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#1 Berlin, German father, Brazilian mother, raised bilingual but with Portuguese as my first language, and I did the Lufthansa assessment last month with German that is fluent but not native. Here is what the German requirement actually means in the room, because the page says 'very good German' and that could mean anything.
The level
The assessment day is conducted in German: the presentation, the group task, the interview. You need to follow rapid, colloquial, group German with interruptions and jokes. You need to speak it well enough to contribute to a fast group discussion without pausing to find words. You do not need to be native. You do not need perfect grammar. You need to not be the person the group waits for. C1 with real speaking practice is the honest level. B2 on paper with no speaking practice is not enough.
The group task
In German, a scenario about a flight disruption and a set of passengers with competing needs, decide as a group what to do. The same scoring as everywhere (contribute, listen, include, time) with the language as the medium. I contributed three times, used two names, and once asked the quiet German girl next to me what she thought. The assessor noted the last one, I think, because she mentioned it.
The interview
Mostly German, with a switch to English for five minutes to check the English. Competency questions about my work in a Berlin hotel. The assessor asked, in German, about a time I had to explain something complicated to a customer, and I told a story about a Brazilian family and a Berlin hotel and a lost passport, in German, and she smiled at the right moment, and I knew the German was fine.
What the assessors said
At the end, the feedback was that my German was 'completely sufficient for the cabin' and that my Portuguese and the Brazil routes were 'noted'. Which I took to mean what I hoped it meant. The offer came two weeks later.
For non native applicants
Get the speaking practice, not the certificate. Watch German television with German subtitles for six months. Talk to Germans in groups, which is harder than one to one. And bring a second language that the network needs, because 'noted' is a lovely word to hear.
Starting the course in the spring. Hannah, Felix, I will see you on the line.
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#2 Frankfurt, and 'completely sufficient for the cabin' is the exact phrase they use and it means yes. The Brazil routes note means you will be on São Paulo within two years. Welcome, and see you on the line.
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#3 Munich, and the 'do not be the person the group waits for' definition of the level is the best one I have heard. C1 with speaking. Not B2 on paper. Exactly.
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#4 Hamburg, native German, and I had not thought about the assessment from the non native side and it is useful to see what the assessors are actually listening for. The group German with interruptions. Yes, that is what it sounds like.
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#5 @jasmin2001 the interruptions are the hard part. One to one German is easy by comparison. The group is where the level shows.
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#6 Brazilian at TAP, and reading a Brazilian get into Lufthansa on the German and the Portuguese is the kind of story that makes the Brazilian crew group happy. Boa sorte. The São Paulo route will be yours.
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#7 Turkish, British, and the language assessment being 'can you follow the crew when they are tired' is the same at every airline in every language. The certificate is the door. The speaking is the room.
