The airline previously embarked on a large recruitment drive for overseas cabin crew in a bid to cut labour costs and dilute the influence unions have over its 35,000-strong workforce.

But Qantas has ended its contract with the company that employed 123 Thai nationals to work as cabin crew on the airline’s international flights.

The Flight Attendant’s Association of Australia said today that the closure was a stark reminder of the job insecurity faced by long-haul cabin crew.

Qantas has so far resisted cutting cabin crew from its Australian-based workforce, although measures such as leave-without-pay have been introduced. The airline’s international operations are losing money, particularly on the key routes to the US and Europe.

The airline and union struck an agreement several years ago not to have more than 25 per cent of international cabin crew made up of foreign nationals. Qantas employs a total of about 4500 international flight attendants.

The union has a longstanding opposition to the offshoring of long-haul cabin crew jobs.

“I wish to reiterate that this announcement of the closure of Bangkok, further demonstrates the serious job security situation for long-haul crew,” the union’s secretary of the international division, Michael Mijatov, wrote in a letter to members.

“This announcement by Qantas should demonstrate to even those that are most sceptical amongst us, that the current situation facing us is serious.”

Qantas also has long-haul cabin crew bases in London and Auckland. Crews based in New Zealand’s largest city typically work 30 per cent more hours on half the base pay of their Australian counterparts.

Having already laid off up to 3250 workers in the past 18 months, Qantas last week announced $1.5 billion in spending cuts over three years, including $500 million this financial year. It follows $3 billion in cuts over the previous five years.

Qantas also recorded last week its first half-year loss in six years as it suffered from big falls in demand for premium seats on international routes.

The airline has been pulling almost every lever to cope with a dire short-term outlook, including grounding planes, delaying and cancelling deliveries of new aircraft, and raising $500 million from investors to keep its investment-grade rating.

The 56-year-old, whose position involves duties such as managing the cabin and flight paperwork, said the hours were accumulated during his 32 years in the industry. By 1999 Park had spent 20,000 hours on board and by 2004 he had reached 25,000 hours.

The secret to his time on board was keeping “a positive and friendly attitude,” Park said, but also prioritizing customer service through human relationships.

“I feel it is the most rewarding when I do my best to serve the passengers with an upbeat attitude, and they appreciate my work,” Park said.

With decades of experience, the purser has watched the flight industry develop before him.

“For example, since this past June Korean Air has been offering the best equipment on the B777-300ers,” Park said. The airline now also offers traditional Korean food for in-flight meals, including the national dish bibim-bap.

Not only have there been advances in technology and amenities, but there have also been cultural changes within the stewardess personnel, Park noted.

“The average height of stewardesses has grown and their appearances have become more Westernized,” he said. “The uniforms have also changed six times since I’ve begun working.”

Health must be well-maintained to prepare for long travel hours, said the purser. Particularly given the fact that typical medical care is not available while thousands of miles in the air.

“It is particularly important to overcome the differences (in resources),” Park said. He added that there are measures to help prevent ill health, including drinking plenty of water, getting enough rest and exercising when possible.

Park will retire in September, concluding his career with the South Korean record under his belt. In his last month Park said he wants to have one last perfect flight, free of any mistakes or regrets.

“That way, I think I’ll remain in my employees’ memories for a long time,” he said. But Park plans to continue living a life full of activities and goodwill.

“After I retire I want to exercise a lot and learn to play the saxophone that I first picked up four years ago,” Park said. “Another thing is that I would like to do volunteer work so that I can live my life on behalf of others.”

The Star Alliance carrier says its subsidiary Zeal 320 has reached an agreement with the Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union that represents the A320 cabin crew that work for Zeal 320.

Zeal 320 is a company that employs many of the ANZ A320 cabin crew. These cabin attendants had been lobbying for their wages and conditions to be on par with A320 cabin crew employed directly by the airline.

A new collective employment agreement has been agreed to, says ANZ, which declines to comment further.

The national carrier says a new collective agreement is being presented to flight attendants for ratification.

