Roles and Responsibilities of Cabin Crew: Insights into Modern Aviation

The cabin crew is mainly tasked with the responsibilities of maintaining the harmonious and unhindered flow of the flight-journey, starting from the moment of boarding, till the moment passengers deboard their flight.

Roles and responsibilities of cabin crew are diverse. Crew members must be equipped with excellent communication and interpersonal skills. The vital role of cabin crew members is to maintain safety, positivity, calmness and security of the flight journey, through a vibrant display of professionalism, elegance, boldness and mindful assessment.

Being an integral part of the airline's functioning process, multiple duties are assigned and cabin crew responsibilities become diverse.

These include:

• Assisting passengers
• Preparing the pre-flight procedures
• Mandatory safety presentations
• Maintaining safety/security during flights
• Providing hospitality services
• Maintaining communication between the flight deck and passengers,
• Rendering post-flight duties
• Clarifying the specifications of every safety-equipment

Here we narrate the responsibilities of cabin crew, their priorities, relevance, cabin crew job description and more.

What are the Duties and Responsibilities of Cabin Crew?

• The crew needs to make sure that all necessary instructions are fluently and comprehensively communicated right before take-off.
• In any case of misunderstanding or delayed flight-intervals, the crew members must be well-adept at managing and neutralizing (uprising/heated) situations.
• Crew members must remain composed, calm and diligent throughout the entire flight-journey.
• The duties of cabin crew (fundamentally) cater towards hospitality services. Momentary serving of water, beverages, food and refreshments is a vital part of their role.
• Crew members are also tasked with the responsibility of maintaining a comfortable environment, both for the passengers and staff members, by keeping the environment clean, removing trash from the aisle and maintaining a professional (attractive) appearance.

Safety Responsibilities

The primary responsibility is to maintain safety and comfort for everyone.

• As passengers start boarding the plane, crew members must greet and welcome passengers to usher a homely and positive feeling.
• Right before take-off they are required to communicate the entire safety protocol of the journey and explain how to operate the available safety equipment.
• The cabin crew must make sure everyone is seated with their seatbelts on and that electronic devices are turned off.
• As the journey proceeds, flight attendants are required to fulfill the needs of customers, clarify doubts, boost morale, provide beverages, refreshments, food (when ordered)
• In case of any conflict, the crew members should resolve conflicts in a peaceful and negotiated manner.
• The emergency procedures must be comprehensively described to passengers, simultaneously maintaining a normalcy in their tone.

Cabin Maintenance and Hygiene

Maintenance of hygiene is essential for both the staff members and the passengers. The cabin crew must be regular in retrieving trash from the passenger's seats and aisle.

The garbage collecting cart is expected to be used a few times to ensure no litter in the environment and to maintain the clean state of the plane's interior.

Crisis Management and Security Protocols

A training program is conducted for new recruits. These programmes are integrated/structured mainly to brief the entire protocol, with the duties of maintaining safety and security during flight, providing customer and hospitality services, cabin management, maintaining cleanliness of the environment, enforcing rules/regulations, resolving conflict (and other related issues), anticipating passenger preferences and fulfilling their needs as required.

Communication and Coordination Skills

To enhance their skills in communication, coordination and management, they undergo Crew Resource Management (CRM) training programmes.

This altogether boosts morale and unites the crew as a tight-knit collective, whose efficiency reaches its maximum extents when working together. There are special simulated drills for the crew members, wherein their response mechanisms are put to test and simultaneously improved.

Conclusion

Crew members must be well-adept at countering various types of situations. Evacuations and other related emergencies must be dealt with a calm and composed mind, altogether maintaining the high spirits of other crew members too. One must be exceptionally skilled in communication and management.

Even private corporations in the aviation industry seek out experienced cabin crew members to hire, for their in-flight staff. So, a cabin crew becomes instrumental in shaping the unhindered flight-journeys of airlines in the aviation industry.