PROGRESSION ROUTE STUDENT TRIP TO THOMSON TRAINING CENTRE

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome on board your flight today.  Please ensure that your seat back is upright, your tray table is stored and your seatbelt is securely fastened!

On Thursday 3rd March 2011 we were part of a group of ten students from Guthlaxton and Lutterworth colleges who visited the Thomson Training Centre at East Midlands Airport as part of our School Links Cabin Crew course at South Leicestershire College. Along with our fabulous tutor Mark Corns and the School Links Coordinators Jan Voss (Guthlaxton) and Fran Zaleska-Nott (Lutterworth) we had a very interesting day finding out all about what it takes to be cabin crew.

To start the day our Thomson Trainer Jill gave us a behind the scenes tour of the training centre. We saw what type of emergency equipment is stored on the plane and how it was used.  We were able to see everyday items such as life jackets and oxygen masks through to items not normally seen by passengers such as a fully inflated door slide and life rafts.  Some equipment we had never even thought of such as special life cots for babies and even an axe!  The location of this is of course a closely guarded secret on board ;)

During our tour we were given the inside track on how much training a member of Cabin Crew has to go through just to pass the training course.  The initial training course is six weeks long with an exam that has to be passed every day.  Even when the training is finished each member of Cabin Crew has to attend a training course every year which they must pass or they are grounded from flying!  This includes spending up to 3 minutes in a smoke filled aircraft while trying to find the way out.  A bit scary! We took part in a pre flight briefing and found out about all the preparation that each crew member puts in before they board the aircraft and greet passengers.  We had no idea that at this meeting each member of the crew has to correctly answer two safety questions about the aircraft before they are allowed to fly.

For the second half of the day it was our turn to get hands on as we explored the mock up aircraft that trainee cabin crew use.  Inside is an exact replica of a section of a real aircraft with seats, overhead lockers and galleys (kitchens) at the front and back of the aircraft.  We learned how to board the aircraft by greeting passengers and assisting them in boarding the aircraft and taking their seats. One of the highlights of the day was performing the safety demonstration.  We took turns in standing in the aisle and demonstrating to passengers how to correctly use their life jackets, oxygen masks and seat belts.  You will find your emergency exits here, here and here 

Cabin Crew is a tough job with often long hours and time away from family and friend, plus having to work over weekends and holidays.  It’s scary to think that you are responsible for the safety of hundreds of passengers on board your aircraft. Even scarier you might even have to work on Christmas Day and New Years Day!  The benefits however are excellent with a good salary and commission and of course free flights and cheap holidays.

We all really enjoyed our day and it has given us an excellent insight into what can be an amazing career where our office is at 37,000 feet. The students involved on the course are Guthlaxton: Adele Dare, Abby Hughson, Aimee Master, Kurt Garrard, Tom King and Matt Coley. From Lutterworth were Dan Hallam, Jake MacGilbert, Andy Leavis and Autumn Anderson.

Special thanks to all the team at Thomson Airways for looking after us so well.

Published on Wednesday 16th March 2011 at 09:00