The cabin crew is employed by the airline’s subsidiary, Zeal 320. Workers argued they were paid less than crew working for Air New Zealand.

The sometimes bitter dispute has dragged on since October last year and involved staff taking industrial action.

In an attention-grabbing stunt, 10 cabin crew were suspended for wearing feather boas, lace gloves and pink wigs on flights – which is against the company dress code.

Details of the agreement is not known and neither side is talking until the ratification process finishes at the end of next week.

The new rules go into effect in December.

Attendants passed out fans with the size limits and showed passengers the maximum dimensions and weight of carry-on baggage.

Each airline currently applies different baggage rules for different aircraft, which has confused passengers who use different types of planes for outbound and return trips.

Under the new common regulations that will be shared by 17 carriers, carry-on bags must weigh no more than 10 kg and be no more than 45 cm tall, 20 cm wide and 35 cm deep for a plane with less than 100 seats. For larger aircraft, the dimensions are 55 × 25 × 40 cm.

Carriers covered by the new rules include Japan Airlines Corp., All Nippon Airways Co., Air Do, Skynet Asia Airways and Skymark Airlines Inc.

“If the regulations are unified, it will promote smooth boarding and airplanes can depart on time. As a result, it will benefit passengers, too,” a JAL spokesman said.

Police confirmed yesterday that a St Kilda woman had been charged with a series of assault-related offences following an altercation outside a Barkly Street restaurant on August 16.

She has been charged with recklessly causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, recklessly causing injury and assault. She has been bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on October 26.

Ms Robertson, 41, was sacked from her flight attendant job with Qantas in 2007 after she had sex with Fiennes in the toilet on a flight from Darwin to Mumbai.

Ms Robertson pocketed $100,000 from Britain’s The Mail On Sunday newspaper to publish the details of her romp, and later conducted a paid interview with Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes.

She also revealed that she had received as much as $2000 a night working as a prostitute.

Emirates have been making several regular cabin crew recruitments since it started service to Addis Abeba in March 2006. Out of the total 160 applicants in November 2008 at the Hilton Addis, only nine of them passed the selection process on the final day.

The new recruits will have six weeks intensive training at the Emirates Aviation College in Dubai in facilities including emergency training simulators and full-scale aircrafts mock-ups.

Currently, there are 54 Ethiopian cabin crewmembers already working with Emirates. With the additional nine, the number of Ethiopians at the Gulf state’s airline will go up to 63. Emirates recruited globally; 10,000 cabin crew from 120 countries, particularly in areas on passenger route network.

“Emirates cabin crews have the opportunity to visit over 100 destinations around the world and experience some of the world’s most advanced aircrafts,” Sudhir Sreedharan, Emirates’ area manager for Ethiopia said. “Our recruitment drives also give us an opportunity to contribute and give back to the countries we fly to.”

Emirates Airline is among the world’s fastest growing airlines with 400 international awards in recognition of its efforts to provide superior customer service.

Emirates first started its flight to Addis Abeba as an extension of its route to Entebbe. Within a six-month period, it has extended its frequency from three times a week to daily flights.

Launched in 1985, the airline now flies to more than 100 destinations globally; in Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America. Of the 100 destinations, 15 are in Africa.

Flight attendants welcome passengers while boarding, check the tickets, direct them to the seats, and assist them with their coats and luggage. Flight Attendants during the course of their job on line course briefs the passengers safety procedures before takeoff. While at cruise level, the attendants ensure that passenger seat safety belts are fastened whenever required; serve drinks, light refreshments, or precooked meals; distribute materials for reading; and answer general queries of passengers’.

Very important but often forgotten part in the job of flight attendants is to assist passengers during emergencies, which includes reassuring passengers to opening doors and inflating emergency slides for evacuation. They are also trained to provide first aid.

Airlines generally operate a flight with one to ten flight attendants which also depends on the fleet of planes operated by the airline. A typical Boeing 747 can have as many as twelve to sixteen flight attendants.

The turnover of flight attendant job which used to be traditionally very high has shown a decline in the last few years as more and more individuals are getting career conscious. Year 2007 should show an increase in flight attendant job openings due to the higher replacement needs of airlines.

