What is a purser?
What Is An Airline Purser?
Some airlines call it ‘Lead Flight Attendant’, other airlines call it the ‘Purser’. They are the flight attendants who are in charge of all the other flight attendants on board the plane. They get higher pay for the extra responsibility. Their actual pay would be determined by seniority and the airline pay scale.
What do Pursers do?
They coordinate the functions of the cabin crew. This includes:
- compliance with safety regulations
- as well as service flow
- and passenger handling according to company guidelines
- Team building:
- Develop effective and supportive relationships with team members
- provide leadership on service recovery and problem solving as necessary
- leading the team and provide clear sense of direction, without administering discipline
- lead the pre-flight briefings
- determine who is assigned which positions
- They are the liaisons between cabin crew and flight deck
- They are responsible for the sale of liquor
- They ensure completion of all on-board paperwork
Interested in seeing a lead Flight Attendant job description? Then Click Here!
On large aircraft, the airline may assign extra lead staff. In this case you may have a ‘Chief Purser’ and a ‘Flight Purser’, sometimes called the ‘Aft Purser’.
The Chief Purser would be considered the Lead Purser. They are responsible for the performance of all the flight attendants. The chief purser would typically be in charge of the forward (first class) cabin.
The Flight Purser role is to provide help to the chief purser in the locations of the plane they are assigned. They are often assigned to be in command of the rear (aft or economy) cabin. The Flight Purser is responsible for the performance of the flight attendants in their area.
Flight attendant
The major duties of the flight attendant are safety and security. Which includes, cabin checks and preparation before takeoff and landing
They are also responsible for the comfort of all passengers on board the plane. They need to be able to offer meals, and other items for those airlines that offer complimentary in-flight duty-free sales and other onboard services.
The number of flight attendants scheduled on a flight is determined by the size of the plane and the airline’s service standard.
This number can range from one or two crew members on a small propeller aircraft to up to 20 flight attendants on some larger airliners.
Are You Ready to Become a Flight Attendant?
Are you wondering how to become a flight attendant?
Then check out our post: How To Become A Flight Attendant – The Ultimate Guide!
Or you can check out the post, How much do flight attendants make? Where we let you know what the job outlook is, calculate the first year’s pay and go through different ways you can increase your pay and give you an idea of what your benefits would be.