh must teach students the rules regarding the most minute dressing and grooming details. Acceptable shades of hair dye? No more than two shades from one?s natural hair colour. Tattoos? None that can show while wearing the uniform. When to button the suit jacket? All the time.
The trainees also get a primer on the travel industry, learning about everything from loyalty programs to duty-free merchandise. ?Many people think that to become an Emirates flight attendant is about pushing a trolley up and down the aisle and pouring tea and coffee,? Mr Daly said. ?It?s way more complex than what people think.?
Emergency procedures are taught in a full-motion cabin simulator that is more expensive than the static training cabins used by most airlines. Kellie White, the safety training manager, said students need to know what an emergency looks, sounds and feels like. ?They?ve had an experience that mimics the real thing,? Ms White said of the cabin that rocks, pows, bangs and mists. The day Ms Celestino practiced water landings by jumping into the swimming pool below the school?s training airplane, the water was uncomfortably cold, a reminder that the real thing will not be a day at the beach.
This year, Emirates plans to add 2,500 flight attendants to its roster of 13,000 to work on the new Airbus A380 jumbo jets that will soon be delivered. The airline must also replace attendants who leave.