Cross-check
A colleague verifying that the door opposite yours is armed or disarmed as commanded — the double-check that prevents slide deployments.
Definition
A cross-check is the verification step in which a crew member visually confirms the arming status of the door opposite their own after both have been set, so that no door depends on a single person. The familiar PA "cabin crew, arm doors and cross-check" is the command; the report back to the purser, usually by interphone in door order, is the confirmation. The same word is used in the flight deck for checklist verification.
What it means for you
Cross-check is the cheapest safety layer in the job and the one passengers hear every flight without understanding. Do it properly — look at the indicator, not the person — because an armed door on arrival is a slide into the air bridge and a disarmed door on departure is an exit with no slide in an evacuation. Rushing it on a tight turnaround is exactly when it matters.
In practice
After landing at Manchester, the crew at doors 1L and 1R on a Jet2 737 disarm, each checks the other's door, and both report "1L disarmed and cross-checked" before the purser opens the door to the ground staff.
Related terms
4 terms- Door armingSafety & trainingSetting a cabin door so the escape slide deploys automatically when it is opened — done before push-back, undone after arrival.
- Cabin secureSafety & trainingThe crew's confirmation to the flight deck that the cabin is ready for take-off or landing: seatbelts, galleys, exits and crew seated.
- Push-backFlight operationsThe moment a tug pushes the aircraft off the stand — doors closed and armed, cabin secure, and the clock on block time starts.
- PurserRoles & ranksThe crew member in charge of the cabin on a flight: briefs the crew, reports to the captain and owns the service and the paperwork.