Every
flight attendant must graduate from the Emirates Aviation College, where they attend an intensive seven-week training course.
They learn all kinds of skills, from evacuation drills and first aid to nutrition, and comprehensive beauty training. (At least that explains why they look so impeccable after hours pushing carts up and down a pressurised cabin.)
The facility is state-of-the-art, with full motion A380 simulators to practise everything from rapid decompression to water landings. The training team can even use a computer-controlled system to create towering flames so they can practise firefighting.
Along with the signature red lips, they learn to apply vitamin C masks to ensure their skin is well-nourished and dewy, despite hours in recirculated air with little sleep.
They're also schooled in how to wear the iconic hat, which must be precisely two finger widths above their eyebrows on a slight angle, with the scarf draped "just so".
Long-haul flights and jet lag can be exhausting, so prospective crew members practise early mornings and late nights in training.
While passengers are eating, drinking, watching movies and trying to catch up on sleep, the galley is a hive of activity.
Crew members shuffle up and down the aisles — carting trolleys, cooking food, and being at passengers' beck and call.
Once they learn the basics of economy, they can do extra training to progress to serving business and first class passengers, and taking cabin leadership positions.
Flight attendants come from all over the world, and they're expected to move to Dubai.
Living in the desert metropolis takes a bit of adjustment — the mercury hit a record 52.1C in 2002 — but free accommodation is provided in one of the company's swanky buildings.
They're a diverse group of people who include everything from lawyers to teachers, paramedics, and people from hospitality backgrounds.
To be eligible, they have to pass interviews and extensive psychological testing. Once enrolled, they have to achieve 80 per cent in all their assessments.
