SIA air stewardess

[jezebel777]

Plavt,

I have not really checked out this board properly so I do not know what others has been saying with regards to SQ.

Yes, SQ requirements may have changed since my time. But cabin-crew culture mostly stay the same.

Based on personal experience (from the time I joined till I resigned), people with higher education level does not necessarily speak better English. I have met many "O" level crew, who speaks very good English compared to those with a degree.

Generally, crew who can't speak English very well are foreign crew - Korean, Taiwanese and Indonesians. Some fumble for words, speak hesitantly/haltingly etc. Indian crew speak good English. Maybe you came across the foreign crew. I can assure you, many are able to speak proper English.

[Plavt]

Some time ago when we had this discussion before a poster who was clearly working in SIA sent me a PM in which he/she stated;”

[jezebel777]

Your posts contradicts itself because you say there were stewardesses who could not swim but in the same sentence you say they gave us a choice of swimming a lap with or without life jackets. How can you swim a lap and get across a pool of water 12' feet deep if you cannot swim?


Plavt.

Sure you can! Takes a bit of time but yes, it can be done. Proof? Saw it myself! I saw the girls donn on their jackets, jump into the pool, kicking and struggling with arms pathetically flailing about in attempts of copying the swimming motion. And yes, they got across! Heck, my 3 year old can "swim" in an olympic-sized pool wearing his jacket (but then again, he's been "swimming" since he was 6 months!). If one has no paranoia, it is possible.

The other poster "who was clearly working in SIA sent me a PM in which he/she stated ;”

[Plavt]

Sure you can! Takes a bit of time but yes, it can be done. Proof? Saw it myself!

Ha ha ha jezebel777 that is the dumbest thing I have read however you are not the only one. Do you really think I believe that? Maybe you should become a comedian - I am sure you would have no trouble getting lots of laughs.



Plavt.

[jezebel777]

Heh, believe what you will. What's dumb is to think that a non-swimmer can't "swim" with a life-jacket. Even my 3 year old can do it

Btw, I am a GREAT comedian Glad to be of service! Bwahahahaha!

[Plavt]

What's dumb is to think that a non-swimmer can't swim

Now think about your sentence, who's the dumb one now?

Plavt.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I don’t know if they have changed this rule since my time but there are stewardesses who can’t swim! In my time, they gave us a choice of swimming the lap with or without life jackets. The priority is to make sure a candidate will JUMP into water without fear or hesitancy. Even during safety-drill training, everyone MUST wear a life-jacket.

Okay, sorry Plavt, this time Jezebel777 is correct. A common test for all aircrew be they pilot, navigators, flightcrews is a swimming test primarily with lifevest on. If you think about it, it makes sense. If a plane is ditched at sea, whether you are a good swimmer or not, without a liferaft, the odds of exhaustion are pretty good as very few people can float facedown in the water only popping their head up for air when it's time to take a breath (this is the physically least draining way of floating as you are not required to "Pump" up your lungs or flap your 'wings' in order to keep your head out of the water.

Normally, lifevest are put on before exiting the aircraft so it doesn't matter if the person can swim or not as long as they can stay afloat.

It's called a water confidence test for a reason. How did you feel the first time you jumped or dove off a 10 meter platform at the local pool? Pretty scary wasn't it? and the first time you went back after a long break it still gave you pause didn't it. Now put yourself into a fully dressed position with panicking people all around you. And possibly from as high as 15 metres? Upper deck of a jumbo with failed chutes/slides? Panick. Hesitation. Not much good in instilling calm in the passengers.

It's just like helicopter survival training courses. there you are strapped into your seat and the helicopter body is then submerged and capsized at the same time while you are strapped in - very disorienting to say the least (except for former commercial divers like me ) So, in the end analysis jezebel777 is spot on.

[Plavt]

Sorry Sms that cannot be true at least not in the current age. Sometime ago several posters had the same argument and it was clearly stated by a serving flight steward that candidates had to swim a mandatory 25 metres. This requirement is clearly stated on most major airlines websites although JAL is one exception for some strange reason. Jezebel left SIA four years ago as she states earlier but I doubt that there would have been much difference.

I have seen further evidence in television documentaries (e.g. Airline which centres around Easyjet a UK budget carrier).

The following has been extracted from Tiger Airways recruitment.

[url]ttp://www.tigerairways.com/about/careers.php#fcc359[/url]

CABIN CREW
Job ID: FCC359

Applicants should possess the following attributes:
• Minimum height of 1.58m
• Minimum age of 18 years
• Minimum four N-levels with good command of written and spoken English
• Ability to speak second language an advantage
• Good communication and sales skills
• Medically fit to meet aircrew requirements
• Able to swim a minimum of 50m unaided



Plavt.