Replacement need arises due to flight attendants leaving career or just leaving the labor force for better airlines. Employment of Flight Attendants is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2007. Growth in population and income is expected to on line course the number of airline passengers. Airlines enlarge their capacity by increasing the number and size of planes in operation. More flight attendant job vacancies are bound to arise with acquisition of new aircrafts and also since Federal Aviation Administration safety rules require one attendant for every 50 seats flown.

Competition for jobs as Flight Attendants is expected to remain very keen because the number of applicants is expected to greatly exceed the number of job openings. The glamour of the airline industry and the opportunity to travel and meet people attract many applicants.

One of the best job satisfaction with a sense of pride and accomplishment, especially when you help an unaccompanied minor or handicapped passenger safely travel and reach their destination.

What are the maximum and minimum height guidelines for airline flight attendants? Not all, but many airline carriers set minimum and maximum height limits for their flight attendants. accredited online courses primary consideration is firstly the personal safety for that of the flight attendant and the safety of the passenger.

Secondly, the delivery of customer service. Safety is identified in the ability to conduct or participate in an evacuation and be able to operate emergency exits. Service is identified in many ways and the ability to reach overhead lockers to provide customer service in luggage stowage and in-flight accessibility of passengers’ belongings is just one.And it only takes accredited online courses reasoning to realize that a flight attendants reach which is normally a function of height for meal delivery, is also very important. Especially when participating in serving 200 or more people many times during a tour of duty in a two seat span aircraft.

Similarly height on the maximum scale requires you to be able to move about the cabin safely without fear of hitting your head or body on any aircraft structure. This might be on an over wing aircraft where the wing online drivers education courses encroaches head space in the cabin for example or perhaps head space that is encroached by drop down TV screens presents an important consideration for some airlines.

Obviously it becomes a huge consideration for airlines if they were to employ a person of such a stature that was at odds to the work place in which they were required to work. Especially if that work place could potentially hurt that person in the normal course of their duties.Further, online history course a person that could not carry out the functions of the flight attendant job role which includes both safety and service due to their height or physical capabilities would be silly, dangerous and possibly fatal.

A minimum used by many airlines starts at 1.58m and the maximum for many is stated as 183 cms.WeightWhile the airline flight attendants of yesteryear were perhaps online drivers education courses with a set of scales, the modern day weight requirements for flight attendants are weight in proportion to your height. Translated, this means you can look like real people! In most cases your weight has little to with your competency to fulfill the job role as flight attendant.

An airline flight attendant must be able to perform the duties required irrespective of weight. Weight from an applicant’s perspective will only play its part if it prohibits the flight attendant applicant from performing the duties of a flight attendant.

In a ruling released Monday, a state appeals court upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the lawsuit filed by Melissa Mersmann and ordering her to pay $2,500 in attorneys’ fees to Continental.

The lawsuit stemmed from events in early 2002, when Mersmann was fired for her conduct during a Feb. 17 flight from Aruba to Newark.

In court filings, the company claimed Mersmann “as a result of being intoxicated, engaged in such severe misconduct as to warrant termination.”

Specifically, the company alleged, Mersmann was late for the flight, made inappropriate announcements over the plane’s intercom, smelled of alcohol, vomited twice during the flight and was unable to perform her duties.

Mersmann’s blood alcohol level was tested at .061 when she arrived at Newark, higher than the .04 reading that, under an existing collective bargaining agreement, mandates flight attendants undergo evaluation and complete any recommended rehabilitation before resuming work.

Mersmann, who had worked as a flight attendant for Houston-based Continental since 1985, acknowledged she had consumed alcohol during her two-day layover in Aruba but not in the 11 hours preceding the flight, and suggested a prescription medication she was taking could have skewed the test results.

She also argued that the positive test was not grounds for termination by itself, but an arbitration panel found that the test combined with “other serious misconduct” on the flight justified Continental’s decision.

Mersmann sued Continental claiming age discrimination, noting that her employment record included several promotions and commendations, but the suit was dismissed in 2005 and affirmed on appeal in 2006.

