An aircraft must be evacuated within 90 seconds. Airlines regularly train their staff to react correctly and quickly in an emergency. But it's not just the evacuation via the emergency slide of an Airbus A380 that is part of the training plan; make-up and service also need to be perfected. I was able to take a look behind the scenes at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre.
After we had completed the necessary formalities and exchanged our passports for a visitor's pass, we were allowed to enter the Singapore Airlines Training Centre. In the spacious entrance area, there were display cases with various exhibits. These included older uniforms and memorabilia, such as the porcelain from First Class. The Heritage Gallery was the first surprise for me. I didn't realise that Singapore Airlines* had once operated a Concorde on a scheduled service.
Concorde in scheduled service with Singapore Airlines
On 26 October 1977, British Airways and Singapore Airlines published a joint press release. In it, they announced a thrice-weekly flight between London and Singapore. One and a half months later, on 9 December 1977, the time had come. The first commercial Concorde flight flew from London to Singapore via Bahrain. With a journey time of nine hours, this was a quantum leap on the way to South East Asia!
The Concorde with the registration G-BOAD was scheduled for this route. As a result, it was painted in the colours of Singapore Airlines on the left-hand side and British Airways on the right. So the picture in the Heritage Gallery does not quite correspond to reality. Let's just tick it off as artistic licence ;) British Airways also provided the technical crew and the pilots. The flight attendants were split 50/50 between the two airlines. Nowadays you can see the G-BOAD in the museum on the USS Intrepid (travelogue 2011 & 2016), which is anchored in New York City. However, it can be found here again in its entire British Airways livery.
The Concorde service was cancelled after just three flights. The reason for this was complaints from the Malaysian government about the supersonic flights over the Strait of Malacca. A compromise was eventually reached on the route and the service was resumed on 24 January 1979. However, with declining passenger numbers, the route was finally discontinued completely on 1 November 1980. (Source and further information: http://www.concordesst.com)
Singapore Airlines Training Centre- How do you become a flight attendant with Singapore Airlines?
Every year Singapore Airlines* around 16,000 applications are received. However, only the best 1,000 are ultimately admitted to training at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre. More than 80 per cent of all Singapore Girls come from Singapore or Malaysia. The rest come from Asian countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. In total, around 40% of Singapore Airlines' flight attendants are male. Are they actually called Singapore Boys? :D
At the beginning of a career as a flight attendant at Singapore Airlines, there is a 16-week training programme. Safety measures, evacuation regulations, etiquette, first aid, make-up and wine knowledge, for example, are taught in intensive training sessions. Cabin crew are therefore familiar with all areas of passenger care and service on board.
Now that the four months of training at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre have been successfully completed, the graduates are finally able to put their experience into practice. Initially, the "newcomers" are only deployed in Economy Class and mainly on board the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330. The Airbus 380 and 350 will only follow after a few months of professional experience, and a change from Economy to Business Class is only possible after 18 months and six days of training, including an examination. To apply for a position in First Class, flight attendants should have worked for the company for three to five years. Of course, this is also followed by intensive training, which takes at least one month.
The Singapore Girls can reach four different levels in their career. For passengers, these are symbolised by the four different coloured sarong kebayas (for male cabin crew by the colour of their tie): Blue - Flight Stewardess, Green - Leading stewardess, Red - Chief Stewardess and Bordeaux red - Inflight Supervisor.
I would like to briefly introduce you to the individual training stations at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre in the following sections.
Singapore Airlines service training
Service is the flagship of an airline. Accordingly, this is also practised conscientiously at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre. The prospective flight attendants have to complete their service training in several different mock-ups (models of aircraft). This begins with the serving of food and drinks and ends, for example, with the preparation of these in the fully functional galley. As their career progresses and they are deployed in Business or First Class, they are then taught special topics such as wine knowledge or the preparation of meals.
Singapore Airlines safety training
Flight attendants and pilots carry out the safety training together. This is particularly important as, in the event of an emergency, they must be able to work together smoothly. In the large hall at the Singapore Airlines Training Centre, two door trainers (aircraft doors of an Airbus A350 and A330) and emergency slides for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 are available for this purpose.
How do you train an emergency landing or the evacuation of the aircraft?
"Put on life vest!" shouts a woman hastily and in a high-pitched tone. The door of the Airbus A330 mock-up opens with a courageous jerk and a petite flight attendant calls on the imaginary passengers to evacuate the aircraft. This exercise gives me goose bumps, but I wonder whether I would really have heard the young woman's thin voice in a real emergency.
After the doors have been successfully opened, an aircraft must also be completely evacuated in an emergency. When evacuating passengers, speed is always of the essence. For this purpose, a cabin section of the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A380 are installed at their original height in the huge hall of the Singapore Airlines Training Centre. On the side, two thick, grey rubber slides hang down to the floor. Our guide states the obvious: "... this is where we practise sliding.". Despite asking and pleading several times, I was unfortunately not allowed to slide for insurance reasons. However, we managed to persuade our guide to put on a pair of overalls and demonstrate how to use the emergency slide. I recorded it for you in slow motion with my iPhone.
