Airhostess Job, Working For Budget Airlines

I am attaching an article about the airhostess job in one of the LCC ( Low Cost Carrier) Air Asia from Malaysia. I find it interesting....

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Budget airline, ‘budget’ staff? We wondered if a cheaper airline might get staff that had been rejected by the big international carriers. But nothing could be further from the truth PHILIP GOLINGAI discovers when he speaks to the bubbly gals (and guy) who work for AirAsia, which has just won the Transport Company of Excellence Award.

Sarah Syazana Baharuddin: ‘I will not miss my favourite foods, like mum’s nasi lemak’.
FUN, fun, fun! That’s the airline industry’s buzz about working as cabin crew for AirAsia. But surely it’s more fun working for an international airline with stopovers in glamorous cities like Milan and Paris?
Ah, but even the Eiffel Tower gets old after you’ve seen it a few dozen times and you simply get tired of all the overnight stopovers, says Stella Quek, who used to be a “Singapore Girl” before she switched to AirAsia.

“In the end, I did not get excited about going out,” explains Quek, who has seen most of the world after flying for two years with Singapore Airlines.

“When I arrived at a destination, I would check into the hotel, then go to the grocery store to buy my chocolates and return to my room to read a book.”

Flying with AirAsia gives the 25-year-old more flexibility to plan her future. “One day, I want to get married and have kids. I don’t want them to be looked after by a maid while I go flying; the kids will end up becoming closer to the maid than me. I’ve seen this happen a lot in SQ (which is Singapore Airlines’ designated international call sign),” she says.

It’s those short hauls that make this airline attractive to those who like the idea of working in the sky but don’t want to leave home ground for too long.

Sarah Syazana Baharuddin’s ritual when she arrives at an airport is to step out of the aircraft and breathe the air. Bandung’s air is cool and refreshing, Bangkok’s warm, Kota Kinabalu’s moist, and Penang’s cool and hot.

The 22-year-old has flown from KL International Airport to all the budget airline’s 27 destinations so she has also landed in Bali, Chiang Mai, Clark (Manila), Hat Yai, Jakarta, Macau, Medan, Padang, Phuket, Surabaya and Phnom Penh – but her passport is unstamped.

You see, except for the Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu or Kuching midnight flights, the airline does not have any stopovers anywhere because of its cost-saving 25-minute turnaround.

Back home in Seremban, Sarah’s parents are happy with their only daughter’s decision to join AirAsia, says the flight attendant. “I want to be in Malaysia as I get homesick and I want to be close to my family. Flying with AirAsia, I will not miss my favourite foods, like mum’s nasi lemak, or my favourite TV programmes, like Desperate Housewives,” explains the Universiti Teknologi Mara pre-law graduate.

People not robots

Amanda Ho: ‘Tony ... told us he did not want bullying’.
Along with the close-to-home practicality of AirAsia’s routes, it’s the company culture that seems to be attracting the best and the brightest.
“We can be ourselves,” explains AirAsia stewardess Lily Liew. “They employ us because of us. Not because we are robotic. Anyone can provide service but what is important is our personality – how you provide that service.”

So what is the 24-year-old Sabahan’s personality? “I’m a very happy go lucky person. I like to smile. You will want to talk to me as I like to know more about my passengers,” says the confident Liew, who is a former Malaysia Airlines cabin crew.

At AirAsia, agrees Quek, “they want us to be ourselves”. AirAsia’s work culture is more relaxed compared with SIA’s, she observes.

“Probably because there are so many rules in SQ. You have to look a certain way and behave a certain way. I had regular passengers who could never recognise me because they say we all look the same,” she explains. “At AirAsia, we all look different. We can even wear coloured contact lenses.”

The airline encourages its cabin crew to let their hair down – literally. AirAsia cabin crew are allowed to colour their hair. “As long as it is not too drastic,” says the airline’s cabin crew manager, Marianne Liow. Stewardesses can keep their nails long. “As long as they look nice,” she adds.

“Many people think that AirAsia is a fun place to work because we do let our hair down,” the 33-year-old manager says. “We are different. We create a culture where whatever we do, we must have fun.”

Non-hierarchical

Working for the budget airline can also be fun because it does not have a taruh (bullying) culture.

“Three years ago, when Tony (AirAsia CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes) took over, he told us he did not want bullying,” recalls Amanda Hoh, AirAsia’s senior flight attendant.

In explaining the taruh culture, Hoh gives an example: “In other airlines, if you do not hold a tray properly, your senior will order you to stand and hold a tray full of glasses for an hour.

“In AirAsia there is no hierarchy,” says the 30-year-old stewardess. “Even though I am the senior flight attendant I don’t boss my cabin crew around.”

That attitude comes from the top, says Liow. “It started with the big boss – Tony believes in that concept,” she says.


Terence Pragash: ‘ The form-fitting top for guys is quite nice’.
Liow says the airline hires “people who understand the concept that we don’t have a hierarchical system”.
“Tony practises an open door policy. If you have anything to you want to say, you just walk in,” she adds.

Sarah echoes Liow, saying, “Everyone is like a family as we have that open door policy.”

The “family” has 280 cabin crew and more than 2,000 other staff.

That traffic-stopping red...

AirAsia’s red and black uniform is Terence Pragash’s “superficial reason” for joining the budget airline.

“The form-fitting top for guys is quite nice. Coming from an arts background, I have an eye for striking colours, and it is something that appeals to my eyes,” says the 23-year-old former graphic designer.

Liow, the crew manager, agrees that the airline’s uniform plays a part in enticing applicants (especially from the more staid bigger lines, it seems!).

“Many of the girls want to be in the striking red uniform,” she explains.

Why?

“Because ... it’s sexy,” she says, sexily. “Sexy because of the slit.”

Wearing the red uniform does indeed inspire Sarah, it seems.

“Even on a day when I don’t feel like coming to work, once I put on that uniform, I’m ready for work,” she explains. “For me, the airline is perfect. I wouldn’t change it for any other one.”

(Asia Asia received the Transport Company of Excellence Award from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Malaysia on Friday.)

source: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2005/11/27/lifefocus/12601219&sec=lifefocus