She sued again in 2006, claiming discrimination and retaliation after she applied for a flight attendant job at Continental and was rejected, but a judge dismissed the suit in 2007 and ordered her to pay attorneys’ fees.

Herbert Tan, an attorney representing Mersmann, did not return a phone message Monday, and attorneys representing Continental could not immediately be reached.

However, Korean Air said it has no intention of abiding by the watchdog’s advice because it “seriously” violates an individual company’s rights to formulate its own hiring system.

The state-run National Human Rights Commission said the country’s largest airline has not recruited new male cabin crew since 1997. It said Korean Air has been filling male crew positions from those working at other in-house divisions.

The commission’s advice is not legally binding, but investigator Na Sang-won said that if Korean Air does not comply, the watchdog may ask the Labor Ministry to take punitive action.

Korea’s law on equal opportunity in employment carries a maximum penalty of a 5 million won ($3,810) fine.

The watchdog said Asiana Airlines Inc., the country’s second-largest airline, had not also hired male cabin crew for its domestic flights but stopped the practice this year.

Korean Air said in a statement later Wednesday that it would not change its hiring practices, but aimed to deploy some male employees with experience to flight attendant positions.

The company said it was difficult to apply the same system on female employees because they have fewer years of service compared with their male counterparts.

Korean Air said it has about 3,150 flight attendants — 2,730 women and 420 men.

The airline aims to replace existing agreements and bring in performance-related pay.

Details of the shake-up – codenamed ‘Project Columbus’ by BA – are set out in a confidential internal document leaked to the union by ‘a concerned manager’ and obtained by the Daily Mail.

BA said last night that the plans were part of a ‘root and branch’ shake-up to be unveiled officially in the New Year.

The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association – part of the giant union Unite – has urged its members to ‘resist’ the plans.

The three-page BA ‘Project Columbus’ memo states: ‘Cabin crew costs at LHR (London Heathrow) are uncompetitive when compared against our main airline competitors.’

The paper said that ‘complex and restrictive cabin crew agreements’ are creating ‘a barrier to change’ and ‘hamper efficiency’.

It went on to say it will not force existing BA staff to switch to new contracts and agreements. But new staff will be put automatically on to the new terms and conditions.

The union says that means existing staff will be left to ‘wither on the vine’.

BA’s aim is to ‘remove the complexity and inefficiency of current LHR cabin crew agreements’ and attract staff ‘at competitive cost’.

BA also intends to change the airline’s culture by making it more skills and merit based ‘enabled through performance-related pay and merit-based promotion’.

The plan has infuriated BASSA. In its Christmas update to staff the union said the ‘Columbus’ plan –drawn up in secrecy at BA’s Waterside headquarters at Heathrow –should be opposed: ‘BASSA, backed by Unite, is still the strongest union in the country and we will not sit back and surrender our members’ – and indeed our own – futures.’

The union claims senior managers have been plotting for a year to ‘remove’ reps identified ‘as likely leaders or mainstays in any stand against BA’s future business plans’.

A BA spokesman said last night that this is the worst trading environment the industry has faced. ‘We have to offset these challenges and identify areas across the company where we can reduce costs.’

Says McClay, who is the AFA-CWA Mesa president in Phoenix:

I am looking forward to returning to work and joining my fellow Mesa flight attendants. I am confident that the outcome of this hearing will reverse management’s decision regarding termination and after seven long months, I will be able to return to the career that I am devoted to.

In addition to termination, management prohibited McClay from entering all company-owned facilities, even when acting in her official role as an elected union officer. Despite the ban, McClay actually has increased member outreach by utilizing union activists and committee chairs to relay questions and concerns from on-duty flight attendants directly to herself. Through a steady stream of e-mail blasts, letters to flight attendants and one-on-one phones calls with members, Mesa flight attendants are kept informed on all matters regarding their career.

A decision in the arbitration is expected early next year.

‘It is with regret that Aurigny has had to make these three redundancies,’ he said. They were three of a total of 79 flight crew.

