Singapore Airlines (SIA) turns 70 this year but the Singapore Girl is ever ageless, her smiling face inseparable from the national carrier, now a world-renowned airline with 109 aircraft. Having made impeccable service one of its selling points, SIA scours talent for its crew from here and overseas including countries such as Malaysia, India, Thailand, Japan, Korea and China. Importance is placed on recruiting men and women who are customer-orientated, resourceful and team players.
In Singapore, interviews are held every month and each recruitment exercise typically draws an average of 900 applicants. Singapore Airlines’ male to female ratio for cabin crew is 40:60. Once candidates are chosen, they are put through a rigorous 15-week training programme comprising classroom and on-the-job training.
Cabin crew trainees undergo six weeks of foundation training that includes food knowledge and wine appreciation, communications and passenger handling, personal grooming, fundamentals of social etiquette and deportment. Trainees also attend four and a half weeks of fleet training that includes galley duties, service procedures, and in-flight entertainment across the different fleets.
They must also undergo three weeks of safety training that focuses on security, safety and first aid procedures before being put on flights for one and a half weeks, to observe actual onboard situations.
Before trainees meet their first real passengers, they have three observation flights in which they are assigned to a mentor whom they shadow. Where the operating environment permits, trainees will be given hands-on opportunities.
The Straits Times executive photojournalist Neo Xiaobin takes an exclusive look behind the scenes at what it takes to become a Singapore icon.
Story published in The Straits Times on Feb 20, 2017 (straitstimes.com/singapore/preparing-for-take-off)