Ryanair Cabin Crew Training Course | My Flight Attendant Experience PART 2

If you haven’t watched Part 1 – which was about the Assessment Day [check it out HERE]

If so, let’s jump into how the training course went!

Preparing for the Training Course

1. We were booked flights from a Ryanair base to the training base – I flew from Stansted to Hahn
2. I had to make my own way to the airport and almost missed the flight because of the Uber driver.
3. At the airport I met up with some of the girls I attended the assessment day with as we were booked onto the same flight.
4. we could bring 2 x 20kg of checked bags, 1 cabin bag up to 10 kg and a small cabin bag.
5. I only brought 1 cabin bag to avoid carrying too much.
6. I was in Reykjavik a few days prior, so I had to fly from Reykjavik to London first to get a few things done, then fly from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn.
7. While I was in London, I got some passport photos taken – which would be used for the airport ID and had a Cabin Crew Medical.
8. I found a Medical Practice in London and they were very quick and efficient – it costed £95.
9. We were offered accommodation to rent for the duration of the course and that costed €700 per person in a shared room for 2 people.
10. Some people found their own accommodation.
11. We also had to pay €10 per week for a shuttle to and from the accommodation & training centre.
12. We stayed in a property owned and managed by a local hotel.

Here is an excerpt from the email I received offering accommodation: “Thank you for your patience with regards to accommodation in Hahn. We have now reserved a local hotel for your entire group, Landhotel Airport-Inn. (https://www.landhotel-airport-inn.de/en/)  The price for the 6 week is 700€ (the entire duration of the course)

Services:

• Shuttle from the airport to the hotel when you land
• Shuttle every day if you wish to book. (10€ week)
• Unlimited Internet access (free)
• Weekly cleaning
• Fully fitted common kitchen
• Ensuite twin and spacious tripe rooms
• Laundry 5€ per wash bag
• Bed linen, towels
• Buffet breakfast (5€)

Please transfer 400€ non-refundable advance payment, the remaining 300€ you pay on check in. The total fee is 700€.”

More Preparation

1. We were also given a pre-course study pack to read. I used this throughout the whole course duration as a text searchable document in order to find keywords that would help me study for the daily tests after class and final exams. 
2. However, I had to make sure I noted changes in information (given by the course tutor) so that I wouldn’t be studying old information.
3. After speaking with the graduating cabin crew that we would see around the training centre, I quickly realised that I needed to study every single day.
4. I remember one of them telling me “it’s easy if you study 3 hours a day after class” so that’s pretty much what I did.
5. Some people found that they didn’t need to study after class in order to pass exams, but I needed to, in order to ensure that I wouldn’t fail a single exam. And it worked, because I didn’t fail a single exam – of which there were 5.
6. There was also a swimming test that needed to be passed.

Arriving in Hahn

1. We arrived in Hahn on a Sunday and met our roommates.
2. There were about 30 people living in this BIG house – that only had 1 kitchen and 1 living/dining room.
3. We immediately noticed that the majority of people were either from Greece, Spain, Italy with a few from Ireland, a few from England and a few from Germany.
4. They put the 30 of us in the same house because we would be in the same class on the training course.

The training course itself

1. We spent the first day sorting out paperwork, measured for uniform (this was postponed a few days for us).
2. The uniform isn’t really fitted as they promise & they don’t actually measure you
3. They just make you try on different sizes and put you in a uniform they think fits you.
4. If your uniform doesn’t fit you properly you then have to go and get it adjusted.
5. Uniforms are delivered about 2 days before wings day/graduation ceremony.
6. Mine was extremely uncomfortable despite being a bigger size.

First day of Training

1. On that first day we could actually take the opportunity to swap bases with another person if we wanted to.
2. We met our course tutor and were physically inspected and advised on how to comply with proper cabin crew grooming.
3. We were required to be ‘fully groomed’ on each day of training and if you weren’t you had to get what you needed ASAP.
4. Girls were being advised on suitable hairstyles, length, colour, etc. Nail colour and condition, tights thickness and colour, and shoe style.
5. Guys were being advised on appropriate shoes and belts and how to maintain their facial hair.
6. They either had to have a clean shaven face OR have a beard with neat clean shaven borders OR be growing a beard.
7. If they had day old stubble they were sent OUT of the room to shave with a razor.
8. We would typically have the weekend days off but our course tutor offered extra study to those who wanted them.
9. On those study days we didn’t need to come fully groomed, we could just dress casually.
10. I know that some airlines provide a training uniform – such as a T-shirt uniform but Ryanair doesn’t.
11. You do have to come prepared with enough smart clothes to rotate for 6 weeks.
12. There were no clothes shops close by in Hahn apart from a charity shop.
13. People who wanted to buy things had to shop online or travel to Frankfurt city.

Course Content

1. Initial Training Module – which involved topics such as – Passengers, security, survival, first aid etc.
2. Conversion Training Module -was more practical with topics such as – fire, smoke, doors and exits, evacuation etc.
3. We had 3 big exams: 1 for Initial & 1 for Conversion and 3 smaller exams safety and security.
4. We had daily tests every morning to make sure we were retaining the information covered in class the day before. I found them pretty helpful.
5. When it came to the actual exam you needed to get a minimum of 90% to pass.
6. The exams were multiple choice but extremely tricky because the wording of each answer sort of makes sense. SO you need to know the EXACT procedure to a T in order to choose the right answer.
7. Even though I did find the classes and revision challenging I didn’t fail a single exam, and passed 1st attempt for all 5 exams.
8. If you happen to fail an exam you have 1 more opportunity to pass and if you don’t pass, you are thrown off the course.
9. If you are determined enough and feel you still really want to become a cabin crew you can join a future course but you must start from day
10. Thankfully the majority of people passed and made it to the end. If I had to put a percentage on it I would say 95% of the 30 in my class.
11. Though the Ryanair training course is known for being really difficult, one good thing is that there is only one main aircraft.
12. This is the Boeing 737-800 With a couple of configurations and New Boeing with slimmer seats that you would need to memorise.
13. Boeing 737 Max has is irrelevant since it has been grounded for the 12 months after the incident from another airline that we all know about.

Food shopping

The local supermarkets were Lidl & Edeka. There was also a local village called Sorhen where we ate at a kebab place on off days. There were also local hotels with restaurants.

Nights out

There were a couple of bars that we went out at after exams OR every weekend for some people.

Coursemates

Most people were generally nice but some were definitely who were naturally mean, so you do have to be careful about that. Don’t get distracted. Almost everyone was a smoker. So be careful if you are athsmatic because you will be second hand smoking ALL the time. There were a few romances on the course, but they mostly flings for fun.

Wings ceremony

At the end of the course we were awarded a certificate and our wings. Parents, friends and family were welcome to attend. We signed contracts, had sparkling wine and wore our uniforms for the first time.

Flying to our bases

1. The day after the wings ceremony we flew to our assigned bases.
2. Mine was in Berlin. I flew from Hahn to Lisbon to Berlin, starting the day very early and ending it late.
3. Thankfully I had a friend in Berlin who had an empty apartment with 2-3 months left of their lease so I rented it from them.
4. But other people had to start in a hotel, hostel, airbnb or whatever form of accommodation they had found.
5. That was pretty difficult especially for the married people so they left on day 1 but the other tried to make a way.
6. That is something you need to bear in mind if you decided to work for Ryanair.
7. I would advise you to secure an apartment before or as soon as you start the training course.

I hope you’ve found this interesting and informative! Look out for part 3

Until the next post! Tabitha x