For aspiring Thai flight attendants, the sky’s the ticket to a good life
- Young Thais who still believe in the future of aviation are brushing up on Mandarin and service skills to get an airline job after the pandemic
- In Thailand, a flight attendant job is seen as a ticket to financial independence
Chompoo, 24, has dreamed of working at an airline for years. With this goal in mind, the aspiring flight attendant majored in English and Mandarin at university to help give her an edge over other applicants.
Nevertheless, Chompoo is not lying idle. She is seizing the chance to improve her service skills and command of Mandarin, because she wants to work with regional airlines whose main customers are Thailand’s largest group of foreign visitors: Chinese tourists.
To boost her skills, Chompoo has also enrolled in a flight attendant workshop – classes which have risen in popularity over the years as instructors meet the demand of training aspiring workers.
The workshops include lessons on grooming, interview techniques and English skills. Given the coronavirus pandemic, some courses have now gone virtual, including those offered by Tanyalak Lobyam, a cabin crew worker who has been grounded since March.
Tanyalak is hoping to use this period to embark on a new career as a private flight attendant tutor, as the crisis has left her employer, a local airline, in dire straits.