Hierarchy and an established chain of command is crucial for any cabin
crew team. This is for safety onboard during normal and abnormal flights,
and especially in any emergency situation. However, on a long-haul flight, with so many crew,
it may be slightly more complicated. Let’s examine how things are structured in today’s video!
In case you haven’t guessed it already, the captain holds total responsibility
for the aircraft, the passengers, the cargo, and the crew. The captain
is responsible for the operation and safe conduct of a flight, and as such,
they’re in command and have full authority over the crew. The first officer is the second
in command and works jointly with the captain in order to have a safe and efficient flight.
When it comes to looking at long-haul flights specifically,
extra crew are carried on such lengthy services.
Some airlines that operate both short-haul and long-haul flights may have senior first
officers. In this case, they would be second in command to the captain, followed by the first
officer. Sometimes, flight engineers are also carried, or another captain might be on board
for check flights or be the 'cruise relief' pilot. This is when there are three or four
flight crew for a long-haul flight and will take turns flying the aircraft to relieve fatigue.
Moving from flight crew to cabin crew, the senior cabin crew member or SCCM
reports to the captain and ensures safety and service in the cabin.
They are sometimes known as cabin services director, or inflight service manager.
Their role is to supervise the team of cabin crew onboard the aircraft and their position
is crucial in communication between the flight deck and the cabin. This
is not only for a successful and safe flight but important should any emergency situation occur.
On a long-haul flight, there is still an SCCM overall in charge of the cabin. However,
there will be other senior positions to supervise different areas of the
aircraft. These are sometimes referred to as pursers or inflight supervisors.
They are in charge of their galley and the team operating in it. So,
if the aircraft has four galleys, the SCCM will supervise one of these (usually first class),
and then there will be three pursers supervising the others. Cabin crew report to the SCCM and
then the purser, although the purser leads in the galley. The purser relays any issues to the SCCM.
Cabin crew report to the SCCM and communicates with them directly during short-haul flights.
Within the cabin crew, there is also seniority and this often relates to how long they have
been with the company. This sometimes affects the cabin crew working position
and can be part of the hierarchy. It may also affect what cabin class you
work in. Junior cabin crew often work in economy until they have gained seniority.
On a long-haul aircraft, there will be many more cabin crew onboard,
firstly to cover the door operations but also to meet the regulation of 1 crew member per
50 passengers. This regulation is for evacuation reasons primarily but is also useful for service.
During a long haul flight, the cabin crew are entitled to 'crew rest,' so
there has to be enough crew to cover that, too.
Some airlines also have a cabin services assistant onboard to attend to first
class shower facilities. They are considered part of the team but do not have any safety
training or operate any safety equipment. Thus, they’d be the lowest on the chain of command.
Did you know about this hierarchy of crew members? Let us know by leaving a comment.