The responsibilities of Cabin Crew, before and after each flight

At the time of the boarding, passengers, most of the time, are welcomed at the door of the airplane by the smiling faces of the cabin crew. The posture and their language must be positive, to make the passengers impressed even before take off. These will never know that behind the big smile, in fact, are hiding sometimes long hours of work, because newly airline companies resort more often to the double-sector system (this mean 4 consecutive flies in one day, for example: Dubai-Muscat-Dubai-Bahrein-Dubai)
If in the technical building at the briefing, the pilots did not present themselves before the cabin crew, they can organize a short meeting with the entire crew even before the flight, before boarding the passengers. As flight attendants arrive at the airplane 30-45 minutes before take-off, in all this time they have to organize practically the whole flight.

Safety and Security Control

Firstly, after they arrange their personal belongings in compartments, they can start by checking the intercommunication system, by making a short announcement in the cabin and responding to the call coming from the cabin manager. At the moment when the catering and cleaning teams have left the airplane, the cabin crew can start a safety and security control. Besides checking the doors and the cabin equipment, galleys(kitchen of the aircraft) and toilets (expiration date, pressure, the number of these on boars, intact seal), the cabin crew check also the alarm system in case of fire or smoke and the jump-seat. Through this equipment it is included the megaphone, oxygen tubes, extinguisher, lantern, demo kit, smoke mask, life vest, seatbelts for children, surviving kits and so on. In the cabin must be checked the presence of the seatbelts for all the passengers seats, life vests and the safety instruction card, and also the closing system of the masks and the baggage compartment.
Just now the cabin crew can start the security process, namely checking all the spaces in the airplane where any person can have access (seat pockets, storage space port, wardrobe, toilets, storing compartments of consumables and the trash, all the kitchen spaces and the compartments of emergency equipment and those destine for the cabin crew rest). Any object that doesn’t need to be in the airplane must be found by the flight attendant at the ground, before boarding the passengers and taken away by the security team of the airport. The cabin crew who are responsible at the kitchen will check the functionality of the catering equipment (cafeteria, refrigerators, food carts, boilers, electric oven, heating bread, microwave), their fixing system and of course their electric switches.

Catering & Duty Free

Once completed these procedures, will be taken the catering and duty free products, to make sure they will have an excellent service the whole flight. Therefore, the cabin crew responsible for selling the Duty Free will check their stock, the ones responsible for the bar will fill in the refrigerates with bottles of white wine, champagne, beer and juice, and the ones that are working in the kitchen, will number the trays and food casseroles to make sure that each passenger has a portion for the service offered on that flight. Of course, now is the time to check if any special foods are brought on board, like the ones for children, diabetics, and passengers with gluten intolerance, lactose, peanuts and so on.

Boarding the passengers

Once obtained the approval of the captain, the passenger can be boarded, taken to their seats by the cabin crew, process followed by distribution of some products on ground (amenity kit, menus, perfumed napkins, candies, newspapers) and a video and audio presentation of the safety equipment and the evacuation procedures in case of emergency. As soon as the passengers buckled their seatbelts, raised the seatbacks, table trays, feet support and sunshades and closed the electronic equipment, the cabin crew will transmit to the cabin manager that the entire cabin is ready to take off.
Such a preparation of the cabin will take place, as well, before landing, insisting on the fact that the passengers must remain seated till the airplane is completely stopped and the “Fasten the seatbelts” sign is off. Before landing, is again checked the bar stock and the Duty Free, compartments being sealed by the flight attendants responsible with it, and in case of a flight with a layover, it’s written also an inventory of the products remained on board for the cabin crew that will retrieve the airplane and even can be prepared the products used on the return flight.

Announcements on landing

In the announcement made after landing, the cabin crew can give information regarding to the airport, connections, terminals and smoking lounges in the airport. Once landed, as soon as the last passengers leave the airplane, the cabin crew will check again the security process to make sure that nobody forgot any luggage in the airplane, intentional or not, and the compartments in the kitchen will be sealed if the plane landed on base or if it will be another cabin crew without them to meet on board.