The cabin crew’s primary responsibility is not to ensure the comfort of the passengers. Flight attendants’ primary responsibility is to protect the lives and safety of passengers. Their responsibility is enormous. Passenger comfort and flight experience come second. The role of flight attendants on board is so important that the aircraft cannot leave if their roster is incomplete.
The primary role of flight attendants have evolved
Flight attendants’ roles on board aircraft have evolved over time. During the 1950s, they were used as “eye candy” in aircraft. They have now evolved into a safety professional capable of handling a variety of tasks on board. As the aviation industry invests heavily in passenger safety, flight attendants’ responsibilities have expanded to include:
- Evacuating all passengers in less than 90 seconds during an emergency being the last to leave the aircraft
- Administering first aid to passengers going through medical situations
- Saving passengers in deep waters and getting them unto life rafts during a water landing
- Ensuring the peace in the cabin
- Making sure all policies are followed
- Attending to other needs of passengers
- Ensuring the comfort of passengers.
While emergencies are rare nowadays, and flight attendants are mostly focused on service and safety standards, they undergo extensive training every year to prepare for any unexpected situation.
This is why many people believe that flight attendants’ primary job is to serve meals and beverages onboard; we don’t see or experience what flight attendants are truly trained for.
Ensuring passenger comfort and serving meals are secondary
While ensuring comfort is still part of their job, it is not their primary responsibility. In fact, airlines spend millions of dollars on training facilities, equipment, and trainers to ensure that all flight attendants are fully prepared to perform their duties, as safety is always prioritized over comfort. Airlines want flight attendants who are fully equipped and skilled to save and protect passengers’ lives in any unfortunate situation where lives are at stake.
This is why flight attendant training is so challenging. To get through, you must have the right attitude, dedication, focus, and mindset.
Flight attendants are there to serve and ensure our passengers’ comfort, which is critical given the variety of passengers, but they are not there to be a passenger’s “personal nanny,” where everything a passenger wants is followed. There are constraints, especially when safety is at stake. They are still the authority on board, and all policies and rules must be followed within the aircraft. Obeying them is not an option; it is a requirement.
The role of the cabin crew is as important as the role of the flight deck crew
Flight attendants play an important role, just like the pilot and the flight deck crew. While the pilots control all of the equipment, systems, and avionics in the cockpit that allow the aircraft to fly, flight attendants are in charge of everything in the cabin, including the passengers.
So I hope you understand how critical the role of flight attendants is. It is not just about serving chicken or beef and performing safety demonstrations. They work hard to prepare for emergency situations and to keep passengers safe. That is the primary role of flight attendants, and they work hard to prepare for it. Safety comes first, followed by comfort and customer service.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
