Freshers better as cabin crew?

In what could be a shock for parents who want their children to have a flying start, many airlines say they prefer freshers as cabin crew to those from training institutes.
Spicejet says it prefers to train freshers. “It’s better than retraining someone with set ideas,” says Surajit Banerjee, VP, HR. Most airlines can, during interviews, gauge who has been churned out from an institute, quite like a factory lineup. “If the training imparted – tone, manner of speech, deportment, etc – isn’t in conformity with the finer competencies of an airline, it takes a lot of time to unlearn it. As a low-cost carrier, we don’t have the luxury of waiting too long. Candidates from institutes are regimented and give patented answers. They stop thinking,” he says. “Some institutes need to get their act together. It’s better to take an untrained person with a presentable face, good communication skills, warmth and spontaneity.”
“In our airline,” says a senior Indian Airlines official, “the few times we took candidates from institutes, they had to be retrained.”
Some airlines, however, refused to be drawn into this controversy. But Bruce Ashby, president and CEO, IndiGo, admits, “Not more than 10% in any given batch of new hires in IndiGo comes from institutes.”
Most also come with fluffy ideas of glamour. The reality is far different and tougher, assert airlines. Pressurised cabins, drunk and irate passengers, flying at odd hours – it’s a tall order, all right. Besides, airlines have standard operating procedures, and candidates, be they from institutes or freshers, have to undergo their training anyhow.
Ashby also suggests that candidates exercise caution when paying money to any institute that claims it can guarantee a job. IndiGo and Spicejet, for example, have no tie-ups with any institutes.
Also, beware of unscrupulous people promising airline jobs.
“Many institutes have spawned during the current aviation boom and candidates must check their background, experience and tie-ups,” says Sapna Gupta, director, Air Hostess Academy (AHA). AHA was set up a decade back and has spread to 35 centres. It has contracts with Emirates, Oman Air, Kingfisher, etc. The fees? Rs 1.18 lakh for a year’s course and Rs 1.7 lakh for a two-year course which is a global training. Both can be paid in installments.
Gupta suggests it’s time the DGCA regulated training institutes. “Some are started by ex-airline personnel in small rooms and have little credibility.”
Though some airlines have tie-ups, it’s mainly because of the ancillary income accrued from it. Air Deccan and Goair have tie-ups with Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training and Gladrags Training Academy respectively. “Besides providing us with trained manpower – 300-400 cabin crew annually who’re recruited only after further screening by us – the tie-up brings in additional revenue. About 7% of our revenue comes from allied sources, like inflight catering, aircraft branding, etc, and is extremely important for us,” says Vijaya Lukose, head, inflight, Air Deccan. “Freshers are taken in case Frankfinn is unable to provide the requisite numbers.”
08/07/07 Shobha John/Times of India