‘It is, of course, no reflection on the abilities of and contributions made by the cabin crew members involved. The airline industry is going through an extremely difficult time at the moment and we could be facing an even bigger test next year as the economic turmoil continues.’

It did not help that an important part of the company’s income had run dry,’ he said.

‘One of Aurigny’s most important commercial initiatives is the leasing and chartering of its spare aircraft, with crew, to other airlines.’

That is known in industry terms as wet leasing.

‘Unfortunately, as airlines around the world have been cutting services to try to achieve profitability, the demand for wet leasing has dropped dramatically,’ he said.

Two junior colleagues spotted Kwong, who had worked for Cathay Pacific for 23 years, and reported her to the captain. She resigned and was prosecuted for theft.

The total value of the goods she pilfered was only about 130 US dollars, the Tseun Wan court was told Friday, according to the South China Morning Post.

Kwong told the court she stole the goods while suffering from exhaustion because of the effects of medication, and hadn’t slept in 33 hours. Sentencing was adjourned till December 30.

Harold Demuren, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) disclosed, yesterday, at a one day seminar on the effects of alcohol and drugs on aviation personnel.

To be able to monitor the personnel, the agency and other related agencies are to begin random on the spot testing of licensed personnel. The NCAA boss remarked that the nation is burdened with the reality of time, most especially on the decadence in the society, that will if not checked encroach into the safety-critical aviation industry.

“The effects of alcohol and substances of abuse ranges from changes in perception, thought and mood to physiological effects such as elevated heart rate, increased blood pressure and dilated pupils among others”, he held.

Demuren stated that Nigeria has reached a point where “we have to declare zero tolerance on the use of psychoactive agents by all aviation personnel”.

He said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) licensing requirements for aircraft maintenance personnel, air traffic controllers, flight operations officers and aeronautical station operators as well as flight crews, specify that a license applicant shall have no established history or clinical diagnosis of alcoholism or drug dependence.

Speaking on the same issue, director, aero-medical standards of the NCAA, Teresa Bassey, stated that often times, the issue of alcoholism is “swept under the carpet” as individuals do not usually disclose that they indulge in taking illicit substances or that they are alcoholics.

“Air crews are aware as part of their training that it is wrong to indulge in the use of psychoactive substances. Drugs have side effects but not everyone accepts and admits that alcohol is a drug and that it has deleterious side effects”.

She stated that research has shown that personnel on safety sensitive jobs must not use certain medications because of side effects that may affect their ability to perform their tasks safely and efficiently.

Guam-based flight attendant Irene Redona-Carle, a 14-year veteran and Japanese language speaker, received an invitation to Houston to meet with Larry Kellner, Continental Airlines chief executive officer and chairman, and Jeff Smisek, Continental Airlines President and Chief Operating Officer.

Continental officers drew Redona-Carle’s name and eight others from among the thousands of qualified employees entered in the Perfect Attendance Drawing.

Redona-Carle chose the Ford Escape Hybrid among the other two car choices available: a sporty Ford Mustang or a Ford Explorer.

Since 1996, Continental Airlines has awarded employees to promote perfect attendance, giving away over 100 brand new cars, jet skis, and computers. For each six-month period, employees qualify to enter a drawing for a Ford Explorer, a Ford Mustang, or a Ford Escape Hybrid. The company also has a rolling six-month award for those who had any consecutive six months of perfect attendance. The prize selections are two one-way coach or first class passes.

Continental Micronesia’s employee incentive programs include a perfect attendance and an operational success program. The perfect attendance program recognizes and rewards employees for consecutive months or years of perfect attendance. The company’s on-time bonus program rewards employees with a cash bonus plan for their teamwork and dedication when the airline meets its on-time goals for the month.

Celebrating 40 years of service in Guam and Micronesia, Continental Micronesia is headquartered in Guam and operates a Pacific hub from the A.B. Won Pat International Airport. For more company information, go to continental.com. (Continental)

It is believed the allegation is that the two men became sexually involved with a 17-year-old female passenger on a London-bound flight.

A spokesman for Australia’s largest airline today said the two staff members had been stood down but would not elaborate.

