The Hindu Business Line : A new high

For an increasing number of women joining the aviation industry to work as cabin crew, the sky seems to be the limit. These are women on the move, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with men and aiming to fly high. The increase in tourist destinations and the surfeit of new airlines in India have helped create opportunities that have found favour with urban Indian women.

For Shefali Suvarna, 26, the growth of the aviation industry couldn’t have happened at a better time. Mumbai-based Shefali has been employed as cabin crew with a premium Indian airline for the past four years and loves her job. “I didn’t even pass out of a training school. After graduation, I was working at a call centre when I read an advertisement seeking air-hostesses. I decided to give it a shot, and ended up here,” she recalls.

Did the lack of training lead to more challenges in her path? “I have risen quite steadily in my career. While those who come groomed do have an advantage, you can grow if you take initiative and have the right attitude.” The challenges are for all to face, irrespective of the qualification.

Shefali, who is usually on all-night flights or direct flights on the Mumbai-Paris-New York sector, says that keeping one’s cool is the biggest challenge. “My job requires loads of patience. I may not be in the best of moods all the time but I have to be courteous and polite. And people on all-night flights tend to get irritable; it’s just human tendency and you have to take it in your stride.”

Equality

She is well aware of the growing equality that women in the airline industry enjoy, and is happy with the changes. “The designations for men and women used to be different — men were called pursers and women, air hostesses. Just after I joined the industry, the designations were put under an equal status term of ‘cabin crew’,” she says. The name-change wasn’t a mere superficial show of equal opportunity. “It meant that every employee has an equal chance of promotion, irrespective of his or her gender,” she explains.

However, the attitudes of male passengers sometimes put her off. “It’s mostly in the Middle-Eastern sectors that I have faced unruly male passengers but even that is not frequent. Most of the times, passengers are very grateful and appreciative,” she says.

A career as an airhostess has traditionally been considered too radical for the Indian woman, primarily because it involves continuous interaction with male passengers and travelling for extended periods of time. While it seems that mindsets have changed, at least in urban India, there are still many families that frown upon an individualistic career that is known to focus on a woman’s appearance.

A Strict ‘No’

Mumbaikar Arpita Mehta, 24, had to give up a career as cabin crew after a brief internship with a domestic Indian airline. “My father is completely against such a career. He told me that girls from good families don’t pursue such professions. Even when I joined the training programme, I had to argue with him. I had hoped that he would change his mind,” she says.

Arpita complains that she would have earned good money had her father let her take up the job. “For 15 days of flying, I would have earned Rs 15,000 with a bonus of Rs 1,000 per flight. But my father was ready to give me Rs 50,000 or whatever amount of money I needed as long as I didn’t work,” she says. Arpita now spends her time at home while her parents look around for a suitable groom for her. But she lives off the tales that her friends from the training academy come back with. “My friends are all with different airlines and they love it. They work on hour-long flights and then get a break for two to three days. They get to shop and tour in different cities; they lead a free life,” she says, somewhat wistfully.

In an attempt to rationalise her parents’ diktat, she says, “One can’t pursue this career after marriage. In fact, I noticed that most of my teachers at the training academy had sad personal stories — they were either divorced or heartbroken,” she rationalises.

However, Shefali disagrees. “About 30 per cent of my female colleagues have got married since I joined, and they are still flying. Undoubtedly, it’s difficult to juggle family and a career with an airline job; but it can be done,” she says.

Mumbai-based Media Daniel — a former airhostess who quit her job about three years ago to start High-Fly Aviation Academy, a training institute for men and women — agrees. “I used to find myself convincing parents of female candidates to let them become cabin crew. Now, young women come unaccompanied and are confident about their career choice. Nearly 70 per cent of my students are female. It’s a career where you need basic education and yet make a lot of money,” she says.

A Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) or equivalent degree is sufficient to enrol in a training academy or directly interview with an airline. These days there are several reputed training academies, such as Kingfisher Training Academy, Frankfinn Institute of Airhostess Training, Air Hostess Academy (AHA) — that facilitate those serious about a career in the aviation industry. Most also have tie-ups with airlines for direct placements. Some airlines only hire women as cabin crew.

Promise of security

“In no other industry does a woman get this kind of security. The airline takes full responsibility and ensures that you are picked up from home and dropped back,” she says. Safety is topmost on Nalini Tanna’s (name changed) list of benefits, too. Nalini, 27, a Mumbai resident who flies for a national carrier, believes that a career as a cabin crew is perfect for a woman. “Instead of commuting by buses and trains for regular 9-to-5 jobs, we get safe and air-conditioned transport. The starting salaries for domestic airlines are anywhere between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 and go even higher for international airlines,” she says.

Nalini’s first official flight was to Riyadh and she recalls being thrilled but “quite scared.” Four years on, she couldn’t have imagined a better career for herself. “I stay in the best hotels and visit some of the most beautiful places. It’s like a paid holiday,” she says. But on a more serious note, Nalini says that the cabin crew has a very important and crucial duty — that of ensuring flight safety.

“Most people tend to think our job is about serving passengers. That is part of the job but it is secondary. The main focus is on passenger safety, on which we have to pass written and oral exams every year.” It seems that women and the aviation industry are mutual beneficiaries.

Daniel recalls, “A flight once had four pursers on board. The airline I was working with received a written note from a passenger complaining about the absence of female crew. People want to see beautiful women around them.”

Women’s Feature Service

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