Do you dream of becoming a flight attendant for Australia’s biggest and most loved airline?
Do you have what it takes to pass the interview and obtain a letter of employment?
You’re in luck! As a Qantas flight attendant myself, I’m here to help.
In this article, I’ll share all the things Qantas wants in their flight attendants. Let’s get started!
Qantas Flight Attendant Requirements
Qantas has 12 important requirements on their official careers website, including one that applies to those based in the UK.
To become a Qantas flight attendant, you must:
- Be a minimum 18 years of age
- Have a height of between 163 – 186cm, or for QantasLink 158cm – 183cm
- Have an Australian or New Zealand permanent residency and a passport ensuring unrestricted access to all Qantas ports of call with at least 12 months validity
- UK applicants must hold the legal right to live and work in the UK
- Have an excellent level of health and fitness, such as being able to swim 50 metres fully clothed unassisted and tread water for 3 minutes
- Hold a current Senior First Aid Certificate with a validity of 12 months at time of application
- Have a Responsible Service of Alcohol ‘Statement of Attainment’, which you would need to have by the end of the recruitment process
- Have a strong commitment to customer service with recent experience in a face-to-face role
- Have demonstrated empathy in service with people from a variety of cultures and countries
- Have a willingness to relocate, as required, to any location
- Have experience in Food and Beverage service is an advantage
- Have a demonstrated fluency in at least one of the following priority languages which will offer a distinct advantage for our International cabin crew positions: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Thai, Mandarin or Cantonese. Your language skills would be utilised in assisting our customers with both service and safety information.
As you can see, the list isn’t short, but it’s in place because Qantas doesn’t want to hire just anybody.
In other words, they want to hire the best of the best, and there’s no reason why that can’t be you!
Let’s dive in deeper into the requirements one by one and how you can best utilise them to your advantage!
1) Be a minimum 18 years of age
This one is a no-brainer.
I won’t go too far into this one as it’s pretty self-explanatory that Qantas don’t want to hire those still in school, and thus haven’t acquired the appropriate experience to become a flight attendant yet.
2) Have a height of between 163 – 186cm (or for QantasLink 158cm – 183cm)
As you probably know, all airlines have a height requirement, and Qantas is no different.
Flight attendants need to be able to reach the overhead lockers, and obtain necessary emergency equipment for safety and security purposes.
The airline will measure your height at the interview, and if you don’t meet their standards, you will be instantly disqualified.
3) Have an Australian or New Zealand permanent residency and a passport
This one may already seem obvious to you and for good reasons.
You cannot travel to another country without an AU/NZ passport, so ensure that it is valid before you apply, so that you don’t run into any complications during the hiring process.
4) UK applicants must hold the legal right to live and work in the UK
Qantas don’t seem to hire a lot of flight attendants for the London base, but when they do, they are looking for candidates with previous experience who have the right to live and work in the UK.
These applicants will be required to fly the super-long route from London to Perth, as well as London to Singapore.
5) Have an excellent level of health and fitness
Before every flight, the Captain will confirm with the flight attendants that they are fit for duty.
This is mandatory, and being fit for duty means being healthy, and able to perform immediate safety procedures in the unlikely case of an emergency.
This is why it’s so important to have an adequate level of fitness, as well as having the ability to swim and tread water.
As part of your Qantas medicals, you will undertake a fitness test, and in the ground school, you will demonstrate your swimming abilities in a group with other candidates.
6) Hold a current Senior First Aid Certificate with a validity of 12 months at time of application
In order to obtain a Senior First Aid Certificate, you need to undertake a full-day course that will cost just under AUD $100.
This will include physical training, as well as a written test.
You can do this at any licensed first aid college or institute.
Generally, your first aid certificate will be emailed to you but you can request a hard copy of it if you prefer.
You are then required to upload the certificate to the portal as part of the ongoing recruitment process.
7) Have a Responsible Service of Alcohol ‘Statement of Attainment’
Having a Responsible Service of Alcohol gives you the legality to serve alcohol onboard.
Ensure you take the one-day course, that can be done online or at any licensed venue.
The cost? Anywhere between AUD $60-140, depending on the package and the state in which it’s completed.
8) Have a strong commitment to customer service with recent experience in a face-to-face role
If you don’t have customer service experience of some kind within the past year, then your application will not be considered.
Make sure you undertake a customer service role, whether it’s a bar or a supermarket, before you apply so that you can gain the necessary skills to become a Qantas flight attendant.
9) Have demonstrated empathy in service with people from a variety of cultures and countries
This is especially important if you apply to become an international cabin crew.
Why?
Because you are dealing with customers of various nationalities and cultures, and being able to understand the differences is vital to ensuring excellent customer service.
10) Have a willingness to relocate, as required, to any location
Depending on the base you apply for, you may be required to move to another base.
However, you will never be asked to before you sign the final contract.
11) Have experience in Food and Beverage service is an advantage
This is similar to having customer service experience, except this one isn’t mandatory.
However, it will help your chances of succeeding greatly.
12) Have a demonstrated fluency in at least one priority language
This point only applies to candidates wishing to work as an international cabin crew.
If you wish to apply for international in the future, now is your time to brush up on your Spanish or French!
Other requirements
What I listed above are the official requirements listed on the Qantas careers website. Having airline experience already is one requirement that isn’t listed but does come as an advantage if you already have it.
Final Notes
So as you can see, there are 12 main requirements, some more important than others.
If you have all 12 by the time you apply for Qantas, you’ll stand an excellent chance at succeeding in getting the job of your dreams!
Just know that it’s never too late to meet one or more of these requirements.
For most, like the mandatory certificates you can get in a number of days or weeks, for others like customer service experience it may take a lot longer. And for some, like height, it’s either you’re born with it or you’re not. And that’s okay too!
Good luck!
