Ariline Customer Service Executive
As an Airline Service Executive, you will be working either at a call center or at a check-in counter or at the boarding gate. At a call center, as an airline service executive, you will be responsible for helping customers with flight reservations, itinerary changes, queries about flight schedules, reserve flight and issue tickets, take care of baggage concerns and answering questions about customer loyalty programs or answering other kinds of passenger queries. One can access these services from the outside – meaning without entering the airport, one can get these services.
At the check-in counters and boarding gates of airports
On the other hand, at the check-in counter, you will be working as an executive who issues boarding passes, book check-in luggage, issue luggage receipts along with the boarding pass, answer queries about boarding gate numbers, flight schedules, etc. You will be assisting or helping only those passengers who are checking in.
If you are working at the boarding gates, then you will be checking the boarding passes, recording boarding details in the computer system (either by hand or by a barcode scanner – which scans the barcode printed on the boarding passes), then allowing customers to proceed towards the boarding aerobridges (also known as jetway bridges) or towards the buses which ferry the passengers to the aircraft parked at the bays.
As an Airline Service Executive, you will be assisting passengers also for boarding by doing a second checking of their boarding passes at the end of the aerobridges (just before a passenger enters the aircraft) or at the foot of the ladder which a passenger climbs to get into the aircraft. You will also be standing at various points inside security zones for assisting the customers in finding boarding gates, answering queries about flight schedules, making announcements about boarding, etc.
You might be posted in more than one role on a rotational basis
Generally, when an airline company recruits Airline Customer Service Executive, then those executives are posted in one or more of the above-mentioned roles and sometimes they have to work a rotational basis. For example, for a few hours, an executive may work at the check-in counter and then they go to the boarding gates and will be performing duties at the boarding gate.
When an airline company recruits Airline Reservation Agents – provides the customer support services to the passengers by phone or personally assisting them by undertaking ticketing functions and reservation services for the passengers, then they are generally posted to the call centers. They are also known as Customer Service Executives or Agents. And they will be working away from the airports.
You might be posted as an Airline Security Executive
As an Airline Service Executive, you may also be posted as an Airline Security Executive – who efficiently maintains the security environment while coordinating with the airline operations. You will be working either at the boarding gates at certain airports or checking passenger identities and luggage inside an aircraft when required (say, during a stopover flight, the Airline Security Executives may check the boarding passes, identity documents and cabin luggage of the passengers who haven’t disembarked and scheduled to fly to the onward destination).
At all the airports, however, the responsibility of security is primarily on the CISF (Central Industrial Security Forces) personnel. They might be assisted by the security staff of the Airport Authority of India or the Airline Service Executives appointed by the airlines. Airline Service Executives are also involved in manning X-Ray machines used for check-in baggage screening as well as cargo screening at various airports. Mark that, cabin baggage is screened by CISF personnel.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
As an Airline Service Executive, you will be engaged in all or some of the following key roles and responsibilities:
· You will be required to provide quality and timely customer services (such as answering customer questions, asking for feedback, taking the complaints) by using various available organizational digital channels.
You will be required to manage passenger check-in, passenger boarding, and passenger reservation information; assist passengers with check-in and boarding, provide flight information, solve ticket related problems, etc.
You will carry out X-Ray screening of baggage and cargo at some airports.
You will carry out all the security protocols which are to be followed in stop-over flights when an aircraft is parked at an airport with some passengers for onward flights to a different destination. As part of the protocols, you might be required to check the boarding passes of the passengers, ask them to identify their cabin luggage, and occasionally checking their identity documents.
You may have to deal with unruly passengers if they pose any threat to the airline staff members or otherwise create a nuisance and engage in violent behavior. In this case, the protocol is to pacify the passengers or if the issue is serious and illegal, hand over the passengers to the airport police.
You will be required to assist other team members in identifying and reporting system trends and other work.
You will be required to secure entry to aircraft when the aircraft in on the ground and follow safety and security procedures.
You will be required to take necessary actions to deal with incidents, accidents, and emergencies in the aviation security environment.
Conventional: You should have interests for Conventional Occupations. Conventional occupations involve repetitive and routine tasks as well as fixed processes or procedures for getting things done. These occupations involve working more with data, systems, and procedures and less with ideas or creativity.
Enterprising: You should have interests for Enterprising Occupations. Enterprising occupations involve taking initiatives, initiating actions, and planning to achieve goals, often business goals. These involve gathering resources and leading people to get things done. These require decision making, risk taking and action orientation.
Social: You should have interests for Social Occupations. Social occupations involve helping or assisting others; these involve working with and communicating with people to provide various services; these may involve educating and advising others.
Knowledge
Customer Service: Knowledge about how to provide customer services. This includes understanding customer needs, helping customers to use products and services, answering customer queries, handling customer complaints and grievances, and evaluating customer satisfaction.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to maintain law and order situations, providing state or national security for protecting geographical territories, marine territories and sky from potential enemy attacks and protecting people and properties.
English Language: Knowledge about English grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, using English to communicate with others, reading in English, etc.
Foreign Language: Knowledge about the grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, etc. of a foreign language and using the language to communicate with others, reading, etc.
Vernacular Language: Knowledge about the grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, etc. of a local language and using the language to communicate with others, reading, etc.
Skills
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, understanding the points being made by others, asking questions, etc.
Service Orientation: Skills in or keen interest to help and assist people.
Critical Thinking: Skills in analysis of complex situations, using of logic and reasoning to understand the situations and take appropriate actions or make interpretations and inferences.
Persuasion: Skills in persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Coordination: Skills in working together with other people to get things done.
Judgment and Decision Making: Skills in considering pros and cons of various decision alternatives; considering costs and benefits; taking appropriate and suitable decisions.
Time Management: Skills in prioritizing work, managing time effectively.
Abilities
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech and Language Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech and language of another person.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Personality
You are always or mostly organized in your day-to-day life and activities.
You are always or mostly a soft-hearted person.
You are always or mostly helpful to others.
You are somewhat disciplined in your actions and behavior.
You are friendly and outgoing sometimes, but not always. You prefer the company of people sometimes but not always.
You are caring, supportive, sympathetic and kind to others sometimes.
