Cabin crew reach test 212 cm in practice: how it is measured at Gulf events, the 2 cm short candidates and the airlines that measure differently

SIA, Indonesian, and I wrote the reach thread as an applicant at 158 cm with a 214 reach. The applicants still message me about the measurement itself, because the number is known and the method is not and the candidates who are near the line need the method. Here it is, from the events the crew on this forum have done and from mine.

The Gulf method

A wall or a pole with the 212 mark, the candidate barefoot or in flats (shoes off, every time), standing facing the wall, both heels together, going up on the toes as high as they can hold, reaching with one hand with the palm flat against the wall, the fingertips at or above the mark for a second or two. The recruiter watches the feet (no jump, no hop) and the hand (flat, not the fingertips curled or the hand sideways). One attempt usually, sometimes two if the recruiter saw a wobble. Quiet, in a corridor or a side room, dozens of candidates in a line.

The variations

Emirates: the wall with the mark, 212, barefoot, the one hand. Qatar: the same, 212, sometimes a pole. Etihad: 212, the same method. The Riyadh Air and the Saudi carriers: 212. The US and Canadian carriers: a mock overhead bin at the assessment, around 208 to 210, in the shoes, the candidate closes the bin. The European low cost carriers: a wall or a bin at around 210, in flats. The Asian premium carriers: the height instead of the reach at SIA (158), a reach around 208 at Cathay and the Japanese carriers. The Australians: a reach at the assessment, the shoes off, no stated number at Qantas and around 208 in practice.

The candidates who were 2 cm short

At my Jakarta walk in the reach was not the test (the height was) but at the Gulf events the crew describe: the candidate at 210 who was given a second attempt and made 212 on the balance, the one at 209 who was not and went home, the one who asked to try again and was told no. The 2 cm short candidates who practised the tiptoe balance for two weeks before (Lily's thread) are the ones who made it on the day; the ones who tried it for the first time at the wall are the ones who wobbled.

What the 2 cm short candidates did

The calf raises and the balance practice daily for a fortnight, which adds the 1 to 2 cm the balance was losing. The measurement at home against a door frame with the exact method (barefoot, heels together, the hand flat) so the number on the day is not a surprise. The flats that come off fastest at the wall. And the honest acceptance at 205 that the Gulf is not the door and the US and Canadian carriers with the 208 bin are.

The airlines that measure differently and the applicant's map

At 212 or above: every door. At 208 to 211: the US, Canadian, Australian, European low cost and most Asian carriers, not the Gulf. Below 208: the carriers with a height minimum instead (SIA at 158 if the height is there) and the ones that test the bin in practice. The applicant with a reach near the line should know their exact number by the method before they book the flight to the event.

For the near the line applicants

Measure at home by the method. Practise the balance for a fortnight. Shoes off fast. One hand flat. And if the number is 209 after the fortnight, the Gulf event is a wasted flight and the Delta bin is the door.