Meeters and greeters
These are sometimes called 'hunters', 'sweepers', or similar names. They float around purposefully in the mob waiting in front of check-in desks at peak times.
It is their job to make sure passengers are in the right queue, anyone who is delayed if possible gets pushed to the front, and when overbooking happens, to go along the queue of waiting passengers to find out if anyone will take money in return for flying the next day. As the departure time gets closer, so the 'inducement' is raised.
To help matters, some staff is now being issued with handheld computers and they can check-in passengers in the queue.
Specialist staff
Most major airlines have specialist staffs who deal with children, sick or elderly passengers, and VIPs. If you have had experience of looking after children or have a nursing qualification, these can be useful. American Airlines have Sky-care, which provides skilled medical companions for travelers who need limited medical attention and care during flights. These are registered nurses with advanced medical experience, training and qualifications, and passengers pay for the Sky-care attendants' flight, plus expenses.
A day in the departure area
To make all the different passenger service jobs come together, imagine you are leaning over the balcony, watching a busy departure area in an international airport. People scurry to and fro, but eventually you begin to see a pattern. At 9 am, almost all check-in desks are 'manned' by customer or passenger service agents, with long queues waiting. Word comes through that there is a baggage handlers' strike at Munich Airport luckily the Lufthansa flights have mostly business travelers with carry-on luggage, so staff don't have to spend too much time explaining that the airline will be flying, but passengers with luggage that goes in the hold may experience delays.
Other airline staff is glad it isn't their day for delays, and get on with the morning rush hour. However, they also have problems with baggage. It is Fashion Week in Paris, and instead of the usual business traffic flying to Paris for the day, there are models and agents laden down with extra baggage. This not only means it has to be weighed but also excess baggage calculated and charged. Models are used to this, but some holidaymakers are not, and there are grumbles.
A ticket desk agent is dealing with an anxious passenger trying to buy a ticket for a flight leaving for Oslo at 0950. According to the computer the flight is full, but as departure time gets near it is obvious to experienced staff that there are going to be a lot of 'no shows', so she will be able to get on the flight. By this time it is getting late, so the agent runs through the departure lounge with her to get her on the plane on time.
Behind the scenes, the flight connect agent is worried about the Paris flight. He knows three models are flying in on a plane from Tokyo to connect with the next Paris flight - but their incoming flight has been delayed. Normally, with flights every hour or so to Paris this wouldn't be a problem, but today all flights are fully booked with stand-by passengers waiting. It is his job to find the passengers and as they are traveling first class they should be first off the plane on a Jumbo it can take half an hour for everyone to disembark. Then he will have to rush them and their baggage across to the Paris flight.
Down in BA's Sky flyers Lounge for young unaccompanied travelers, the Sky flyer Ground Escort suggests to one of her charges that it is time for him to leave his computer game and catch his flight. As its' term-time it's quiet in the lounge, but come the holidays and the place is packed. She takes the Sky flyer through immigration and security, being careful to let him lead the way most are extremely sophisticated and don't like being patronized. At the gate she will hand him over to a crew member, with documentation confirming the name and contact details of the person meeting him. There are strict security checks to ensure that the right person meets a child, and Sky flyers aren't allowed to leave the airport until the corresponding ground staffs have checked the person's credentials.
Qualifications
- Age 18+;
- Customer service experience;
- GCSEs or equivalent (grade C or above) in English and Mathematics;
- Right to live and work in the country.
- Pleasant and outgoing;
- Able to work fast and accurately to tight schedules;
- Smart.
For work on the ticket desk, a fares and ticketing course is useful, as is experience of working in a travel agency. The Air Cabin Crew Vocational Qualification includes passenger handling. So far, over 150 students have been accepted for PSA work by UK airlines. Contact Pan Aviation Training Services for your nearest college.
The serious side to being a PSA
There is a very serious side to this job. Because of terrorism, each passenger has to be asked if they have packed their bag themselves. Trained PSAs develop a sixth sense to evaluate the flippant answers.
And you have to know the law. According to the Daily Telegraph, a recent court case in the States left American Airlines and British West Indies Airline paying out £113,000 to the family of Caroline Neischer. Mrs. Neischer had traveled from Los Angeles to Guyana in two legs, and had been allowed to carry on board her bag containing her asthma medication on the first leg to New York. At New York, a PSA forced her to check in her bag. Unfortunately, Mrs. Neischer's luggage didn't arrive for two days, by which time she had been taken to hospital, where she died.
The family's lawyer said the decision was important to all travelers on international flights. 'For the first time under the Warsaw Convention, airlines have been held responsible for the callous removal and loss of baggage resulting in the death of a passenger.' Both airlines were held liable, even though it wasn't clear which airline's agent forced her to check in the bag, or why they did so. The actions of airline employees therefore constituted 'willful misconduct' and Ned Good of the Consumer Attorneys of California said this 'should put all airlines on notice that medical equipment that is used in the active care of a passenger must be at the right place at the right time'.
