Win-win situation to rehire laid off cabin crew, say ex-flight attendants

 

Flight attendants retrenched during the height of the pandemic say they can help airlines as demand for flights picks up.

PETALING JAYA: Rehiring former cabin crew laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic will be a win-win situation for all parties involved, several retrenched flight attendants said.

Three flight attendants who were retrenched in June 2020 said airlines, which are seeing a surge in demand after international travel restrictions were lifted on April 1, would save time and money by rehiring their former employees as they would need less training.

“New recruits would have to undergo a 90-day basic training course, whereas former employees would only require a two-week refresher course,” one of them, Rafiq Sabarbacha, told FMT.

“There would also be no need for cabin familiarisation or lessons on how to serve customers.”

He said he “totally agreed” with a recent call by the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) for airlines to speed up their employee hiring process and to rehire past employees retrenched during the pandemic.

Nufam also said it had received complaints from airline employees about being recalled from leave because of manpower shortage, which the union said was one of the reasons behind recent cases of flight rescheduling.

Rafiq said he was keen to see Capital A’s Tony Fernandes keep his word to rehire every staff he had to let go during the Covid-19 crisis, a promise the group CEO reportedly made in June 2021.

Nik Zulhusni Nik Sin says younger recruits would need more time to hone their problem-solving skills when facing customers.

Another former cabin crew member, Nik Zulhusni Nik Sin, said an airline company would need experienced staff if it wanted to maintain its quality of service.

“Flying isn’t just about serving tea and coffee, it’s about overall service to the customer, which experienced employees are well-equipped to provide,” said Nik Zulhusni, who was a flight attendant for nearly 25 years.

The 50-year-old said younger recruits would need more time to hone their problem-solving skills when facing customers.

“They usually lack the experience to solve problems, like for example, when there is a mix-up in the food orders onboard. The young ones would usually refer to the senior crew members for help,” said Nik Zulhusni, who is now an e-hailing driver.

He said that since being retrenched, he had found it difficult to secure a job in other industries because of a mismatch between the salaries offered and his working experience.

Adzrie Zulkifli and his wife, Nur Amira Abd Rashid.

Adzrie Zulkifli, who was a senior cabin crew member, said age was also a factor contributing to the difficulty former flight attendants faced in obtaining jobs in other fields.

The 31-year-old told FMT that hiring new faces would not necessarily be cost-effective for airlines as they would have to fork out money for training.

Adzrie said rehiring former employees would be a good show of gratitude to those who had helped airline companies build their reputation over the years.

“Would they have won so many awards had they not hired us in the first place?” he asked. - FMT