Conrad Hilton III, great-grandson of the Hilton hotel magnate, has joined Gerard Depardieu in chipping away at what glamour there is left to air travel. It seems Hilton, younger brother of socialite Paris, recently experienced an epic meltdown at 35,000 feet, allegedly branding all the other passengers on the British Airways flight "peasants". It's also alleged he had to be restrained by flight attendants, and at one point opted for the classy move of threatening to have them fired, saying "I know your boss." He eventually fell asleep, enabling them to handcuff him to his seat.
However, though flying may have lost some of its mystique, there is one airline still considered a bastion of glamorous travel and that is Emirates. The carrier’s exotic image is embodied by its women cabin crew members who exude head-turning glamour in their signature red pillbox hats with draped white veils.
How flattering then that the airline has deemed Irish candidates (potentially) chic enough to join their cabin crew. The carrier is running a recruitment open day for both men and women this Saturday in the Limerick Strand Hotel, with the intention of filling jobs that involve living in Dubai.
Emirates recently decided to add a second daily flight from Dublin to Dubai, doubling its capacity to meet the demands of customers travelling to Dubai and onwards. The airline is expanding its cabin crew team and is looking for people who are “open-minded, helpful, friendly and service-oriented”. Applicants must be at least 21 at the time of possible recruitment and should bring an up-to-date CV and – surprise, surprise – a photo.
The number of people recruited will all depend on how the Irish candidates perform.
“If Irish candidates are great, they are in with a very good chance of securing a cabin crew role,” a spokeswoman for Emirates said.
"Irish candidates tend to do very well and there are nearly 500 Irish people working for Emirates in Dubai and this number is growing year-on-year." Emirates employs nearly 30 people in Ireland, between its sales office in Dublin and Dublin Airport.
Applicants are asked to register online for the open day, which beings at 9am. Further information about careers with Emirates can be found at www.emirates.com/careers.