[jezebel777]

[quote="jezebel777"]Heh, believe what you will. What's dumb is to think that a non-swimmer can't "swim" with a life-jacket. Even my 3 year old can do it

quote]

Plavt,


Let me re-sentence that above, maybe you didn't read it the way it should be read, due to the lack of proper punctuation on my side...

"It is dumb to think that a person who can't swim is not able to do so with the assistance of a LIFE-JACKET". My mistake, I guess... I should have written it this way for your easy understanding. Hope I clarified that.

I would also like to STRESS a fact I mentioned earlier - if one has NO PARANOIA, it is possible to so.

[Plavt]

Here is an addtional example of cabin crew requirements this being a UK budget carrier which some of you may come to use in future years.

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Jobs/Cabin/ca ... ments.html

Note the following;


http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Jobs/Cabin/ca ... ments.html

Our requirements

The minimum requirements for easyJet cabin crew are:


* Aged 18 or over
* Height 5’2’’ (1.58m) to 6’3’’ (1.90m) with weight in proportion to height
* Physically fit
* A good standard of education
* Fluent in spoken and written English
* In possession of at least six months face-to-face customer service
experience
* Able to swim at least 25 metres
* In possession of the right to work in the UK and travel freely in the EU
(not applicable to Basel and Geneva)

[Plavt]

For Jezebel777,

Have a read of post submitted by oNe who was a member of cabin crew recruitment team for SIA;

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/su ... ht=#157240


Plavt.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Okay, who am I to argue with the airline's website.

That said, the post by oNe that was linked to made an interesting comment :

In regards to the 'water confidence test':
Yes our cabin crew must exhibit the ability to stay calm and capability to swim. The purpose of this is to ensure that the lives of the passengers are not further endangered by the incompetence of the crew. Yes some were chosen even though they did not exhibit a strong swimming ability but they passed the test on the basis that even with their slight handicap, they displayed enough to have been evaluated as non-impairing in a rescue situation. The key word is CONFIDENCE.

So, like almost everything else when applying to any employer, you are based on your 'whole' package. Unless you do not make it by the "must haves" which would be earlier on. Like speaking decent english, being tall enough to reach the overheads, not build like the hunchback of Notre Dame and not a victim of small pox/acne scars on the face and other visible body parts. The rest seems somewhat subjective. While I agree that requirements probably haven't changed that much, it's just like any industry, there are requirements for bodies to fill 'X' number of positions and sometimes, depending on supply and demand you have to relax your criteria somewhat. They can always put the weak swimmers on the overland routes (also not easy with SIA).
I stand here with and properly chastised.

[jezebel777]

For Jezebel777,

Have a read of post submitted by oNe who was a member of cabin crew recruitment team for SIA;

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/su ... ht=#157240

Plavt.

I have read the post you are referring to. I quote, oNe said.....

"In regards to the 'water confidence test':

Yes our cabin crew must exhibit the ability to stay calm and capability to swim. The purpose of this is to ensure that the lives of the passengers are not further endangered by the incompetence of the crew. Yes some were chosen even though they did not exhibit a strong swimming ability but they passed the test on the basis that even with their slight handicap, they displayed enough to have been evaluated as non-impairing in a rescue situation. The key word is CONFIDENCE. "

Poster does not clearly say that all our cabin crew are able to swim unaided, the way you said it. We are required to have the ability to stay calm (a natural ability - you have it or you don't) and capability to swim (potentiality - can be learned). Crew who does not have the ability to swim without the aid of a life-jacket are CAPABLE of saving lives - as long as they can stay calm and not panic.

But of course it won't be advertised for the world to see. Do you really think the airlines are that daft to publicly declare that they have crew on board who can't swim?? Sorry, Vaucluse, don’t mean to scare you. Don't worry though, for safety-drills, the non-swimmers(not all, just a few ) I was with during my flying days would jump off in a heartbeat! So yeah, SQ crew are CAPABLE of saving your life in a ditching situation

And frankly, if oNe is saying that ALL SQ crew can swim without the aid of a life-jacket, it is crap but from what I read, oNe is not saying so.

My close friend (was also my batch girl) is a Leading Stewardess, yep… still happily flying, still CAN’T SWIM! And she’s been flying for more than 10 years. But if you are saying that as of recent, new joining crew must now pass this “requirement”

[jezebel777]

sundaymorningstaple,

I thank you for clearing up "It is dumb to think that a person who can't swim is not able to do so with the assistance of a LIFE-JACKET" part.

Plavt,

Gimme a holler one of these days and I'll take you swimming in a contest sized pool with my 3 year old son. You'd be in AWE of him because he can't "swim" to me without a life-jacket but put him in one and he'll show you how it is done! and he's not even 4 feet tall...

[Plavt]

Carry on making your ridiculous posts jezebel not only are you incapable of understanding what you read you will do anything to justify you inane and vacuous posts, I am in serious doubt as to whether you ever were cabin crew.

Plavt.