Ethiopian Airlines cabin crew from Addis Ababa: the recruitment, the academy, the Africa and long haul network and why it is the continent's biggest airline

Ghana, and I have friends at Ethiopian and I nearly joined, so the Ethiopian section deserves more than the academy thread. Here is the airline from the West African applicant's view, with what the Ethiopian crew told me.

Why Ethiopian matters

The largest airline in Africa by every measure, Addis Ababa as a hub connecting the whole continent to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, a fleet of 787s, A350s, 777s and 737s, and a training academy that trains crew for airlines across Africa. For an African applicant it is the biggest and most professional operation on the continent.

Recruitment

Ethiopian recruits Ethiopian nationals primarily, through announced rounds, and has recruited from other African countries for specific needs and through the academy's training contracts with partner airlines. The requirements: 18 to around 28, height minimums, a high school completion with a degree preferred, English fluency (Ethiopian's operation runs in English and Amharic), a clean medical, no visible tattoos. The assessment is a written test, an interview, a group activity and the medical. Training at the Ethiopian Aviation Academy is thorough and long, around three months.

The network from a crew view

Addis to Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Cairo, and every African capital; to London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, Brussels; to Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo; to Washington, Newark, Toronto, Chicago. The Ethiopian crew fly more of the world than the crew at most airlines and the long haul layovers are real.

Pay

In Ethiopian birr at a level that is good for Ethiopia and small in hard currency, with layover allowances in the destination currency that are the key to the crew's finances. Housing is not provided but the airline is a prestige employer in Addis and the salary goes a long way locally. The crew who hold the long haul routes save in dollars from the allowances.

The culture

Disciplined, proud, professional. Ethiopian has a reputation across Africa for running an airline properly and the crew carry that. The service style is formal and warm. The crew room is Amharic and English.

For West Africans

The direct route is Ethiopian nationality. The indirect route is the academy's training contracts with partner airlines, and the Gulf carriers' events in Accra, Lagos and Abidjan which recruit West Africans directly. Ethiopian is worth knowing about as the standard for African aviation, and as an employer if the nationality allows.

Why it matters for the forum

Because the African airline conversation on here is Kenya Airways and South African, and Ethiopian is bigger than both together. Any African applicant should know what the continent's best airline looks like before they compare it with the Gulf.