College has its own ‘plane’ to help train cabin crews of the future
STUDENTS PRACTICE REALISTIC SCENARIOS INCLUDING DEALING WITH DRUNK PASSENGERS
A REALISTIC mock-up of an aeroplane cabin has landed at Nottingham College to help train future flight attendants.
The setting provides a real-life setting away from the classroom where trainee air stewardesses wheel trollies along the narrow aisle with seats on either side.
Located on the fourth floor of the new City Hub in Canal Street, once the door of the turquoise fuselage is closed it’s like being in the sky with clouds at the windows and uniformed cabin crew performing safety demonstrations with life jackets and oxygen masks.
All that’s missing is the turbulence and lengthy airport delays.
Aviation student Adrienn Egedi, 17, said: “I think it’s really nice – it looks like an actual aircraft. It helps with practicals and really brings it to life, what you would do if you were actual cabin crew. I think it’s really helpful. “I think it’s a great job – talking to new people every day, the destinations, the uniform, everything about it.
“I think it’s quite hard work. Most people think ‘oh you just look pretty’ and ‘you give people food and drinks’ but there’s so much more to it.” Fellow aviation student Muthu Amaratunga, 18, added: “It real does help because we get different scenarios and a real life experience. I would like to work for Emirates.” Phil Tomlinson, faculty area manager for catering, hospitality, travel and tourism and aviation, said the aircraft was built by the in-house estates team.
“It’s used for aviation students for cabin crew to do risk management and the safety demonstrations,” he said. “We’ll have some students sit down and create scenarios where there is a bit of an issue in the cabin and the cabin crew have to deal with that and keep people calm.
“Issues such as drunken passengers – although no alcohol is consumed – people wanting to change seats, or they’ve had an order of food which isn’t theirs.
“It’s fantastic – it makes the difference between talking about it and seeing videos to actually working in it.
“It’s like being inside a plane – it shows you how cramped it can be, shows how you need to lean over to certain customers, and once that door is closed you forget you’re in a college and it gives you an idea of what the realistic expectations are in a cabin.
“Wearing the uniform is all part of the expectation when you are working for an airline, so we start those behaviours right at the beginning.”
The airline has been christened Fly NC (Nottingham College) after a competition to design a logo, which was won by tourism and travel student Courtney Harris, 18.
Former aviation students have gained jobs including on cabin crew at British Airways and Ryanair, an Easyjet safety specialist, a ramp agent for DHL, and a flight dispatcher for Swissport at East Midlands Airport.
It’s fantastic ... Once that door is closed you forget you’re in a college.
Phil Tomlinson