In the second room of the safety training centre there is a large swimming pool and another small part of an aircraft cabin. During our visit, a Tigerair crew was practising evacuation after an emergency ditching. Wearing their work clothes and life jackets, they jumped into the cool water from the aircraft door, which was about two metres above the water surface. The artificially created waves made it difficult to swim to the yellow life raft. As I watched, I asked myself what must be more difficult for the crew: to fight the waves with their soaked and therefore heavy clothing or to get into the life raft.
Singapore Airlines Training Center – Make-up und Haare
Mit Themen wie Make-up und Frisuren kenne ich mich nun überhaupt nicht aus. Deshalb fühlte ich mich in dem Schulungsraum, welcher mich stark an einen Besuch in der Parfümerie erinnerte, auch irgendwie etwas befremdlich. An jeder Seite des Raumes saßen die angehenden Singapore Girls vor einem Spiegel und bearbeiteten ihr Haare. In der Raummitte zählte eine Dame, eine Stylistin von Lancôme, mit fast militärischem Ton die Zeit herunter. Dabei wird es den Damen schon recht einfach gemacht, indem man ihnen die Farben des Make-up und auch die Frisuren vorschreibt. Sollte es mal nicht passen, werden die Haare auch kurzerhand abgeschnitten. So hart dies klingen mag, wird sich in diesem Raum sicherlich Keine heulend hinstellen, wie so manches Mädchen in der Show von Heidi Klum.
Tipps und Informationen für Singapur
Wie kommt man hin?
Singapore Airlines* fliegt 24 Mal pro Woche von Deutschland (Frankfurt 14x, München 7x & Düsseldorf 3x) nonstop nach Singapur. Die Strecke ab Düsseldorf wird mit der neuen Airbus A350 geflogen. Außerdem bietet auch die Lufthansa* eine tägliche Direktverbindungen ab Frankfurt an.
Wo übernachtet man gut?
Die Auswahl an Hotels in Singapur ist riesig, so gibt es allein über vierzig 5-Sterne-Hotels. Im luxuriösen The Ritz-Carlton Millenia an der Marina Bay (Hotel Bewertung) kostet beispielsweise ein Zimmer ab 340 Euro die Nacht. Wer jedoch etwas günstiger wohnen möchte, der wird sicherlich über Buchungsportale wie Agoda* oder Booking.com* fündig. Transitpassagiere von Singapore Airlines* können im Rahmen des „Singapore Stopover Holiday“-Programms ab 28 Euro pro Person im Doppelzimmer (inklusive Flughafentransfer) übernachten.
Wie kommt man rum?
Singapur hat ein sehr gut ausgebautes öffentliches Verkehrsnetz. Die Fahrt mit der modernen U-Bahn (MRT) oder mit einem Linienbus ist günstig und zuverlässig. Ferner sind eine Vielzahl an Taxis in Singapur rund um die Uhr unterwegs. Beachten sollten man hierbei, dass zusätzlich zum Fahrpreis (per Taxameter) noch die Straßenmaut (ERP – Electronic Road Pricing) fällig wird. Mietwagen werden selbstverständlich auch angeboten. Wir würden jedoch, und das nicht nur aufgrund des Linksverkehr, davon abraten.
Was benötige ich zur Einreise?
Für die Einreise nach Singapur benötigt man als deutscher Staatsbürger lediglich einen noch mindestens sechs Monate gültigen Reisepass. Bei der Einreise erhält man eine Aufenthaltsgenehmigung für bis zu 90 Tage. Kinder benötigen ein eigenes Ausweisdokument. Weitere Informationen, insbesondere zu den strikten Zollvorschriften, findet ihr außerdem auf der Informationsseite des Federal Foreign Office.
Wie steht es um die Sicherheit?
Singapur gilt als eine der sichersten Metropolen in Asien. Schließlich geht der Stadtstaat konsequent gegen Verbrechen jeglicher Art, auch vermeintlichen „Kleinigkeiten“ wie z.B. das Wegwerfen von Abfall, vor. Ferner sind die üblichen Vorsichtsmaßnahmen gegen Kleinkriminalität zu beachten.
Welchen Reiseführer für Singapur könnt ihr empfehlen?
  | For the perfect city trip to Singapore we recommend this travel guide*. Hier findest du nicht nur einen detaillierten Stadtplan, sondern auch jede Menge Infos zu allen wichtigen Sehenswürdigkeiten. |
Die Teilnahme an der Reise wurde unterstützt von Singapore Airlines und das Singapore Tourism Board. An dieser Stelle nochmals ein herzlicher Dank für die Kooperation und Betreuung. Dieser Beitrag stellt unsere freie und unabhängige Meinung dar. Weitere Informationen zur Unabhängigkeit findet ihr unter dem Punkt Cooperation.
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