“Two Qantas flight attendants were stood down from duty on 14 September,” the spokesman told AAP.

“This followed allegations about them made by another flight attendant.”

Qantas would not confirm the nature of the allegations but it is understood both men were Australian-based attendants.

“We are currently investigating the allegations and it is not appropriate to comment any further,” a Qantas spokesman told AAP.

The allegation first surfaced following an in-house announcement from a Qantas customer service manager.

According to a Jet Airways pilot, while earlier a flight captain was entitled to between Rs 3,500-4,000 per night as a domestic layover allowance and a co-pilot entitled to Rs 1,500 per night for the same, the same has been stopped with effect from this month.

As far as international layover allowances are concerned, the daily amount has been decreased to $140 per night for flight captains from $200. For co-pilots, the same has been brought down to $100. A layover allowance stands for the grant given to pilots and cabin crewmembers on a per day basis for overnight stays outside their home cities. For pilots, even their over-time allowances have been discontinued by the airline.

When contacted about the cuts in the allowances of pilots and cabin crew staff, a Jet airways spokesperson said that the allowances have been rationalised as per international standards. Also in the firing line are Jet’s cabin crewmembers — over 800 of who escaped from a lay-off move by the airline in September this year. A cabin crewmember with the airline confirmed the news about their allowances getting cut as well.

Of course, it’s a little far fetched to think that every attendant is so radiant by nature, so I have come to the conclusion that it must be the result of training—specialized education that subdues the human tendency to be self-serving. Supposing that to be true, wouldn’t the world be a wonderful place if every human being were required to take the “flight attendant” course? Why, we would smile at each other, express concern for one another, listen attentively when others speak, extend courtesies to family as well as friends, be helpful all the time, attempt to outdo each other in acts of kindness, and in general just be nice to each other even when we don’t feel like it. Sounds a bit like heaven, doesn’t it!

Then my dream-bubble burst. I was on a flight where the on-duty attendants were pleasant as usual, but a group of off-duty attendants were also on board. They were still wearing their uniforms, but their demeanor clearly revealed they had just completed their shift and were on their way home. They grumped at each other, snapped at passengers who mistook them for on-duty attendants, and simply wanted to be left alone.

Granted, they probably had worked long, hard hours aiming to fulfill the whims and fancies of passengers all the while smiling pleasantly. But obviously, they were still human. So much for my theory that the flight attendant course would solve the world’s people problems!

Now, I hope you caught the facetiousness in my illustration, and don’t think I really believe a flight attendant course would solve the human behavior problem. There isn’t a course that can ever do that. Flight attendant training and self-help books may modify our behavior—for awhile, but they could never change our nature. Only our complete surrender to Jesus, inviting Him into our lives, can so change the heart that the behavior is permanently altered. When that happens, it’s considered a miracle. But what would happen if at least those of us who call ourselves Christians were to receive this heart-altering, behavior-changing miracle? What would it look like? Would the world be a better place? What would be the result?

In the book Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, Ellen White writes, “If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and courteous and tenderhearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one.”

After referencing Matthew 11:29, she continues, “Why do we not live in constant communion with Him, so that in our connection with one another we can speak and act kindly and courteously? Why do we not honor the Lord by manifesting tenderness and love for one another? If we speak and act in harmony with the principles of heaven, unbelievers will be drawn to Christ by their association with us.”

Are those numbers only figures of speech, or are they to be taken literally? Suppose they are literal. That would mean a congregation of 20 members that baptizes two candidates per year could expect to baptize 200, or a 300 member congregation which on average baptizes 15 would see 1500 converts. Talk about evangelism explosion or growing God’s Kingdom! Last year, members of our denomination in Canada brought about 2,000 people to the church in baptism. Is it possible that if we’d displayed courteousness, graciousness, and tenderheartedness we could actually have seen 200,000 decisions? That number sounds outrageous; even one-tenth of that number seems inconceivable!

Yes, I was facetious about the flight attendant course, but I am serious about the difference our full surrender to Jesus, along with our changed behaviors, could make in influencing others in accepting Jesus as their Savior.