This week, the entire cohort of Year 13 BTEC Travel and
Tourism students visited the Virgin Atlantic Cabin Crew Training Centre in
Crawley to gain an insight into the flagship carrier airline’s outstanding customer
service.
The trip is directly linked to the ‘Customer Service in
Travel and Tourism’ unit, which the pupils are studying this term. Gaining first-hand
experience of the training cabin crew undertake before interacting with
customers will no doubt enhance the pupils’ understanding of how the world’s
leading travel companies, such as Virgin, consistently maintain such an outstanding
reputation.
Joined by new Head of Department Mr Johnston and fellow Travel
and Tourism teacher Mr Mallins, the group of 17 boys and 2 girls had a packed
day learning about the Virgin Atlantic brand, attitudes towards customer care,
cabin safety and emergency evacuation. It was hugely interesting to see the
aircraft training rigs, including the Virgin Upper Class area. Perhaps the most
fun part of the day was getting to try out a real evacuation slide at the full
deck height of a Boeing 747.
The College would like to thank David, Pippa, Jay and all of
the team at Virgin Atlantic for the great day and hope to visit again next year
with the next group of Year 13 students.