NEWLY qualified air cabin crew member Summer Haigh says the skills she learnt on a travel and tourism course at Wiltshire College & University Centre helped her pass an intensive training course with flying colours.
Summer, 19, had dreamt of being part of a cabin crew ever since she was mesmerised by them while flying on holiday as a little girl.
After completing the course at the college’s Salisbury campus she has now graduated from the easyJet Academy and is already plying her trade 30,000 feet up in the air between Gatwick and some of Europe’s most glamorous destinations.
“I’ve always wanted to do it ever since I was a little girl and just fell in love with the job, the uniforms and everything about it,” said Summer, who lives in Salisbury.
“The course at Wiltshire College really benefitted me in trying to do it. Having the basic knowledge about customer service helped massively and doing presentations in college, talking in front of the class, really helped with my confidence. I felt a lot more comfortable in my knowledge.”
The easyJet training went deeper into customer service, as well as the airline’s procedures, regulations and policies. “There was a lot of information packed into four weeks and I found it quite challenging, just because doing something that intense at a young age is a bit of a shock to the system,” she said. “A lot of people there were saying it was very intense.”
The former Wyvern St Edmund’s School pupil said being told she had passed was a proud moment. “I was over the moon and I rang a lot of family and friends to tell them because they were all pleased I had got this chance,” she said.
Since graduating she has flown from her base at Gatwick to Geneva, Amsterdam and the French Alps. “It’s an amazing job and the views when you are 30,000 feet in the air are absolutely incredible,” she said. “You kind of forget where you are when you are concentrating on the job and then suddenly you remember and you can just enjoy your surroundings.
“A lot of the customers can be absolutely lovely, so they’re able to make the day as well.”
Nothing she has seen so far in the job has brought her down to earth. “I’ve been in love with it my whole life and now I’m just falling more and more in love with it,” she said.
“It’s been such a dream of mine for so long and I got the job offer when I was still 18, so managing to complete my dream while I’m still so young feels like a massive accomplishment and I’m very proud of myself.”
Pictured: Summer Haigh celebrates graduating from the easyJet Academy so that she can fulfil her childhood dream of becoming an air cabin crew member
