A classy uniform, well made-up face, and bright smile are the assets of showy air hostesses in Vietnam, but not many people know they have to break a sweat to be able to present such a flashy image.

Besides serving food to each passenger, an air hostess has to take care of passengers before themselves if a flight faces trouble.

It is a well-paid but hard job. They have to pass tough training and examinations before they can receive a license to be a flight attendant.

Inside the training center

Last month, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper journalists visited a flight attendant training center on Hong Ha Street in Tan Binh District of Ho Chi Minh City to see how an air hostess is trained.

Located on a large land plot, the training center has many classrooms decorated to simulate the passenger cabins of several different planes including the Airbus A330Y, Airbus A320, Boeing B777, ATR-72, and F70.

The rooms are also used to practice rescue, fire fighting, and other emergencies.

A trainee has to learn numerous things, such as dress, aviation law, aviation safety, aviation health, customer service, swimming, emergency exits, and the basic working principles of a plane engine.

Also, air hostesses have to learn how to use the equipment and facilities on different plane models.

In a dressing class with 23 trainees, Tuoi Tre watched the students practice how to smile, bow to greet passengers, express facial emotions, kneel down to pick up objects, and how to sit and talk with passengers.

Lecturer Thu Hang, an experienced air hostess of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, introduced three types of smile: the tight-lipped smile, an open smile with 8-16 teeth revealed, and a smile with the eyes.

All four sides of the room featured mirrors so the trainees could look at themselves to train on facial expressions.

Hong Hanh, an air hostess of low-cost airline VietJet Air, recalled that at first she thought just wearing a good dress was enough to become a hostess.

But all trainees must pass all of the courses within three months to be able to fly. Even just one failed subject means elimination, she added.

Flight safety a challenging subject

Flight safety is one of the most difficult subjects. Hostesses must learn by heart the locations of all facilities and equipment on different types of planes.

They have to memorize verbal commands from pilots, how to help passengers in an emergency, first aid when a flight encounters trouble, and how to support ground health staff after landing.

Trainees nearly learn by heart a book that is 10cm thick in 15 days, said a chief air hostess of VietJet Air, Nguyen Tran Anh Thu.

“In short, an air hostess must be able to identify and operate all the facilities and equipment on any passenger plane,” said a stewardess named Thien An, 23, in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hoang Thu Nga, vice chief of the delegation of air hostesses of VietJet Air, added, “Trainees have two months for classes on the ground and another month for practical training on planes.”

A trainee will be eliminated if she fails to complete a subject after taking two exams.

A day of flight attendants

At 5:30 in the morning, the air hostess room at VietJet Air is lit up when the other departments are still closed.

To arrive at the office at that time, some hostesses have to leave their house at 3:30 am.

After briefing the trainees on all related information for their upcoming flight, such as the flight code, number of passengers, pilot names, take-off and landing time, food rates and pre-booked meals, the chief hostess will test her staff on flight safety questions, and only those who give correct answers will board the flight.

After that, the air hostesses have a brief meeting with the pilots before they get on a bus to be taken to their plane.

Stewardesses have around 30 minutes to check equipment, the health box, and fire extinguishers before receiving passengers.

When the plane taxis to the runway, the air hostesses prepare food.

After landing, hostesses stay on the plane and have around 30 minutes to prepare for another flight.

On average an air hostess serves four domestic flights a day, meaning that they can only return home at midnight.

Short domestic flights such as from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to Vinh, Da Lat or Buon Ma Thuot – all in the central region – consume great amounts of labor from air hostesses because they have less time to cover the same amount of work.

“Air hostesses fear flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong City or Vinh because there are often many children and elderly people. It makes for harder work,” said Bao Truc, the chief hostess of VietJet Air.

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