More than 300,000 apply for cabin crew jobs as Emirates recruitment takes off
Emirates has received more than 300,000 applications for cabin crew jobs after launching a major recruitment drive last year.
The airline plans to recruit 6,000 over the next year and said it was looking for applicants who have “a personality that shines, the ability to adapt to any situation and make people feel at ease”.
The average starting salary is Dh9,770 ($2,660) a month and about 120 new recruits are being trained every week at Emirates Aviation University in Dubai, a representative for the airline said.
In August, the airline started an initiative to hire 3,000 cabin crew and 500 airport services staff.
Three months later, it said it planned to recruit more than 6,000 staff – including pilots, cabin crew, engineering specialists and ground staff – to boost its workforce as the travel industry recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As we focus on recovery and further ramp up our operations, we are accelerating our recruitment drive with the objective to hire roughly 6,000 cabin crew positions during this financial year, from April 2022 to March 2023,” the representative said.
The amount of applications received has shown “the tremendous level of interest in this role and in Dubai’s growing reputation as one of the best cities to live and work”, they said.
Those interested in a fulltime, entry-level position must be at least 160 centimetres tall and able to reach 212cm while standing on their tiptoes, the job description said.
That will enable cabin crew to access emergency equipment on all types of Emirates aircraft.
Staff will live in Dubai and must meet the UAE’s employment visa requirements.
Those who wish to apply need to have more than a year’s experience in hospitality and customer service, and be a high-school graduate. Candidates must also be able to write and speak English fluently.
Those who are multilingual will rank highly in the application process.
There are various stages to the selection process.
Once cabin crew are hired, they attend the airline’s aviation university to undergo eight weeks of training.
An induction team will help recruits to settle in when they arrive in Dubai.
The team have been given the task of introducing them to the city and advising them about the culture and traditions of the region.
Working for an airline has its perks and successful recruits will live in shared accommodation in Dubai for free and enjoy free transport to and from work. Cabin crew will also receive travel concessions for themselves, family and friends.
“Once they successfully complete their training and are certified, they can begin flying immediately,” the airline said.
The training centre supports learning in the areas of safety and emergency procedures, medical training, cabin service training, and image and uniform.
Throughout the training programme, recruits have to practise a variety of tasks they could be asked to perform while working on an aircraft, Emirates said.
Those include making an emergency exit from a plane using an inflatable slide, using a life jacket in the event of an emergency landing in water and finding their way through a cabin that has filled with smoke.
All new cabin crew will be required to work on flights around the world.
They will be trained and put on rosters to work on Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
They will also be assigned to medium, long-haul and shorter turnaround flights across the airline’s network of 130 destinations to ensure they have experience of different types of operations.