Getting wings

Girls in Kashmir are venturing into various new professions. ALIYA BASHIR takes a look on their flight in the aviation sector.

Many Kashmiri girls are opting for a career in the aviation industry working as airhostesses, cabin crew and ground staff.

From serving food to providing reading material, from making announcements on weather and places of interest to administration of first-aid, and demonstrating life-saving techniques with emergency equipment, an airhostess is part of the service in the sector that demands high level of congeniality, remaining at the disposal of passengers all the time.

An airhostess has to have a pleasant personality, should be not less than 5 feet 3 inches tall, must be congenial and have good communication skills.

It was her long cherished dream to become an air hostess. After passing higher secondary, Insha Mir, of Lal Chowk joined a local airhostess training institute in 2010.

“It was my childhood dream to become an air hostess. I am lucky as my parents helped me to join a not-so-popular career in Kashmir despite lot of social pressures,” says Insha, who is currently an airhostess with Singapore Airlines.

Insha says that the training at the institute helped her in developing her personality to become air hostesses. “It was a very motivating experience (at the institute) for me. I had a very good exposure in the service industry through the one year course,” she says.

The airhostesses also known as cabin crew or flight attendants are primarily on board in an aircraft for the safety and welfare of the passengers. For an air-hostess it is a mixed bag of adventure and responsibility.

The take-off, however, comes only after she clears a written examination, group discussion and an interview. Most airlines seek young airhostesses with age less than 24. The minimum qualification is higher secondary. Though much premium is not laid on formal education, a candidate is expected to possess more than a passing acquaintance with a foreign language.

“An airhostess’ job is to handle emergency situations and for that age is a critical factor in responding quickly to an emergency. Attitude is more important than her services,” says Shakir Hussain a teacher at Viinz, an aviation college in Srinagar. He says though the salaries vary from airline to airline, but still the pay and perks are very lucrative. The numerous opportunities to see life, to visit new countries and to meet new people attracts a lot of girls to this profession.

The people associated with the industry say that the aviation sector has a lot of potential to generate jobs. The airhostess training institutes in the valley are getting many candidates for their courses, mostly from rural areas.

The Viinz Academy of airhostesses has produced more than 40 students as ground staff. This year many trainees have been placed in Pegasus Airlines in Turkey where boys are working as flying stewards and girls as airhostesses.

“We try our best to train our students with the latest training methodology and to instil in them the confidence and expertise required to make a mark for themselves in the aviation industry,” says an official at Viinz.

An aspiring airhostess should have a pleasing personality apart from good communication skills. “The good thing about the institute is that they provide placement opportunities as they have their tie-ups with some international and national airlines. I got the exposure and knowledge during my training which helped me to in the interview,” says Zainab, a Viinz trained airhostess who is working with Indian Airlines.

As all airlines train their own airhostesses, there are not many institutions offering courses in this discipline. Among the few that do is another aviation college in Kashmir, International College of Aviation. Established in 2008, ICA which was earlier affiliated to the International Academy of Aviation, New Delhi, is now an independent academy and is planning to open its branches in other districts.

“We have a great demand for airhostesses but it is not being met in the way it should be. Majority of the parents (in Kashmir) are conservative. The job of an airhostess carries an image of glamour. Girls themselves are conformists when it comes to change their lifestyle and dressing,” says Nazir Ahmed, Managing Director ICA.

He says that over the years the academy has placed more than 100 students in Go Air, Leh Airport, Air India, Singapore, Emirates and Qatar airlines both in aviation and in transport and accommodation. “This profession is worth a try. It can be assured of an exciting time as long as it lasts. We take students after testing them on the essentials required for the job so that they can qualify their job interviews in one go,” Nazir adds, who is also a member of All India Airlines Recruitment Panel.

Rabia, 21, is happy to have joined the profession.

“I am financially independent, and earn a monthly salary of Rs 60000, and visit dream destinations. Today I became what I had always dreamed to be,” she says with a smile.