Swiss Trainer Transitions Flight Attendants to BizJets

A training programme for cabin crew aspiring to serve VIP business aviation customers, based in one of the world’s most international cities – Geneva, Switzerland – has also pivoted to online courses to continue to serve clients during the travel-restricted coronavirus crisis.

Training Solutions, which has trained 1,400 flight attendants from 75 countries for 55 private jet operators since 2007, is offering three-day online courses twice a month, in addition to two-day in-person courses near Geneva airport and on-site courses at bizjet customer locations.

“The aviation industry will change tremendously,” Dietmar Duller told CAT. “Business aviation will be profitable for many reasons: social distancing, time saving, health issues. There will be new players on the market that offer different concepts as well. It’s going to be interesting to see what the future will bring.”

Duller’s one-man business caters primarily to current or recent commercial airline flight attendants who are seeking to transition to the business aviation sector. However, he said bizav companies “sometimes choose different people because of their personality or other reasons.” His own background before starting Training Solutions was in the hospitality industry.

“In my opinion, people have to be adaptable. They have to change in order to move on because by the end of the year there are going to be thousands of personnel looking for jobs,” Duller noted. “It will take a long time for the commercial airlines to cover all the routes again. Business aviation is able to do it at any time.”

A practical, physical course “can never be replaced by an online course,” he acknowledged. “But it’s a solution that you have to offer because, for example, people in the Middle East are not able to travel to Europe for a couple of months.”

Training Solutions claims to be Europe’s only VIP flight attendant training and recruitment company. Aircraft types covered include Airbus 318, 319, 320 and 321; Boeing Business Jet 1 and 2; Bombardier Challenger 605, Global Express XRS, 5000 and 6000; Dassault Falcon 2000 and 7X; and Gulfstream 450, 550 and 650.

Training topics include food service (including “opening and tasting of champagne, white Burgundy and red Bordeaux” and “meals and drinks at high altitude”), handling difficult situations, protocols for Heads of State and Royals, in-flight child care, pets onboard, cultural differences, and standard operating procedures before, during and after a flight.

Since May, all courses have also addressed cleaning and disinfecting procedures and products recommended by leading operators and aircraft manufacturers.

The online course also discusses various types of flight attendant contracts, CVs and interviews, private jet crew salaries around the world, and necessities such as medical insurance, taxes, and retirement plans.

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